The following blog details come from Saito Masatsugu, the main character designer.
- Masatsugu first heard about plans for Xenoblade Chronicles 2 in February 2015
- he began by reading the story written by Tetsuya Takahashi in order to get a good grasp of the characters.
- he then took part in the screenwriting conferences with Yuichiro Takeda and Kazuho Hyoudou
- this helped him further his understanding of the characters and what they should look like
- in the story and screenplay, Rex and co. came out as a really lively characters, with clear emotions and feelings
- Masatsugu thought to himself “It’s better if the shape of the characters is easy to grasp”
- one of the key aspects of the character design in Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is the eyes
- with a strong emphasis on the eyes, the range of expressions and emotions for characters to display is broadened
- the emphasis on eyes also makes it easier for players to read the emotions even when characters aren't close to the camera
- character colors were chosen to make it easy for players to figure out who was who when in the field
- the dev team asked Masatsugu to make it so the character designs incorporate “moving” elements
- this referred to cloaks and scarves
- this was done to make it so players could really feel the wind when out exploring
- Masatsugu wasn’t able to put such elements in the design of all characters, but they still have features that show movement
- Masatsugu asked the development team to make it so the personality of each character is reflected in the way they move
- Poppi’s movement is the most striking example, as it really gives the feeling she’s an artificial being
from GoNintendo
0 comments: