The evolution of character design in Final Fantasy

In this final episode of the year we embark on a Final Fantasy history of design journey, going back to 1987 and the early JRPG characters by Yoshitaka Amano up to the present day. Here we chart the evolution of Final Fantasy character design and whether or not the series visual approach to character is changing in accordance with technology and audience, or simply adhering to story and setting of the unique final fantasy worlds.
-- A huge thank you to my Patrons who are supporting these Game Discourses:
- M!
- Eastern Fox
- Lorentz T
- Nesadi
You can become a Patron here:
/ gamediscourses
OR
Show your appreciation with a Coffee:
ko-fi.com/gamediscourses
Find me on Twitter:

/ thealleywayjack
-
In this game discourse we consider -
- Final Fantasy's character designs past and present
- Yoshitaka Amano and Tetsuya Nomura
- The changing approach to concept art and character design in final fantasy
Thanks for watching! If you enjoyed these game discourses, please consider joining the channel.
- Alleyway Jack
#FinalFantasy #Alleywayjack #Gamediscourses

[@AlleywayJack]

Thanks for watching 💙 If you enjoyed the episode please consider subscribing to support the channel. If you'd like to support the channel further you can do so here:

[@TheMkmciver]

New alleyway jack video lets GOOOOO!!!

[@Kimarusco]

Great job as always!

[@MrJCMasterman]

I really like FFXVI’s character designs because they inch back into the colorful, high fantasy aesthetics of the past games while keeping the overall tone feeling grounded. Like you can look at a Dragoon in that game and recognize them as such, but the armor they wear wouldn’t be out of place in a gritty high fantasy setting elsewhere.

[@Deathkunaset]

I'm not an artist, but this has me thinking a lot about what type of direction the character designers had. Were the plot and personality already fleshed out and a description given to the artist, or perhaps the artist just continually draws based on a few key topics. Or even made in tandem.

[@fattiger6957]

I think you can divide FF character designs into 3 eras. The early games were all Amano, even if you only got to see their full, detailed designs in artwork. Nomura was next and his style dominated the franchise for the vast majority of its life.

[@trulgn]

Video idea: a narrative unpacking of ff8 gf summon animations.

[@misapheonix]

Sooo, even the character visuals were massively affected by technological limitation!

[@markevayne]

I have to admit Tidus visual style really didn't agree with me, and I remember wishing he looked so much cooler during my playthrough, squall is still my coolest!

[@VenomSnack]

Ironically tech makes the art less and less interesting as you've shown here. Nomura is the character designer goat though in games, no contest.