Welcome to the Non-Fiction Gaming Fashion Show. We take a look at the greatest looks from gaming’s history. If you’re looking for a chic new cosplay, read on.
T-51b Power Armour (Fallout)
James Wilson
I could talk forever about awesome game design and character outfits, with the iconic Batsuit and glorious Knight Solaire springing to mind, however the one item of clothing that stands out, and has for almost two decades, is Fallout‘s T-51 b Power Armour.
It’s so attention-grabbing that when you think of Fallout you instantly think of the armour, and game marketers know this; why do you think Fallout 1, 3 and 4 all feature it on the cover? Plus it has also made an appearance in every game in the series and always builds up to the achievement of finally being able to call some your own.
Fallout 4 will also feature visual armour customisation in the form of a garage, where the player can select for example, pieces of different power armour (T-45 b, T-60 etc).
Who can say they won’t be rocking it when the game comes out?
BlazBlue Outfits (BlazBlue)
KRS 2
It’s really hard for me to pick my favourite outfits. I’ve noticed a pattern of my favourite costumes consistently come from fighting games. And it’s hard to narrow it down. Soul Calibur has some really beautiful and ornate outfits that are almost certainly wildly impractical in a fight.
But I think my favourite costumes are from fighting games by Arc System Works. In particular the clothing from the BlazBlue series really stands out. All the clothing is vibratnly coloured and never boring. Every outfit is distinct from character to character d there is a 0% chance of confusing any character with another.
Hazama wears a sexy black trench coat and vest combination with steel toed shoes, while Ragna wears a red coat covered in buckles. And I adore Noel’s military uniform.
But I have to admit, the costumes in Guilty Gear are also incredible. Another Arc System Works fighting game, I had a hard time choosing between this and BlazBlue.
Dark Souls Armour (Dark Souls)
SeniorStiv
The most intriguing articles of clothing I’ve always found to be the most memorable were the armor sets on the Dark Souls game covers. I’m not completely sure why those particular suits of armor stick out to me, but I’ll try to explain. The armor always seems to convey the difficulty and sense of dread the Souls games ooze with.
They also seem to explain what’s happening in the story to some degree. As many game journalists have pointed out, Dark Souls 3 cover knight has armor that appears to be warped and melted.
From Software and Hidetaka Miyazaki have mentioned that the Lords of Cinder are returning and the fires of the First Flame seem to be going. The PC’s armor reflects this setting with its melted and worn appearance.
That and Dark Souls armor just looks epic in every Souls game.
Tanya (Mortal Kombat Deception)
Aidan B.
Fighting games are famous for their alternate costumes. After all, we spend so much time just looking at the characters, right? Sometimes, though, the default costumes are the best.
Tanya was released during Mortal Kombat 4 as effectively the yellow palette-swap for the female ninja. During the following games, these characters were differentiated more in style. Kitana became more regal, Mileena, a slut, and Tanya took a very dark, brooding look.
Deception’s look epitomises the traits that Tanya boasted and the overall feel of the game. It retained enough of her original outfit to be instantly recognisable in its inspiration.
Obviously not practical for combat (or is it kombat?), she adopted a small side skirt which both modernised her and conveyed Tanya’s role as a self-proclaimed ambassador.
Tidus (Final Fantasy X)
Dan
The Final Fantasy series is no stranger to weird clothes on the villains and protagonists but the one that really stood out to me was Tidus from FFX. I know this guy is a pro water ball player (or whatever that weird sport is) and comes from another plane of existence, but seriously mate your clothes are either horrible or amazing and I can’t tell which.
He’s doubled up on making sure his pants don’t fall down with a belt and suspenders which is prudent though a little weird. Staying on the pants region we can see one pant leg is longer than the other. Now it’s unclear if the extra segment of his pants were zipped off or intentionally designed this way but this lets us see his underwear and creates an unbalanced feeling.
Tearing our gaze up fron Tidus’ crotch we see that his top stops just below the pectorals, we’ve seen this kind of fashion on Trunks in Dragonball Z but at least Vegeta’s son had the prudence to wear a singlet underneath. I can only assume this is a jacket of some kind as it also comes with a hood and doesn’t seem able to cover the middle of the chest.
Finally we see that Tidus is rocking an armoured left arm to protect himself in battle while keeping his sword arm light and free. Perhaps this is why he removed part of his left pant leg, so the balance is diagonal instead of horizontal. Either way it’s super weird, especially when you remember he’s supposed to swim around in this.
For all its lack of function when it comes to the things Tidus needs to do in Final Fantasy X, it does look pretty cool in a Japanese kind of way.
What makes good gaming fashion?
Games often go above and beyond to make their characters stand out. Is there a game you’ve seen where you’ve thought to yourself, “That outfit looks amazing” then let us know in the comments below.
What games/characters have the coolest outfits?
