Topic: Castlevania Judgement (Official Thread)

[Long John Silver]

cv1's simon looks epic though. i hate the dracula there, he looks comical rather than intimidating, but simon is the epitome of awesome.

the idiot duo from pork looks more like a small boy and girl, not someone you'd see going towards what seems like certain death to others.

[ChibiMaddiChan]

In Reply To #803 and others

Guys...

FOR ONCE WOULD YOU JUST COMPARE THE GUY TO SOME OF THE OTHER ARTISTS IN THE SERIES?  Look at Legends, PoR, DoS, Rondo even, there's no way they're better than Obata.

I agree with this sooooooo much(not to mention Christopher's games). Obata, in my mind, simply outdoes them. I'm not saying he's like the uber best artist ever, but he has a unique Gothic style, almost close to Kojima, but Masaki beats him by a mile.

Hands down, Masaki is a phenomenal artist.  His artwork for OoE is some of the best I've seen for the series.  Other than LoI's, it's got to be my favorite.  As for Obata and his artwork:

I mean honestly, it's not bad, so to speak, so I agree with the above poster.  I think some of the designs he chose for some of the characters were pretty bad (like Maria and Simon) but others aren't so bad.  Except for the metal utters, Dracula looks pretty sweet.  And for those that don't like Simon, I find it ironic sense he didn't look much better in Chronicles, so whatever on him. (Note: I don't like either rendition but I have seen a few posters here and other boards that loved the Chronicles version but hate this one.)  This new guy actually looks pretty sweet, except I thought he should be in Kingdom Hearts. 

Some of the older artwork for the games were actually good though.  I agree with Serio, Simon looked awesome on the first cover and even his second.

Personally, I think it's all about taste and interpretations, and while Obata's is kinda odd, I honestly think if he'd put  them in their original outfits, there'd be a lot less complaining.  I don't think it's the artwork that reeks, just the outfit designs he made up for them.

[CVfan13]

In Reply To #813

Yeah, I completely agree. I just wish everyone would stop bitching about this game and it's artwork when we haven't even played it yet. And I'm thankful that they chose Obata, when they easily could have gotten the DoS anime art back.

[paletteswapmonster]

I find it very stupid that people keep complaining about Obata's art even though its not so bad and there is much worse art(which people didn't bitch about as much). Its gone up to the point in which people hate the game because of the art. WTF? This didn't happen when the "animu" showed up.

[OldSchoolArikado]

OldSchoolArikado: Oh, GIVE UP ALREADY!! As good as the old school was, it is OVER and NOT coming back, so just ACCEPT AND APPRECIATE WHAT WE EVEN HAVE RIGHT NOW!

appreciate what?, the style totally opposite to the essence of Castlevania? C'mon pal, CotM, Cv64, CvL and the OoE have an art much better than that of Obata.

[paletteswapmonster]

To add to what I said earlier, the game is a spin off, and the art will most likely never come back.

[CVfan13]

In Reply To #817

Unfortunately...

Obata is like Kojima, similar Gothic style, only Kojima is still better. She is, of course, better than Obata.

[crisis]

In Reply To #815
I also find it stupid that CV has degraded to the point where silly and outlandish designs are slowly becoming the norm, meanwhile the series still hasn't found its true identity yet all the while attempting to attract a younger demographic and people suggesting we should "be nice" and accept Obata's "unique designs", even coming to the point where CV and Kingdom Hearts are comparable and mentioned in the same sentence.

I'm not saying that Judgment will suck (despite the fact that it's already receiving average previews and being described as a less-fun copy of Power Stone), but I've been there since CV was first released in the 80's, and I'm sure I'm not the only one when I say that us few cv veterans don't have to accept the new style, so we can bash it all we want.

Have a nice day

[CVfan13]

In Reply To #819

You see, it's not that their trying to attract a younger generation, really. It's just that the "older generation" who they used to be aiming towards grew up, and thus SHOULD have outgrown video games altogether. They aren't going to throw you back the same gameplay and characters they had years ago, because majority of the fan base wouldn't understand what the hell was going on, or they would think it too difficult.

Look at what happened with DXC for example. Mostly everyone said it was "too hard". The hardcore fans, of course, said it was too easy. The point is, the only place you'll see old school stuff is in the obscure bits of fan service no casual gamer would even notice.

The general fan base is consisting of younger people, who are the majority of gamers, and therefore, if Konami wants to make money, they have to try new things that will make money. Iga throws in as much as he can for the hardcore fans, but he basically has to stick to what the casual, money-spending gamers want. So, go ahead, beg all you want, but there's just no way we can change these facts.

[paletteswapmonster]

In Reply To #819

1. Ecclesia's art isn't exactly meant to appeal to younger people. Obata's art also isn't meant to do that. Don't make baseless assumptions. Also, CV and KH aren't going to be comparable because of the art of ONE game that hasn't even been released yet.

2. Its not a new style, its a spin off.

[Omegasigma]

if i recall iga has hinted at theat konami has been making cuts, to make games thet only make money, the nes was the best console for sales really, since it was only by word of mouth how games got bashed, not by the net.

i'm not disliking the artsyle anyways, like every version of castlevania which features past characters, their revamped to new looks, however most of you i assume are making a direct comparision from castlevania to deathnote, which is in fact unfair, most artists arn;t that original and base things off others works or their own, i know this as a fact from my art courses i had

[Danial]

It's absurd to think Obata wasn't brought in to attract a younger crowd.  Konami and Iga are both constantly trying to attract younger generations to CV.  It's what most companies with a product do.  People who know and like the product are going to stick with it.  If the company wants more money they need to attract new people.  Those new people will always be younger. The reason they picked the guy who does Death Note is because Death Note is attractive to a new crowd of young people who might not have noticed CV before.  It's the same reason they used that anime look in DoS and PoR.  More young people than old like anime.  They were trying to appeal to them.

The problem comes when those who have been with the series for a while start noticing the lack of consistency in character designs.  Look at Superman.  Sure, every artist draws him their own way.  But we can all still tell who they are drawing.  Now if you were to show someone a picture of Maria from Rhondo and one from Judgement.  Most people wouldn't even have a clue that they are the same character.

Konami and Iga need to realize that Castlevania needs consistency.  It needs a style of art that comprises and conveys what makes CV.  Kojima's art did that for a while.  Although I'm not her biggest fan, I don't hate it either.  For years that is the art we associated with the franchise.  But now that may be changing.  And instead of coming up with something that is unique and representative of Castlevania, they seem to be going with what is popular or trendy at the moment.

Personally, I don't want CV to just go with what's popular at the time.  I don't want it to stoop to the lowest common denominator of appeal.  I want a CV that I can be proud of when I tell or show people, and not have to explain why it looks like something else. 

I want a CV that has it's own unique quality and style, not just art-wise, but game-wise as well.

[SomaCruzFirm]

lol good comments about Obata? he just distroyed the only hope that i got on that game... his artwork cannot be compared to master Kojima and the other artist that made the art concept for Castlevania before... Obata is just an anime drawer... and thats his place

[paletteswapmonster]

In Reply To #824

So, the game looks awesome, and it has potential, yet you lose hope for it because of the artwork?

[The Last Belmont]

In Reply To #813

Yeah, I completely agree. I just wish everyone would stop bitching about this game and it's artwork when we haven't even played it yet. And I'm thankful that they chose Obata, when they easily could have gotten the DoS anime art back.

How would playing it change our opinions on the characters looks?