A number of gaming “journalists” and I have determined that someone at Square Enix has figured out the exact proportions, curvature, cuteness vs anime-ness, etc etc to be the most attractive to plump programmer types.
My wife has started flipping the channels away from the FFX2 TV spots faster than when she did the same with the Victoria’s Secret spots. I think it has something to do with the long line of drool that has collected at the top of my paunch every time it comes on.
Dunno about FF X-2, I heard the game is awful, and I don’t watch TV, so that lets me out…
Odd mix of model and animation quality in FF XI, though. First of all we grant them the low polycount, and the anime style. Now let’s look at:
humes – OK, kind of stiff, nothing to write home about. Mediocre at best.
elvaan – Ugliest humanoid 3D models I’ve ever seen. Something is very wrong with their proportions. It’s not just the ears… Male elvaan all look effeminate, female Elvaan look embarrassed.
galka – Not awful… they are meant to be ugly, anyway.
taru-taru – OMG! Essence of cute. You may say anything this little has to be cute, but they have hit the cuteness bullseye here, good job. You can watch a taru-taru /panic all day, it never gets old…
mithra – Cute catgirls! They spent a lot of time on a sort of jailbait model here. Not sure just what it is that is attractive about them. Low polygons… fixed anime expression… it doesn’t seem like they should be even slightly attractive, but somehow, again, they hit the target with these models.
It’s not about the game, tho. The game has nothing to do with it. It has everything to do with a set of wallpapers being passed around featuring the 3 main women from the game. I’ll recount for you an afternoon I spent while IMing my friend at work:
Me: Wow, you realize the one on the left is wearing leather pants AND garter straps?
My friend: Hey, and the one in the middle: You’d think a person wouldn’t need a belt when the shorts are already slung so low and are that tight.
Me: drool
My friend: What?
Me: Oh, sorry. You ever notice that there’s something oddly attractive about ridiculously long blond hair whipping around in braids and freaky movements that must have some sort of AI to control them?
My friend: I can’t talk now…I have to…go to the bathroom. I’ll be back later.
