Do You Guys Like The Artwork/Character Designs?

[Sakura]

I can understand if you think it's a step in the wrong direction, but how can it be a step backwards? It's not as low-quality as the official art for the NES or SNES games...

But they look so... UGLY!  And they barely have any expressions on their faces.  Unless they could make them smile or barf or something...

[Zetanon]

I'm actually glad they changed the art style (for better or worse doesn't really matter). The games need changes, both aesthetically and gameplay-wise, to feel somewhat fresh. I hated the fact that Sacred Stones re-used the art style from the two earlier GBA games, despite having no relation to the at all.

[Neofox]

But they look so... UGLY!  And they barely have any expressions on their faces.  Unless they could make them smile or barf or something...

Marth's games have a fairly dark story... It only makes sense the characters would have serious expressions on their faces.

I fail to see how they're so ugly, too... More realistic, maybe, but it's just a lot different from what we're used to.

[SirChristopher]

I actually really like the new artwork. Some stuff is EXTREME (like Minerva's armor), but for the most part its good. Meric is awesomely flamboyant and Marth is now almost as manly looking as FE10 Ike. I approve.

[pferno954]

I... Have been ignoring the general lack of detail on the models in battle, and have thus been liking almost everything thus far. The models move REALLY smoothly at all times, and the map sprites are pretty nice. I can tell quite a difference between Dalos, Gordon, Kain, and Frey with their face sprites, so that's good enough for me. I haven't seen any repeated/recolored portraits thus far for player units, and given how many units you have (Good grief, 15 units by the start of chapter 3?! O_o), that's cool enough, I think.

...Maybe it helps that I have no familiarity with the original FE1 or Fe3 though.

[Cold Popcorn]

Not even bosses have pallet swap portraits in this game. I'm really liking the new art style. The map itself is absolutely brilliant, and characters, for the most part, look good too. Garnef is quite freaky, in fact. The only thing I'm disappointed with is battle sprites losing their custom pallets. Although hair still changes (including bald!). Oh, and Generals look like some kind of child's toy...

[KiddoCabbusses]

The new character designs have thier ups and downs (Mostly in their appearances seeming to not match their character, especially Marth and Linda), but in general I believe they look better than Monshou, although I prefer the Path of Radiance artstyle... but that would not fit the tone of this one.

I do notice that, comparing this to other games, I get the impression that IntSys wanted the game to graphically look like old PC strategy games, with their strange CG renders. It's a nostalgic taste, in a completely different sense than what the nostalgia's supposed to be of. Hah.

One thing I noted - Battle animations in this game are the fastest of any FE. Compared with the old games, disabling them would not save nearly as dramatic an amount of time in future runs. (Of course, most people will probably double-start past enemy phases anyway.) It seems like the game was designed to be incredibly fast compared to the old games. In some ways, this works - but some events lose their impact when they happen quickly, like Medeus' transformation.

[Sir GTF]

I don't mind the art shift at all.  Some faces could probably have been better, but I'd hardly consider any of them eyesores or horrendous mistakes that ruin the image of the characters.  It's darker and tries to look a little too 3D-ish for 2D sprites, but I don't find them jarring. 

The only one I've seen that bothers me is Navarre, and it's purely a cosmetic issue than a design one.  He reminds me too much of Rutger in that red outfit, and that's kinda off since it's supposed to be the other way around- Rutger was blatantly modeled off of Navarre.  Suddenly I feel it the other way around- but that's purely because I'm so used to seeing Navarre in either that lavender colored outfit, or the dark blue one from FE3's face.  I kinda liked him with the lavender- but I can definitely get used to the red look, he does pull it off well in my eyes.

But all in all, I don't mind the look.  If IS wants to use this style for the next portable FE, I wouldn't complain because right now, it's a refreshing change of pace compared to the style from 6-10.  Everything seems newer and fresh, despite that fact that it's almost entirely characters I've seen over and over again.

[Levin]

I was a bit worried after seeing some of the OA, but in playing this game...I am enjoying the art shift for the most part as well. It really is very fresh, and the maps look excellent. The faces are a mixed bag, the battle sprites are different not to my taste as far as looks...but they do go so fast and I'm really liking that.  Say one of your characters is attacked by someone and you are going to get two hits off of it. Normally you'd see the character step forward attack, step back, then step forward and attack. However here, it is like two quick slashes.

Overall I like the new direction, the only main thing is I would like different battle sprites the next time around. It is harder to tell characters apart by their battle sprites than usual.

[Flamemonkey]

I personally love the new art style. I was a tad dissapointed with FE9 having only a few more colors than the GBA FE, so seeing these new mugs with 8273493 different colors is a most welcome change. Plus, it makes mug making in it's style easier (Ironic, yes? That the more complex ones are easier to make. ).

As for the OA, I'm not seeing what the problems are. Yeah, it's darker, but hey, we can't have '95 anime grade artwork forever, can we? I don't think we should.