Character Design Sells Games

DX examines the failure of Sony's Concord by comparing it to Overwatch, a game with infinitely superior character design.

A very big thanks to RivetHead for gifting me Concord!

#overwatch #overwatch2 #concord

[DXFromYT]

The art for my intro, this video's thumbnail and title card was done by artist Azuma Yasuo. They have a Patreon as well, and you can find their links in the description!

[TwoHandedChargedBonk]

Concord's character design was so bad it had defeated the Rule 34. Probably the only time a hero shotter ever did that. The game stood no chance.

[sebdaniel]

I 100% thought Daw was a woman until now

[CidGuerreiro]

They didn't want sexy characters, but lacked the talent and vision to make something cool and appealing without it. I honestly have never seen an uglier/more boring character roster.

[xeromachinimas]

TF2 devs didnt sexualize the characters and they're still very appealing and praised by people so it can be done

[GA]

I fail to comprehend how people see gacha games earning millions every month and think "im sure its because of the story and the gameplay"

[TheDoomMaster]

You know your game fucked up when the R34 artists don't want to go anywhere near your characters

[LuvzToLol]

It stuns me that the designers managed to make the heavy machine gun character look so goofy and non-threatening. Emari looks like a giant toddler

[jimmypackorino]

the fact that people were willing to play the first descendant really speaks to how much character design means lol

[gstephenson]

TF2 is a great example of perfect character designs and zero sex appeal. They don’t have to be sexy but I really believe Mercy from Overwatch is also just a great design, she is supposed to “look like an angel” of course she’s attractive.

[Arcademan]

>cute character
>wow they're cute
>they're fun to play
>I'll get this costume for them

>cool character
>wow they're cool
>they're fun to play
>I'll get this costume for them

>Ugly character
>wow they're ugly
>Gameplay is pretty mid
>all these costumes are awful

I wonder which one gamers prefer

[DeadFishFactory]

Deadlock has a character that is literally supposed to be ugly because she's a gargoyle with Ivy, but Valve crafted her character to be such a cinnamon bun that gives her a great contrast between how she looks and how her personality is, that she has more fanart and rule34 than the entirety of Concord.

[xRIPx]

That thumbnail

More than concord did

[Y_KM]

If you don't wanna make "sexy" character's atleast give them a little personality they are as lively as a loaf of bread 🍞

[RUGE]

It's easy to say "Concord didn't have sexy characters, therefore it failed". That is partially true, but I'm glad to see someone explaining WHY it failed beyond the obvious.

[-_Nuke_-]

As a graphics designer, I know that many of you might find this criticism very harsh on Concord. But in our industry - this is how people talk to each other - this is how you eventually get to have good looking things, and more importantly - things that work.

This video is basically what you would hear if you could evesdrop into a meeting between designers.
I don't know if DX is a designer himself - but if he's not - then he clearly has all the correct mindset to become one.

[aquapendulum]

You miss a crucial one: Emari's shield. This is supposed to be a tank character, but compare her shield size to Reinhardt's shield size. Reinhardt's shield is wide enough to fit another Reinhardt on the left and the right side each. It's also a very transparent shield, perfectly enabling allies to hide behind and take shots from. Emari's shield is not only so narrow that it only fits herself, it's also not as transparent as Reinhardt's shield. It has wavy patterns and it FLASHES WHITE when it is hit. That's such a bad oversight for a simple character archetype as a tank.

[purelysmetalnightcore]

I'm a woman that plays games specifically geared towards women, and if you go on any social media site and look up the games I play you'll see women drooling over how attractive EVERY character is, both male and female. Everyone wants attractive characters except AAA devs.

[oaksaint]

Concord's characters look like you pressed "random" while creating a character in WWE or Soul Calibur. The photorealistic art style also makes it very uncanny.

[theastroguy]

Concord:"B-But, we wanted to be inclusive! Our game had the most diverse cast!"

Overwatch has a more diverse cast and it's had that since 2016, to the point it RIVALED TF2, the cast with: A black, scotsman with a disability (Missing eye), the overweight russian, the frenchy, the doctor with a severe mental health problem, the soldier with lead poisoning, scout, a new zealand blood austrailian native sniper, a prosthetic hand having texan and pyro. Oh, and don't forget MS. PAULING who, despite her lack of actual strength against any of the mercs, IS THEIR BOSS. A woman boss in 2007, when it was still uncommon but not completely missing. Concord tried a formula that was in place for years with thousands of different ideas in it to improve, and still failed.