Dawntrail character graphics update - opinions, requests and discussion megathread

[Gaddes]

I understand that and sympathize with people who dislike it, though of course it's subjective. To me they all look like the same characters with higher fidelity graphics. Ardbert looks like Ardbert to me. I've gone back through some of the cutscenes and enjoyed how much better they look with the update. Urianger looks soooo much better now. To me at least!

Dunno if it's on purpose or not that you didn't mention Thancred, who does look noticeably different and younger, which actually I think hurts his portrayal. Hard to see him as the worn, emotionally fraught man who's gone through the wringer when he looks fresh-faced and younger than before. His HW face (ninja one) I believe hasn't been changed yet so you can actually see how his face reverses all traumatic change as the expansions go on.

[Astronis]

Dunno if it's on purpose or not that you didn't mention Thancred, who does look noticeably different and younger, which actually I think hurts his portrayal. Hard to see him as the worn, emotionally fraught man who's gone through the wringer when he looks fresh-faced and younger than before. His HW face (ninja one) I believe hasn't been changed yet so you can actually see how his face reverses all traumatic change as the expansions go on.

It wasn't on purpose, no. There are a lot of NPCs I didn't mention; I just happened to be struck specifically by how good Urianger looks (especially his eyes, but everyone has much nicer eyes now). TBH, I'm more concerned about Thancred's eye color changing for no given reason after Heavensward, but that doesn't have anything to do with the graphics update. I'd really, really like to know why his white (presumably blind?) eye changed back when Y'shtola's didn't! I did go back and look at HW Thancred and he looks pretty rough, but before and after he doesn't look so different to me that it gives me pause. A little younger, maybe, but that could be chalked up to the shave, bath, and losing the tan. I agree he looks a little different though and can see why that might affect some people's perception of him.

[Argantaelle]

Those all look fine to me, with maybe one out of the whole bunch being over-lit. Mostly they've just had that godawful grey overlay that used to make everything look bad removed.

I can't say that I agree with you. Some facial expressions turned out to be quite awkward, like the new version of the Warrior of Darkness when he stares at the red crystal. Sibold's facial expression changed entirely; instead of a stern young man, I see a constantly smiling person, which (imo) distorts the message of the story. Poor Granson just suffers from the issue with smiles we've discussed in this thread a lot.

I can't say that all the new facial expressions are horrible, but they need to be worked on to better convey the main message of a cutscene.

Also, almost all HW cutscenes are overexposed with unnecessary bright character lighting and weird shadows; sometimes it seems like characters are cut from paper and just slapped on the background without interacting with it in any way.

(very mild HW spoilers)

Just compare Alphi and Ga Bu. Ga Bu interacts with the environment; they cast shadows and reflect light, but Alphi looks like an apparition.

I've collected many similar screenshots. HW cutscenes leave much to be desired after the graphical update (ARR and SB are better). I assumed they just hadn't been touched by SE designers yet when I was going through the story on my alt about a month ago.

[Lorika]

I've collected many similar screenshots. HW cutscenes leave much to be desired after the graphical update (ARR and SB are better). I assumed they just hadn't been touched by SE designers yet when I was going through the story on my alt about a month ago.

Except that on PS5 :
- 5 ARR Cutscenes have unexplainable FPS drop (the same goes with 3 outpost)
- SB have 2 Cutscenes with unexplainable FPS drops

HW have 0

[Doopliss]

I consider adjusting facial features 10000% more important, but, I just wanted to say that several months later, I still hate the "intentional" way light interacts with a bunch of hairstyles now.

Awesome. I can't escape this on any character.

[Turethir]

Dunno if it's on purpose or not that you didn't mention Thancred, who does look noticeably different and younger, which actually I think hurts his portrayal. Hard to see him as the worn, emotionally fraught man who's gone through the wringer when he looks fresh-faced and younger than before. His HW face (ninja one) I believe hasn't been changed yet so you can actually see how his face reverses all traumatic change as the expansions go on.

If we're talking about Thancred, I strongly suggest that everyone visits the thread dedicated to him where there's so many examples of how he changed. They gave him default Midlander Face 1 when he'd had a custom sculpt since Heavensward and as a Thancred fan it's honestly devastating. I feel like the character I loved has been lost and there's no way to get him back, and I am hoping desperately that they change him. The lips are such a big issue, like with a lot of the player character models, because they're just taken from the default Midlander face.

Any upvotes or replies on that thread are hugely appreciated to help get the issue more widely noticed by the devs.

This is just sad



Lip comparison


Nose/eyes comparison
Note how much narrower his nose becomes!

[Khryseis_Astra]

TBH, I'm more concerned about Thancred's eye color changing for no given reason after Heavensward, but that doesn't have anything to do with the graphics update. I'd really, really like to know why his white (presumably blind?) eye changed back when Y'shtola's didn't! I did go back and look at HW Thancred and he looks pretty rough, but before and after he doesn't look so different to me that it gives me pause. A little younger, maybe, but that could be chalked up to the shave, bath, and losing the tan.

IIRC the in-game reason is that he wasn’t stuck in the Lifestream as long as Y’shtola was, so he didn’t have the same problems as she did. He got to keep his sight, but lost the ability to manipulate aether. (Not sure if the fact that she was a caster and he wasn’t could have played a role in that as well…)

That said, his face is totally different, coming from someone who had a fangirl crush on him for the longest time! The worst (as shown in the helpful gif posted this morning ) is the eyes and mouth being completely different shapes, but even the nose/bridge of the nose is off. I notice a more prominent nose bridge on Lalas too.

Faces are a collection of features… tweak any one of them too much and things look off. Tweak all of them without regard for the actual shapes of the original, and they’re just completely different people. I’ve started saying that my current Hyur could be a cousin to the original, but they’re not even close enough to look like sisters!

[Astronis]

I can't say that I agree with you.

That's fine.

Sibold's facial expression changed entirely; instead of a stern young man, I see a constantly smiling person, which (imo) distorts the message of the story.

Interesting, since I always interpreted Sicard to have a frequent self-satisfied smirk. Perhaps that's why my opinion hasn't changed much--I previously saw him as character that frequently smiles. Subjective opinions be subjective!

I assumed they just hadn't been touched by SE designers yet when I was going through the story on my alt about a month ago.

Very possible. Continuing adjustments to eyelashes notwitstanding, they have said the graphics update would be an expansion-long process.

IIRC the in-game reason is that he wasn’t stuck in the Lifestream as long as Y’shtola was, so he didn’t have the same problems as she did. He got to keep his sight, but lost the ability to manipulate aether. (Not sure if the fact that she was a caster and he wasn’t could have played a role in that as well…)

I'd love to see where this was pointed out in game. It's bugged me for ages and I apparently missed it both times I played through. I knew about him losing his aether manipulating ability, but not where he regained the color in his eye.

Regarding his appearance, I know it's a bit different, but I'm on record as viewing the graphics as an artistic interpretation of a 'Platonic ideal', so he's still well within artistic parameters of 'Thancred' so therefore I still recognize him as such.

[Turnintino]

I'd love to see where this was pointed out in game.

I don't believe they ever explicitly theorize (in the MSQ, at least) that he was less affected because of less time spent in the lifestream; it's just subtext. But I don't know if I'd argue his disability isn't equal to Y'shtola's to begin with, personally. They certainly both ended up not mattering equally, but I digress.

(And I agree that the eye color thing was bizarre too; not to mention that he wore what was basically a makeshift eyepatch over it for two expansions that one would think meant he maybe couldn't see out of it, but here we are. Maybe he was temporarily blind in that eye, but we weren't told in-game, either way.)

As for his face, I don't particularly care about Thancred himself either, but the differences shown still serve to highlight how Face 1 was changed.

[Khryseis_Astra]

(And I agree that the eye color thing was bizarre too; not to mention that he wore what was basically a makeshift eyepatch over it for two expansions that one would think meant he maybe couldn't see out of it, but here we are. Maybe he was temporarily blind in that eye, but we weren't told in-game, either way.)

It’s going to drive me crazy now because I could’ve swore they said something about it… I know Thancred makes references to the eye patch at some point, something along the lines of “I don’t really need it anymore, but chicks think it’s cool.” lol But I found a comment saying that at FanFest 2021, Ishikawa said that Thancred’s eye injury in Dravania was temporary and never meant to affect his eyesight.

As you say though, it’s a perfect illustration of how bad Hyurs got worked over.