A Fresh Look At White Knight Chronicles

Am I the only one who thinks this game looks terribly generic?

Woah B*tch Woah! I leik the look.

@aesquire
How do you mean that?

Well this console generation has brought some amazing trailers lets hope for some good games now...

@Laexerias

I mean that the art design looks quotidian, which is to say that it looks very much like other modern fantasy RPGs (see FFXII, FFXIII, Infinite Undiscovery, Lost Odyssey, etc.). The game doesn't have its own visual flair or personality. It's graphically polished, but stylistically dull.

Also, don't call me a b*tch for having a difference of opinion.

While I agree it looks a little generic, I think it looks a lot more "western" than many of the next-gen JRPGs (especially from Square). The men look more like men than women, for instance. (Unless that pic on the top left column is actually a guy). And it doesn't look anime-ish, either like the Tales game or Blue Dragon.

It looks great for me, and I like the theme song as well.

@aesquire

Well, you´re the first one that I see that claims that... The style seems medieval-inspired like many other games (definitely not like FF XIII, which has a futuristic setting), but I think it has enough style on its own to differenciate from others.

It´s also very different from the "washed out" (less bright) and different design style (characters-wise mostly) look of Lost Oddysey and it has a more traditional look than Infinite Undiscovery (more medieval). And I can´t recall any other JRPG that had the main character turning into a big knight... But well, this is just my opinion of course.

By the way, I don´t think that Laexerias called you a b*tch... Unless I´m mistaken, he used it as an expression to comment on the look of the game. If he had refered to you, he would have wrote it after your nickname (or not writing your nickname at all).

@aesquire:

If you meant character design, i agree. The characters are the typical japanese anime-inspired characters. They have no traits of a specific design style, like Nomura characters, Akira Toryiama charaters etc.

However, if you meant art direction, and that's what i think you meant, you're clearly mistaken. How can you say it has no visual flair or personality? The city on the back of the giant turtle alone, has more style and personality than all other current-gen released games combined.

Stylistically, it kinda looks like FFIX crossed with bits of Soma Bringer to me -- particularly, the short bit of the giant, walking city looked like it was ripped straight off of Ordital.

The transforming main character happens a lot more in anime than in video games -- I can only think of a few RPGs where the main characters have a built in god mode (here's to you, KnightBlazer!).

@shuyin

Indeed, I was referring to both the character design and the art design overall.
I don't think the game is necessarily imitative. But the concept artist clearly drew a lot of inspiration from Final Fantasy and other medieval fantasy games.

It's not an "ugly" game, and there are certainly a few interesting concepts (the turtle city *is* pretty cool). But compare the look of this game to something like Valkyria Chronicles or Okami and you'll understand what I mean. Compared to those games, White Knight looks flat, derivative, and plain. As an older gamer, I just don't have the time or patience anymore for games that don't impress me on all fronts--especially aesthetics.

I cannot wait for this game, its going to be amazing!

My bet is this will be the next RPG of the year.

Hmm, I partly agree with the whole generic idea, the characters don't seem that special. However if character development makes up for that I'm fine with it. Oh, and considering the medieval theme, pleople just didn't wear flashy clothes, or went to battle in totally impractical clothes or lingerie (yes I'm refering to Fran from FFXII)


@shuyin: I wouldn't say more style then allcurrent gen combined but it is deffenitely awesome.

The purple frog is a staple of Level 5 games. It was in Jeanne d'Arc as well as Rogue Galaxy...although it wasn't as big. Not sure if it was in Professor Layton since I didn't play that one too much.

So, I was really excited for this game... before LittleBigPlanet was announced D:

The art design of the knight armors reminds me a lot somehow of the mecha from the Escaflowne anime series. I guess in a way this game borrows that anime's idea of a medieval mecha fantasy (with some romance thrown in). Also the way that the main character said henshin (transform) sounded very much like kamen rider to me, down to the inflection and intonation. It might seem generic to the more experienced otaku, but to me it's a welcome formula that needed reviving with a brand new coat of paint to catch my interest. And the game looks just beautiful.