The Font In Games

[Formalhaut]

So, I'm finally getting to play something I've been meaning to play for a long time, and so I'm playing the Phoenix Wright Trilogy HD on the iPad Mini.

I'm really enjoying it, but, if there's one nag of mine, it's this.

It's the font. I don't know why, but I don't like how they've chosen a Aerial Bold style font. It just seems slightly.. off. It's hardly a huge annoyance, but it's a slight disappointment. It seems out of place.

For many sort of text adventure, or visual novel or whatever games, font is pretty important. It can be unreadable if done badly, or just simply annoying, as is how I'm finding the Aerial Bold choice in the Phoenix Wright iOS port.

Discuss how font can be downright irritating if done badly.

[Jiro]

Typography is immensely important. Content and style are inseparable and if one is letting down the team...

I would have thought serif fonts work best when you're trying to do small text, makes them a little more legible, but who knows. Arial isn't a bad font, it's just not the best when bolded and crammed into a tight little box.

[Shorty]

I am fond of courier/typewriter fonts in games.

I dislike that aerial bold you've used as an example. She looks as if she's trying to be very stern, and based on what she's saying, the bold font may actually be doing her a favor in that context.

[Pete for President]

Seeing Ace Combat: Assault Horizon use the same font as Call of Duty MW2 in it's trailers made me freak out. My nightmares came true.

[Rantz]

Yeah, that looks like a much worse font for the purpose than the one used on the DS.

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I'm not sure if it's just a lazy pick for the port or if the iPad is just too limited in font usage.

I would have thought serif fonts work best when you're trying to do small text, makes them a little more legible, but who knows. Arial isn't a bad font, it's just not the best when bolded and crammed into a tight little box.

Maybe if the resolution is good, as in the iPad case, serif fonts could work, but not so much on the DS. I also don't think the sans/serif choice makes much difference when the text area is so narrow, as the benefit of serifs is to help your eyes follow longer lines. Things like contour and clarity would be more important in this case (which looks worse on the iPad, aside from the whole spacing situation it has going on).

[Quindiana Jones]

You people are such nerds.

[Polnareff]

I have a reverse example. I HATE the font they used for the JP version of Vampire Savior. But when they brought the game here, they used the same font as they used for the English version of Street Fighter Alpha 2. But the original font looked like crap for a game like that. You could still read it, but it just looked so strange.

[Karifean]

I could not imagine the Final Fantasy symbol with a different font.

Same goes for Diablo.