I am going to roughly say I have been a gamer for 39 years, even though I was born in 1983. I really became a gamer a little after having the Nintendo Entertainment System. It was when I got the Sega Genesis that I felt my true calling. Big respect to Nintendo for saving the video games we love today, but the Genesis has a place in my heart. That is not the point of this post, though. Why is it that even today, the unwoke try to bash any form of diversity in video games?
Gaming should cater to all!
Let’s break this down, as gaming is supposed to take you on a fantasy adventure or live a dream that you have had. We still do not have that many diverse characters in the gaming space. Some companies are doing their best, like the old Saint Row titles, most MMO’s, and any fighting game, plus sports games. But there are still more that can be done, and right now the main target at the moment is seeing women lead characters in games. I say so what?
Over the last few years, either the lady characters have not been attractive enough or have been leading the charge. First, why did you make such a claim? And second, have any of you looked in the mirror lately? Some of you really should not be the voice of who is attractive, and that’s on Kami. This leads to God of War Laufey, which is in the God of War Universe, but since players will not be Kratos, it’s a huge problem. This leads to a great quote from Ted Lasso that got it from Walt Whitman.
“Be curious. Not judgmental!”
It’s a quote that resonates well. Judging something even after that amazing trailer with no real criticism, just drinking that haterade. But this was not the first time this happened.
The Imaginary rulebook strikes again!
Player 2 has entered the discussion, our editor Muffy puts her two cents into the topic.
While I haven’t been gaming as long as most, I was following playthroughs like they were my late-night TV shows, because honestly, they kind of were. Games mean something. The imagination, the grit, the adventures, the pure unfiltered joy packed into an endless catalog of titles, that’s the stuff worth celebrating. Not picking apart a game because something doesn’t fit some imaginary rulebook a handful of gamers came up with something somewhere along the way and decided was gospel.
The female lead conversation specifically tends to expose something uglier than just resistance to change, though. It’s selective outrage cosplaying as quality control. Remember when Aloy from Horizon Zero Dawn got dragged through Twitter and forum threads, with people comparing a frowning image of her to fan-made edits where she had Facetuned-perfect skin and a full face of makeup? In a world filled with rogue, hostile machines that could kill her at any moment, somehow the controversy was that she wasn’t dolled up enough. And yet here we are, watching the same tired cycle spin up again. Aesthetic critiques that mysteriously never get aimed at mid male protagonists. Nobody review-bombed every forgettable open-world game starring a nameless bearded guy with a bow or gun. But let a woman lead, especially one who doesn’t fit an eye candy standard, and suddenly everyone’s a game design critic with very strong opinions. Faye isn’t a diversity checkbox. She’s a character with her own legitimately badass story, and she deserves her spotlight.
Looking back to my first experience:
Nicole, a Spartan in DOA 4
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty drops where you see Solid Snake returning in stealth mode, ready to rock and infiltrate. But lo and behold, you are Raiden, the newly appointed lead for the franchise that most gamers HATED. But it was fine and released a spin-off of MGS Revengeance. This should also be fine with any IP. Some people do not like change, as was the case with Street Fighter 3: Double Impact, where Alex was supposed to be the new main character.
Seems that no one can win. Either you introduce new characters to grow the story who will be disliked, or you change the lead’s gender and get review-bombed, especially if they are “unattractive”. So what can be done?
Final Thought:
It makes me wonder who is in these devs’ ears? We had a cancelled Assassin’s Creed game that was taking place during the Civil War. Even a few people bringing up weird points of if Lara Croft were turned into a guy, it would not be a problem. Yeah, it was called Uncharted, and before that, we had Pitfall and Indiana Jones games. The rage bait needs to stop, and also the creativity should not be nerfed. Think on that before stating something ignorant in this creative space. – Beast Out –