Xenoblade 2: Regarding its Anime Style

[Peh]

Jumpin said:

Peh said:

https://kotaku.com/xenoblade-chronicles-xs-stupid-looking-characters-are-a-1684883394

https://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/701151-xenoblade-chronicles-x/71726007

http://n4g.com/news/1666861/in-xenoblade-chronicles-x-stupid-faces-are-ruining-everything

No, I was talking about XCX. 

So, a "Xeno" game has to have a distinctive art style because it's called a Xeno game? Even if the character designer is the same for all these games, I don't think it has to look like a Xenogears game. There is no rule there. And personally, I don't have an issue with either design. But to each their own. It's just too sad that both XCX and XC2 are causing just an outcry of subjective tastes in character design before people even got their hands on it. 

And as I predicted, these are clearly not fans of the Xeno franchise.

You can find the same sorts of commentary of Dragon Quest: http://nintendoeverything.com/square-enix-talks-about-why-dragon-quest-isnt-popular-in-the-west/  https://steamcommunity.com/app/410850/discussions/0/485622866442375040/ You can find anyone to hate any artstyle, including those beloved by fans longterm fans. Opinions are a dime a dozen, their opinions on how something should look different from the tradition don't matter. Fan opinions are what matters, as they're far more relevant than some random person's opinion.

If a developer is going to replace a character model style, it is never a good idea to replace it with something that looks cheap and generic. This is why longtime fans despise the XC2 art style. The characters that are getting the most praise are the ones done by Nomura which are closest to the Tanaka style.

"And as I predicted, these are clearly not fans of the Xeno franchise."

Not to mention that, as you said yourself, Xenoblade Chronicles was never meant to be a game in the Xeno franchise in the first place it's also a reason (maybe) why it didn't shared the art style of the Xeno games. XCX is a spiritual successor which was the first to be named Xenoblade in Japan to make the connection to the name in the west and also shares the art style of the older games. X2 is rather a sequel to the first one by the obviousity that is has the number 2 in its name. They also couldn't call it "Monado: Beginning of the world 2", because it wouldn't make any sense.  While the first one doesn't have that distinctive "doll like" look what people are saying, it didn't followed the Xeno artstyle. Therefor, the sequel isn't obligated to follow the art style of the Xeno franchise, but rather the freedom of any art style what established the first game. If you want another true successor to the Xeno franchise, then you have to wait for XCX2.  

I also cannot agree with you by the terms of cheap and generic looking. The characters so far look very distinctive from each other. I can't say the same for XCX, though. Probably because it tried to look more realistic.