Tbh I think all of the new designs look good on their own, just fall flat compared to the originals. The Barbara example I mentioned - she looks perfectly fine now but I just loved that full mane of curly hair if only because it’s so rare in Japanese games (plus she was really similar to my wife before). At the very least, I’m glad it was still Tomomi Kobayashi redesigning the characters, so at least it was HER remixing her designs, and not someone else butchering them, so I’m honestly A-OK with that, even if I preferred the older designs.

I guess I might just go with Hawke then! Still, it’s interesting since whatever guide I look up online, everyone has a totally different opinion on who is the best and the worst. I’ve seen Gray consistently appear on both lists, never really in the middle