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Has there ever been a "woke" game Resetera got behind?

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whatsarobot

whatsarobot

Member
Nov 17, 2017
755
User Banned (A month): Trolling, community generalisation
Seems like any game that tries to tackle big themes has had this board turn on it pretty hard.

Examples this year include more obvious choices like Cyberpunk, which never tried to be "woke" but did claim to tackle big questions around bodies and technology, but also games that have explicitly positioned themselves as having something to say around issues of politics or race, namely Watchdogs Legion which has a thread now where people are mad about, not the content of the podcasts, but the host/actress. The largest shock to me was the backlash against the perception of racism in TLOU pt II, which really billed itself as a story made up of underdogs (same-sex couple, trans youth, colonial themes, etc) but seems like it hasn't hit the mark many on resetera would think it needs to. (Thread here)

In light of these frustrations, I guess I wanted to ask if there have been games released in the last 2-3 years that Resetera more or less agrees "nailed it" on themes of inclusion and justice?

Name them below, let's talk about it.

If we find games that we think nailed it, what do they have in common?

If we're unable to find them, what does it reveal about the industry or about our expectations as a forum?
 

Raccoon

Member
May 31, 2019
15,896
it's not really "woke," but depression/mental health indie games almost always hit the mark

eg celeste, night in the woods iirc
 
TubaZef

TubaZef

Member
Oct 28, 2017
3,563
Brazil
Ikenfell just came out and it's a nice RPG that treats LGBTQ themes pretty well.

It's on every console I think and on Gamepass.
 
Maxime

Maxime

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,975
Life is Strange 2 is the most 2016 USA game possible and y'all slept on it.
 
Plinkerton

Plinkerton

Member
Nov 4, 2017
6,058
I mean if your example of a woke game is Cyberpunk, then that's a problem right off the bat.
 
SnazzyNaz

SnazzyNaz

The Wise Ones
Member
Nov 11, 2019
1,870
Hellblade, if that counts. I also recall this site being pretty positive on The Missing.
 
Sabretooth

Sabretooth

Member
Oct 27, 2017
5,048
India
whatsarobot said:
Seems like any game that tries to tackle big themes has had this board turn on it pretty hard.

Examples this year include more obvious choices like Cyberpunk, which never tried to be "woke" but did claim to tackle big questions around bodies and technology, but also games that have explicitly positioned themselves as having something to say around issues of politics or race, namely Watchdogs Legion which has a thread now where people are mad about, not the content of the podcasts, but the host/actress.
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Are you implying it's lamentable that people are calling out transphobia?
 

FormatCompatible

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
12,071
The Missing was pretty nice overall, which makes it especially sad to see the disgusting shit Swery put in Deadly Premonition 2.

Also the framing of this thread seems quite strange, don't know if it's just me but the OP feels like it has a very "you people are never satisfied" vibe to it.
 
purseowner

purseowner

From the mirror universe
Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,444
UK
How in any definition of the word are Cyberpunk 2077 or Watch Dogs Legion 'woke'?

Also I'm not assuming the background of the OP in saying this, but white folks really need to stop appropriating this word.

You seem to be suggesting it's bad that we call out problematic elements in these games, OP. Can't say I'm convinced this thread was made in good faith.
 
danmaku

danmaku

Member
Nov 5, 2017
3,232
It's almost as if different people had different opinions and there was no hivemind here.
Having a discussion about how certain themes are presented in a game is good, it's not a sign that something is wrong with the game or the forum.
 
It’s Time To Go

It’s Time To Go

Member
Dec 2, 2017
20,570
whatsarobot said:
Seems like any game that tries to tackle big themes has had this board turn on it pretty hard.

Examples this year include more obvious choices like Cyberpunk, which never tried to be "woke" but did claim to tackle big questions around bodies and technology, but also games that have explicitly positioned themselves as having something to say around issues of politics or race, namely Watchdogs Legion which has a thread now where people are mad about, not the content of the podcasts, but the host/actress. The largest shock to me was the backlash against the perception of racism in TLOU pt II, which really billed itself as a story made up of underdogs (same-sex couple, trans youth, colonial themes, etc) but seems like it hasn't hit the mark many on resetera would think it needs to. (Thread here)

In light of these frustrations, I guess I wanted to ask if there have been games released in the last 2-3 years that Resetera more or less agrees "nailed it" on themes of inclusion and justice?

Name them below, let's talk about it.

If we find games that we think nailed it, what do they have in common?

If we're unable to find them, what does it reveal about the industry or about our expectations as a forum?
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
You know this whole thread Is horrendously transparent and Cyberpunk is made by a transphobic Studio.
 
Unclebenny

Unclebenny

Member
Oct 28, 2017
1,766
Your entire framing of this is slightly weird.

So, because there is criticism of a game, despite some attempt at "wokeness" however you want to define it, it isn't accepted and therefore has not passed the imaginary, arbitary woke-o-meter?

Therefore, ERA is too fickle to actually be the arbiter of wokeness it claims to be
it never claimed this

We can both appreciate a game and criticize it's negatives, in fact, that's what discussions around our media should be. Not endless flame wars about whether a games is "good" or not.
 
JustTeaThankYou

JustTeaThankYou

Member
Aug 31, 2019
2,504
whatsarobot said:
Examples this year include more obvious choices like Cyberpunk, which never tried to be "woke" but did claim to tackle big questions around bodies and technology,
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I know this is kind of a side note, but does it actually claim to tackle those things? From the coverage I've seen I've mostly been put off precisely because it doesnt' seem to be really saying anything interesting (at least, not if you've already read the 40 year old fiction is looks to want to mimic): marketing so far makes me think to CDPR "cyberpunk" means edge lords + neon.
 
roguesquirrel

roguesquirrel

The Fallen
Oct 29, 2017
5,483
this op to me just straight up reads as "isnt it RIDICULOUS this forum is upset at transphobia?" with the way it tries to handwave why people arent keen on Cyberpunk or WDL
 
KoopaTheCasual

KoopaTheCasual

Member
Oct 27, 2017
6,730
The dismissal of Life of Strange 2, from some people, because it wasn't about Chloe and Max was embarrassing. Very relevant themes in that game.

Also, Cyberpunk? Woke? Lol, what planet are you on?
 
Jonathan Lanza

Jonathan Lanza

"I've made a Gigantic mistake"
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Feb 8, 2019
6,778
Nothing's perfect. Just because there are critiques to be had about something doesn't mean it's not an overall good package.

Also your first line is really confusing because you've outright admitted that there's nothing "woke" about Cyberpunk. It's not addressing ANYTHING so why even use it as an example?
 

Deleted member 8468

User requested account closure
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Oct 26, 2017
9,109
whatsarobot said:
games that have explicitly positioned themselves as having something to say around issues of politics or race, namely Watchdogs Legion which has a thread now where people are mad about, not the content of the podcasts, but the host/actress.
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Click to shrink...
Watch Dogs Legion doesn't have shit to say. They do want you to think that from the marketing however. It uses current social issues to bring attention to the game, not using the game to bring attention to the actual issues.

You team up with the cops to take down the big bad PMCs. Every bit of public surveillance and oppression is directly the fault of an 'other' entity
 
JigglesBunny

JigglesBunny

Prophet of Truth
Avenger
Oct 27, 2017
31,042
Chicago
"Woke" always sounds so reductive and a bit goading but to answer the question you're actually posing, I think most folks hold Celeste in pretty high regard.
 
TheBiInBilingual

TheBiInBilingual

THE STORE ENSURED ME THERE WOULDN'T BE FILM
Member
Feb 22, 2018
2,788
I figured Era would really love the Ellie - Dina relationship in TLOU Part II

- 1 Lesbian, white
- 1 Bisexual, person of colour, Jewish
- Said bisexual has a kid with her ex, an Asian male
- Said kid is Asian and gets adopted by the couple.

This is neither a dig on era or the game, just a fun/cheeky observation on how Dina and Ellie probably are the most progressive couple in a video game so far, which is a good thing.
 
OP
OP
whatsarobot

whatsarobot

Member
Nov 17, 2017
755
Unclebenny said:
Your entire framing of this is slightly weird.

So, because there is criticism of a game, despite some attempt at "wokeness" however you want to define it, it isn't accepted and therefore has not passed the imaginary, arbitary woke-o-meter?

Therefore, ERA is too fickle to actually be the arbiter of wokeness it claims to be
it never claimed this

We can both appreciate a game and criticize it's negatives, in fact, that's what discussions around our media should be. Not endless flame wars about whether a games is "good" or not.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
I absolutely believe Resetera has a problem with being in a bubble, as some recent threads about gaming in other countries revealed well, but I also think it's the best forum I've found for discussing games and social issues without asshats hijacking every thread.

But these are big questions, even if we can appreciate a game and criticize it's negatives. Some agree with that statement, some don't.

I've appreciated already people talking about mental health as a topic that is generally done well in recent games (Hellblade and Celeste are two examples that came up here). It's clarifying to have this conversation, however clumsily we get into it.
 
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