Your video game hot take(s) thread

[Hawki]

Thing is Japan also does the thing where the feminine char uses her girliness to thwart evil through the power of cuteness and love and everything sweet. They don't have this requirement that to be capable you gotta be manlike.

So, if we're defining this by the following of:

-Female character can't be playable
-Female character can't be a damsel in distress
-Female character must be an ally
-Female character cannot be "one of the boys"
-Must be from a Western IP

Then limiting it to one female character per IP, aside from Elizabeth, I can nominate:

-Faye (Anthem)
-Kendra (Avatar)
-Nova (Battleborn)
-Tiny Tina (Borderlands)
-Eva McKenna (Command and Conquer)
-Coco Bandicoot (Crash Bandicoot)
-Ellie Langford (Dead Space)
-Ikora Rey (Destiny)
-Elizabeth McNeil (Doom)
-Amata Alvodar (Fallout)
-Hana Cole (Gears of War)
-Alyx Vance (Half-Life)
-Cortana (Halo)
-Lady of Thorns (Heroes of the Storm)
-Karan S'jet (Homeworld)
-Amy Crystal (House of the Dead)
-Evelyn Batton (Killzone)
-Freya (The Lost Vikings)
-Leela (Marathon)
-Doctor Chakwas (Mass Effect)
-Candice Parker (Mission: Impossible)
-Athena (Overwatch)
-Chandra (Perfect Dark)
-Fara (Prince of Persia)
-Samanya (Red Faction)
-Elora (Spyro the Dragon)
-Auros (Strife)
-Syl (Torchlight)
-Jaina Proudmoore (Warcraft)
-Flint (Wing Commander)

Again, all I need to do was look at an IP list and rely on memory for that.

And since some people may bring it up, there is some overlap here, since some characters are playable in some cases and not in others (see Coco and Samanya for instance). But even so, Elizabeth isn't some weird oddity in my experience.

 

[Gyrobot]

You definitely can have girly chars in those rough and tumble settings. Berserk has a ton of them and it's about as dark as it gets. I think the issue is more with the western action flick tropes that these things are trying to emulate. The girl is either the dumb bimbo who needs saving or the manly chick who is just one of the boys but also has tits, no in-between. It's why Elizabeth in Bioshock Infinite was such a breath of fresh air.

And Berserk was a product of it's time and with stuff like AoT finally ending. It will a question of what kind of female protagonist can Japan produce after AoT finishes. You have to stay relevant to the times and creative standards and your girly girl designs are not in the vogue in the west.

 

[Dreiko]

And Berserk was a product of it's time and with stuff like AoT finally ending. It will a question of what kind of female protagonist can Japan produce after AoT finishes. You have to stay relevant to the times and creative standards and your girly girl designs are not in the vogue in the west.

Berserk is still ongoing, while it started in 89 it has updated itself moving forward. Also every since Miura got into Idolm@ster you can see the influence more modern anime trends have had on it.


And yeah the thing is we ought not care what is "in vogue", we ought care whether someone just creates something they really feel expresses their creativity the best. They will bend the trends to their will if they do that and they will carve a new path forward. Otherwise you're just another follower with no identity to yourself like the thousandth western brown short haired middle aged protagonist.

 

[Drathnoxis]

I can think of a couple of older games where branching paths actually had some meaning. Contra Hard Corps had various branching points throughout the game which lead to different stages and different endings. Same with Shogo: Mobile Armor Division.

Yeah, I always enjoyed stuff like that in House of the Dead and Star Fox 64. The games were pretty short and it was fun replaying them to find all the different hidden routes and stages.

 

[BrawlMan]

Contra Hard Corps had various branching points throughout the game which lead to different stages and different endings

Yeah, I always enjoyed stuff like that in House of the Dead and Star Fox 64. The games were pretty short and it was fun replaying them to find all the different hidden routes and stages.

Guardian Heroes does it too. Also, it's why Contra Hard Corps is my second favorite Contra game. Mainly the Japanese version.

EDIT: Gunstar Super Heroes endings are based on whatever difficulty your playing.

 

[Dalisclock]

Guardian Heroes it too. Also, it's why Contra Hard Corps is my second favorite Contra game. Mainly the Japanese version.

I"m sure you've mentioned it elsewhere but what's the your favorite Contra game?

Would I be correct in guessing 3 on the SNES?

 

[BrawlMan]

Would I be correct in guessing 3 on the SNES?

Contra 4 on DS is my #1 Contra game.

 

[Dalisclock]

Contra 4 on DS is my #1 Contra game.

I haven't played that one for some reason. I feel I must rectify this situation once I play the Collection(which has all the early games) and I'm hoping they include 4 if/when they do another one.

 

[BrawlMan]

I haven't played that one for some reason. I feel I must rectify this situation once I play the Collection(which has all the early games) and I'm hoping they include 4 if/when they do another one.

I do find it odd that they have the Japanese version of the Contra NES game, but but not of Hard Corps nor Alien Wars, but you get there European versions. It's a good thing I bought that Sega Genesis mini. You can play the US, Japanese, or European version of Hard Corps. Giving its konami, I highly doubt they're going to make a second collection. Which is a shame, because there's no other way to play the rest of the contras unless you got the consoles for them. Not to mention, two of the Contras are digital only. Both of them systems from two generations ago. Hard Corps Uprising on XBLA and PSN. Rebirth on Wiiware only. How I would love to play 4 on the big screen.

 

[Gyrobot]

We came a long way from the era of dudebro shooters, the fact that devs listen instead of sticking their heads in and keep shooters a boys club shows how much the devs are willing to put effort even when they clearly they don't have to. Look at how Gears of War went from a muscleman shooter to Gears of War 5 having a female lead

 

[BrawlMan]

Taito > Data East.

They can bring Miss Monday back in Ninja Gaiden 4....if that ever happens.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

MGSV is the most replayable game in the series, if we go strictly by individual missions (“level” equivalent of the earlier titles). The game progression as a whole though, is basically the complete opposite. That is where I’m glad it’s a one-and-done deal, because there’s just so much to do, and yes most of it is repetitive and often grindy.

 

[Gergar12]

Wabbajack the PC mod list build/downloader is the best thing to have happened to game mods. Now if you will excuse me I am going to burn a hole through my PC by downloading a modlist with 537 mods on Skyrim SE.

 

[BrawlMan]

How are we defining "right," though?

By not being overly serious, pretentious, and up its own ass.

As for Gears 5, I did not care much for the story (not a Gears fan), but I will give the developers of that game credit. They did something better than the TR reboot trilogy and TLOUS II.

 

[Hades]

My hot take would be that I find Greece from Assassins Creed Odyssey to be the best open world out there. Its an insanely beautiful world with a large amount of settlements and has the criminally overlooked Greek aestetic and themes that other games consistently refuse to use.

My other hot take would be that I find it criminal that this world is wasted on a bog standard Assassin's Creed game. Imagine if you had a beautiful world stretching from Macedon to Sparta that would be used in more interesting ways. Have the Olympians themselves walk those lands and have them give you quests and powers while requiring the player to manage the desire of the incredibly fickle godlings.

 

[BrawlMan]

My other hot take would be that I find it criminal that this world is wasted on a bog standard Assassin's Creed game. Imagine if you had a beautiful world stretching from Macedon to Sparta that would be used in more interesting ways. Have the Olympians themselves walk those lands and have them give you quests and powers while requiring the player to manage the desire of the incredibly fickle godlings.

That's the biggest problem with the AC franchise. There's nothing left to do, and these games that should have not been in the franchise in the first place. They should have been their own thing. Otherwise, it's really underwhelming and adds nothing new. It's why I got tired of the franchise after Brotherhood. Seraphim17 said a similar thing in his Prince of Persia (2008) no death walkthrough. Origins, Odyssey, and Valhalla should have been their own games and not part of the AC franchise at all.

 

[Hades]

That's the biggest problem with the AC franchise. There's nothing left to do, and a big games that should have not been in the franchisement in their own thing in the first place, or it's really underwhelming and adds nothing new. It's why I got tired of the franchise after Brotherhood. Seraphim17 similar thing in his Prince of Persia (2008) no death walkthrough. Origins, Odyssey, and Valhalla should have been their own games and not part of the AC franchise at all

Its not just that but a lot of themes of Assasins Creed are at odds with the Greek Gods I want to see. I want to see thoroughly dysfunctional jerkass gods string the player along but the AC gods being long dead aliens means that this naturally can't happen.

That and while the gameplay is consistently decent its also kinda artificial and by the books, which is a bit too basic for such a world and setting.

 

[BrawlMan]

That and while the gameplay is consistently decent its also kinda artificial and by the books, which is a bit too basic for such a world and setting.

Exactly why I don't bother with the franchise anymore. The last good Ubisoft game I played was Rayman Legends for a reason.

 

[Dalisclock]

My hot take would be that I find Greece from Assassins Creed Odyssey to be the best open world out there. Its an insanely beautiful world with a large amount of settlements and has the criminally overlooked Greek aestetic and themes that other games consistently refuse to use.

My other hot take would be that I find it criminal that this world is wasted on a bog standard Assassin's Creed game. Imagine if you had a beautiful world stretching from Macedon to Sparta that would be used in more interesting ways. Have the Olympians themselves walk those lands and have them give you quests and powers while requiring the player to manage the desire of the incredibly fickle godlings.

They kinda sorta edged in that direction with the 2nd DLC(the Atlantis one) but it's not really the same. The problem being it can't decide if it's set in the Heroic/Mythical age or the classical age of greece so it just decides to split the difference and it really does not work together.

And the only reason I slogged through AC Odyssey (both DLCs as well) was because I loved traipsing around and exploring Ancient Greece at the height of the classical period. But faced with the prospect of doing that all again....I just can't because it's so fucking padded and drawn out. I know the Odyessy took 10 years but that wasn't because Odysseus had to keep grinding levels to reach the next region of Greece.

 

[Hawki]

I know the Odyessy took 10 years but that wasn't because Odysseus had to keep grinding levels to reach the next region of Greece.

Wait, you mean Odysseus DIDN'T need to grind before the Scylla & Charybdis boss fight? You mean he DIDN'T need to max out his dexterity before getting his hands on the bow? You mean he DIDN'T need to max out on charisma to charm Circe?

Christ, I've been reading The Odyssey all wrong.