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Comment by bin_bash | Hacker News Reader

> Think about all those men complaining that a video game _dared_ have a female character or even more so, a non-conventionally attractive one gasp. That was in 2018... That's the _average_ person who is making a video game.

What game are you referring to?

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My guess would be the poster is referring to The Last of Us Part 2, where criticism of the storyline was presented by most mainstream media as people hating the female lead character. But one could also easily argue that it's the actions taken in the story that cause people to hate her.

Most people I know took issue with the bait and switch, as anyone watching the promotional material would have expected something quite different than Abby... playing golf. It reminds me of a similar tactic film journalists used with The Last Jedi, deflecting to complaining about fans' alleged bad behavior rather than taking a hard look at whether the criticism is merited. It's a lot easier to find a handful of the dumbest criticisms on Twitter and dunk on that strawman though I suppose.

Agree. The official story trailer suggested that it would be quite similar to the first game, but then it wasn't.

Also see- Masters of the Universe: Revelation

There are literally too many to name, but this one comes to mind[1].

[1] - https://www.dailydot.com/unclick/horizon-forbidden-west-aloy...

EDIT: 4 responses within minutes of each other all pointing to a different game just underlines my "too many to name" comment.

Here are a few more...

Battlefield: https://www.salon.com/2018/05/26/women-in-wwii-game-once-aga...

Rust: https://www.vice.com/en/article/d7y7jj/this-game-is-forcing-...

Outriders: https://www.reddit.com/r/outriders/comments/lyzmz3/srsly_so_...

Horizon Zero Dawn: https://twitter.com/apexalphaj/status/1398826689992482819

Total War Rome 2: https://www.dailydot.com/parsec/total-war-rome-ii-female-cha...

The Last Of Us Part 2: https://collider.com/last-of-us-2-controversy-explained/

The Outer Worlds: https://steamcommunity.com/app/578650/discussions/0/27330478...

Apex Legends: https://gamerant.com/apex-legends-female-complaints-response...

I could keep going...

Rust is a _really_ fun one since not only does it force you into a gender, it also forces you into a race.

It was _very_ telling about all the dudes getting mad that they were being forced to play not only as a woman but also non-white.

Same thing in Subnautica: Below Zero

...which it should be noted is actually a lackluster sequel with an incoherent plot regardless, so not all of the negative reviews are by racist misogynists.

ITYM Horizon: Forbidden West. They changed Aloy's face to make it less attractive and feminine since the first game, perhaps to check some "anti-sexualization" checkbox on some designer's list. No one had a problem with her appearance in the first game, but the sudden Seth Rogenization of her face was offputting, like an actor getting plastic surgery and looking not only worse, but very not like themself.

I hadn't heard that. I had seen that controversy but took it as the same issue coming up and more people complaining she wasn't conventionally attractive, rather than the studio 'dulling down' her looks on purpose. TIL.

I guess I totally missed what Aloy looked like during the first game and didn't realize they had changed how she looked.

To be honest, I actually like how she looks now. She looks like you'd expect someone to look like in a post-apocalypse world and looks like someone you'd pass on the street.

From a cursory glance at the comparison shot I'd say it looks like she got a bit older and her face saw a lot more direct sunlight. Pretty reasonable changes if you ask me.

But they said 2018 which implies there is a specific game in mind. Forbidden West was announced in 2020. Based on other answers it sounds like Battlefield V.

I understand this is a common theme but I was actually curious which specific game they were talking about.

That was satirical, lmao.

Battlefield 5.

I like the fact that someone else responded with another that also works.

It shows how frequently this happens.

It was not criticized because there was a woman, it was criticized because there was a cyborg woman when it was supposed to be a WW2 game.

And I think it was indeed a really stupid picture. Also my grandmother was a prisoner of war of the nazis and got real medals. That fantastic representation of women in war is just idiotic and distorts history to the point of absurdity.

Cyborg woman? You mean the woman with an arm prosthetic? Come on.

Ah yeah, my bad, just call it a prosthetic and it's totally period-appropriate.

Does calling her a "cyborg women" automatically mean it isn't period-appropriate? My 2 minutes of research seems to indicate that there is nothing anachronistic about the tech[1].

[1] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOII2izC7XU

The Last of Us Part II I presume

Wild! Heres a summary https://collider.com/last-of-us-2-controversy-explained/

Though I was misattributed the subject of the controversy, I'd like to use this comment to say that TLOU2 is the greatest game I've ever played.

It really does earn that Metacritic score, doesn't it? Almost a perfect game in every way. No plot holes, no silly characterization, totally fun game from start to finish.

It is about battlefield 5, the last of us was last year. More specifically people didn't like the depiction of world war 2 in this trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7ZpQadiyqs

Thank you for the correction

I love how the "realism" crowd has no issues with jumping out of planes mid-air to snipe a pilot (and then steal their plane).

Or jumping from the third floor of a building onto a cobblestone street and then running away as if you had barely tripped.

Or having a WWI game where half the server is carrying automatic weapons.

> Or having a WWI game where half the server is carrying automatic weapons.

It's completely beside the point now, but I do actually remember people being pissed off about that.

There's a distinct difference in volume, if so.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Owen_J._Baggett

Returnal, perhaps?

I haven't heard anything about Returnal but maybe it's because Samus Aran already dominates that genre.

In fact, the only time I ever hear complaints about Samus Aran is when they make her more submissive and less of a badass.

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