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The majority of games I've played this year have had female leads and it's magical

Persephone

Persephone

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,438
  • Horizon: Zero Dawn
  • Uncharted: The Lost Legacy
  • Gravity Rush 2
  • Life is Strange: Before the Storm
(There's also Nier: Automata, which I haven't played.)

The best part is that these games aren't Lightning Returns-esque waifu simulators for the creators, but actually great, empowering, feminist stories with complex, well-written women, some of whom are WOC, some of whom are LGBT+. All these games have been critically successful, and HZD and ULL have sold great too, which is hopefully a step towards proving to publishers that, yes, female-led games do sell, and no, the women in said games don't have to be sex dolls on legs for them to be successful.

Not to mention, FEMALE FRIENDSHIPS! Oh my god, so many beautiful female friendships. A lot of media, even self-proclaimed "feminist" media, falls into the old trope of women being catty bitches to each other (usually because of a man). And yet we have Chloe and Nadine, and Kat and Raven as examples of positive female relationships, and HZD has plenty of positive female interaction. It's just beautiful. I'm so happy. If gaming continues on this trajectory I'll be ecstatic.
 
Dernhelm

Dernhelm

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
5,422
I totally agree. There has been a nice trend this year of great games featuring female protagonists this yeah, with 4 already being at the forefront of my top 10 of this year; 2B, Aloy, Kat from the games you mentioned, and Mae from 'Night in the Woods'. And surprisingly, each game sold relatively well without major backlash, so, let's see if that myth of white male protagonists are more marketable can finally die.
 
Magic Mushroom

Magic Mushroom

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
11,481
And a fair amount of games allow you to pick a female player character. Ubi does this a lot and Prey is another good example.

Special mention to the brilliant What Remains of Edith Finch.
 
Zedark

Zedark

Member
Oct 25, 2017
14,719
The Netherlands
Hmm...

Women - Gravity Rush 2, Horizon Zero Dawn, Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, Tales of berseria, Kamiko

Men - The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle, God of War 3

Unspecified: FIFA 18, ARMS, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Snake Pass (Is Doodle's gender known?), FAST RMX, Stardew Valley

Yeah, same for me (although with the games that I plan to buy this year, namely Skyrim, Super Mario Odyssey and Xenoblade Chronicles 2, it will be exactly equal). Some big budget titles in there as well, which is nice!
 
RpgN

RpgN

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,552
The Netherlands
Agreed. It's refreshing to have more female leads that are more relatable and not only used for male-gaze. I do hope that more developers will follow as the list you provided is mostly published by Sony. What will they do next year?
 

LinLeigh

Member
Oct 25, 2017
193
The female friendship in lost legacy is so good.

It really made me realise how rare it is to see two women becoming friends and having their own narrative.

I desperately want a full game with them.
 
OP
OP
Persephone

Persephone

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,438
LinLeigh said:
The female friendship in lost legacy is so good.

It really made me realise how rare it is to see two women becoming friends and having their own narrative.

I desperately want a full game with them.
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On one hand, their friendship was just beautiful. I loved it.

On the other hand... I ship it so much щ(ಠ益ಠщ)
 
jon bones

jon bones

Member
Oct 25, 2017
26,024
NYC
It is criminal that I haven't had time to play ULL yet. 2 female leads, one Indian, Uncharted gameplay. Sounds super appealing... hopefully I can squeeze it in before the GOTY talks.
 

Lime

Banned for use of an alt account
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
1,266
It's really really amazing. Horizon, GR2, Hellblade, Uncharted Lost Legacy, Dishonored Death of the Outsider. And Battlefront 2's singleplayer campaign (however that's gonna be)
 

Alo0oy

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
1,091
Bahrain
SteadFast said:
I totally agree. There has been a nice trend this year of great games featuring female protagonists this yeah, with 4 already being at the forefront of my top 10 of this year; 2B, Aloy, Kat from the games you mentioned, and Mae from 'Night in the Woods'. And surprisingly, each game sold relatively well without major backlash, so, let's see if that myth of white male protagonists are more marketable can finally die.
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Horizon got plenty of backlash and boycotts from the KiA types, their boycott was pathetic though as the game sold very well.
 
OP
OP
Persephone

Persephone

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,438
Alo0oy said:
Horizon got plenty of backlash and boycotts from the KiA types, their boycott was pathetic though as the game sold very well.
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I'm shocked. SHOCKED! Well, not that shocked.

On a less sarcastic note, it was an amazing feeling going into my local game shop where they had HZD footage playing on a TV screen and hearing a bunch of guys geek out over how good it was without once mentioning the fact that it's a woman-led game.
 
Dernhelm

Dernhelm

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
5,422
Alo0oy said:
Horizon got plenty of backlash and boycotts from the KiA types, their boycott was pathetic though as the game sold very well.
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Is what I meant, backlash to me only really has significance if it has any real intrinsic effect on the game or publisher. KiA's was more of a tantrum rather than a stance.
 

Lime

Banned for use of an alt account
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
1,266
LinLeigh said:
The female friendship in lost legacy is so good.

It really made me realise how rare it is to see two women becoming friends and having their own narrative.

I desperately want a full game with them.
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Chloe was an asshole though. Which I guess is a credit to the writers, animators, and actors at Naughty Dog to have well-rounded complex characters. :)
 
RpgN

RpgN

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,552
The Netherlands
jon bones said:
It is criminal that I haven't had time to play ULL yet. 2 female leads, one Indian, Uncharted gameplay. Sounds super appealing... hopefully I can squeeze it in before the GOTY talks.
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That's why it saddens me that a ND developer was sexually harassed. The company as a whole has been doing great things at portraying women who are written decently and are capable of critical thinking and taking care of themselves. I hope they will not be discouraged and will continue bringing good to the community. They should also be getting better at helping employees who had sexual harassment.
 

Alo0oy

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
1,091
Bahrain
RpgN said:
That's why it saddens me that a ND developer was sexually harassed. The company as a whole has been doing great things at portraying women who are written decently and are capable of critical thinking and taking care of themselves. I hope they will not be discouraged and will continue bringing good to the community. They should also be getting better at helping employees who had sexual harassment.
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I really hope they do something more than that pathetic statement, they were heading in a great direction with WoC leads in TLL and an LGBT lead in TLOU2.
 

LinLeigh

Member
Oct 25, 2017
193
Lime said:
Chloe was an asshole though. Which I guess is a credit to the writers, animators, and actors at Naughty Dog to have well-rounded complex characters. :)
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I love Claudia Black so much. I would have probably loved Chloe whatever she did.

I think the character development was pretty great though. In the previous games she pretty much was an asshole as well.
 
jon bones

jon bones

Member
Oct 25, 2017
26,024
NYC
RpgN said:
That's why it saddens me that a ND developer was sexually harassed. The company as a whole has been doing great things at portraying women who are written decently and are capable of critical thinking and taking care of themselves. I hope they will not be discouraged and will continue bringing good to the community. They should also be getting better at helping employees who had sexual harassment.
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A company releasing products with strong female character does not preclude them from housing toxic masculinity within - it's a problem in all houses of all entertainment industries.

ND makes good games, but they are not exactly a beacon of feminism - let's not forget the ND dev who sexually harassed a female Polygon reporter.
 

Alo0oy

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
1,091
Bahrain
jon bones said:
A company releasing products with strong female character does not preclude them from housing toxic masculinity within - it's a problem in all houses of all entertainment industries.

ND makes good games, but they are not exactly a beacon of feminism - let's not forget the ND dev who sexually harassed a female Polygon reporter.
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While sexual harassment most likely occurs in every single company with 100+ people, they could have at least responded better than that lip-service statement.
 

Alo0oy

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
1,091
Bahrain
jon bones said:
Yes, very much so. 2017 also seems to be the year of piss poor responses in the face of exposed sexual harassment.
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"We are sorry this happened to one of our former employees without accountability, we will make sure such incidents never happen again and we will set up a staffer that handles internal sexual harassment anonymously to encourage more people to speak up".

I just pulled that out of my ass and it sounds better than what their lawyer cooked up.
 
HardRojo

HardRojo

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Oct 25, 2017
26,133
Peru
I still need to play The Lost Legacy and Before the Storm. Will try to get to TLL soon, will wait till the entirety of BtS is out to play it.
 
Dukie85

Dukie85

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Oct 25, 2017
2,535
I can't say I'm the same, but I am using Lissa to destroy everybody in Fire Emblem Warriors, so I guess that's something?
 
Robin

Robin

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Oct 25, 2017
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I couldn't agree more! There have been some great female leads this year. I really wish Nintendo would just make a female Link already, their excuse is ridiculous and of any game in the franchise so far, Breath of the Wild would have been the perfect opportunity considering how used to create-a-characters gamers are with open world games as well as the fact that the story was so bare bones the little work they'd have to have done to make it happen would have been more than worth all the karma and publicity they'd get out of it.

also as a transwoman I can't even begin to describe the weird mixed feelings I get during the crossdressing segments.
 
RpgN

RpgN

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,552
The Netherlands
jon bones said:
A company releasing products with strong female character does not preclude them from housing toxic masculinity within - it's a problem in all houses of all entertainment industries.

ND makes good games, but they are not exactly a beacon of feminism - let's not forget the ND dev who sexually harassed a female Polygon reporter.
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Don't get me wrong, I'm not excusing what they have done. I'm just unsure how to treat them/feel about them going forward as I feel very conflicted. On one hand they helped women to become better represented, on the other hand they handled the sexual assaults in their company very poorly. I want to encourage them to become better without dogpiling them and suddenly speak only ill of them. I think this way of handling things does not always bring the results we hope for, especially with companies who have been trying harder than others in other ways.

Robin said:
I couldn't agree more! There have been some great female leads this year. I really wish Nintendo would just make a female Link already, their excuse is ridiculous and of any game in the franchise so far, Breath of the Wild would have been the perfect opportunity considering how used to create-a-characters gamers are with open world games as well as the fact that the story was so bare bones the little work they'd have to have done to make it happen would have been more than worth all the karma and publicity they'd get out of it.
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Yeah, I think BOTW would have been excellent to have a female playable character since the game is full with customisation options. I understand if some might think this is not what Zelda games are about. If that's the case, then they could bring Linkle or another woman to play as.
 

Alo0oy

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
1,091
Bahrain
RpgN said:
Yeah, I think BOTW would have been excellent to have a female playable character since the game is full with customisation options. I understand if some might think this is not what Zelda games are about. If that's the case, then they could bring Linkle or another woman to play as.
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The problem with having another character be the woman is that it pushes the idea that the main grand adventure is for men, women can get scraps.
 
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Jyrii

Jyrii

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Oct 27, 2017
1,125
Helsinki, Finland
Tacoma's playable character was also female, but her personality didn't really come through as she was mostly just observing.

The other characters, which were mostly female, were pretty well written imo. I especially liked Bert and Nat.
 
Swamped

Swamped

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Oct 25, 2017
916
I completely agree! I also played Dishonored 2 this year, which I was a huge fan of. Just so fun. And Emily is clearly the canon MC :D
 
iksenpets

iksenpets

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Oct 26, 2017
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I finished Lost Legacy the other day and I think the switch to female protagonists actually adds a lot to it. Nate's cavalier fuck-up persona intersects with his maleness in weird ways that aren't there when Chloe gets to be the cavalier fuck-up.

Also some really good range in the female protagonists this year, from the Life is Strange teen drama to super stoic Aloy in Horizon.
 
Aters

Aters

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Oct 26, 2017
7,948
Female Link would be great. But I can just squint and pretend Link is girl. He's half way there already.
 
The_Strokes

The_Strokes

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Oct 25, 2017
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Yeah, in retrospect that's true. Nier, Horizon, picking up LiS later today and in a few weeks Battlefront II. It's nice to see this trend of having different views and perspectives from our protagonists.

Also, a bit of a cop out but I chose female Ryder on Andromeda, so that's another one.
 
Alexiell

Alexiell

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Oct 25, 2017
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Louisiana
I think Aloy might be my new favorite main character in anything. She is sooooooooooooooooooooo good. Ashley Burch did an incredible job!
 
Minako

Minako

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Oct 25, 2017
477
I've noticed this as well and it's something that's excited me a lot. I'm glad to see the trend and I hope it's a step toward even more diverse game protagonists in the future!
 
Comic Obsessed

Comic Obsessed

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Oct 27, 2017
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I love games with female leads, I feel they offer a more distinctive experience than the ones with the usual male protagonists.
 
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pulga

pulga

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Oct 26, 2017
2,391
Just Aloy, Samus and my main girl Ribbon Girl for me!

Hopefully we'll be in Samus' boots again in 2018 *cross fingers*
 
2Blackcats

2Blackcats

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Oct 26, 2017
16,079
I always pick the female if possible. Same with character creation. Also pick a minority ethnicity if thats possible. Are there any games where you pick your sexualiity?

I walk around as a straight white dude everyday. Video games are about role play a lot of the time for me. The further I can get from my real self the better.
 
Sir Guts

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Its a good thing we have a mix of male/female protagonists in games. I hope it continues balanced the same way it is right now cause I don't want to play a game where a male/female protagonist is forced in a game. Aloy is the boss for me this year, great character and Ashley Burch was exceptional. Now what I fear is changing a known series from a female protagonist to a male or vice versa. Like imagine playing Tomb Raider with a male protagonist? No thanks. Or imagine playing Halo with a female protagonist? Nope. Thats what I don't want to happen in the future.
 
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