Jump to content
Koumei & the Five Fates: Share Bug Reports and Feedback Here! ×

Aesthetics - Are Things Getting A Little Too Whimsical?


PanicPrime
 Share

Recommended Posts

I know we're playing a game about cyborg space ninja wizards, but the most recent frames have been mildly concerning for me. I took a break around update 12, and came back a few days ago.

 

Anyway let me get to the point of what's bothering me:

 

Limbo. He has a top-hat and coat tails.

Am I the only one who isn't too comfortable with that?

Hydroid similarly seems to be carrying a lot of extra padding to augment his pirate theme.

Oberon's pot belly and hooves might come in third place.

 

My point is, does anyone else feel like the design for new frames is getting a little gimmicky and comical?

The first batch of frames were fairly streamlined. A good balance of detail and defining features without overpowering the "you're wearing a high-tech super weapon" aesthetic. They were for the most part, believable.

It seemed NECESSARY for Rhino to look big and muscular - after all he's the tank. 

Ash managed to grasp the aesthetic of "deadly ninja" without any particularly apparent features sticking out of him.

Saryn, while covered in some impractical bits, does convey the poisonous flower aesthetic without it overpowering her look.

 

Some of the newer frames are still great too. Valkyr looks fantastic, Zephyr is my favourite female design. Most of the frame aesthetics convey what they are within willing suspension of disbelief.

But two of the three latest frames, Hydroid and Limbo, don't look like they belong in this game. They look impractical compared to many of the others.

 

I think a large part of it comes down to how easily my brain can pinpoint what it's referencing.

Frost for example has some unnecessary coat-tails. it hasn't ever bothered me because it doesn't immediately conjure an image in my head of something else. Rather, it defines his look and becomes a signature look of "Frost".

 

Limbo's appearance immediately makes me think of a cliché stage magician. The technical talent that went into making him is fantastic. This isn't a complaint about the quality of the work by any means.

But rather, the look isn't his own.

Frost looks like Frost.

Loki looks like Loki.

Zephyr looks like Zephyr.

Volt looks like Volt.

Saryn looks like Saryn.

Limbo looks like a stage magician.

Hydroid looks like Davy Jones from Pirates of the Caribbean.

Oberon looks like a goat.

 

I'm just wondering if anyone else shares the same feelings about this.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well as somewhat silly as limbo looks, the tophat does seem to have function (protecting whatever that is in his head he uses for the void shifting) And to be fair, coat tails are cool dangnit!

And as for Hydriod he does look very pirate...ey but at the same time it doesnt look bad or whimsical per se, just a bit odd, after all the extra padding would be armour and such so I guess it makes sense?

And oberon, well he has a unique appearance o3o

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I feel that a few of the newer frame designs are too "busy".  Zephyr has multilayers of odd colored feathers that make giving her a decent paintjob and look horrendous.  Hydroid looks like hes covered in seaweed and patterns with his junk hanging out because accidentally left his fly open.

 

Those are my only real complaints on frame designs at this time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I disagree with the Oberon one. Sure he has horns, but he does convey a very knightly design even with those animal features. 

As for Limbo, I don't think he's out of place. One person coined stage magician and it has soured everyone else's view of him. He fits in if you separate the idea of him and stage magician. 

I actually find Excalibur's design to be most out of place, as it has no distinguishing features. Nothing really marks him as him, he's just a high tech metal suit. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You should see the new frame. I'm not saying it's better or worse, but it would give you yet another look into the design of warframes to come.

 

Personally, I think that Tenno, like many other civilizations in the Warframe universe, were originally derived from the human race. I see nothing wrong with them giving a slight nod to the ways and styles of their ancestors in what they bring with them to war. It happens all the time in real life (think Swastica and other symbols of which I'm currently blanking on). In a world where they're so advanced that the suits they are wearing can be modified for aesthetic purposes alone, why not give an ode to something old you or your people used to enjoy.

 

Besides... a pirate space ninja? Come on... Who can top that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If people didn't care then people wouldn't complain about it.

This.

I agree with OP. For me, it all went downhill with Giraffe Neck Nova. Excalibur, Loki, Mag, Nyx, Rhino, Ember, Frost...the older the frame is, the better it looks to me. Warframe's style has shifted over time from a dark setting to a more airy, populated feeling. DE_Steve has acknowledged this, and says he wishes for Warframe to return to its former "dark" ages.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Am I the only one who thought of the ninja pirate from Castle Crashers when Hydroid was announced?

Screen_shot_2011-02-25_at_19.17.16.png

Hehe, nope, you're not the only one :D

 

On topic: I dunno, I really think ALL Warframes look well designed. All the old ones have a more dark, sleek, agile (yes, even Rhino seems agile to me, due to non-obstructive and "rounded" armor) and an overall simplistic feel to them. Practical warriors if you will. Overall probably the best design if you wanna follow the ninja-motife.

And now to the 3 ones you have the biggest problems with:

* Hydroid feels kinda similar, bulked up and ready to fight. But in contrast to Oberon, he still seems more suited for Warframe's ninja-ish theme, more battleworn and agile.

* Oberon. He looks a bit more ornamental, yes, but I think he still looks very powerful, knightly/paladiny, heroic and heavily armored, suiting for a warrior out in the field. Granted, he does not give me the feeling of being all too agile though, which makes him not so much in line with the game's ninja-ish theme. But he at least looks like a WARRIOR of some sort, which forgives it imo.

* Limbo is probably the only one that I can agreed with looking a tiny bit too "whimsical" for me. The gentleman / stage magician style he has going just doesn't feel very... warrior-y enough. He has no redeeming warrior-features, neither by being well-armored like Oberon/Hydroid, nor sleek-looking for agile movement like most of the old 'frames. He looks like a commoner, a non-warrior. That would be a fitting ninja-thing (disguise and all) if it weren't for the fact that stage magicians seems like a thing of the past in the timeline of Warframe...

Overall though, I oddly enough don't hate his looks either. But he does stick out quite a bit, yes.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oberon looks like Oberon to me, he's definitely one of my favorite frames aesthetically.

Hydroid reminds me of a pirate, but he's still original looking. I just hate him aesthetically because of the massive thighs. Alt helms are fantastic though.

Limbo does look straight up like a magician, but I happen to like tuxedos and top hats.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Warframes aren't getting whimsical, they're just referencing more modern periods of time.

 

The next Warframe is themed as a Wild West-esque gunslinger. I wouldn't classify that as light or whimsical, just more well known.

That actually really make sense to me. Zephyr, Banshee, Loki, Nekros(loosely), Oberon and Valkyr (Among others, I'm sure, those are some that come to mind) come from ancient myths and folklore. Excalibur is the name of an ancient swords, Knights of the Round Table, etc. Vauban is Renaissance, Ash is just a straight up legend-based Ninja. And then some of the others are just elemental and relatively plain, such as Ember, Frost, Mag, and Nova (Not putting Hydroid here since he's more pirate than water). So I guess this got people into a kind of "ancient reborn" point of view, so when more modern and sophisticated concepts such as pirates, magicians, (harlequins) and gunslingers come along, it kinda breaks from the trends a bit.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I completely disagree, I love the newer frame designs as much as I love the older ones. There is a world of difference between them but they all still feel like warframe at their core. 

 

Also, Volt looks like a seahorse

 

Also:

 

Honestly no one really cares lol.

 

Exactly. As much as players like to complain, ultimately they just want to complain, they don't care what a frame they never use looks like. Fake outrage is all the rage.

Edited by DarkTails
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...