Round 9 Scores!
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Meta-Kirby - Phountain
F8AL: I can see what you were trying to accomplish here with this sprite. You were successful in turning Lampent into a water type because the colours really go together with each other, everything looks like they belong with each other and work together.
Firus: I love what you did with Phountain, taking the torch concept of Lampent and slightly altering it to be a fountain – rather than just doing a generic sort of water retype, you took it to the next level conceptually (and took advantage of the subtle similarity there). You did a great job of conveying it sprite-wise, as well; the spout of water at the top, the water trickling down the sides, and the water finally dripping off all look completely natural. The one thing I’m a little iffy on is the gold coloring of the “fountain” part – I think a silver or other cool color might’ve worked better, as the gold clashes somewhat with the color of the water, but it doesn’t detract too much from the overall sprite. Well done!
Neon Ness: I’m a huge fan of the concept. I never realized how closely Lampent actually does look like a fountain before this. The subtle blue gradient of the water inside of its glass bulb is very well done, and the way the water spills down over its body is really impressive. Something that seems a little bit off is the ‘flame’ shape in the middle. If it’s supposed to represent the pressure of the fountain spray from within, then maybe a lighter color or something that resembled bubbles might have looked more cohesive. An unusual color choice with the brass look for Lampent, but it makes a pleasing contrast with the blue in the water. Some parts of Lampent’s cap are a little rough; I can’t quite get a sense of the direction of the lighting and it looks like there might be some sort of texture, but it’s hard to tell. All in all this is a well designed sprite, you worked from a really strong idea here.
F8AL: 8/10
Firus: 9.5/10
Neon Ness: 8/10
FINAL: 8.5/10
CrimsonFeint - Odobentai
F8AL: Wow! From a first glance at your sprite, it's very well done. I like the bubbles you add to it's tail and all the colours match and blend in together. Keep up the good work!
Firus: You had a great approach here. I love how you subtly transformed Entei from the dog-beast he is into a seal-like creature, and Entei actually lends itself quite well to that concept, surprisingly. The fins, coral-esque face, and tusks all help add to the concept and really help it feel like a water type without doing any of the cliché alterations generally involved in a retype. The bubbles look really nice, but I find that they are ultimately the biggest detractor in the sprite. When I look at them alone, it looks great, but in the context of the whole sprite, they seem very abstract and makes Entei’s body seem less concrete. That flaw aside, though, you made a really great sprite. Keep up the good work!
Neon Ness: At first I almost didn’t realize it was Entei. You kept just enough parts that I did recognize what it was though, which actually makes me like this more. The crest on the forehead is probably my favorite element, the fact that it resembles coral makes the entry that much better looking. The fur, the tusks, the fins—almost everything you altered looks so well thought out, and yet it still feels like Entei. The body angle is probably the biggest issue. The angle of the torso/tail looks like they’re floating when I imagine it should be lying flat on the ground. Fixing that would make the front and back half look more connected. I also wish the tail had more definition. The bubbles look nice, but I have a hard time imagining how it fits on Entei’s body as an actual form. It just looks like a flat plane of cartoon bubbles, not something we could actually walk around and see in 3 dimensions. I would like to see more of an actual tail, or at least have the bubbles resemble the shape of one. This looks like it was incredibly difficult to work with considering the angle and body type you chose, so I commend you for that.
F8AL: 9/10
Firus: 8/10
Neon Ness: 8/10
FINAL: 8.33/10
Daddy Ash - Suicinine
F8AL: For a first attempt at creating a sprite, this one is quite decent. I like the part where you added the fins at the end of it's tail and blue matches the sprite well. The mane also looks cool and looks like it belongs on it's head.
Firus: Overall a decent sprite, but there are some flaws here. The most glaring to me is the coloring. I like the blue you used, but a more tame color would’ve been more appropriate, I think. Brighter blues tend to lend themselves more to ice, while duller ones lend themselves better for water. Also, the tails are both off a shade from the body. From looking into it some, I think that’s because they’re from Vaporeon’s tail – which is fine, because you worked them into the sprite pretty well, but always make sure to change the colors and blend pieces when you take them from other sprites. On that same note, Suicune’s crest could’ve been blended into the sprite better too. Suicune’s crest isn’t the same color as Suicune’s body either, but it’s duller than Ninetales’s body color, which makes it clash a bit. Overall, I do wish you’d done more with the sprite – retypes are harder to work with than other sprites, I know I started out in a similar position, but try to think outside the box with retypes to really make the different type come alive in the Pokémon.
Neon Ness: The colors are incredible, if a little bright. For most of it, it looks like each shadow is a slightly more bluish hue than its lighter counterpart, which creates a pleasing aesthetic. While not necessarily realistic, I like this better than just using a darker tone of the same color for all of the shadows. I’m glad you altered the ends of the tails for a more marine look as well. But the way they’ve been attached is still a little awkward. They also look duller than the rest of the body for some reason; it probably would have made more sense to have them share a similar color scheme. The crest shares similar problems. It looks tacked on, and it could have been resized smaller to fit Ninetails. It too looks dull compared to the saturated cyan you used for most of the fur. The mane fur could have benefitted from a smoother shape. The jagged look is kind of striking since most of the body is made of smoother lines. I also noticed that some outlines are a dark, prismatic blue (inside of the tails/legs) while others are black (muzzle/neck). Best to stick to one or the other for the sake of cohesion. Darker duller tones (in general) work better for outlines.
F8AL: 7/10
Firus: 6/10
Neon Ness: 7/10
FINAL: 6.67/10
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Congratulations to
Meta-Kirby for being the winner of Round 9 in his second Grand Festival victory!
This next week's prompt:
Fuse a Pokémon with a trainer.
The deadline is Friday, May 20th at 11:59 PM EST.