Miriam's shoulder clothing

I think you misread what I said. Practical purposes = survival so I wasn't talking about historical accuracy. And there is no "problem" with it other than it being my personal opinion that this style of armor would be a hindrance irl, I certainly have no problem with it in the game.

As I said my team and I in another game (Medieval style) would run in our underwear. I didn't tell them "Hey, put those clothes back on I have a big problem with the historical accuracy of this. Now put on your heavy armor and help me fight this giant crab!"

Simply put I am entitled to feel the armor is poorly designed for practical purposes (heck, for aesthetics too, if I felt that way. It is my opinion after all and it shouldn't be an issue for anyone else)

Shanoa's armor gets my approval btw. She is missing some upper thigh armor which is no big deal because it was often cloth or lightly armored since that is a spot that needs to move and bend. She has heavy armor on most of her legs (higher than Miriam's), protected on the sides by a sort of hanging skirt armor as well as a sturdy chestplate. Her unarmored shoulders and back are necessary because of the glyphs and her arms don't have armor because, as we all know, she attacks rapidly with both hands like a drunken mosher. Even if she didn't have the glyphs the unarmored shoulders still work for that reason and the back is a place you ideally wouldn't be showing your enemy anyway.
My point is there is a world of difference between the two designs. I am fine with both btw

Edit: Just noticed your fanart is missing some of the features I was talking about: 

Her legs are essentially completely covered because of the higher base armor and the fact that she could pivot to cover that area with her hanging side armor. Miriam would have to outright dodge hence why I find the leg armor to be an issue (from an irl view). 

Hopefully that clears things up, I don't want to drag this off topic any further

I agree, a helmet is a lifesaver. I recall Vegetius (Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus) complaining that the Romans had become lazy and stopped training with helmets of full weight.
I personally like the look of the chalcidian helmet, especially the ones with the reinforced cranial ridge. I am a classics major though so it is expected of me to be biased.

Speaking of helmets but changing the topic slightly, what about something along the lines of a hachigane or a metal reinforced headband kind of head protection? Something like that would work for Miriam, especially with the other head attire she already has.

You guys can certainly talk about whatever you want, but I certainly do NOT want to get into a discussion about historical accuracy. Nothing in an Igavania game NEEDS to be historically accurate. Iga just usually includes a few things that are as a bonus.

What I like about these games are the many different items. They usually span many different eras. I would be surprised if we didn't have items thousands of years apart.

After letting the new design alteration settle in I find myself still in approval of the change and my assumptions that it gives the impression she's trying to hide the curse, and being outpaced by it, lacking. What strikes my curiosity now is how low her outfit sits on her chest. It's still high enough to cover a nipple realistically but it just looks off to me. Like at any moment a high jump can cause some exposure. Just my two cents.

What the fudge is that? She (?) looks like Q-bert or Birdo from Mario 2.

As a side note I really hope they go back to the color pallette of the concept art. I like the pale skin and darker clothes and hair and, well, just about everything in the concept art more.

I prefer her with a bare shoulder but it will probably be customizable ! I like her pale skin as well, agree with you.