N4G Contest - Day 11: Who Designs the Best

For information on the "20 Days of..." contest, please see https://n4g.com/user/blogpo...

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Congratulations to oasdada, our tenth day winner!

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On the eleventh day, the question we have for you is "Who do you think designs the best characters and worlds for video games?"

This one is extremely easy for me, Chris Avellone.

Let's just list those credentials: Fallout 2, Planescape: Torment (my favorite game of all time), Icewind Dale, SWKotOR 2, Fallout: New Vegas, Pillars of Eternity, Divinity: Original Sin II.

The guy has his hands deep into some of the all time best RPGs out there and it's uncommon that the issues with a game are from his designs and world building, but typically from other elements of the game. Chris Avellone has been a household name for me since Planescape and has rarely disappointed me. Even Alpha Protocol was an enjoyable game for me, and I didn't even know he had a hand in the game until years after its release.

[Segata]

Yoshitaka Amano. His work on Final Fantasy is legendary. He also designed one of my fave characters in the series. Vivi. Before Nomura mucked up the series with belts and zippers. We had Amano. His art is not just great in gaming but is legit museum-worthy art pieces. Anything from Japanese cover art of the games to the characters. They always had a poetic flow to the art. Full of detail yet elegant.

[robtion]

Fumito Ueda. Ico, Shadow of the Colossus, and The Last Guardian all have his distictive style stamped on them and are unique gems.

[Fullmetalevolust]

hehe, you were a step ahead of me. Also gave a huge Ueda shout out, along with George Kamitani of VanillaWare studios.
Oh and congrats to Oasdada.

[Razzer]

Warren Spector. Ultima VI, Wing Commander, System Shock, Thief, Deus Ex. Dude has been around quite a while and still makes great games.

[DarkOcelet]

‎Yoji Shinkawa‎

[Necron]

Hideo Kojima, the man is a genius.

[sinspirit]

Totally agreed. I just rewatched the MGS1 opening scene remake. Gives goosebumps everytime.

His characters were so different and fully realized with histories. And, to have so much attention to their manneurisms and voice acting for its release was way ahead of its time. Each boss has such great dialogue.

[Daeloki]

I'm gonna contradict a previous entry I saw, and say Tetsuya Nomura! Mainly because of Kingdom Hearts. I absolutely love his over the top designs with all the funky belts and zippers, gravity defying clothes and massive shoes (or maybe the feet themselves are massive). And in his defense, I believe his designs have toned down a bit and become somewhat more realistic along the road, but still without loosing the essence of his style.

[stefd75]

For me it's Hideo Kojima for Metal Gear games, Akira Yamaoka for the Silent Hill games music which to me is a big part of the world of Silent Hill, Rockstar all of their games and Bungie for Halo which is still one of my fav FPS's

[slang201V]

Yoji Shinkawa easily..

[ninsigma]

I'm gonna go with Tesuya Nomura. Kingdom hearts and FF7 are two of my favorite games and their designs are really fun and cool. I'm loving the design for FF7R so far as well.

[Tross]

Shigenori Soejima.

[Hardiman]

Shinji Mikami. I loved his work on the Resident Evil series, Dino Crisis and The Evil Within! Hideo Kojima. I can't express the level of excitement I had starting up Metal Gear Solid for the first time! Infiltrating Shadow Moses through the frigid waters water and what followed in that game was revolutionary! The Psycho Mantis battle blew my 17 year old mind! Ueda's work is also truly exceptional! Ico, Shadow of the Colossus and The Last Guardian all are works of art! Also Santa Monica Studio and Naughty Dog are two amazing teams that's games have really impacted me!

[cl1983]

Shigeru Miyamoto

He helped shape Nintendo into the company it is today.

[RosweeSon]

He helped shape gaming

[Plyzz]

Jason Rubin and Andy Gavin. I guess I define ‘’best’’ as whatjust dumfounded me and made me start my “career”(lol) as a gamer. The Jak and Daxter open world design with fluid transition from area to area is phenomenal.

[bluefox755]

Masahiro Ito

[monkey602]

It's going to be an unoriginal answer but Hideo Kojima gets me excited about a game like no other. Metal Gear Solid floored me when it came to little touches like characters reading your memory card and moving your controller, using cigarettes to smoke out lasers, tapping walls to create distractions.. seriously I could be making this list all day and that's only the first Metal Gear Solid.
His creative direction is genuinely unique and I have always been into narrative heavy games.

[monkey602]

If he hadn't gone off the deep end in recent(ish) years it would have totally been worth mentioning Peter Molyneux. The Bullfrog days were incredible.

[Nucler100]

I have multiple but for now I’ll say Hidetaka Miyazaki. Not a direct “artist” of course, but he’s the one who’s responsible for how things ‘look’ in his games. Bloodborne in particular was one of the best designed games I have ever played. If not the best.

Everything in that game was so beautiful/gritty. That combo when executed correctly and perfectly is something truly amazing to see man. From the characters, towns, skies, enemies/bosses, weapons etc. It all meshed so well and was all so finely detailed. You felt that heavy mood/atmosphere the entire game.

[BlackDoomAx]

Shigeru Miyamoto. Mario and Zelda. Enough said :)

[TheGoodestBoi]

Miyazaki. Love the designs of the monsters and levels in Dark Souls 3 and Bloodbourne. It is morbid beauty

[Yi-Long]

There are many creative works in gaming I respect and admire, and there's no doubt some do character design best, others do amazing stuff when it comes to world building, or story, or pushing the boundaries on a technical level, or whatever.

I'm going to go with Tim Schafer. (Psychonauts, Stacking, Grim Fandango, Costume Quest, etc) Why? He's responsible for some legendary games, which all stood out when it comes to originality, character design, world designs, etc etc. He pulls his influences from all over the world, and incorporates them in game that usually mix-and-mash multiple genres, or even kinda creating new ones.

He seems to be heavily involved in all areas of design, and he seems knowledgeable, yet eager to improve and try out new stuff. Artistically, I'd call him ambitious. Not on a technical level, but just taking chances on crazy ideas, and hey, maybe it won't work, but we're gonna try it any way, cause that's the game I want to create...

So yeah, he's been responsible for some iconic gaming characters and worlds.

That's not it though.

He started a gaming company that allows other creators to come in with their projects, and Double Fine (his company) will (as far as I'm aware of) just help them out, allow them their own creative freedoms, but helping them out in other ways, in terms of support, publishing, etc etc.

And, not unimportantly, and keeping true to the old Monkey Island 'Never pay more than 20$ for a video game', their games are often/mostly released as downloadable games, at affordable prices. Of course, these aren't AAA-games, and they take creative risks which won't resonate with everyone, but I feel it's the right way for both their products, as well as their customers.

So, on multiple levels, I feel Tim Schafer is the choice for me. He has used his creative gifts to build something that also now promotes and helps other creative video game makers.

[oasdada]

YAY i won! but didnt get any pm yet?

[FullmetalRoyale]

Hey, congratulations!

[oasdada]

thanx bro

[oasdada]

i would have to go with Neil druckmann.. the way he created Joel and Ellie was just beyond what gaming characters have been before that.. the level of nuance and realism the characters emit is just mind boggling.. not only the main characters but all the characters in both last of us and uncharted 4 were just memorable.

[KevDro22387]

Shigeru Miyamoto pure and simple fun gameplay hands down, Mario and zelda

[GameBoyColor]

Shigenori Soejima. Love his anime characters and badass demons/personas throughout his career.

[Elwenil]

I'll have to go with Hideo Kojima. The characters in the Metal Gear series are both interesting and memorable and have only gotten better over the years.

[SephFF]

Yoshitaka Amano.

[mkis007]

Kojima. No one can get into his head. The fact is we still dont understand what his nect game is. But hes so renowned people are still excited for it.

[Chris092]

Fumito Ueda. I just love shadow of The colossus world design and in The last Guardian i just want to Pet Trico

[solideagle]

Yoji Shinkawa/Hideo Kojima

[NecrumOddBoy]

I want to give a shout out to Mig Perez and his team. He is an independent developer who may never be famous but he built a Castlevania from the ground up called Lecarde Chronicles 2 which is better than an CV in over a decade. I have a great amount of admiration for developers who take their visions and passions to a higher level than the original creators. It like how the best Star Wars films aren't made by George Lucas.

[Platformgamer]

david jaffe: kratos, ares and his vision of greek mithology are astonishing

[Jakens]

Stéphane Beley, Frédéric Jay, Pierre-Arnaud Lambert

For work on Test Drive Unlimited (2006). The game seemed to me ahead of it's time and the island of Oahu was a large and open playground for racing I have never seen before that game. I loved seeing this part of Hawaii through the game. The free drive was pure awesome, with meeting real players, to fast travel, and a clear in-game GPS. Everything in the game just got me. The game TDU 1 respected my time I put into it.

Stéphane Beley also directed The Crew 2. Awesome too.

[pabadamus1]

This is a tough one for me so I will take the easy route and say Hideo Kojima. Even though I do not understand why he is deified by so many I must concede that he creates some of the most interesting and memorable characters in gaming

[Fist4achin]

Goichi Suda. I love his off the wall games that have an adult humor that is hard to find elsewhere. I know it has been a little while since he has done anything, but I look forward to his next release. Some of his games include Killer is Dead, Shadows of the Damned, Lollipop Chainsaw, Killer7, No More Heroes, The Silver Case, etc... I jumped on a little later with Killer7 and have been a fan ever since.

[Smokey55511799]

Theres so many good creators. I would have to say the minds behund rockstars hits. They really know how to immerse someone in their games. I can play gta5 and rdr2 all day, just wish i had all day. Rockstar really knows how to take the time and put out a top quality hit.

[Relientk77]

I'm going to go with David Brevik. He worked on Diablo 1 and 2 at Blizzard. Diablo 2 is one of my favorite games of all time, and Diablo is one of my favorite franchises.

[Stanjara]

Fumito Ueda and Hideo Kojima for me.

[FullmetalRoyale]

Cliff Bleszinski! Lol just kidding.

I love the world of Danganronpa that Kazutaka Kodaka created. Also as extremely flawed as the game was I love what “SWERY” did one Deadly Premonition.
There are way too many to list. I certainly cannot say who is the best designer. I love what Housemarque I guess used to do, now that they’ve moved on from their fantastic(mostly) arcade games.

[mockzer0]

Shigeru Miyamoto. His designs transcend beyond those within the videogame circle. His creations have become household names and broadened the reach of the industry.

[Shadowtaster33]

Hidetaka miyazaki, the worlds he creates is full of hidden depth and packed with story. Legendary characters like Havel the Rock were so interesting to learn about, through item descriptions and snippets of information. He is amazing with the dark souls franchise under his belt.

[ISHU]

I'd say Hideo kojima. That guy hasn't made a single bad game since the original Metal gear games. Even his unfinished game MGS V was way better than games these days. And i can't wait to see what he brings with death stranding.

[Dirtnapstor]

Hideo Kojima.
A friend and I just happened to be discussing about him yesterday! The genius behind his bosses and their actual meaning embedded into his narratives. There have been numerous other characters, settings, and locations that are worthy of praise, but Kojima takes the cake.

[Jorjk]

Hidetaka miyazaki

[Emilio_Estevez]

Worlds - R* as a collaborative.
Characters - Kojima - his characters are so wild and not plain.

[Tzuno]

Gregg Mayles, the creator of some of the Donkey Kong Country 1and 2 on the SNES, he designed caracters like Diddy Kong and King K. Rool using the eye catching Silicon Graphics. Love those games.

[bigmalky]

It has to be Yoko Taro. He always seems to be able to create initially unlikable, quirky or seemingly regular characters, and build them to the most likeable, relatable, realistic characters in video games.

I'm trying to think of anything that tops Nier in terms of attachment to the cast and cant think of anything as powerful... Even TLoU doesn't come close.

[blawren4]

my vote is for whoever designed LoZ structures and enemies. I'm going to say Eiji Aounuma, just to put a name. They weave in historical aspects into the design of the towers and guardians, weapons, natural landmarks in Japan, and the world, especially BOTW, was carefully crafted from the homage to Iwata, to the dragons, to the enemy designs.

[Fullmetalevolust]

Fumito Ueda, the way he designs his worlds and characters to push the boundaries of any console he's worked on is incredible. Him and his amazing team have given us Ico, shadow of the colossus (my favorite design) and the last guardian. His style is distinctive and his game are always highly anticipated. The man's creative mind is pure genius.

I also need to give George Kamitani a huge shoutout because his work will live in infamy. Princess crown, Dragon's crown, Odin's Sphere, Muramasa among other legendary 2d games he has created. His games play like fantasy books, incredible elevated designs, unforgettable vistas and dungeons, haunting music. Vanillaware is a studio of 28 incredibly talented developers. Also highly anticipated.

[coolbeans]

Congrats to oasdada!

I'm going with you on this on cgood. Chris Avellone takes the cake for me. Although I haven't dived deep into his list of created works, there's something about his methodology in crafting characters that I admire. KOTOR 2 is one of the best works of EU Star Wars. As someone much younger growing up with earlier Star Wars games & prequels, to see this totally new direction Kreia showed in respect to morality and Light Side/Dark Side dichotomies was fascinating to me--and still is. Now, reading up on other notable people in real life, it's interesting to see just how many fleshed-out character dynamics in that game find their inspiration in anything from anti-theocracy writings of old to even Ayn Rand (how to treat the poor during some moments). It was one of the most unique, subversive takes on the most ubiquitous franchise of all time.

(P.S. Agreeing with your answer gives me double lotto entries here, right? :P )

[Valiar]

David Brevik, Diablo without him its just some generic arpg.

[Cikatriz_ESP]

Ken Levine. I’m a sucker for worlds where a bump in the road of history leads to a cleverly themed alternate timeline.

Fallout gets points for this as well, though Horizon Zero Dawn perfected the idea and created the first open world that compelled me to explore every nook and cranny.

[xHeavYx]

Kojima, no doubt

[Geobros]

Shigeru Miyamoto (Mario, Link, Donkey Kong etc....)

Akira Toriyama (Chrono, Blue Dragon, Dragon Quest).

[Garethvk]

I used to say it was Chris Roberts until the eternal Alpha that is Star Citizen. I would say now that you have teams vs individuals so I would go with the team at Naughty Dog. From Uncharted to the Last of Us they have created epic worlds.

[ldurham]

Sam Houser and Dan Houser from Rockstar Games. They are behind some of my favorite game series like Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption.

[-Foxtrot]

Hidetaka Miyazaki. The way Bloodborne looks is fantastic.

[anonymousfan]

I would say Drew Karpyshyn, he wrote the scenario for my favorite games ever i.e. Mass Effect 1 & 2 :)

[Shani]

Hideo Kojima for sure. MGS series and also upcoming Death Stranding.

[gobluesamg]

Neil Druckman, Amy Hennig and the Naughty dog team. The beautiful worlds and deep characters make you feel deeply connected. There are few games that make me remember the characters like Uncharted and Last of Us.

[capjacksparrow]

I have a different answer for both. I think Neil Druckman makes the best characters and Ken Levine the best worlds.

[Blobfish69]

Rockstar

[ThiagoMysterio]

Hideo Kojima

Metal Gear Solid games are there to prove this.

[annoyedgamer]

Jason Jones. He was behind Halo: Combat evolved. I was originally going to say Hideo Kojima but he has been mentioned alot already.

[neutralgamer1992]

Hideo Kojima creates characters we care and feel for

another Very underrated studio that doesn't get enough credit for their creativity are insomniac games

[Kribwalker]

Shigeru Miyamoto 100% So many crazy worlds and amazing characters

[Lore]

Tetsuya Nomura, Kingdom Hearts Final Fantasy and Rex from Xenoblade Chronicles 2.

[Arty84]

Miyamoto

[william_cade]

Hidetaka Miyazaki - the guy one of the few fine artists in video games. The man kicked of an entire genre of design/game-play.

[PoopsMcGee]

Simple - it goes to those Naughty Dogs, of course...

[Glphy77]

Suda51. His characters are so memorable to me because they are so weird. They just exude this sense of individuality that you don’t see in other his other characters so nothing really feels like a carbon copy. I think they all have beautiful designs and play to the story that he is trying to tell nicely.

[ziggurcat]

I don't know who is specifically responsible, but Rockstar, and Naughty Dog are two of the best studios out there for creating memorable characters/worlds right now.

But Miyamoto, and Miyazaki are two specific people I can think of off the top of my head.

[EraGamer]

The team at Naughty Dog
I'm a fan of the worlds they are able to craft, from the steller uncharted series to the gory and gruesome Last of us

[gangsta_red]

Hideki Kamiya

He embodies what a video game should be, over the top, ridiculous and extremely fun. While other games are crafting huge worlds to get lost in, emotional stories to cry over, or some underline agenda to push as art, Hideki (and Platinum) just goes for the summer movie type blockbuster, the mindless action that always puts a smile on a face and is never a chore to play. Platinum has produced some of the best games I have played for each system and the man has made or been apart of some of the most iconic games in video game history.

Playing Devil May Cry was an absolute blast, the double gun action was the stuff of John Woo dreams. It really solidified the third person action type genre in a way I haven't necessarily noticed before those games. Doing a combo on the ground, launching the enemy in the air, jumping up to meet that enemy and continuing the combo was the stuff of dreams. Bayonetta continued that tradition and did not disappoint. The Wonderful 101, Viewtiful Joe, Okami, and then we have the games that didn't come from Hideki but still under his umbrella with his signature type style like Vanquish, Mad World and Anarchy Reigns

I love the fact that his own studio continues to produce and make the same type of games in his style with all of them being as action packed and over the top as possible. No matter how absurd, the more the better, it's like a Michael Bay film, except these games from Platinum are actually good.

Props to Shinji Mikami and Goichi Suda who also produce this type of game style for gamers to enjoy.

[The 10th Rider]

I'm gonna have to give a shoutout to Shigesato Itoi. He hasn't made much, but his work on Earthbound/Mother is absolutely fantastic. He created one of the most unique and memorable game universes out there and no one has managed to make anything even remotely similar since then. Other companies have made games with a similar sense of humor, but his ability to combine the familiarity of every day life with the horrific and absolutely bonkers things in the Earthbound universe is just incredible.

[Majin-vegeta]

I'm gonna go With Sony and they're devs/partners.Theyre the only company who are willing to let there devs explore outside their comfort zones and try to create new gaming experiences/genre for their fanbase.Just looked at Resiatance,Little big planet,Mod nation racers,3d dot heroes,Horizon,Bloodborne,The order 1886,Ghost of Tsushima,Days gone etc etc

They're commitment to making new characters is unmatched in this industry.

[BrayanA]

I will go with David Brevik here. Diablo offers one of the best worlds in video gaming.

[ThePsychoGamer]

Gonna have to go with Toshihiro Nagoshi (Super Monkey Ball, Binary Domain, Yakuza) his open world games feel so alive.

[SNACK_SHARK_TROLL]

I'll have to say Brian Allgeier, because of the Ratchet & Clank series. These games pretty much revolutionize the platform genre. And it has some pretty good lore, that helps the game feel more alive and immersive.

[Mikey Mike]

Dan Houser...

[Minus2trill]

yoko taro creator of nier never played the other nier game but automata blew me away with the level designs,concepts and creativity.

[-Ghost]

Shigeru Miyamoto - really enjoyed the games he has created.

[thorstein]

Yuji Horii Dragon Quest.

[voidviper]

Hideo kojima

[InKnight7s]

Yoshitaka Amano and Nomura are the best of the best.

[InKnight7s]

Nomura for me is the best because he did design one of best characters ever introduced this gen which is Noctis, aside that the game been pulled out from him and assigned to Tabata who ruined it. But his design can leave impacts for ever, the swords, the calmness and deep meaning in each characters he design and create it just awesome. Also, Dissidia characters are vary but also he mixed them into main design which is so great. Furthemore his KH designs are so dope, and of course we can't get enough words for brilliant designs of FFVII. So yeah Nomura does it for me.

[ichizon]

Lots of good choices for this question as well, but I'll go with Ragnar Tørnquist. He designed the moody, modern adventure "The Longest Journey", and has pushed for technological innovation in the point and click-genre. He's also behind "Dreamfall", a series of sequels to the previously mentioned game.

The MMORPGs "Anarchy Online" and "The Secret World" may also ring a bell in some people's ears. While not having taken off quite like WoW, they are still critically well received and loved by many. Tørnquist has given life to those worlds.

[JRPGsAreTheBest]

Shigeru Miyamoto, all of the worlds and characters he created are absolutely magical. He is an essential part of Nintendo that makes them so great.

[franwex]

Miyamoto. He really fought for 4 screens with Donkey Kong. Un heard of at that time. It was like creating 4 games. The scrolling screen for Mario and the adding of momentum to players movement, how a player character should react to enemies, all these things that seem obvious to us now.

[DarXyde]

Yoji Shinkawa. Very distinct style that really draws your attention to his work.

[DemonChicken]

Have to go with ‎Yoji Shinkawa‎. Loved all the art for the msg franchise which is my most favourite franchise

[thepatientgamer]

Tetsuya nomura

[MasterofMagnetism]

Tetsuya Nomura. Really like his designs especially in Kingdom Hearts.

[TheGamez100]

Tetsuya Nomura. Amazing job as always with characters and worlds in kingdom hearts.

[TheOnlyMastrx]

Gearbox with Borderlands and Rockstar with everything they do, yes even Table Tennis. I don't know individual creators, but whoever makes their worlds are amazing.

[Nu]

Rockstar developers make some of the best games. Nintendo Developers are also great.

[waleed10440]

in my opinion santa monica studio makes the best worlds and character. There work on all God of War series is one of its kind. Kratos is a mind boggling character and in the last game world was also pretty impressive.