I like the new Star Fox designs 😭
listen i'm a character designer and animator. i get the distain for cartoon characters getting hit by the gritty realism beam.
but sometimes gritty realism beam looks cool as hell and is intentional as hell. especially if it's to fit a specific genre like 1980s space opera, or explore creative design choices like incorporating digitigrade legs or winged arms for your anthro characters. your jokes about "ewww they look like gross rotting animals" bore me.
like just look at the costuming and little personal touches!
check out the detailing on fox's leather pack straps and how there's a small seatbelt buckle right above the belt buckle, presumably so he can easily buckle his entire body and pack into his cockpit without extraneous straps getting in the way.
look at how the zipper extends all the way up the jacket's collar, the star wars comlink device on the jacket's utility loop, the gun metal nylon material, the corduroy texture on his pants.
notice how the zipper on falco's jacket doesn't extend up his collar, maybe to account for his beak and give him more range of motion. look at falco's emblem pin, the rubber ribs on his jacket sleeves, the layered pauldrons on his shoulders to mimic feathers, the dual-wielding leather thigh holsters connected to his belt buckle, and how the straps extend up his flight suit and under his jacket.
everything feels so practical, so lived-in, and clearly intentional. and it's not to say a cartoonier style couldn't have included these details, but i think going for more realism allowed the designers to fully explore and implement these details and personal touches without feeling limited by a more basic anatomy and face.
and goddd look at the bird wing decals on falco's arwing!!! that's so fucking cool!!!
Seconding this myself; I 100% get why others aren't feeling it, and I myself am not usually a fan of taking things in this direction? But like...overall I really do think they've managed to do a pretty good job of it here.
