[the_darai]

Okay so I felt like there should be a topic on character designs. By far I feel like Lunatea has much better designs than what Phantomile does. It's also a bit more simplistic IMHO.

[Sable-Xeno]

I'm not entirely sure the character design is more simplistic, per say. But then again, It could be just from me trying to compare Lolo, Popka, and the like with, well, Hewpoe. And Moos, who's character design originated in Phantomile. But I will say that the cel-shading the PS2 produces definitely helps the character designs.

And on that note...Klonoa's Zipper shirt. Can we just sit on that for a moment? I mean, he looked pretty adorable in Phantomile, but that Zipper shirt is hugely iconic to his appearance. Hell, his entire Lunatean redesign is iconic to the whole franchise, even being retained for the Phantomile remake. So basically, his design is so good, it warrants being retroactively included. (I won't actually support the remake being better due to having that design, though. If anything, I've always though the collar look looked better on Phantomile!Klonoa. On modern Klonoa, well...it just looks...oddly kinky, I guess.)

[mnstrmthd]

With exception of maybe a few characters, Lunatea's designs are sooo much nicer. I feel like the word you're looking for though is "unified", not so much "simplistic". The colors more than anything are waaayy more balanced and unified than a lot of characters in Phantomile, not just within their own palettes but between other characters' as well. The colors in general are a lot less harsh in general, too. Way more eye-pleasing.

I really want to write more 'cause you guys know characters and their designs are my JAM but I'm so, so tired..
I'll try to write up something better tomorrow, maybe??

[Taxiderby]

Ohhhh boy have I been wanting to sink my teeth into this one, though I'll try to be quick.

I wouldn't say Lunatea's designs are more simplistic per se, but it's not too far off. Let's compare two rather similar designs from both games: The High Priestess of La-Lakoosha,  and the Songstress/Diva Lephise. To avoid unfair treatment due to the aging graphics of Phantomile's original iteration, I'll use a Wii remake render, which offers the same design.

The reason for Klonoa's iconic ears was due to a focus on one's silhouette, so let's start with that.

If you're working with a variety of races, silhouettes are EXTREMELY important, and this is where the simplicity really comes in: For the most part, Lunatea delivers the original's promise and makes silhouettes mean EVERYTHING. Nearly every single character in the game can immediately be identified by their silhouette, which are quite simple, or feature very basic patterns. Phantomile accomplishes this somewhat, but there is a lot of unnecessary rigidness or just general chunkiness, and far too much overlaps, making poses slightly harder to read

Let's move on to detail.

The Priestess has excellent flow, nice, clean, and vertical. Lephise on the other hand, is a goddamn mess. Diagonal lines end abruptly, with the eye having to make sudden jumps to continue, and spheres are thrown in with no real reason. Of course, this isn't always the case -- many Phantomile designs offer the opposite problem, having a total lack of detail, leaving the eye to wander aimlessly.

Ghadius at least offers a nice intimidatingly narrow silhouette. Take notes you awkward tellytubby.

[the_darai]

Omigosh you hit it RIGHT ON THE HEAD of what I was trying to convey. Thank goodness you're on our side. :P

[Randomizer]

Ohhhh boy have I been wanting to sink my teeth into this one, though I'll try to be quick.

I wouldn't say Lunatea's designs are more simplistic per se, but it's not too far off. Let's compare two rather similar designs from both games: The High Priestess of La-Lakoosha,  and the Songstress/Diva Lephise. To avoid unfair treatment due to the aging graphics of Phantomile's original iteration, I'll use a Wii remake render, which offers the same design.
(Image removed from quote.)
The reason for Klonoa's iconic ears was due to a focus on one's silhouette, so let's start with that.
(Image removed from quote.)
If you're working with a variety of races, silhouettes are EXTREMELY important, and this is where the simplicity really comes in: For the most part, Lunatea delivers the original's promise and makes silhouettes mean EVERYTHING. Nearly every single character in the game can immediately be identified by their silhouette, which are quite simple, or feature very basic patterns. Phantomile accomplishes this somewhat, but there is a lot of unnecessary rigidness or just general chunkiness, and far too much overlaps, making poses slightly harder to read

Let's move on to detail.
(Image removed from quote.)
The Priestess has excellent flow, nice, clean, and vertical. Lephise on the other hand, is a goddamn mess. Diagonal lines end abruptly, with the eye having to make sudden jumps to continue, and spheres are thrown in with no real reason. Of course, this isn't always the case -- many Phantomile designs offer the opposite problem, having a total lack of detail, leaving the eye to wander aimlessly.
(Image removed from quote.)
Ghadius at least offers a nice intimidatingly narrow silhouette. Take notes you awkward tellytubby.