Gamers are Right: Make Women Great Again

The discourse over the character designs of women in gaming has been blowing up for the last few months and I believe its time to look back on some other characters who gamers loved and also respected because they were not only great to look at, but were fun to play and had great stories

[@blackestyang7528]

the best way to sniff out culture war grifters is to ask them about events in games that never happened. The real ones are too busy playing Bayonetta with one hand

[@TheOldWeeb]

Lol some of those players must have been very skilled to pull that off lol. Some of those sections in Bayonetta, you had to lock in gang

[@christianedwards9025]

Mmmm Bayonetta

[@benjaminbeltran7004]

You are the fake gamer, you can't play bayonetta with one hand, tourist.

[@aggersoul23]

To be fair, as a kid, I never noticed or paid any attention to the sexuality or the attractiveness of women in games, or anywhere really. I never thought to myself, "damn, that was a badass sexy woman doing badass sexy things!" It went like this probably, "damn, that was so badass." Because honestly, why make a problem of nothing to begin with...

[@TheOldWeeb]

Thats very true but people are making it an issue today

[@robertharrison1058]

This is what feminism has brought about with its boss bicth attitudes and entitled attitude.

[@mountainmgtow5421]

NO BALLS!

[@Pokeninja7]

#MakeVideogameWomenHotAgain

[@TheOldWeeb]

The # should be #IPreorderStellarBlade

[@katajiro8178]

Make 2D women great again!

[@deewills353]

Bayonetta,Ivy Valentine,Bloodrayne,2b...the list can go on,make female characters in games great again. Eve fits in nicely,why cant we have nice things anymore!?;)

[@TheOldWeeb]

Because it doesnt fit the narrative

[@robertharrison1058]

​@@TheOldWeebyou mean it's not fitting the feminist boss bicth agenda.

[@TheOldWeeb]

Which is wild considering all those characters are real boss bitches lol

[@unrulydgj9589]

surprised you didn't use Ivy valentine or Mai Shiranui as examples

[@TheOldWeeb]

Because we know how hot they are and they dont distract from the story. I wanted heroines who were the Main Main Characters so this notion that your MC cant be hot is utterly debunked

[@weebamf]

Preach my brother!

[@TheOldWeeb]

Ill keep preaching till someone stops me

[@ArcadeAxioms]

good point. attractiveness or sexualization, when done purposefully and fittingly within the game's context, should not overshadow a game’s narrative integrity or gameplay quality

[@TheOldWeeb]

Exactly and sometimes the basic hook of "Hot female badass" is enough for people to at least try your game

[@bladerunner3314]

Since these people have two, maybe three things they identify with: color and gender, maybe sexuality. The saddest thing is, their hate for white men also targets white trans men and white gay and bi men.

[@TheOldWeeb]

You arent wrong

[@robertharrison1058]

​@TheOldWeeb exactly thats what once made fmcs good xena warrior princess and lara croft was 2 examples of this hot female bad ass with no boss bicth attitude works in any story not just games.

[@VenomLeon]

Great video, and I fully agree! Heck, even Aqua from the Kingdom Hearts series is a looker, but she's so much more than that too.

[@bladerunner3314]

I think another thing to note is, since we're dealing with sexist, racist hypocrits, the same NEVER applies to muscle bound half naked dudes. AND nobody ever cried about that trans woman in that Nier prequel game.

[@TheOldWeeb]

Exactly and i didnt even know there was a trans woman in the prequel game but it was still good because stories matter more

[@bladerunner3314]

@@TheOldWeeb Never played it. Automata didn't really click with me to begin with (I was done after 2B's part), so I ignored the prequel.

[@TheOldWeeb]

wait didnt play the 9S or A1 playthroughs?

[@bladerunner3314]

@@TheOldWeeb I started 9S, but I quit after the first flight part. 2Bs part of the game was a bore, and basically doing it all again held no appeal.

[@TheOldWeeb]

Theres a lot more to the game, trust me. 9S and A1 playthroughs completely changes the game and story. I highly recommend going back to it

[@menosay1912]

When Bayo and 2B first came out they were seen as big a problem as Eve is now, it is just the alphabet soup activists have adopted Bayo as their lesbian poster child, (even though she isn't one) but head cannon > cannon to these freaks, and Nier has just gotten to overwhelmingly big and Yoko Taro will have none of their nonsense so even they don't waste their time and just accept it..

[@TheOldWeeb]

Yoko Taro is very based and idk about Lesbian but shes definitely a Bi Icon and i believe its fair to say that. Maybe i just didnt see this level of discourse for 2B but i definitely remember the Bayonetta era

[@menosay1912]

@@TheOldWeeb I don't subscribe to her and Jeanne being anything more then close as sisters, but it does tease it at times I'll concede, but as for the lesbian thing, there were literal waves of woke Twatter psychopaths and sociopaths, but I repeat myself, screaming bloody murder over an official picture of Bayo, Luca, and Viola as a happy family because it ruined their head cannon that she was a pure muff muncher.

[@TheOldWeeb]

Fandoms are going to ship and rage about ships forever. I am part of the old guard of the Naru/Sakura vs Naru/Hina days so i get it but i would say there is a distinction between crazy shippers and woke weirdos. There is way too much there for at least not to be Bi and I find it a winner for all if she is because it just means more fun

[@menosay1912]

@@TheOldWeeb I prefer to see relationships between people of the same gender that can be incredibly close and familial without there being horniness as a part of it. It seems everywhere these days that if two attractive people of the same gender are close, unless it is blood relations, (and sometimes if it is), they MUST be banging. Just true friendship seems to be unacceptable. The biggest problem is shippers these days have a bigger social media presence and eastern media is so much more ubiquitous the true crazies are free to openly steer the conversation, and there is no distinction between them for the shippers I am talking about, they don't just wank to Bayo/Jeanne, they are openly disgusted she is in a cannon hetero relationship. While I don't have proof, I would legitimately bet money they would be less upset if Bayo got with one of her alternate timelines or even (ickickick) Viola then with Luca. Being a shipper used to be kinda fun, now it is serious business where people will openly threaten a creator if their ship is not cannon.

[@TheOldWeeb]

You arent wrong about the toxicity of the shipping community inside of many communities. I believe we should be able to have fun discussions about ships not go to war or threaten creators. I do understand it feels like true friendships between genders are on the down trend but thats because honestly, i find it hard to just be friends with women who are conveniently attractive, so it doesnt surprise me to see the same vibe in media/fiction.

[@YuzoKoshiroSan]

No mention of The Boss. You had one job.

[@TheOldWeeb]

Im still in a dream, snake eater

[@chaoshoy8865]

this is why I play retro or classic games these days because they are free of this political bullshit

[@TheOldWeeb]

all good games with fantastic stories have politics in them, we just get treated like adults to learn on our own

[@carljohan9265]

@@TheOldWeeb There is a MASSIVE difference between "politics within the game's world and story" and "inserting IRL politics in games where it doesn't belong".

[@TheOldWeeb]

​@@carljohan9265there is a massive difference I would say if you use real people, real symbols and real messages but narratives is a bit different. I would find fault in any game if it used real world symbolism and issues but the themes of racism, oppression, poverty, classism, etc are themes that transcend all media and its simply a matter of tact and proper execution. There dumb consulting firms don't understand proper tact or story telling

[@Jautaube]

The Zero Suit was first shown in Metroid: Zero Mission (hence the ZERO).

[@JamSonic]

I Do Respect 🙌 The Best Very Sexy Female Characters Designed Diverse 😇💯 Like Bayonetta and 2B And Eve Stellar Blade ✨

[@TheOldWeeb]

Preach My friend

[@Gsoda35]

as a gamer I care most about the developers intention behind the game, rendering performance, animations, controls, somewhat friendly user interface and a decent story. Appeal is really a matter of opinion. Decent video but the music is a bit weird.

[@TheOldWeeb]

Appeal is definitely subjective but it even then, you want to swing for the biggest audience appeal and go from there. The music i can speak with my editor on that one

[@YoRHaUnit2Babe]

ngl but Women in Games Should look absolutely beautiful. it literally inspires Women to look more beautiful. or cosplay as 2B like Me and No I don't cosplay as 2B in public, it's just for My boyfriend

[@TheOldWeeb]

Good for you and idk why powerful women have to not be sexy or attractive like thats insane

[@CHAOSTHERAPHY]

👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

[@absolutleynotanalien8096]

No its time to go extreme. Make mr and mrs game and watch the sexiest characters to ever exist!

[@Krimson47]

Let's be real with ourselves. So long as the gameplay and narrative is good, the game will do well. Having a very attractive character to play as is a good bonus. Compare Street Fighter: Third Strike to Street Fighter 6. Design-wise, SF6 is better. Gameplay-wise, Third Strike is agruable superior. That's why Third Strike is alive to this day. Also, humans are visual creatures. They can deny it but it's true.

[@TheOldWeeb]

It is definitely a bonus but i would say the paradigm has shifted since the Whistleblower from Naughty Dog with the Last of 2 Development. I feel character models are now an importance vs a bonus

[@akaDAEDUM]

W

[@Omizuke]

Think about it. All these women have a very active and athletic lifestyle. Of course they are bound to have great bodies. Specially since they play more on the agile side than the power lifter side. Samus compress into a freaking ball. Go look at gymnast, ballerinas, or martial artist that can do a back flip. How many of them are gonna be landwhales. Dude, I had Heavenly Sword, I lend it, and never saw it again. I remembered it existed many years after. Stellar Blade might sell a lot of copies just for the culture war. Look at Hogwarts Legacy. There are a bunch of people that buy just cause it.

[@MajorLinkGaming]

10:50 Who is that? I LOVE her dress and shoes!

[@TheOldWeeb]

Boa Hancock from One Piece

[@MajorLinkGaming]

@@TheOldWeeb Damn! She’s pretty! But man, your video nailed it.

[@TheOldWeeb]

Is appreciated, Cant wait for my stellar blade preorder to come in

[@kristophergarrett4653]

8:51 When you said Rayne (or Rain) and didn't show Rayne from Bloodrayne. How could you not mention the first female game character to make a playboy magazine?

[@TheOldWeeb]

I didnt know that actually lol but damn she is sexy

[@Zvezda31]

Its weird that it just affect women and not men.

[@TheOldWeeb]

What do you mean?

[@menosay1912]

@@TheOldWeeb Probably how hot men are fine but hot women are unacceptable.

[@TheOldWeeb]

Its cause Ugly Women like to give the most opinions about the struggle that beautiful women go through that they will never experience. We see hot/strong/handsome men as more motivation than anger because we strive to be better vs make others worse

[@menosay1912]

@@TheOldWeeb While that is certainly true, no one can drag down a woman better then another woman, I feel it is more hatred for the male gaze and that pandering to trans people is the best way to get ESG scores up.

[@TheOldWeeb]

Yes and Yes and as a Black Man, I dont see how all these projects are supposed to draw me in when im already a gamer and i love playing good games like JRPGs. The audience they want to appease doesnt even play video games

[@kuroki4151]

love the gameplay but Bayonetta is faaaaaaaaaaaaaaar from having good writing lmao probably the hardest part of the game for me is forcing myself to understand wtf is going on

[@TheOldWeeb]

Where did it lose you? Its simply a time distortion from the point of view of Bayonetta because she was sealed away for years but her younger self was brought to the future

[@harshalkolase9249]

Just check out KAILEENA from Prince of Persia Warrior Within

[@TheOldWeeb]

She is so fine

[@PuchimonExtreme]

Funny thing is that I don't like the "original designs" of nearly ALL the popular female characters in their "original forms" (Basically Samus with armor, Stellar blade without any costume change, earliest designs of SF characters, etc) for a variety of admittedly very stupid preferential reasons (like hating Bayonetta 1 tower hairstyle) Yet it still look leagues better than whatever is being put out these days.

[@TheOldWeeb]

Any particular reason you arent a fan of the old designs?

[@PuchimonExtreme]

​@@TheOldWeeb Different stupid reasons for different characters. Samus armor was... fitting for the retro game era but when I see it in 3D it doesn't look cool. Stellar Blade's main outfit (and a few others) have this... for the lack of better word, "exposed cybernetic spine design". For Chun Li, its technically nearly all of them (except civilian) because of the spiky bracelets but they seem extra large in the first one (probably because of the art style) Like I said, stupid reasons :P

[@TheOldWeeb]

Lmao that is something

[@svendtang5432]

I do not fully agree every game their style.. I like some games where we have hot male and women because it’s essentially an unrealistic game and some where it’s more relevant to have realistic male and female.. so please don’t make it black and white

[@TheOldWeeb]

Its become a black and white issue tho. There should be a level of nuance in fictional stories but we dont have that luxury anymore.

[@robertharrison1058]

Games movies series if your going to have fmc then they must be well written and be appealing boss bicthes are ugly turn offs as main characters as they only fit the antagonist role not the main character slot.

[@rustytanks]

Better not tell these anti-beautiful woman supporters about Drakengard 3 or Blades Of Time 😂

[@TheOldWeeb]

ive heard of Drakengard, what is blades of time

[@rustytanks]

@@TheOldWeeb fit blonde with shorts, fights God of War style 👌

[@TheOldWeeb]

Sounds like a fun time

[@niteshanthony2324]

Hey, we do not know each other but I would like to tell u that despite all the bad that you have done in your life, GOD still loves you and wants you to be with him (GOD), all yoi must do is to trust in Jesus like how u would trust in parachute when jumping out of a plane and you must be willing to turn from your wrong doings and do what is right

[@backup368]

If you've watched a movie, and I mean a live-action movie, you can easily realize that character development isn't about making the most salivating proportions possible and throwing her out there in a skimpy outfit. That's the strange thing about "anti-woke", they'll never complain about film characters, always video game characters that are inspired by film.

[@TheOldWeeb]

i dont believe that to be true. I've watched a lot of films in my life and you can have a character be sexy/hot and well written all the time. we have several examples from 90s and 2000s. people's real gripe with characters in western media is that its about messages first than characters. Also, people have voiced opinions about film characters as well, have you seen the marvel discourse the last 3 years?

[@backup368]

@@TheOldWeeb And odds are those characters in your mind appear in movies with romantic themes. AAA western developers don't make many games today with romantic themes because many of them feel consumers prefer to have stories about action, survival, exploration, or taking down a higher power. The problems with Marvel movies is apples and oranges, unless you're referring to them being fully clothed, in which case that's been going on far longer than 3 years. It's hard for audiences to take the movie seriously if you want to make this epic, and serious film while also making Storm and Jean Gray half-naked in front of the camera. There's a time and place for everything.

[@TheOldWeeb]

To your first point, I dont agree with because it wasnt too long along for Mass Effect and Witcher Franchise that had stellar women at the forefront for not only their stories but they were overall attractive in Miranda, Yennefer, Triss, Liara, etc. Romantic elements to games can be very good/enjoyable as long as they make the characters deep and interesting. The X-Men as an identity is littered with beautiful half-naked women while also sending a strong message. They dont have to be mutually exclusive because it comes down to pacing and placement, so yes there is a time and place within the media but it doesnt mean they cant both be present

[@backup368]

@@TheOldWeeb Okay, good. Those are examples how western AAA developers use sex appeal selectively. It's not forced on every female character because often is the case that character is affected by the plot in some way, for example, Red Dead Redemption 2, The Quarry, TLOU, etc. For a long time, many fans are used to associating superheroes with certain outfits because comic books have been around for nearly 100 years. The market for comics books however certainly isn't anywhere near the market for movies, and even bigger now, video games, where a lot of money is at stake to try to make the story overall look immersive to more people than what the comic book industry can offer.

[@TheOldWeeb]

I truly believe that comic book industry needs to look at its own child in Manga and adopt some of their approaches because there is a reason that Anime/Manga was spiked since like 2020. Those Developers weren't being attacked/pressured/blacklisted because they feel they cant call out the consultants who are pushing "diversity" at any cost vs just making good quality products. Like there are so many Black, Asian, and other minority icons in video games and media that were made by just making great stories