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I think I've been watching too much Project Runway. I notice myself being more and more intrigued by the clothing designs in my hobbies (anime, video games, comics). As I was growing up, I never really cared much about fashion or clothing. I was, and mostly still am, a jeans and t-shirt kind of person (or sweater depending on the weather). So I can't figure out my interest now. Of course, armor and such in video games is much cooler to look at than summer dresses in a magazine. It's one of those little details that, when it's included in the game and done well (like a good background), is something I really can appreciate and enjoy. Of course, with RPGs, there's that phenomenon that occurs where the characters are in the same clothes for the entire game (either they have a closet filled with twenty pairs of the same outfit, or they wear the clothes on their backs for the months of time that pass in the game. Ew). This is one of those things we tend to ignore because it's not a big deal (I mean, there's plenty other forms of entertainment that do this). But there's a few RPGs in which the time has been taken in the production to design not just one, but many different outfits for the character to wear throughout the game.
I think I remember when I first got to play "dress up" in my RPGs. Way back when the Nintendo 64 was still shiny and new, I was cruising happily through Zelda: Ocarina of Time. After finishing the Temple of Water, I was happy to be able to be able to take off the water tunic because I hated the way it looked on him. The fire tunic looked much better against the slight rust sheen in Link's hair, and, when combined with the mirror shield's red border, made for overall spiffy attire in my mind. I wasn't really thinking in terms of "fashion," per say. I just thought it looked good.
Dark Cloud 2 gave me more of an opportunity to play with my outfits. It was one of the few games that the clothes and items seen on your character would change depending on what you had equipped. You could get new clothes from vendors or by trading in medals earned from the Speda mini games or by completing certain special requirements in the dungeon levels. The outfits you equip have no statistical benefits like in most RPGs, so it's pretty much up to the player what they want the character to wear. You can change hats, shoes, and main outfits. I remember always wanting to make sure that clothes and shoes always matched each other. The female main character had several more outfits to wear than Max did, so I enjoyed cycling through them. You couldn't really mix and match too much though, as the complete attires tended to come as a set. I hated that Panther bikini of Monica's; the thing made her look so slutty. However, the cat ears were adorable.
As I mentioned, Shining Force EXA and Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology gives many more outfit pieces to see on your character. Of course, in games like that, the armor and accessories do give statistical boosts. So I have to use the better equipment, rather than the equipment that I think looks better. Anyway, clothes design in games is something that I'm really starting to be fascinated by. In general, I think it's a part of games that is hardly ever thought about or noticed. I kind of wish that I could see more RPGs where you could see all the different outfits that can be equipped to the characters. I really can respect game creators that put not only beautiful character and setting designs in their games, but also design fantastic armor and clothes to look at. And even more so when the time has been taken to create more than one outfit for the whole story.
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