Fade Design Criticisms

Posted by Steve

Sunday, May 1, 2022 7:29 AM

I feel like there are a few things that are "wrong" with how Fade is presented in the game. I'm no graphic designer, but here are some issues that I see:

Player Icon

Fade's player icon is not very readable in my opinion. Most (if not all) agents show their face in a fairly similar manner: 3/4 angle, visible face, uniform eye level. However, due to the way Fade's icon is cropped, her forehead is where her eyes are expected to be, and her hairline is where her forehead is expected to be.

Fade's eye level is lower than the rest of the agents

In-game example

Combining this with the fact that most of Fade's icon (especially the left side) is just hair, we get people commenting that she looks like a badger in game. I personally see a screaming face. I tried to make an edit of how I perceive her face in-game to demonstrate this.

Actual appearance vs. perceived appearance

This is what I see: it looks like she has angry eyes and an open mouth. It's because other agents would usually have their eyes and mouths there. Do other people see her like this, or is it just me?

Agent Art vs. In-game Model

I think Fade's in-game model is inconsistent with her design. For example, take Reyna whose colors, hair, and just her identity in general is consistent in both her 2d art and 3d model.

Reyna's 3d model looks like her art

Compare this with Fade:

Fade's 3d model looks quite different from her art

Personally, I find the most jarring factor to be her hair. Her hair looks way wavier in her 3d model since the ends go in different directions. Her 2d art shows that she has light/bluish-gray hair, but her 3d model shows dark gray with white tips, which I think is totally different. On a lesser note, Fade's pants and shirt sleeves look gray in her 3d model. In her art, it looks purplish.

Although Reyna's colors aren't perfectly matched, it still feels like it's her. To me, Fade's 3d model looks like a different person. I wouldn't say that this matters too much during a game, just when viewing her in the Agents screen.

Minimap Icon

Not much to say here other than her minimap icon looks like nothing to me. It looks like a blob of flesh, whereas Cypher and Sage look like themselves even at low res.

Fade is the one with the yellow outline. It does not look like her.

That's all. I apologize if my criticism comes off as not constructive; that's not my intention. I'm happy that Riot worked hard to bring us a cool new agent. I just wanted to share what I see when there is a Fade in my game, in case others are seeing it too.

References

  • https://www.reddit.com/r/VALORANT/comments/uerw8r/fade_design_criticisms/
  • https://reddit.com/uerw8r

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