Why women criticise sexualised character designs (READ OP)

Aranjah · Jan 11, 2018

The thing that always bothered me about the Zero Suit is that unless I'm sorely mistaken about my lore (or this was retconned out), the Zero Suit shouldn't be a thing and it should be the Fusion Suit that is under Samus's outer suit. The whole point of the Fusion Suit was that after Samus and her suit were infected with the X parasite, every bit of her suit that could be surgically removed was removed, and the parts that they couldn't remove because they had become too integrated with her body were left, and that was the Fusion Suit. So to me this suggests that this is actually what the interface between her body and her Power/Varia/etc suit looks like.

...But presumably that leans way too far in the practical direction, so they've since downplayed its existence in favor of the Zero Suit which can be easily sexualized.

Been silently following this thread from the beginning; to the regular posters in here, keep up the good work. :D

HypedBeast · Jan 11, 2018

Aranjah said:
The thing that always bothered me about the Zero Suit is that unless I'm sorely mistaken about my lore (or this was retconned out), the Zero Suit shouldn't be a thing and it should be the Fusion Suit that is under Samus's outer suit. The whole point of the Fusion Suit was that after Samus and her suit were infected with the X parasite, every bit of her suit that could be surgically removed was removed, and the parts that they couldn't remove because they had become too integrated with her body were left, and that was the Fusion Suit. So to me this suggests that this is actually what the interface between her body and her Power/Varia/etc suit looks like.

...But presumably that leans way too far in the practical direction, so they've since downplayed its existence in favor of the Zero Suit which can be easily sexualized.

Been silently following this thread from the beginning; to the regular posters in here, keep up the good work. :D

Naw, the Fusion Suit is just her new Power Suit, in the endings she can take off her suit and it she has new version of the Zero Suit.

The Fusion Suit often gets downplayed because it is pretty divisive. I personally dont like it all (probably my least favorite suit behind the PED Suit and the Other M "Gravity Suit".)

Aranjah · Jan 11, 2018

HypedBeast said:
Naw, the Fusion Suit is just her new Power Suit, in the endings she can take off her suit and it she has new version of the Zero Suit.

Oh, okay. I made it pretty close to the end but never actually beat the final boss or two, so I never saw those endings. Thanks for clearing that up for me.

Peanut Cheese Bar · Jan 11, 2018

Samus looks uncharacteristically joyful in those photos. But what do I know. Perhaps she just really loves the "see you next mission" portions of her life.

Platy · Jan 11, 2018

Women criticise sexualised character designs because the biggest surprise of the direct, a continuation of gal fighters, a cute sd funny game with adorable designs and comedic story, has a japanese trailer that makes it looks like Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball =|

Deleted member 35077 · Jan 11, 2018

Platy said:
Women criticise sexualised character designs because the biggest surprise of the direct, a continuation of gal fighters, a cute sd funny game with adorable designs and comedic story, has a japanese trailer that makes it looks like Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball =|

The only positive thing you can say about it is it wasn't a announcement of their continuation of the Doki Doki franchise, a series center around sexual harassment.

Peanut Cheese Bar · Jan 11, 2018

Yeah, SNK Heroines gave me that "quick hit the X and close the window before anyone sees this on your timeline" kinda feeling.

psychowave · Jan 11, 2018

Aranjah said:
The thing that always bothered me about the Zero Suit is that unless I'm sorely mistaken about my lore (or this was retconned out), the Zero Suit shouldn't be a thing and it should be the Fusion Suit that is under Samus's outer suit. The whole point of the Fusion Suit was that after Samus and her suit were infected with the X parasite, every bit of her suit that could be surgically removed was removed, and the parts that they couldn't remove because they had become too integrated with her body were left, and that was the Fusion Suit. So to me this suggests that this is actually what the interface between her body and her Power/Varia/etc suit looks like.

...But presumably that leans way too far in the practical direction, so they've since downplayed its existence in favor of the Zero Suit which can be easily sexualized.

Been silently following this thread from the beginning; to the regular posters in here, keep up the good work. :D

Adding to what has been said, Fusion is the last game in the timeline, so it still makes sense for her to wear the Zero Suit in the other games and Smash.

Also, fun fact (though most of you probably know this already): the design for the Zero Suit in Zero Mission specifies that it shouldn't include high heels. We've actually regressed in terms of Samus's design since then. :(

Peanut Cheese Bar · Jan 11, 2018

psychowave said:
Adding to what has been said, Fusion is the last game in the timeline, so it still makes sense for her to wear the Zero Suit in the other games and Smash.

Also, fun fact (though most of you probably know this already): the design for the Zero Suit in Zero Mission specifies that it shouldn't include high heels. We've actually regressed in terms of Samus's design since then. :(

I'm not feeling like we're going to see Metroid 5 any time soon. I'd be less surprised to see a Super Metroid remake. Though I'll admit I'd rather they not touch that one.

Kinsei · Jan 11, 2018

Peanut Cheese Bar said:
I'm not feeling like we're going to see Metroid 5 any time soon.

Have you gotten 100% in Samus Returns? If not then you should do it. it might change that feeling.

psychowave · Jan 11, 2018

Peanut Cheese Bar said:
I'm not feeling like we're going to see Metroid 5 any time soon. I'd be less surprised to see a Super Metroid remake. Though I'll admit I'd rather they not touch that one.

I thought the ending of Fusion was really interesting and I'd love to see a Metroid game set after it, but yeah, considering they've kept going back on the timeline since it came out, I'm not too optimistic :/

edit: wait, I forgot about the ending stuff in Samus Returns! nevermind, I'm optimistic again :D

Xaszatm · Jan 11, 2018

Kinsei said:
Have you gotten 100% in Samus Returns? If not then you should do it. it might change that feeling.

I don't know, that seemed more like a hint at a Fusion remake rather than Metroid: Dread. Though I'd accept both in a heartbeat.

Peanut Cheese Bar · Jan 11, 2018

Kinsei said:
Have you gotten 100% in Samus Returns? If not then you should do it. it might change that feeling.

I have not, but I really need to make it a priority now.

ThankDougie · Jan 11, 2018

Watched the Nintendo Direct this morning and was pumped to hear about Ys VIII until I saw this shit. You have to be kidding.

psychowave · Jan 11, 2018

Xaszatm said:
I don't know, that seemed more like a hint at a Fusion remake rather than Metroid: Dread. Though I'd accept both in a heartbeat.

If they remake Fusion (which I wouldn't mind, but I'd prefer a new game) then I hope they manage to explicitly retcon Other M in it.

"Hey Adam, remember when you were my stern but capable boss? Imagine if you had been my abusive father/boyfriend who is also clearly Sakamoto's self insert which is kinda weird when you think about it instead? Haha, that would've been wild"

Kinsei · Jan 11, 2018

Xaszatm said:
I don't know, that seemed more like a hint at a Fusion remake rather than Metroid: Dread. Though I'd accept both in a heartbeat.

Really?

A faction of evil Chozo have nothing to do with Fusion.

DragonKeeper · Jan 11, 2018

ThankDougie said:
Watched the Nintendo Direct this morning and was pumped to hear about Ys VIII until I saw this shit. You have to be kidding.

Yeah, that really irritates me. I'm very interested in the game but I have a backlog, and lots of games vying for my limited time and money. Shit like that can push me into skipping it.

Xaszatm · Jan 11, 2018

psychowave said:
If they remake Fusion (which I wouldn't mind, but I'd prefer a new game) then I hope they manage to explicitly retcon Other M in it.

"Hey Adam, remember when you were my stern but capable boss? Imagine if you had been my abusive father/boyfriend who is also clearly Sakamoto's self insert which is kinda weird when you think about it instead? Haha, that would've been wild"

What really annoys about Other M, like what really annoys me, is that there are actually the elements for a very good story in there...it's just done in such a terrible manner. Like, if it was just pure garbage I'd forget about it, but I can see what Sakamoto was going for (a deconstruction followed by a reconstruction) but the deconstruction takes place...throughout the whole game and the reconstruction doesn't happen until like the last few seconds which just annoys me. Also, I'd be happy if they didn't even mentioned it. Like, Other M is the definition of a unnecessary prequel. Everything you needed to know in Other M...is told to you in like a paragraph from Fusion. That entire game can be summed up as "This computer reminds of Adam, my mentor who died saving me" and TA-DAH, no game is needed. I mean, you don't even need to care about "The Federation is shady" because Fusion already does that.

Kinsei said:
Really?

A faction of evil Chozo have nothing to do with Fusion.

...I completely forgot about that. Yeah, that should be interesting.

Peanut Cheese Bar · Jan 11, 2018

Looking at a lot of the threads popping up since the direct happened this morning is making me realize how much I'll miss this thread when it closes. Cause aside from a few stranglers, you're all a real joy to be around.

psychowave · Jan 11, 2018

Xaszatm said:
What really annoys about Other M, like what really annoys me, is that there are actually the elements for a very good story in there...it's just done in such a terrible manner. Like, if it was just pure garbage I'd forget about it, but I can see what Sakamoto was going for (a deconstruction followed by a reconstruction) but the deconstruction takes place...throughout the whole game and the reconstruction doesn't happen until like the last few seconds which just annoys me. Also, I'd be happy if they didn't even mentioned it. Like, Other M is the definition of a unnecessary prequel. Everything you needed to know in Other M...is told to you in like a paragraph from Fusion. That entire game can be summed up as "This computer reminds of Adam, my mentor who died saving me" and TA-DAH, no game is needed. I mean, you don't even need to care about "The Federation is shady" because Fusion already does that.

To be honest, I truly believe that Other M happened at least in part because Samus is the Lightning to Sakamoto's Toriyama, and the best way to self insert himself was to do so as Samus's boss. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
That said, as much as I think his vision of Samus is disgusting and misogynistic, I kinda respect him in the sense that he seems to have realized that basically 100% of fans vehemently disagree with it, and he seems to be okay with letting it go instead of doubling down on it. That's something that I think most creators wouldn't do.

Redcrayon · Jan 11, 2018

Peanut Cheese Bar said:
Looking at a lot of the threads popping up since the direct happened this morning is making me realize how much I'll miss this thread when it closes. Cause aside from a few stranglers, you're all a real joy to be around.

It's been quite a ride, educational too. Watch out for those stranglers :D

Choppasmith · Jan 11, 2018

Platy said:
Women criticise sexualised character designs because the biggest surprise of the direct, a continuation of gal fighters, a cute sd funny game with adorable designs and comedic story, has a japanese trailer that makes it looks like Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball =|

Yeah copying over what I posted in the thread, I've always hoped for a new Gal Fighters. I'd argue that it's a good example of how an all women fighting game could work. No sexualization or fan service, just cartoonish violence.

I'm glad there seems to be a hefty amount of customization options. The US trailer showed off practical outfits while the Japanese trailer was basically all bikini fighters. Not sure if this'll lead to censorship or not between regions. Hope they can maintain a good balance.

Castile said:
The only positive thing you can say about it is it wasn't a announcement of their continuation of the Doki Doki franchise, a series center around sexual harassment.

Yeah, I really wonder what they were thinking with that franchise. Glad they seem to have buried it.

Xaszatm · Jan 11, 2018

psychowave said:
To be honest, I truly believe that Other M happened at least in part because Samus is the Lightning to Sakamoto's Toriyama, and the best way to self insert himself was to do so as Samus's boss. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
That said, as much as I think his vision of Samus is disgusting and misogynistic, I kinda respect him in the sense that he seems to have realized that basically 100% of fans vehemently disagree with it, and he seems to be okay with letting it go instead of doubling down on it. That's something that I think most creators wouldn't do.

Eh, maybe? It's weird, going back into Fusion, you can actually see the threads that would create Other M there, and the big emphasis on the "baby" metroid is shown in Super Metroid (both in the official games and in side content) so it's not like it wasn't there before, it's just that Other M just brought both back in a really bad way. I think he should stick with action cutscenes and leave and story beats to someone else. Other M, when it remembers its an action game, pulls of some impressive stuff but most is ruined by the fact that the slow story keeps swapping out Samus for someone else.

Not to mention the fact that these soldiers must be giant because why the hell is she so small!?!

psychowave · Jan 11, 2018

Xaszatm said:
Eh, maybe? It's weird, going back into Fusion, you can actually see the threads that would create Other M there, and the big emphasis on the "baby" metroid is shown in Super Metroid (both in the official games and in side content) so it's not like it wasn't there before, it's just that Other M just brought both back in a really bad way. I think he should stick with action cutscenes and leave and story beats to someone else. Other M, when it remembers its an action game, pulls of some impressive stuff but most is ruined by the fact that the slow story keeps swapping out Samus for someone else.

Not to mention the fact that these soldiers must be giant because why the hell is she so small!?!

Well yeah, the baby stuff was always there, but that's not necessarily misogynistic (as long as it's just one part of Samus's character and not the whole thing like it is in Other M). I'm talking more about the shittier parts of Other M, like, as you said, Samus being tiny in comparison to the male characters (and the other female characters being even shorter than her), or her terrible, awful, disgusting relationship with Adam, or Adam himself being portrayed as a hero and not the abusive jackass that he is and stealing the spotlight from her, or the constant T&A, or Anthony being another misogynistic jerk (why does the fanbase like him!?), or her crying when she sees Ridley, or Samus being unable to resolve any major plot threads and needing men to do it for her, or the ridiculous amount of bad "symbolism" (BOTTLE SHIP. GET IT, BECAUSE IT'S LIKE A BABY'S BOTTLE. THAT YOU WOULD FEED TO A BABY. IF YOU WERE A WOMAN. BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT WOMEN DO. BOTTLE SHIP. METROID OTHER M. M-O-M. MOTHER BRAIN. MOTHER. BOTTLE SHIP. THE BABY. THE BABY. THE BABY), or... yeah.

Xaszatm · Jan 11, 2018

psychowave said:
Well yeah, the baby stuff was always there, but that's not necessarily misogynistic (as long as it's just one part of Samus's character and not the whole thing like it is in Other M). I'm talking more about the shittier parts of Other M, like, as you said, Samus being tiny in comparison to the male characters (and the other female characters being even shorter than her), or her terrible, awful, disgusting relationship with Adam, or Adam himself being portrayed as a hero and not the abusive jackass that he is and stealing the spotlight from her, or the constant T&A, or Anthony being another misogynistic jerk (why does the fanbase like him!?), or her crying when she sees Ridley, or Samus being unable to resolve any major plot threads and needing men to do it for her, or the ridiculous amount of bad "symbolism" (BOTTLE SHIP. GET IT, BECAUSE IT'S LIKE A BABY'S BOTTLE. THAT YOU WOULD FEED TO A BABY. IF YOU WERE A WOMAN. BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT WOMEN DO. BOTTLE SHIP. METROID OTHER M. M-O-M. MOTHER BRAIN. MOTHER. BOTTLE SHIP. THE BABY. THE BABY. THE BABY), or... yeah.

Oh yeah, like, if I wanted to see a better relationship between Samus and Adam...I'd just read the manga. It's semi-canon anyway and Adam isn't nearly this abusive there. Like I said, Other M is the world's most unnecessary game in the history of unnecessary games. The only thing I really liked (in concept, execution was lacking) was the MB idea. I mean, I would have preferred her to transform into the Super Metroid final boss (and thought that was what was going to happen given how the intro shows us this boss) but the idea of Mother Brain running around in a human body isn't an inherently bad one and one I'd honestly like to see again.

I still don't know why they thought monologues would be a good idea, it just ruins the pacing of the game. In Other M the game wants to run you towards the next point as fast as you can...then just like stop for like 15 minutes to hear people sit around and talk...like...really?

Morrigan · Jan 11, 2018

BernardoOne said:
LMAO, it's nice to see my gif is still used. First thing I did after that horrible Duchess quest.

Oh, that gif is yours? Nice, had no idea. It's a great gif. :D

ThankDougie said:
Watched the Nintendo Direct this morning and was pumped to hear about Ys VIII until I saw this shit. You have to be kidding.

I'm playing Ys VIII and it's a great game, but yeah that shit is obnoxious and I haven't even gotten to that part yet. But the one female party member I recruited so far, well...
- First scene with her, she's introduced by Adol accidentally walking in on her coming out of a bath with just a towel around her body; and of course she yelps out in surprise and drops her towel and is all embarrassed and angry!! and poor Adol is all flummoxed too! *massive eye roll*
- She's a competent fencer and a noblewoman. But of course she wears short shorts that are so incredibly small and tight they might as well be panties, and a tight form-fitting corset. And her alternate costumes are even worse.

So yeah, that was a bad start. I rolled my eyes and then continued to play and it wasn't so bad after that, but as I said, I didn't get to the part with Dana and those other girls who are even more ridiculously sexualized.

It's disappointing from Ys and Falcom, because this is a clear downgrade in how women are represented compared to their previous games. Ys Seven had far better designs, both for male and female characters; the lead female character even wore... (gasps) pants. Yes, actual trousers.

psychowave said:
To be honest, I truly believe that Other M happened at least in part because Samus is the Lightning to Sakamoto's Toriyama, and the best way to self insert himself was to do so as Samus's boss. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
That said, as much as I think his vision of Samus is disgusting and misogynistic, I kinda respect him in the sense that he seems to have realized that basically 100% of fans vehemently disagree with it, and he seems to be okay with letting it go instead of doubling down on it. That's something that I think most creators wouldn't do.

Oh? I didn't know he did that. That's... a bit encouraging I suppose. :)

Xaszatm · Jan 11, 2018

Morrigan said:
Oh? I didn't know he did that. That's... a bit encouraging I suppose. :)

I don't know if I'd call it letting it go, but I do recall an interview with him saying that he did think of Samus Returns in the context of the fans or something along those lines. I think Sakamoto is a great action director but cannot for the life of him do story well.

psychowave · Jan 11, 2018

Xaszatm said:
Oh yeah, like, if I wanted to see a better relationship between Samus and Adam...I'd just read the manga. It's semi-canon anyway and Adam isn't nearly this abusive there. Like I said, Other M is the world's most unnecessary game in the history of unnecessary games. The only thing I really liked (in concept, execution was lacking) was the MB idea. I mean, I would have preferred her to transform into the Super Metroid final boss (and thought that was what was going to happen given how the intro shows us this boss) but the idea of Mother Brain running around in a human body isn't an inherently bad one and one I'd honestly like to see again.

I still don't know why they thought monologues would be a good idea, it just ruins the pacing of the game. In Other M the game wants to run you towards the next point as fast as you can...then just like stop for like 15 minutes to hear people sit around and talk...like...really?

Yeah, the idea of Mother Brain in a human body is indeed pretty cool, but I rolled my eyes at the execution because of course she's a cute girl with a childish hairpin. I also remember her having some mommy issues too (GET IT THIS IS A GAME ABOUT MOTHERS), but I think my brain has blocked the memory to protect itself.
I've never read the manga, actually. I should get around to doing that sometimes.

Morrigan said:
Oh? I didn't know he did that. That's... a bit encouraging I suppose. :)

I mean, to be fair that's just me guessing since he's involved with Samus Returns and that game was fine, plus Nintendo not ever acknowledging Other M. For all we know they could announce Other M 2 tomorrow or something. But I'm hoping he really has chosen to let his "vision" go in favor of the more minimalistic (plot-wise) Metroid games that fans enjoy.

Redcrayon · Jan 11, 2018

Morrigan said:
Oh, that gif is yours? Nice, had no idea. It's a great gif. :D

I'm playing Ys VIII and it's a great game, but yeah that shit is obnoxious and I haven't even gotten to that part yet. But the one female party member I recruited so far, well...
- First scene with her, she's introduced by Adol accidentally walking in on her coming out of a bath with just a towel around her body; and of course she yelps out in surprise and drops her towel and is all embarrassed and angry!! and poor Adol is all flummoxed too! *massive eye roll*
- She's a competent fencer and a noblewoman. But of course she wears short shorts that are so incredibly small and tight they might as well be panties, and a tight form-fitting corset. And her alternate costumes are even worse.

So yeah, that was a bad start. I rolled my eyes and then continued to play and it wasn't so bad after that, but as I said, I didn't get to the part with Dana and those other girls who are even more ridiculously sexualized.

It's disappointing from Ys and Falcom, because this is a clear downgrade in how women are represented compared to their previous games. Ys Seven had far better designs, both for male and female characters; the lead female character even wore... (gasps) pants. Yes, actual trousers.

Oh? I didn't know he did that. That's... a bit encouraging I suppose. :)

I rolled my eyes at that bit because, aside from what you outlined, it's not too long after they made Trails of Cold Steel with its intro between Rean and Alisa being another 'you pervert!' unfortunate accident. There have to be more ways to introduce a male and female young adventurer without two castaways and two students both having the same one.

I outlined my thoughts on Dana way upthread but yeah, it's not great.

Morrigan · Jan 11, 2018

Redcrayon said:
I rolled my eyes at that bit because, aside from what you outlined, it's not too long after they made Trails of Cold Steel with its intro between Rean and Alisa being another 'you pervert!' unfortunate accident. There have to be more ways to introduce a male and female young adventurer without two castaways and two students both having the same one.

Yup, was instantly reminded of that too. It's an incredibly tiresome cliché. And of course they always paint the female character as being unreasonable about the whole thing too. I bet you later in the game Laxia finally gets over that incident and apologizes to Adol for "overreacting". And of course Adol will be a gentleman about it all. *eye-roll* I could be wrong, of course, but I'd be shocked if something like it doesn't happen.

Redcrayon · Jan 11, 2018

Morrigan said:
Yup, was instantly reminded of that too. It's an incredibly tiresome cliché. And of course they always paint the female character as being unreasonable about the whole thing too. I bet you later in the game Laxia finally gets over that incident and apologizes to Adol for "overreacting". And of course Adol will be a gentleman about it all. *eye-roll* I could be wrong, of course, but I'd be shocked if something like it doesn't happen.

I just thought of her background as an archaeologists daughter, and thought it would have been a better intro to find her admiring one of the landmarks. Or making a map/sketch. Or trying to translate a sigil. Or showing off her rapier skills, or showing off her being comfortable hiking/navigating around, or basically any aspect of her other than 'im a pretty young woman and you've accidentally invaded my privacy'.

weemadarthur · Jan 11, 2018

Redcrayon said:
I just thought of her background as an archaeologists daughter, and thought it would have been a better intro to find her admiring one of the landmarks. Or making a map/sketch. Or trying to translate a sigil. Or showing off her rapier skills, or showing off her being comfortable hiking/navigating around, or basically any aspect of her other than 'im a pretty young woman and you've accidentally invaded my privacy'.

But you're trying to treat her as a human when you say things like that.

Dary · Jan 11, 2018

Honestly, I'd rather Metroid games didn't bother with story at all outside of, say, an opening set-up, or the scattered pieces of lore you could find in Prime. Samus doesn't need a "character arc" any more than Mario or Link does: set her down on a planet (or whatever) with a mission, then focus on exploration and skill development.

And didn't Other M draw on some obscure comicbook canon or something? When will developers/writers realise that stories which force people to sift through fan wikis (and their multiple levels of "canon") are really fucking terrible?

Also, I was waiting for that all-female SNK fighting game to reveal some kind of PMT meter for super attaxks, because that's what I've come to expect from video games these days :S

Redcrayon · Jan 11, 2018

weemadarthur said:
But you're trying to treat her as a human when you say things like that.

I know, terrible isn't it. Even aside from the raw sexism and awful cliche, a character introduction is a massive opportunity to give the player a key tenet of the new character, something to frame the way they see them. 'Yep, she's female, and pretty, and she's annoyed that you've invaded her privacy' says absolutely nothing of importance that isn't blindingly obvious for the next 50 hours anyway. It pushes the things that actually really make her tick to being secondary traits, which is even worse when it's a game with two major female leads, and they are what make her stand out from Dana, not that she's a pretty young woman. It's like if every intro to Adol had a girl mistakenly fondling his six-pack before he threw them off, rather than getting on with being all adventurous, good-natured, heroic and shit.

As an aside, that's something I liked about Ys VIII- at this point in his career Adol is a famous adventurer, and other outdoorsy types like the ship crew have heard of him, comment on it and are glad to have him around. That was a nice welcome for returning players, rather than the usual one of even low-ranking npcs treating legendary heroes like crap!

Deleted member 401 · Jan 11, 2018

Choppasmith said:
I'm glad there seems to be a hefty amount of customization options. The US trailer showed off practical outfits while the Japanese trailer was basically all bikini fighters. Not sure if this'll lead to censorship or not between regions. Hope they can maintain a good balance.

Yeah, when I watched the US Direct, I thought the game looked tacky but inoffensive and I was confused I saw someone in here compare it to Xtreme Beach Volleyball. It wasn't until I clicked on the game's thread that I understood the complaint.

Deleted member 2099 · Jan 11, 2018

I want Metroid series to have story in them. I just have a thing for the Sci-Fi/Space/Alien genre and wish to experience a story. Obviously because I don't live within the Sci-Fi times, so therefore I want to know what things could be like in the distant far far far far future of humanity.

flare · Jan 11, 2018

Televator said:
Look at this posted and created by Servbot24:

That's what the fuck I'm talking about! Practicality >>>> titilation. A form fitting suit that doesn't seek to give me a raging boner and respects the character.

Well no wonder he was being so dodgy and obfuscated his actual positions. He'd have been rightly ripped to shreds here. Now he's banned a few days... again, and he'll be right back in this thread after the ban lifts to grace us with his superior morals.

Just wanna pop in here and quote this because I didn't get a chance yesterday. But these are super cool looking and I wish ZSS would lean more towards this kinda design than what we have now. Samus Returns took a, dare I say, baby step back towards Prime 1, which was nice to see.

Dmax3901 · Jan 11, 2018

Kinda unrelated but the word 'pervert' made me remember... I'm playing Trails in the Sky for the first time and the blonde dude who seems to be bi getting called a pervert and a weirdo by the main character was a bit shit.

Peanut Cheese Bar · Jan 11, 2018

Dmax3901 said:
Kinda unrelated but the word 'pervert' made me remember... I'm playing Trails in the Sky for the first time and the blonde dude who seems to be bi getting called a pervert and a weirdo by the main character was a bit shit.

That bit pulled me away from wanting to go anywhere near the series when I first heard of it. On top of hearing the game is overly verbose to a disgusting extent.

InkyVulture · Jan 11, 2018

ThankDougie said:
Watched the Nintendo Direct this morning and was pumped to hear about Ys VIII until I saw this shit. You have to be kidding.

It looked so cool with the giant monsters and stuff, but after passing on Xenoblade 2 for its character design nonsense, this is gonna be another pass.

Deleted member 7130 · Jan 11, 2018

flare said:
Just wanna pop in here and quote this because I didn't get a chance yesterday. But these are super cool looking and I wish ZSS would lean more towards this kinda design than what we have now. Samus Returns took a, dare I say, baby step back towards Prime 1, which was nice to see.

Link to the full post here. Servbot's got talent!

kch · Jan 11, 2018

Thanks, OP. Sad that people need this explained to them, but still thanks for speaking up.

Boys and young men are groomed by nearly all of TV, film, video games, locker room talk, pornography, etc from a very young age that the sexual objectification of women is just the norm. It can be a hard psychological rut to escape without the assistance of good influences who hold a higher, more mature perspective. I personally believe the solution is having these kind of discussions openly and especially with the input of girls and women. And also to encourage the rising generation of creators to express that higher level or respect and thoughtfulness through the media they create. I think that's much more realistic than expecting the Kojimas and Weinsteins to change overnight.

kch · Jan 11, 2018

ThankDougie said:
Watched the Nintendo Direct this morning and was pumped to hear about Ys VIII until I saw this shit. You have to be kidding.

Yeah, that kind of makes my stomach sick. Obviously intended to entice those with predilections for -very- young women.

Kain-Nosgoth · Jan 11, 2018

ThankDougie said:
Watched the Nintendo Direct this morning and was pumped to hear about Ys VIII until I saw this shit. You have to be kidding.

Loli? This character (dana) is as tall as the other adults characters...

It's fair to not like the design, really, but be accurate at least

Personally i like this design, not because of the pandering (i won't argue it's not there, it is), just the style of it, i find it more tastefull than a lot of other pandering design from japanese developpers, and at least all the civilization where she came from all wear clothes like that, males included (although they don't show as much, i agree)

also there's a badass 70 y/o muscular woman in this game too, which is pretty rare (it doesn't negate the rest, i don't say that) :

InkyVulture said:
It looked so cool with the giant monsters and stuff, but after passing on Xenoblade 2 for its character design nonsense, this is gonna be another pass.

Contrary to xenoblade 2, the game rarely focus on the fanservice, give it a chance

Grain Silo · Jan 11, 2018

flare said:
I'm presumably near the end of chapter 4, making incredibly slow progress. God this chapter and its locales are dull.

What the hell is Poppi QT... Why.

I'd be glad to explain why.

It is my belief that Tora's family is meant to be a parody of shut-in male otaku, who are stereo-typically obsessed with mechas and maids.

As for Poppi, her inspiration is a lot more clear. Her QT design is a parody of a parody. She's based on the MS Girls, which are anthropomorphized Gundam mechas drawn by Mika Akitaka that have been published in a Japanese Gundam magazine since 1982.

KOS-MOS is very likely based on this kind of design in particular as well.

However, the MS Girl design was canonized as of a few years ago with the appearance of this character in Gundam Build Fighters Try:

And there are quite a few other MS Girl maids that have been drawn over the years.

Valkyr1983 · Jan 11, 2018

Choppasmith said:
Yeah copying over what I posted in the thread, I've always hoped for a new Gal Fighters. I'd argue that it's a good example of how an all women fighting game could work. No sexualization or fan service, just cartoonish violence.

I'm glad there seems to be a hefty amount of customization options. The US trailer showed off practical outfits while the Japanese trailer was basically all bikini fighters. Not sure if this'll lead to censorship or not between regions. Hope they can maintain a good balance.

Yeah, I really wonder what they were thinking with that franchise. Glad they seem to have buried it.

Hope there's no censorship between regions, glad they're seems to be options for everyone with the costumes though!

Deleted member 7130 · Jan 11, 2018

Kain-Nosgoth said:
Loli? This character (dana) is as tall as the other adults characters...

It's fair to not like the design, really, but be accurate at least

Contrary to xenoblade 2, the game rarely focus on the fanservice, give it a chance

See that little green haired girl right there in your image? For some odd reason the devs made her obsessed about growing up to have an "hour glass figure"... and then there's this:

Loli nonsense.

Morrigan · Jan 11, 2018

Dmax3901 said:
Kinda unrelated but the word 'pervert' made me remember... I'm playing Trails in the Sky for the first time and the blonde dude who seems to be bi getting called a pervert and a weirdo by the main character was a bit shit.

Because he hits on everyone :P Including Estelle and Joshua, who are underage. Trails games do have a problem with uh, that kind of "funny" sexual harassment, where adults hitting on underage characters is played for laughs (as in "look at that perv haha"), sadly. It gets worse in Cold Steel, unfortunately.

That said, Olivier is an awesome character and very popular and likeable regardless. ^^

Peanut Cheese Bar said:
That bit pulled me away from wanting to go anywhere near the series when I first heard of it. On top of hearing the game is overly verbose to a disgusting extent.

That's too bad. Trails in the Sky is one of the most tasteful and better JRPG in terms of representation IMO, even if it's not perfect. There's also a lot of story, yes, but it's pretty well written, localization is excellent.

Dmax3901 · Jan 11, 2018

Morrigan said:
Because he hits on everyone :P Including Estelle and Joshua, who are underage. Trails games do have a problem with uh, that kind of "funny" sexual harassment, where adults hitting on underage characters is played for laughs (as in "look at that perv haha"), sadly. It gets worse in Cold Steel, unfortunately.

That said, Olivier is an awesome character and very popular and likeable regardless. ^^

Yeah it just seemed that Estelle's issue was very specifically about his homosexual attraction to Joshua and how that was weird and perverted, as opposed to them being teenagers. She even asks if that's what everyone's like in the empire.

Not enough for me to stop playing, and I guess it could be a translation thing (wishful thinking probs), but yeah still jarring.

Morrigan · Jan 11, 2018

Keep in mind Estelle is young and immature, too. She gets over Olivier's various quirks at some point. xD

Why women criticise sexualised character designs (READ OP)

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