Something that has stood out to me about some of the artwork for D3 equipment has been that they remind me quite a bit of some of the art from Final Fantasy XII. Some of the hand to hand Monk weapons remind me of FFIX weapons but I couldn't find any examples online. I have a concept art book but I don't have a scanner.

Compare this plate mail art

http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/plate-mail

To Balthier (also rainbows)

http://media.giantbomb.com/uploads/0/6530/192425-balthier_large.jpg

Judges

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_vXD-k6kp-qI/TOb-K03txbI/AAAAAAAACv4/9A1flptc6yE/s1600/pt1.jpg

Also the helmets

http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/helm/

Does anyone else see it? A lot of the curves and angles are really similar. I would even wonder if some of the same artists worked on both games but that would be weird.

Everyone who worked on the art on FFXII doesn't speak English, so I doubt it.

The judges were so cool in FFXII

The designs in both games are based on typical medieval European armour designs, so there are bound to be some similarities. There's nothing more to it.

@WinterSnowblind: You would be hardpressed to find any real armor that would resemble any of that except for the cloth stuff. The best you get is Maximillian plate armor. Why aren't I comparing this to all fantasy games then if that's the only connection? World of Warcraft has a distinctive style. Large shoulders, stocky people, big spikes, exaggerated polygonal objects even outside of the 3D models. Other art with those features would remind you of WoW. D3 and FFXII share certain things in their armor such as their intricate designs, and somewhat vaguely biomechanical look.

Edit: I'm not saying they stole anything. That would be stupid. Plus, nothing is even that similar. It just looks like one of the 2D artists might have worked for them. H.R. Geiger's art always is obvious that he did it. You know what, I'm not even saying that. I'm saying "Hey these look similar isn't that odd"

@WinterSnowblind said:

The designs in both games are based on typical medieval European armour designs, so there are bound to be some similarities. There's nothing more to it.

Also quick search : http://www.darkroastedblend.com/2009/02/medieval-suits-of-armor.html.

The Distinctive stuff from the Judge's design is the helmets (Japanese "masked" kabuto in some cases). Not the same artist. Everything comes from the same pool. Key connection is that there was a similar effort to mix Classic european armor with some Asian and middle Eastern motifs.Or at least acknowledge their corresponding coolness :).