Deadlock has a brilliant cast of characters, but some players are growing increasingly afraid of one of them: Yamato. A few people have even pointed out that she looks like the woman in the painting from Stephen King's IT, which I honestly couldn't see at first, but the more I look at the side-by-side comparison, the more terrified I am.
While she might not be quite as bad as a Stephen King monster, she isn't perhaps as cool as some of the others in Deadlock, like Seven or Bebop. It turns out that her design was established back when Deadlock was called Neon Prime and had more of a cyberpunk-themed world. "Her current design is supposed to be an alien who became accustomed to Japanese culture, as per her lore in Neon Prime," one player says. "In other words, an alien weeb."
Multiple new design concepts have been shared by Valve dev "Yoshi" on Deadlock's Discord, and they seem to steer Yamato away from aliens and towards a yokai, a class of beings from Japanese folklore that encompasses everything from demons, to tricksy shapeshifters, to spirits. The designs were also shared on Deadlock's Reddit, and out of the five concepts, I think the first and fifth stand out.
The first design still retains that scary look as her face will apparently morph into a sinister and creepy yokai when provoked. It certainly won't make players feel any more comfortable around her, but that's not really the point when you're going up against the enemy. Then there's the fifth design. This trades scary for something a little more chic. The clothes, colours, and a yakuza-inspired tattoo sleeve push this concept art up to my top spot (the glowing Oni mask as a hairpiece is also a nice little touch that I didn't clock at first).
Others also prefer the redesigns: "I also like the 'living hair' idea from this concept. I think that the other concept with the hair aspect could be so cool," one player writes. But honestly, as long as Valve keeps the vibe of yakuza yokai, I'd be happy.
However, Yamato isn't the only character that players want to be redesigned. Grey Talon, the group's archer, also has a slightly outdated look. "I was shocked when I heard Grey Talon's voice," another player says. "I thought it was a mean granny of something. Waiting for his redesign as well." I'm also guilty of mistaking Grey Talon for a bloodthirsty grandma, so a new look may be a good idea for the archer. But to be fair, it's still early days for Deadlock, and what Valve has so far is pretty great, so I'm happy to wait for minor changes like character redesigns.
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