Because when the norm is a perfect 10 in the sexiest number you can think of, exploitative or not, realistically attractive is still so far under the bar that most people don't want to deal with it.
Aloy is not ugly by any means, her child form is a little strange looking, but hey, kids are strangelooking sometimes. But even that stylized concept art has her being unnaturally gorgeous. I also like it "better" but it's hard not to, it is another example of the idolized female form.
Eh. I'd say she was more fun and interesting to be around because she seemed like a normal person. I just wasn't sexually attracted to her at all.Aloy was sexier than 99% of the embarrassing, pandering designs you usually see specifically because she seemed like a real person.
I think that's probably a much more interesting standard to set.
And I'm not pointing at you and saying you're guilty of this at all - but I'm noticing it over and over again in the way people think about whether or not sexualized designs are acceptable or not. I just want to re-emphasize that this hyper-focus on sexual qualities in female leads is a good indicator that the conversation is lopsidedly masculine to begin with.
I'm certainly guilty of it. But being lopsided or not, we have to have the conversation sometime. Being a guy, I know that my sexual fantasies will always be catered to in video games before my need or want for more fleshed out, 3 dimensional characters, so I'll always fight for more inclusion, more complexity and more representation when I can.
Titties aren't going anywhere.