Aesthetics - Are Things Getting A Little Too Whimsical?

[-SLX-J3tAc3]

...

 

Limbo I don't care for his lanky tuxedo design, with an awkward Abraham Lincoln top hat that exposes his brain when removed, and bell bottom pants. I almost expect him to have goldfish inside platform pimp shoes. All he needs is Mirage's disco ball ability and he'd be the pimp from the movie "I'm Gonna Get You Sucka."

 

Even the enemies are extremely over-the-top. Greneir ships, look very "orgranic..." The Derelict Ships look like giant prawns floating through space. Captain Vor has robot chicken legs and weird kidneys straped to his head like an old lady bonnet. The Drahk Master looks like a Power Ranger villain reject. And the Corpus wear metal shoeboxes over their heads.

Hahaha!! Oh, man, my sides!

Edited November 21, 2014 by -SLX-J3tAc3

[MichaelSD]

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.

 

I agree, the newer frames are....not ninja...

[Arkezuli]

my feeling isn't that Limbo needs to be changed or removed. (At least aesthetically. His skills could use some revision, but that's a different matter.)

 

My concern lies with how the game is going to look this time next year. The recent frames looking more "inspired" than original, could continue until the game looks very different.

I'm all for breaking away from the "Tenno = ninjas" policy. They're already far more than just ninjas. 

By all means we should have elemental themes, period themes, stealthy ninja classes and regal knight classes, eastern and western influences, etc.

 

My point of contention is that a few frames are starting to bleed into league of legends territory.

Look at LoL's character roster. There's a reasonably consistent art style, but beyond that there's nothing to tie the characters together. Mythological warriors, gritty real world warriors, fantasy tropes, sci-fi tropes, humans, furries, aliens, bug monsters, etc.

 

Hydroid is pushing it a little bit with his cartoon pirate silhouette, but Limbo takes the cake. His outfit is clearly a tuxedo with coat tails and matching white gloves. His hat is a top-hat and his alt helmet is a pointy wizard hat.

My concern is that there are going to be at least 4 or 5 more frames released over the next 12 months, and the increasing presence of the new frame style is going to affect the tone of the game.

 

Someone earlier mentioned Mirage. I hadn't paid much attention to her as I've only recently come back. But now I see her, wow. Her ultimate is a disco ball.

 

 

Is this the direction warframe wants to go in moving forward? The deadliest and most feared warriors in the galaxy with disco ball attacks, silly hats, and Pirates of the Caribbean cosplay costumes?

It's making the Tenno look less like disciplined warriors, and more like delusional sociopaths who treat mass murder like a game.

I'm sure there's a kind of irony in there at least ;)

 

^ This guy gets it.

Boy do I miss the old times of simple-and-cool original looking frames...

 

I even tolerated Vauban, but after it... almost everything was just... oh god why... (Exception saved for Mirage, because Mirage looks excellent. If she didn't have so clear-looking eyes/mask she'd be the Excalibur, AKA Top, level of good looking.)

Also Valkyr and Zephyr are fine.

I've hated Zephy's design at first, but I learned to like it with time. (Even though I still think it could use a sharper/better look)

All in all, agreed 100% with OP, DE REALLY needs to stop and take a look betweent their past and modern frames, and stop making them so "Worlds apart" from one another.

Edited November 24, 2014 by CenSilver

[Kainosh]

There are 3 tiers of  frame designs now:

 

1- Classic. Excal,Volt, Mag, Trinity  and even Mirage (she follows classic frame theme) and alike. 

 

2- Wildstyle - Necros, Oberon, Zephyr, Hydroid. They all have "wild" color customisation options due to large number of small details.

 

3- I call it " Someone play granado espada too much ".  Limbo and that new coming soon gun gal.  They are just...out of bounds...Too much real clothes resemblance.

 

But DE say that they shall never redesign any frame... So we kinda stuck with these weird ones...Hope they wont get worse, or soon we will get a furry frame.

[optyk]

<snip>

 

Saryn is another frame where her overall theme is overwhelming. Her shoulder pads are bulbous. Her right leg looks like she caught the infestsation virus, and while her original helmet looks ok, her alternate helmets look horrendous. Her Hemlock Saryn helmet looks like a Super Mario Bros 2 radish.

 

<snip>

 

You take that back right now! Shame on you. Put her in Noble idle with a nice giant weapon like the Gorgon and tell me shes not ready to punt you in the junk with her respect-demanding boots and ask "What?" afterwards.

 

Saryn is the OG go-to female Frame when a can o' whoop &amp;#&#33; is needed. She also does not look back when her Miasma is melting faces in the room.

 

I do believe that's a requirement of being a badass.

[elele]

There are 3 tiers of  frame designs now:

 

1- Classic. Excal,Volt, Mag, Trinity  and even Mirage (she follows classic frame theme) and alike. 

 

2- Wildstyle - Necros, Oberon, Zephyr, Hydroid. They all have "wild" color customisation options due to large number of small details.

 

3- I call it " Someone play granado espada too much ".  Limbo and that new coming soon gun gal.  They are just...out of bounds...Too much real clothes resemblance.

 

But DE say that they shall never redesign any frame... So we kinda stuck with these weird ones...Hope they wont get worse, or soon we will get a furry frame.

 

 

1-classic: Excal. Volt, Rhino, Mag, Trinity, Frost, Loki, Banshee, Saryn, Ash. Each looks like its own thing without being too obvious of resembling something else. 

 

2-animal-look-a-like: Oberon/deer, Zephyr/bird, Valkyr/cat, Ember/chicken

 

3-cosplayers: Limbo, Hydroid, Nekros, Mirage, Vauban (aged railroad worker)

 

The new gunslinger frame is going to continue the "cosplayer" trend. It's wrong. 

[SandwitchPrime]

correction

ash:a ninja with a leather jacket and a skeleton head, the head looks like aliens form the movie aliens

banshee: her head is a part of a raidar， also she's wearing a shawl.

ember:clearly a chicken, also a radom punk with a sleeveless jacket

excal:simplified verson of hayden tenno also he's a unicorn

forst:took the design of traditional chinese male cloths, is head looked like a crab and a CD player

hydroid:  a life stage for species of the hydroza class of jellyfish.(form wiki) designs of tentacles on his shoulder and head can be seen.

limbo:magician

loki:similar to forst, also his head looks like a bull

mag:astronaut with two magnets tied on her hand

mirage:a clown also her other helmet looks like a goat head

nekros:death, obviously

nova:an apple product a tipical Si-Fi robot, similar to the one form I,robot

nyx:her appearance was based off the other character from dark sector nemesis, and her theme came form the greek godess nyx who's born of chaos

oberon:the body armor design was similar to the crusaders, which fits his theme as a paladin

rhino:she(yep, no horns, female confirmed) is a rhino

saryn:took the form of a flower(possibly rose)

trinity:not so much i can find but her armor is tipical fantasy style armor. also the curling strips on her immortal skin took the idea of the NMA emblem design(snake on a rod thing......what ever you call it)

valkyr: tell me im not the only one who thinks she looks like the half masked version in that one animated series bleach, her helmet looks like a cat(fox?) and pony tail BDSM(WTF), immortal skin has designs simliar to a tiger

vauban: a franch engineer, that's all i can find, the design is rather weird

Volt: clearly wearing a set of armor also one of his helmets looks like a gazer

zephyr:a bird (duh)

probably look at something other than the helmet before you link it to something else?

so as you can see they all took these warframe designs form SOMEWHERE, so maybe just deal with it, the art designers can't make something out of nothing.

i dont get why form a game that has tonnes of problems, you chose the one that matters the least, boo hoo this one doesn't look ninja enough, boo hoo this one is cliched, they all are really.

in fact, ash is the only one that looks anywhere close to a real ninja, so how about let's not care, not a lot seems to be bothered with it, so lets shut up and focus one the more important things like balancing issues shall we?

Edited November 25, 2014 by SandwitchPrime

[Awazx]

Last Warframes have the worst design:

 

Limbo: A ninja with hat. No, it's not very elegant.

 

Zephyr: Reviews contrary to this Warframe. Personally, reminds me of a duck.

 

Hidroid: I can not play with a fat squid, sorry.

 

Mirage: in my Top 1 Warframes you look bad. His face looks, it seems ... that of a cow?

 

Result: the design of Warframes has gotten worse. 'Old' designs like Frost, Excalibur, Loki, Ash, Rhino offered more seriously.

 

We spatial Nijas; no squid, ducks, cows or goats.

[RustyNaps]

Oberons pot belly is actually how Paladin chest armor looked like. Most people don't know this. It would've looked better with beefier arms and legs imo.

[SandwitchPrime]

 

Last Warframes have the worst design:

 

Limbo: A ninja with hat. No, it's not very elegant.

 

Zephyr: Reviews contrary to this Warframe. Personally, reminds me of a duck.

 

Hidroid: I can not play with a fat squid, sorry.

 

Mirage: in my Top 1 Warframes you look bad. His face looks, it seems ... that of a cow?

 

Result: the design of Warframes has gotten worse. 'Old' designs like Frost, Excalibur, Loki, Ash, Rhino offered more seriously.

 

We spatial Nijas; no squid, ducks, cows or goats.

 

ash is the only one that looks like an actual ninja, see the post i sent before you

[SandwitchPrime]

Oberons pot belly is actually how Paladin chest armor looked like. Most people don't know this. It would've looked better with beefier arms and legs imo.

i know right?

can't believe these people

seems like the only thing they could ever bloody see is the helmet

and the fabric dangling down on his armor is also part of a proper paladin armor, they can't even be bothered to think!

[SandwitchPrime]

 

Last Warframes have the worst design:

 

Limbo: A ninja with hat. No, it's not very elegant.

 

Zephyr: Reviews contrary to this Warframe. Personally, reminds me of a duck.

 

Hidroid: I can not play with a fat squid, sorry.

 

Mirage: in my Top 1 Warframes you look bad. His face looks, it seems ... that of a cow?

 

Result: the design of Warframes has gotten worse. 'Old' designs like Frost, Excalibur, Loki, Ash, Rhino offered more seriously.

 

We spatial Nijas; no squid, ducks, cows or goats.

 

dare you to draw ash 20 times with each one clearly distinct form another, go, try it.

[Arkezuli]

dare you to draw ash 20 times with each one clearly distinct form another, go, try it.

Define "clearly distinct".

Because from what I understand, drawing something "clearly distinct" from Ash would automatically mean drawing something other than Ash.

Ergo, It's not even physically possible for you to draw an Ash "clearly distinct" from Ash.

Much the less 20.

[(XBOX)Skode]

I love the unique themes behind the newer warframes as long as they are that - "unique". Does Limbo look like a magician? Yeah, is Oberon clearly pagan influenced... yeah!

 

I dont mind really and it adds to the appeal, im especially looking forward to seeing the gunslinger frame with its bandana covering the eyes - fantastic design. For everyone else i dont see any harm in making radical helmets to offer something else... dont like the tophat? maybe have a very different head be made for alerts. I accept come will detract from the whole Orokin theme as they take a very earthy mythology theme instead in some cases but if the artists are having fun and the fanbases enjoy them regardless then no harm is done. In fact i think part of the appeal of Ash for me is he is what WE think of when we think of a "ninja" in his abilities... if he looked more like a traditional movie ninja then i think i would actually like him MORE but thats just my opinion.

[Tsukinoki]

@CenSilver
I think what SandwitchPrime means is:
Try to draw 20 completely distinct "ninjas" that are clearly ninjas first and not something else, and see how that goes.
Basically trying to point out that limiting designs to just "Ninja" is far too limiting.

Think of how many "ninjas" look pretty much exactly the same, minus color variations.

So good luck having 20 completely distinct looking "ninjas" that you can tell apart easily at a glance.

[Arkezuli]

@CenSilver

I think what SandwitchPrime means is:

Try to draw 20 completely distinct "ninjas" that are clearly ninjas first and not something else, and see how that goes.

Basically trying to point out that limiting designs to just "Ninja" is far too limiting.

Think of how many "ninjas" look pretty much exactly the same, minus color variations.

So good luck having 20 completely distinct looking "ninjas" that you can tell apart easily at a glance.

 

Yes, that could be, but if it was, my point stands, which is to show that he worded his question very poorly.

[Awazx]

ash is the only one that looks like an actual ninja, see the post i sent before you

Ash has a stunning design. Other Warframes not seem ninjas, true, but their designs are elegant and beautiful.

[SandwitchPrime]

Define "clearly distinct".

Because from what I understand, drawing something "clearly distinct" from Ash would automatically mean drawing something other than Ash.

Ergo, It's not even physically possible for you to draw an Ash "clearly distinct" from Ash.

Much the less 20.

exactly, you can't have them clear distinct with only one theme(as that being the theme of a ninja), infact the ninja out fit was to hide their idenity, giving everyone such theme will just turn this game into CoD with super powers

[SandwitchPrime]

Ash has a stunning design. Other Warframes not seem ninjas, true, but their designs are elegant and beautiful.

The idea of elegand and beautiful is purely subjective, personally i love the gentleman/magician theme of limbo paired with the mustuche. put it in another word it's really just your own problem