Is Horizon Zero Dawn the most subtle feminist AAA first party title to date?

@aigis: I just want to point out that this thread started out by pointing out how nice and refreshing this game's character turned out to be WITHOUT throwing any shade at any majority group, but somehow, most people turned this into a "Feminist" thing when it clearly wasn't.

Well said, and I agree. More diversity in games is definitely welcome. A character being male or female wouldn't matter if there were enough female protagonists.

I don't think I have ever looked at the character I was playing and ever thought about the gender of the character I was playing. Who really cares as long as the game is interesting and fun. To me having a diversified game in race and gender really makes no shit to what I think of the game or story.

@Xabiss: Well said. I think thats what makes this game so cool. Its for all to enjoy.

@OldProf: just calling it "refreshing" is making it a feminist issue tbh. That and being pissed off at nioh. I'm just in saying I don't care about the race or gender gender of gender of the character as long as they are well written.

Feminist is even in the title :P

@aigis: Calling it refreshing just means its different, goes against the grain, is something new, etc. Whats wrong with that?

@iandizion713: nothing wrong with that

May I go on record saying I don't like topics about social politics on this board. Please keep it civil in here.

It's not that I want to agree or disagree with the article in question, it's just I've seen threads like this go to absolute hell fast. We don't need that.

I just want good games. I don't care about all of the SJW crap and that review focuses too much on SJW stuff that I don't care about.

It's sad how true this is, and it's stupid how taboo the word "feminism" has become on the internet.

It's a fairly simple process to go somewhere it came from.

It really depends on your definition of feminist....most non-white feminist would see it as the continuing attitude of white women marginalizing minority voices, trans LBGT will say the the same ,sex positive feminist would say something about its a shame shes covered up as female sexuality when a women is in full control of her body is empowering, fourth wavers like anita would say she is a Ms Male who reinforces patriarchal toxic masculinity by glorifying violence.

Joking aside I sincerely hope this game shatters records though coz if it doesn't the blame will be squarely put on "its because a women was the lead" argument

I don't really care that much. It doesn't look super forced. In fact it doesn't look like they used her gender to emphasize the power of women on real Earth? I guess that's a step forward for the AAA. I can't stand that kinda tripe on either end, unless it's done in a self aware comedic fashion. It has no place in a game imo. They're not made to represent reality. And I don't like games being overly preachy anyway, unless it's to present a new insight that you may have never thought of.

Thats just how its is. Everyone likes and wants different things. There are a lot of things i disagree with in Nintendos choices and a lot of things i want changed. But i still respect what they want to do and enjoy it for what its worth. Diversity is a good thing. And people wanting other stuff should still continue to want those other things. But dont let that hold you back from looking at the glass half full.

Feminist? dont start with that bullshit again.

I dont look into a video game character for their SJW skills.

Dreads are easier to render than actual hair :D

@dxmcat: She doesnt actually have dreads it seems.

I'll just leave this here

Games with overly sexualized characters are games I tend to avoid, unless they're just too good to pass up, in which case I'm not playing it to ogle at virtual ladies bits. DOA games for example, I skipped all of those. But Bayonetta, that one was too good to pass up.

The gender of the protagonist doesn't otherwise matter to me. It's a video game.

The fact that a character appeals to people who are concerned with feminism doesn't even register on my care-meter. If the game is fun, good for the devs. It it's preachy or overtly stuffed with SJW nonsense, I'll skip it.

Well whatever, I dont even have a PS4. Nice to see a Ginger female lead tho. Kappa.

Ali Wong i f*cking Amazing!!!!!

I think it's great. I will enjoy it and so will my daughter. Just as long as the keep the tranny crap out of games. Can't stand people who can't figure out what they are.

@OldProf: Huh? It literally says "feminist" in the title.

The lead character looks a lot like a woman I used to train Jiu-Jitsu with, same face and everything. She actually ended up going to work for a video game developer.

Coincidence?? Hmmm...

@xdude85 said:

Incoming shitstorm of gamers who think they know everything about feminism.

It's 2017, 1st world women have more rights than 3rd world women

Without having played it, who knows if it's subtle or not. What is cool, is that fundamentally speaking it seems to carry a pretty diverse group of characters, and that is universally a fucking positive. This medium, like most entertainment mediums is far too safe/formulaic for its own good.

Now if she's a "strong" character like Rey from Episode 7, then we still have a long way to go, now if she's like Furiosa from Mad Max it's a step into the right direction for a modern triple A product.

It's good to hear that we can have equity feminism in a game, like real feminism, where the woman doesn't have to be a victim or anything, you know? So yeah I'm glad to hear about this and that it is subtle because, ultimately, this is where we should be as a society; not making a big deal out of it.

Games would be much better off with out the politics that go on nowadays. Everyone is trying to push their agenda on creative works. I feel bad for concept artists and designers who get their ideas shut down because the director heard from the PR manager that such an idea would cause a Twitter riot.

I don't try to Identify myself with the character I'm playing as. I tend to see myself as an overseer of sorts. I'm not worried about who is respesented in a game. I will play a man, woman, alien or robot. My imagination is not limited to the scope of the real world.

@iandizion713: Open world Tomb Raider, but I prefer full character customisation.

Its kinda sad to see games are becoming too PC. and feminization is ruining it. i mean when i look at games like Prey. what does female option has to do with it when it does nothing for story? seriously.

It's nice to see strong female characters and diversity in a game that doesn't feel artificially pushed. GG did a good job designing the character and world and it's good that a female is the protagonist of the next big AAA franchise and not because of her bouncy boobs. Anyways I can't help but laugh at all the drama that these topics provoke in the west. In Japan strong female characters are so normal as well as strong teen characters which the west is still struggling with. It seems to me Japan is a much more mature culture with these topics.

Really?

Because it has a strong female protagonist...all of the sudden its feminist?...lol.....so if it had a strong male protagonist then what?...this the kind of thinking that's so screwed up with people nowadays. :P

Well put mate. We got a ways to go, but i feel were slowly getting there.

it looks like we have a long way to go then lol

I don't care who the character is as long as the character is good.

In most RPGs I play as female because I think they look better in armour though armour with breasts can F' off as that looks ridiculous.

I don't see how this is "refreshing" when Samus and Lara were kicking ass before this.

@darklight4: This is more than just a couple characters mate. Its the whole game thats refreshing.

Japan gaming culture being mature????? Are you fucking kidding me? The Japaneses are the worst offenders when it comes to unproportional body shapes in video game. They are obsessed with little girls, you could almost call it pedophilia.

@thepclovingguy: Theyre pretty diverse in design. Even in anime they have great diversity in their characters.

In that case I agree.

Lucky I refreshed and was able to read the reply because I was about to post the same thing.

But is not like I hate Japan's approach either, in fact, I have come to appreciate it even more nowadays now that the current western trend is to make women look like men. Shit is getting stale fast with the manly mary sues but I'm glad I can always find refugee in Japanese games. They aren't afraid of female sexuality like the modern manlets of the West.

Very relevant link: https://my.mixtape.moe/fgcxhr.webm

This sent Gaf into a frenzy a while back and now some even want to boycott the game. haha

@mikeross: Yeah, that sucks her design has no purpose. But thats his choice to have such a tasteless character.

Diversity? You mean women that look either like kindergarten children in skimpy clothes or who have extremely unproportional breast and ass sizes and who are also getting constantly fingered by tentacles. I am all for sexy and hot women in video games, but what Japanese developers do is just a sick fetish.

@thepclovingguy: I think your generalizing a little too much mate. When was the last time you watched current anime? You come off as out-of-touch.

2017... gender wars. Who cares if its a man or woman. People playing as Lara Croft back in the 90's and nobody cry you playing as a woman. People are so messed up nowadays.

The concept of shooting arrows at giant robots is pretty dumb even if the game is actually good. Who cares if its a Lara Croft or Solid Snake, all the matters is if the game is good.