Some thoughts on the Astaroth art:
• The final design's bracers / boots and shoulder pauldron look like dark iron material. However, in-game looks like some low-res stone texture, and its actually pretty ugly. This was one of the worst outfits in-game.
• I also really don't like how his boots have no soles, it makes me cringe to think about it logically.
While lore-wise Astaroth's cult has a lot of snake symbolism, Astaroth himself is far from serpentine (more like a rampaging elephant)
Ivy definitely embodies more snake motifs, and even Raph.
the 3rd design in the concept art seems to be a nice variant.
- The mask / snake neck collar and shoulder pauldrons are nearly identical.
- He has some stitches (which imo was one of the cooler things about SC5 astaroth), and the horns are a bit different.
• He doens't have the red scars/skin tears across his chest / thighs It would have been cooler if he only got those scars when he's soul charged (sort of like Taki and her mystic soul charge tattoos). SC Astaroth gets so jacked up that his enhanced musculature forces him to burst out of his skin at the seams.
• The belt buckle of the 2 coiled snakes is less impressive than the current cobra one.
• The snake skin aesthetic for his bracers/boots look too aquatic (too similar to fish scales rather than snake scales) so it gives off a cervantes vibe
The middle design
• I like the asymmetry of the shoulder pauldron
• The face mask at first glance looks good, but in-game the upward pointing grey prongs would probably look stupid.
• A lot of the hooks on his armor look thin and fragile, rather than being robust tusk-like. It makes him actually look less intimidating
• His boots look like ice climbing crampons
1st design:
• Slightly modified classic Astaroth
• His boots / bracers look the most sleek, though I think the cobras on his toe is a little too much.