Sony Stellar Blade (Korean Bayonetta/NieR:Automata | PS5 | 26 April 2024) - reviews from OpenCritic and Digital Foundry posted

[Greatoneshere]

4 hours ago, Ghost_MH said:

 

Oh, the horror of suggesting that devs should avoid negative gender stereotypes for both male and female characters if they want to reach a larger audience. Male characters with a full range of emotions? Female characters with armor that matches its function? The absolute travesty.

 

What a dumb article title for an incredibly benign recommendation from Microsoft. I swear, gamers are some of the whinest bunch of people on the planet.

 

I remember the collective shit gamers threw when Nintendo first started throwing optional difficulty reducing items in Mario games. Games being enjoyed by more people than just me? I'm utterly verklempt.

 

I had this exact same reaction - it's like an entire demographic of gamers don't understand their sexism is so ingrained it's subconscious and they don't even realize they're reacting negatively to positive changes for all genders in media protrayals.

[Ghost_MH]

3 minutes ago, Greatoneshere said:

I had this exact same reaction - it's like an entire demographic of gamers don't understand their sexism is so ingrained it's subconscious and they don't even realize their reacting negatively to positive changes for all genders in media protrayals.

 

Yeah, but have you ever thought of how seeing a man cry, a woman shaped like a body builder, or even a queer person might ruin the artistic integrity of these games designed in board rooms with PowerPoint presentations based on market research and urges from capital investors and the stock market?

 

If people really need to get the rocks off on virtual men, women, and everything in between there are more than a few of us on here that can direct them perfectly repulsive hentai. I won't kink shame.

[Greatoneshere]

2 hours ago, Ghost_MH said:

 

Yeah, but have you ever thought of how seeing a man cry, a woman shaped like a body builder, or even a queer person might ruin the artistic integrity of these games designed in board rooms with PowerPoint presentations based on market research and urges from capital investors and the stock market?

 

If people really need to get the rocks off on virtual men, women, and everything in between there are more than a few of us on here that can direct them perfectly repulsive hentai. I won't kink shame.

 

Agreed. With so many diverse kinds of porn out there for adults to seek out I'm not really sure why this softcore/fan service demand is still around and to demand it and criticize positive normalization of gender portrayals in regular (non-porn) media. Says more about the person than anything.

[crispy4000]

2 hours ago, Ghost_MH said:

 

Yeah, but have you ever thought of how seeing a man cry, a woman shaped like a body builder, or even a queer person might ruin the artistic integrity of these games designed in board rooms with PowerPoint presentations based on market research and urges from capital investors and the stock market?

 

Pretty sure most AAA games targeting a global audience wouldn't receive funding today with an overtly sexualized lead.  It's no longer in vogue. 

 

I've seen ugliness on both sides of this debate.  One camp that thinks that there's no room for it anymore in the year 2024, and treats it tantamount to an attack on representation.  The other trolls developers for not making their characters curvy enough according to their shifting thirstiness barometer.

 

But if there's one thing they seem to agree on ... Don't you dare shit on Bayonetta!  She's a female lead, punk, an implicit bisexual, and has a domineering attitude.  Female empowerment.

 

All said, there's probably some rational, reasonable middle ground here that doesn't involve reading too far into things.

[Ghost_MH]

26 minutes ago, crispy4000 said:

Pretty sure most AAA games targeting a global audience wouldn't receive funding today with an overtly sexualized lead.  It's no longer in vogue. 

 

I've seen ugliness on both sides of this debate.  One camp that thinks that there's no room for it anymore in the year 2024, and treats it tantamount to an attack on representation.  The other trolls developers for not making their characters curvy enough according to their shifting thirstiness barometer.

 

But if there's one thing they seem to agree on ... Don't you dare shit on Bayonetta!  She's a female lead, punk, an implicit bisexual, and has a domineering attitude.  Female empowerment.

 

All said, there's probably some rational, reasonable middle ground here that doesn't involve reading too far into things.

 

The first group you're talking about isn't really going after Bayonetta because that's kind of her whole schtick. I'd say there's a big difference between a character like Bayonetta and, say, Aloy. The number of people complaining about Bayonetta is wildly dwarfed by crazy people who think Aloy isn't attractive enough in post-apocalyptic open world kill the robot dinosaur game.

 

There's room for everything in this world, but the first group isn't the one making every comment sections toxic and sending death threats to developers.

 

I think a lot of companies could do better. I look at Nintendo's roster of Mario characters and all I am think is "Hey, you've got three princesses. Really couldn't have hurt to give Rosalina a bit of melanin, right?" My 5yo's two favorite fictional characters is Princess Peach and Ghost Spider. However, she's dictated that any game I play that has a character creator means I need to have to play as a brown girl with curly hair, just like her...well, except she's got to have pink hair, just because.

 

That's why my Pokemon trainer looks like this...

 

And my PC in Starfield like this...

 

Would be nice to get more options in games that don't have character creators.

 

I think these toxic gamers complaining about this stuff are just naive to the fact that even the "curvy girls" and fan service is just pandering. If they think "forced" inclusivity is pandering to people that aren't them, they're completely ignorant to the fact that the stuff they're asking for has always been pandering. These scantily class women only ever existed in stuff like games, anime, and comics to pander to young boys. Why? Because it was easier for an 11yo to sneak copies of Power Girl than Playboy back in 1992. However, it's 2024, the Internet is right there, and kids don't even have to figure out the code to unlock Cinemax anymore.

 

Kids these days don't even have to worry about their parents wondering why their VHS copy of True Lies runs kind of funny around a certain Jamie Lee Curtis scene...what?

[crispy4000]

7 hours ago, Ghost_MH said:

The first group you're talking about isn't really going after Bayonetta because that's kind of her whole schtick.

 

So it has to be enough of a shtick for it to be excusable.

 

That's the biggest irony on that side as I see it.  Maybe if the Stellar Blade girl had a pixie cut and less idol looking face, people would forgive the assets more.

 

It's also a bit ironic to harp on something like this as softcore porn, when popular movies and TV today in mainstream contexts generally come much closer and no one bats an eye to it.  But it's real people acting, so I guess that means the token sex scene in interstitial episodes isn't awkward, nope.  It's artistic expression, you gotta validate the director's choices and the actors for agreeing to flaunt it.  That's not even getting into the sexualization in reality TV…

 

Obviously there's games that go this far too (and further), but by and large, I don't expect to see sex and nudity in most high budget games so much as in other media.  Maybe that changes in the future, but in the here and now, I'm okay with it.

 

 

7 hours ago, Ghost_MH said:

I'd say there's a big difference between a character like Bayonetta and, say, Aloy. The number of people complaining about Bayonetta is wildly dwarfed by crazy people who think Aloy isn't attractive enough in post-apocalyptic open world kill the robot dinosaur game.

 

There's room for everything in this world, but the first group isn't the one making every comment sections toxic and sending death threats to developers.

 

The context I have is watching a fighting game developer be harassed for not making their characters 'curvy' enough.  Or giving them tails or something.  These people are absolute nutcases.  Same for those saying Alloy isn't attractive enough.  In truth, they've already lost and are just lashing out.

 

I can only imagine the fallout if she took her shirt off.  You'd both have highly selective outrage and hilarious justifications for it.  To be a fly on the wall for that.

[Ghost_MH]

1 hour ago, crispy4000 said:

So it has to be enough of a shtick for it to be excusable...

 

That's the biggest irony on that side as I see it.  Maybe if the Stellar Blade girl had a pixie cut and less idol looking face, people would forgive the assets more.

 

I think everything is about context. Bayonetta is a big brash, in your face campy schlock. Her over the top titillation fits the genre. I think Stellar Blade is only getting any attention because it's become some sort of crazy Gamer Gate 2.0 lightning rod for what women in games should look like. Those people are really trying to get this whole thing rolling again with their attacks on Sweet Baby and the like. I'm fairly certain this is all manufactured outage and it's no coincidence this is all happening in an election year that sees Republicans going hard on DEI efforts.

 

1 hour ago, crispy4000 said:

It's also a bit ironic to harp on something like this as softcore porn, when popular movies and TV today in mainstream contexts generally comes much closer.  But it's real p

eople acting, so I guess that means the token sex scene in interstitial episodes isn't awkward.  It's expression, you gotta validate the director's choices and the actors for agreeing to flaunt it.  That's not even getting into the sexualization in reality TV...

 

I don't think you'd find many serious people complaining about sex scenes in games. I think a good example of this would be Mass Effect and The Witcher. They both came out in 2007 and nobody was complaining about Mass Effect's sex scenes. Now, there were plenty complaining about The Witcher's sex scenes that treated sleeping with every woman you can find as some sort of weird trading card game. Mass Effect wasn't problematic, but The Witcher was. I think that's a fairly easy line to draw. It's not sex or nudity that's problematic. At the same time, nobody is really targeting Subverse. It's all about context. Reality TV is trash TV and we sort of expect it to be.

 

1 hour ago, crispy4000 said:

I can only imagine the fallout if she took her shirt off.  You'd both have highly selective outrage and hilarious justifications for it.  To be a fly on the wall for that.

 

I think it would entirely depend on the context of the situation, but I'm also having a hard time imagining a not exploitative scenario where Aloy gets naked.

[crispy4000]

42 minutes ago, Ghost_MH said:

 

I think everything is about context. Bayonetta is a big brash, in your face campy schlock. Her over the top titillation fits the genre. I think Stellar Blade is only getting any attention because it's become some sort of crazy Gamer Gate 2.0 lightning rod for what women in games should look like. Those people are really trying to get this whole thing rolling again with their attacks on Sweet Baby and the like. I'm fairly certain this is all manufactured outage and it's no coincidence this is all happening in an election year that sees Republicans going hard on DEI efforts.

Peoples opinions on this were expressed before all that recent drama though.  The main character makes some people uncomfortable with pandering, that’s not manufactured.  It’s evident in this thread.

 

So if it’s all because she’s not brash and campy enough, I think that’s worth calling out as a shifting standard.

 

42 minutes ago, Ghost_MH said:

I don't think you'd find many serious people complaining about sex scenes in games. I think a good example of this would be Mass Effect and The Witcher. They both came out in 2007 and nobody was complaining about Mass Effect's sex scenes. Now, there were plenty complaining about The Witcher's sex scenes that treated sleeping with every woman you can find as some sort of weird trading card game. Mass Effect wasn't problematic, but The Witcher was. I think that's a fairly easy line to draw. It's not sex or nudity that's problematic. At the same time, nobody is really targeting Subverse. It's all about context. Reality TV is trash TV and we sort of expect it to be.

It’s funny to me that Western AAA games are more likely to show nudity and contain or show sex, whereas Eastern ones are typically more sexualized in their character designs.  Every once and a while a game like GTA drops that does both and is full of exploitation, but it’s pretty far from the norm today.

 

Maybe it’s all just pandering on some level, and people are picking what ‘context’ they prefer to stick up for.

[skillzdadirecta]

All I'll say is that gameplaywise, I'm interested in this game. But would I feel weird if say, my mom or sister or nieces or female friends walked in and saw me playing it? Yes. Kudos to you if you wouldn't  That said, the campiness of this game does remind me of something like Barberella or old Russ Meyer movies. But yeah, I'd check this out cheap at some point.

[crispy4000]

2 hours ago, skillzdadirecta said:

All I'll say is that gameplaywise, I'm interested in this game. But would I feel weird if say, my mom or sister or nieces or female friends walked in and saw me playing it? Yes. Kudos to you if you wouldn't  That said, the campiness of this game does remind me of something like Barberella or old Russ Meyer movies. But yeah, I'd check this out cheap at some point.

I feel similarly.  Interested in the game somewhat, but definitely not from the objectification angle.  I’d say the same for most fighting games, both in terms of gore in MK’s case, and bouncy bits in most others.

 

I’m not clamoring for change though.  Its a choice, and the general landscape of sexualization in games is a lot different than the 90’s and early 00’s.  It’s often shoehorned in different ways now when it’s handled poorly.  FFXVI comes to mind recently for me.

[unogueen]

On 3/28/2024 at 12:49 PM, skillzdadirecta said:

All I'll say is that gameplaywise, I'm interested in this game. But would I feel weird if say, my mom or sister or nieces or female friends walked in and saw me playing it? Yes. Kudos to you if you wouldn't  That said, the campiness of this game does remind me of something like Barberella or old Russ Meyer movies. But yeah, I'd check this out cheap at some point.

Same could be said about Kingdom Hearts. A lot of bleeding gamer hearts clamouring for art recognition, without a single notion how games epitomize genre cheese and kitsch.

[unogueen]

It's a good story I swear!

[legend]

Played the demo and it's pretty cool! Combat is decently challenging, but wasn't crazy hard (so far) and the controls feel solid. The environments with lots of crazy shit happening remind me a lot of Bayonetta and DMC in a good way. I will probably purchase it when it comes out.

[stepee]

16 minutes ago, legend said:

Played the demo and it's pretty cool! Combat is decently challenging, but wasn't crazy hard (so far) and the controls feel solid. The environments with lots of crazy shit happening remind me a lot of Bayonetta and DMC in a good way. I will probably purchase it when it comes out.

 

This is likely my first ps5 game since SM2!

[Keyser_Soze]

3 hours ago, legend said:

Played the demo and it's pretty cool! Combat is decently challenging, but wasn't crazy hard (so far) and the controls feel solid. The environments with lots of crazy shit happening remind me a lot of Bayonetta and DMC in a good way. I will probably purchase it when it comes out.

Interesting impressions compared to YOVG, at least as far as the control as is concerned they said it had crazy input lag unless you played in performance mode.

 

Also, this seems a lot closer to Lies of P or Sekiro than DMC or Bayonetta, a game a lot slower and deliberate with a lot of emphasis on parrying.

[legend]

6 hours ago, Keyser_Soze said:

Interesting impressions compared to YOVG, at least as far as the control as is concerned they said it had crazy input lag unless you played in performance mode.

 

It might have input lag. I'm not a good enough action gamer these days to immediately tell. But there is much more to control than just that. I don't really want to drag this into a discussion about Elden Ring, but as a point of comparison I found the controls in Elden Ring unbearable. As an example, Its lock on system was a joke and if you didn't use lock on the character was far too able to swing one inch past the enemy. In contrast, I'm able to get Eva to do what I intended and easily move between parries dodges, etc. while keeping the camera where I want it (where sometimes lock on is the right thing to do, and other times not)

 

6 hours ago, Keyser_Soze said:

Also, this seems a lot closer to Lies of P or Sekiro than DMC or Bayonetta, a game a lot slower and deliberate with a lot of emphasis on parrying.

 

That comparison wasn't about the combat, it was about the environments and world being very over the top. This game is more deliberate than DMC or Bayonetta, but it's not slow or without fast combos either. (FWIW, Bayonetta was also heavily focused on dodging)

[TheLeon]

I’m playing the demo, and her insanely long hair constantly clipping through her body really tones down the rest of the character model. 
 

edit: finished the demo. Might be a “wait for PS+” game for me. Not bad, but also not really my thing. 

[BloodyHell]

Ok, I beat this demo today. The Abbaddon fight is crazy, and this demo is very, very good. 
 

I definitely don’t see it as souls aside from having a very good parry system.

 

I went from passive interest to definitely buying this game. The movement is fluid, feels a little like the action movement of Rebirth, yet greatly expanded and improved.

 

This is the first game to really interest me since Rebirth. I dropped off DD2 after accidentally losing multiple hours of progress in a game I already don’t find that fun or interesting, so this was a nice change. Also, FFxVI dlc will tide me over hopefully. 

[BloodyHell]

On 3/28/2024 at 3:38 AM, Ghost_MH said:

 

The first group you're talking about isn't really going after Bayonetta because that's kind of her whole schtick. I'd say there's a big difference between a character like Bayonetta and, say, Aloy. The number of people complaining about Bayonetta is wildly dwarfed by crazy people who think Aloy isn't attractive enough in post-apocalyptic open world kill the robot dinosaur game.

 

There's room for everything in this world, but the first group isn't the one making every comment sections toxic and sending death threats to developers.

 

I think a lot of companies could do better. I look at Nintendo's roster of Mario characters and all I am think is "Hey, you've got three princesses. Really couldn't have hurt to give Rosalina a bit of melanin, right?" My 5yo's two favorite fictional characters is Princess Peach and Ghost Spider. However, she's dictated that any game I play that has a character creator means I need to have to play as a brown girl with curly hair, just like her...well, except she's got to have pink hair, just because.

 

That's why my Pokemon trainer looks like this...

 

And my PC in Starfield like this...

 

Would be nice to get more options in games that don't have character creators.

 

I think these toxic gamers complaining about this stuff are just naive to the fact that even the "curvy girls" and fan service is just pandering. If they think "forced" inclusivity is pandering to people that aren't them, they're completely ignorant to the fact that the stuff they're asking for has always been pandering. These scantily class women only ever existed in stuff like games, anime, and comics to pander to young boys. Why? Because it was easier for an 11yo to sneak copies of Power Girl than Playboy back in 1992. However, it's 2024, the Internet is right there, and kids don't even have to figure out the code to unlock Cinemax anymore.

 

Kids these days don't even have to worry about their parents wondering why their VHS copy of True Lies runs kind of funny around a certain Jamie Lee Curtis scene...what?

But you have all that representation in other games. This game plays up the sexiness and suddenly it’s sexist. I really do agree it’s manufactured outrage, but its coming from the people who are truly supposed to care about free expression. People need to speak with their dollars instead of attacking people over playing a game. It didn’t work with Hogwarts Legacy.

 

and im not talking about here, im talking about attacks Ive seen on social media and resetera towards fans and devs of the game. 
 

and yes, the Bayonetta thing is a complete double standard. 

[best3444]

Beat the demo. It was actually pretty cool. Some serious NieR:Automata vibes which I really liked. I really appreciated that it had a story mode difficulty AND a balanced graphics mode to choose from. So I think it was running at 40fps.

 

It was good but maybe not great. I will wait for reviews on this but I was pleasantly surprised. 

[AbsolutSurgen]

On 4/5/2024 at 3:27 PM, BloodyHell said:

But you have all that representation in other games. This game plays up the sexiness and suddenly it’s sexist. I really do agree it’s manufactured outrage, but its coming from the people who are truly supposed to care about free expression. People need to speak with their dollars instead of attacking people over playing a game. It didn’t work with Hogwarts Legacy.

 

and im not talking about here, im talking about attacks Ive seen on social media and resetera towards fans and devs of the game. 
 

and yes, the Bayonetta thing is a complete double standard. 

Preach.

 

In reality, there is enough room in the gaming world for a variety of different games.  Not everything needs to be for everyone.

 

I have no interest in games that focus on how hot a girl's butt is, nor the ones that have you select the right three dialog prompts to fuck an NPC.  But, I'm OK with those games being available for others.  If someone gets off by staring at a hot digital ass for 15 hours; who am I to judge?  it's 2024, there are enough games with over-the-top representation for those who want that experience as well.

[best3444]

4 minutes ago, AbsolutSurgen said:

If someone gets off by staring at a hot digital ass for 15 hours; who am I to judge? 

 

@Phaseknox

[Keyser_Soze]

On 4/5/2024 at 12:27 PM, BloodyHell said:

and im not talking about here, im talking about attacks Ive seen on social media and resetera towards fans and devs of the game.

 

This is interesting because I've seen the exact opposite of this. The fans of this game are being weird (and that's even before the game is out) acting like they're being persecuted for liking the game and taking victory laps over tweets from the game saying it is "uncensored" and all of the comments are like, "oh IGN is going to hate that news!" and if you offer ANY criticism of the game you will get attacked.

 

It's gross and strange but then that's what the internet is these days.

[legend]

I think this game is a victim of the fact that it's liked by people insisting that western devs are deliberately making female characters ugly and insisting that all women in games should look like super models. Those people suck, but I think it's making a lot of people hate on this game merely because it's liked by those people.

[best3444]

When playing I didn't think anything was sexualized or weird. She is in a tight futuristic outfit but so what lol. People are so fucking stupid. 

[Keyser_Soze]

Just now, best3444 said:

When playing I didn't think anything was sexualized or weird. She is in a tight futuristic outfit but so what lol. People are so fucking stupid. 

 

Did you un-equip the outfit?

 

[AbsolutSurgen]

2 minutes ago, legend said:

I think this game is a victim of the fact that it's liked by people insisting that western devs are deliberately making female characters ugly and insisting that all women in games should look like super models. Those people suck, but I think it's making a lot of people hate on this game merely because it's liked by those people.

There shouldn't be a problem with people wanting characters in the media they consume to be a certain way, and to consume that media; while simultaneously not consuming the media they don't want.

 

There has been a trend in movies/TV/commercials/games to feature less conventionally attractive/sexualized characters.  It's been super evident over the last 10 years.  It's somewhat ironic that social media has leaned heavily in the opposite way.

[best3444]

3 minutes ago, Keyser_Soze said:

 

Did you un-equip the outfit?

 

 

Haha didn't know you could. 

[stepee]

I wish the ridiculous main character design wasn’t a thing and they were just a normal character as I find that the least interesting part of the game yet it seems to get 99% of the attention.

 

The combat seems great, it seems big dumb and explosion-y with large set pieces and then kind of a Nier Automataish desolate but cozy sci fi world. Leveling up seems like it will be good here. Thats the stuff I’m more interested in.

[skillzdadirecta]

5 minutes ago, stepee said:

I wish the ridiculous main character design wasn’t a thing and they were just a normal character as I find that the least interesting part of the game yet it seems to get 99% of the attention.

 

The combat seems great, it seems big dumb and explosion-y with large set pieces and then kind of a Nier Automataish desolate but cozy sci fi world. Leveling up seems like it will be good here. Thats the stuff I’m more interested in.

Ironically if it wasn't for the ridiculously juevenile character design, I would definitely be interested in this game. Ah well... maybe I'll check it out when it hits PS+

[legend]

I'm largely okay and can even enjoy over the top sex appeal for the same reason I can enjoy B movies. When Eve is pulled out of the pod in the beginning in the most over the top sexy way, it's good fun and you can laugh and enjoy it.  

 

 

1 hour ago, AbsolutSurgen said:

There has been a trend in movies/TV/commercials/games to feature less conventionally attractive/sexualized characters.  It's been super evident over the last 10 years.  It's somewhat ironic that social media has leaned heavily in the opposite way.

 

You're going to have to qualify what you specifically mean. Fewer women with completely oversized boobs in tiny armor in an otherwise "serious" game? Less out of place fan service? Yes, I agree with that and yes I think that's a good thing. But no, I don't think the industry is otherwise lacking attractive female characters.

[Spawn_of_Apathy]

2 hours ago, best3444 said:

When playing I didn't think anything was sexualized or weird. She is in a tight futuristic outfit but so what lol. People are so fucking stupid. 

there’s apparently an outfit made to look like bare flesh that apparently removes your shield for the privilege of making her look naked. 

[AbsolutSurgen]

2 minutes ago, legend said:

I'm largely okay and can even enjoy over the top sex appeal for the same reason I can enjoy B movies. When Eve is pulled out of the pod in the beginning in the most over the top sexy way, it's good fun and you can laugh and enjoy it.  

 

 

 

You're going to have to qualify what you specifically mean. Fewer women with completely oversized boobs in tiny armor in an otherwise "serious" game? Less out of place fan service? Yes, I agree with that and yes I think that's a good thing. But no, I don't think the industry is otherwise lacking attractive female characters.

I'm not sure what a "serious game" is.  Most games I play are mostly fantastical -- robotic dinosaurs, paranormal evets, futuristic aliens, romanticised history, unrealistic tech and over-the-top violence. 

If you go back 10, years and look at the characters in most video games that were attempting to have realistic graphics.  Most of the characters were made to look young and objectively attractive.

Mass Effect -- Every single woman and alien woman had a thin waist, big hips and armour that contoured around their breasts.  And facially, they were modelled to have traditional female beauty.  Male characters were all buff with square jaws.  That was the norm in virtually all video games of the era.

Flash forward to 2023/2024.  Something like Horizon: Forbidden West -- most of the characters are either overweight or beanpole thin.  No muscular dudes (except maybe the chief of the Tenakh).  No women with the exaggerated hourglass figure.

Same thing with commercials.  10-years ago, most commercials were filled with objectively attractive people -- remember how people used to say "sex sells".  Today, not so much.

We could debate whether it's a good thing or a bad thing, but let's not pretend it hasn't happened.

[legend]

29 minutes ago, AbsolutSurgen said:

I'm not sure what a "serious game" is.  Most games I play are mostly fantastical -- robotic dinosaurs, paranormal evets, futuristic aliens, romanticised history, unrealistic tech and over-the-top violence. 

 

Let me give an analogy. It would have looked dumb as shit if in the LOTR movies Arwen was running around in a bikini. Fantastical settings doesn't mean unserious in this way.

 

29 minutes ago, AbsolutSurgen said:

If you go back 10, years and look at the characters in most video games that were attempting to have realistic graphics.  Most of the characters were made to look young and objectively attractive.

Mass Effect -- Every single woman and alien woman had a thin waist, big hips and armour that contoured around their breasts.  And facially, they were modelled to have traditional female beauty.  Male characters were all buff with square jaws.  That was the norm in virtually all video games of the era.

Flash forward to 2023/2024.  Something like Horizon: Forbidden West -- most of the characters are either overweight or beanpole thin.  No muscular dudes (except maybe the chief of the Tenakh).  No women with the exaggerated hourglass figure.

Same thing with commercials.  10-years ago, most commercials were filled with objectively attractive people -- remember how people used to say "sex sells".  Today, not so much.

We could debate whether it's a good thing or a bad thing, but let's not pretend it hasn't happened.

 

This Horizon doesn't have attractive women?

 

 

[AbsolutSurgen]

26 minutes ago, legend said:

 

Let me give an analogy. It would have looked dumb as shit if in the LOTR movies Arwen was running around in a bikini. Fantastical settings doesn't mean unserious in this way.

 

 

This Horizon doesn't have attractive women?

 

 

Are you responding to what I wrote or to someone else?