#my gold standard is still Orochi 3

[rex101111]

I feel about Musou type games the same way I think horror movie fans feel about horror. I keep hearing people from outside just completely dismiss the genre off hand as simple minded button mashing, that all the games are the same but with different paint jobs, and most of the time those comments come from people who just haven't played any Musou games at all. There are good games in this genre and bad ones just like any other, and if you actually pay attention and give them a closer look you can tell when someone actually made an effort when making those games. Some games focus more on simple action, like Hyrule Warriors, others have a bigger emphasis on actual strategy and positioning in very specific scenarios, like Fire Emblem or Samurai Warriors. A lot of the licensed stuff that Koei made is actually pretty good and interesting. Like, Band Of The Hawk for instance. Its admittedly a bit sparse, but it has a lot of interesting ideas, like Guts' moveset getting more complex and varied as the main story progresses, unlocking more special moves and changing up his super. A single character that changes his moveset depending on his costume, that's really clever. Anyway give Musou games a fair shake. They ain't for everyone but dismissing them is just being stupid.

[tea-cat-arts]

Where would you rank every battlesuit of kiana,mei and bronya in terms of design?

Seen your recent post and thought of saying this

(That’s a lot of designs, so I’m not gonna do in depth commentary on each individual design here. If you have questions on certain ones rankings, I can elaborate elsewhere. Also, every design within the same tier is the same level of good. I’m not trying to say one design is better than the other if it’s placed higher up on the S tier segment than other)

Disclaimer: I’m trying my best to be objective here, but this is art so personal biases will come into play. I’m not trying to force anyone else’s opinion on this matter, just sharing my thoughts

S (fantastic, wouldn’t change a thing)-

Void drifter (combines elements of both her mother figures with Elements of HoV while still keeping signature elements of Kiana’s designs)

HoV (truly looks like a pissed off goddess ready to kick ass. Set the standard for Herrscher designs)

HoF (already explained this one elsewhere)

HoT (ok, we all already know this design is amazing. I don’t feel the need to explain this one)

Orochi Cuirass (takes the silhouette of Danzai Spectramancer, and refines/streamlines it. The different textures on the blacks help them stay separated. Little splashes of gold keep this design from feeling to flat)

Haxxor Bunny (Bronie was out here doing the cyberpunk edge runners look before edge runners was even a thing. The dot texture makes her feel like she walked straight out of a comic book)

HoR (she looks like the tech queen she is. All the frills help give her a much bigger/grander appearance)

A (good design, could be great with minor changes)

Valkyrie Ranger (very solid starting out design, very little lore relevance)

Prodigal Girl (takes what works with White Comet and makes it scrappier. Feels very true to Kiana’s personality)

Striker Fulminata (if they made the shirt a little longer or given her shorts or tights, I think this would’ve been an excellent starter design for Mei. Looks soft and comfy while still being combat ready)

Drive Kometa (takes the mech elements of Yamabuki armor, puts them into Bronya’s usual silhouette, and puts her in a much more complimentary color)

Silverwing N-EX (Bronya’s literally just living her best life here and I love that for her. Brings her into the APHO aesthetic while keeping bits and pieces of her mech and Angel aesthetics)

B (overall good, but has one minor thing that just isn’t working)

White Comet (solid starting out design, looks kinda like a wet suit ngl)

Knight Moonbeam (looks like a refined version of divine prayer. Feels almost like the type of Valkyrie Kiana was trying to be at the beginning of the story. Personally would’ve liked more color though)

Wolf’s Dawn (solid starter design. I miss the mech legs)

Snowy Sniper (wouldn’t be my first choice in snow gear, but it’s alright. Wish they gave her a bulkier jacket and scarf)

HoTr (oof I want to rank this higher since it’s an excellent evolution of HoR, but it just doesn’t work as part of the trio. Lacks Mei’s purple and Kiana’s orange)

Dimension Breaker (looks more like a snowy sniper skin than a whole new design.

C (overall good, but has one major thing that just isn’t working)

Red Lictor/Radiant Blaze (Void drifter but with more white and only 3 colors. Very flat tone wise)

Crimson Impulse (the first and thankfully last time we see Mei in pink. They added armor in places it just shouldn’t be and it ends up making the design look clunky. Revealing outfit is weird given Mei’s more modest personality at this point in the story)

Danzai Spectranancer (combat jorts. It’s just a lot of overlapping patterns in textures without really intention behind them)

Valkyrie Bladestrike (same color palette problem as Shadow Dash. There’s a lot of unnecessary gaps in the clothes, and the stiff, revealing design doesn’t make sense for her personality)

Valkyrie Chariot (would be ranked higher if it wasn’t for the panty shots. That’s literally my only gripe with this design. Just put her in tights)

Black Nucleus (man, early Honkai really was determined to show us as much Bronya ass as physical possible. I think they should’ve gone with a color other than red)

D (ya, this just isn’t working)

HoFi (already explained this one elsewhere)

Divine Prayer (why nun? Flat tone wise. Never seen a nun outfit turned into shorts before and after this, I never want to again)

Lightning Empress (Mihoyo, get out of here with the revealing school uniforms. Isn’t this supposed to be her Herrscher persona??? She’s not threatening in the slightest)

Shadow Dash (it’s just too much stuff. Having Mei in so much red and black so early in the story muddies the thematic intentions with HoT’s color palette)

Yamabuki Armor (get that 16 y/o’s ass off my screen Mihoyo. Unnecessarily revealing and yellow just isn’t a good main color on Bronya)

F (this is just blatantly a bad design)

HoO (explained this one elsewhere)

Overall thoughts: other than how weirdly sexualized Bronya was early on, I think she’s the most consistent in terms of having good designs, and Kiana is just overall very solid. I feel like the writers just didn’t know what to do with Mei early on, and that ended up getting reflected in her designs, but once they hit their stride they took off sprinting and fell flat on their faces in the end with HoO