Female heros in videogames - a game review

[Veilex]

I'd not normally post commentary regarding female characters in games, except they are few and far between... and when they do exist, are often designed with revealing clothing or painted on outfits.

Child of Light is a game that came out a while ago that not only does away with those typical tropes, but does an outstanding job of depicting a young lady who has the strength of character and determination to achieve her goals in spite of the obstacles in her way.

Add to that, the game is done in a gorgeous painterly style of art, the music is both haunting and inspiring, and includes all the elements one might expect of a traditional role-playing game.

Having a powerful female protagonist and a low price tag of $15 (at the time of this posting), make this game an excellent experience. If you're considering buying a game either for yourself or someone else, please consider rewarding this publisher for their work.

Take a look at the game here - http://childoflight.ubi.com/col/en-US/home/index.aspx

You can buy the game here - http://store.steampowered.com/app/256290/

[daleanime]

1. Played it!

If you're in to RPGs it's quite charming.

[derby378]

2. You might find this essay useful

It's mainly for writers who create female heroes for books, film, games, etc., but the lessons contained therein could benefit everyone.

http://thedissolve.com/features/exposition/618-were-losing-all-our-strong-female-characters-to-tr/

[Veilex]

8. I've read that article before... though the author makes a number of flawed arguments...

The author seems to go out of her way to single out supporting role characters. A supporting role character is there, by definition, to support the story. This is where the author's understanding of story falls flat... specifically with reference to Valka, her son Hiccup and her husband Stoic. The entire story is about Hiccup and his interactions with the world around him. His mother is indeed moderately interesting...however, the movie is not about Valka or her personal growth... for that matter, its also not about Stoic or his personal growth. In fact, in a trope-tastic manner, the absurdly strong Stoic goes off to war at the drop of a hat and , of course, dies to protect his family/land/etc...thereby making way one of Hiccup's personal growth moments to "come into his own".

A little bit of rebuttal to some of the author's comments"

"She faces the villain (the villain she’s apparently been successfully resisting alone for years!) and she’s instantly, summarily defeated."

- She's been avoiding the villain for years. Its very clear throughout the movie that, while graceful, she's not a fighter.

"Her husband and son utterly overshadow her; they need to rescue her twice in maybe five minutes."

- Her son certainly does...but then the movie is about him...not her. As to Stoic...as I said before, he dies. Protecting Valka no less.

Her biggest contribution to the narrative is in giving Hiccup a brief, rote “You are the Chosen One” pep talk

- This is only true if you ignore how she saves Toothless (who takes a backseat while Valka is on-screen), introduces Hiccup to the benevolent Bewilderbeast, shows Hiccup how little he knows about dragons (including Toothless) by showing how much control she really has over them, and revealing Toothless'es separating spinal flaps (Without which Hiccup would be dead)... and the aforementioned pep talk.

(Meanwhile, the actual villain gets virtually no backstory—which is fine, in a way—but it leaves the film unbalanced.)

- Typical two dimensional, non interesting, male villain trope through and through

This is Trinity Syndrome à la The Matrix: the hugely capable woman who never once becomes as independent, significant, and exciting as she is in her introductory scene.

- Ignoring that Valka has been living independently on her own for years...a supporting character never SHOULD be as interesting as they were in their introductory scene so long as it is a supporting character. Replace "woman" with "man" and the same holds true. No supporting character should EVER be more interesting than the main character(s)... to do otherwise is bad writing.

The author wins no points for a flawed attempt to fight one side of the anti-trope wars. Particularly when not understanding that supporting characters are there to support...not overshadow.

Had the discussion been on the need for more strong women in lead roles, I'd totally have been on board.

[Bjorn Against]

3. That is a very good game

Another really great new game with strong female characters is Dragon Age: Inquisition. There is lots of diversity among the characters, including a gay character, a transgender character, and lots of racial diversity. Not only does the game have progressive themes, it is also one of the most addictive games in recent memory and just won the Game of the Year award over the weekend.

If you want a small RPG to keep you busy for a few days Child of Light is a great pick, if you are looking for something much bigger that can keep you busy for months then Dragon Age: Inquisition can not be beat. I would recommend both if you can find the time for both.

[NuclearDem]

9. BioWare really has been leading the charge on this sort of thing.

I haven't played Dragon Age, but I always play as female Shepard in the ME series. It makes the game a lot more interesting to have a strong, yet flawed and vulnerable woman in charge rather than square-jawed, stubble-faced, muscular male character #28472618.

[Veilex]

10. I bought Dragon Age: Inquisition... looking forward to trying it out!

[Blue_Tires]

4. Well at least the developers didn't fall in the usual trap

of giving their protagonist a Triple-'F' cup size and a curvy ass with skin-tight clothing, so it's already a plus...

[seveneyes]

5. Brienne of Tarth in Game of Thrones

A very good role model.

[Xithras]

7. I've been on the fence about Brienne of Tarth in the books.

On one hand, you're correct that she's a powerful female character, which is rare enough in fiction. On the other hand, the book (much moreso than the movie) presents her as an exceptionally unattractive woman with the "body of a man" and a butch personality who had been rejected by society. In fact, under that light, the book reinforces the trope that "normal" women can't be strong and powerful, and that a woman has to be some kind of physical freak to assume that role.

It hadn't occurred to me, but my 19 year old daughter (who is a huge fan of the book series) has been irked about it for a while. As she put it, "Martin seems to think that, in order to be a strong woman, you have to either be a heartless bitch or a tomboy. Why can't a woman be strong, moral AND feminine?" I did point out that both Catelyn Stark and Olenna Tyrell met those qualifications, but she was right in that those women represent an exception in those books.

[Archae]

6. Looks like a good game.

The "Skylanders" games, all 4 of them, have many female characters, both NPC's and playable.

Some humanoid, most not.

Just an example, here's Sprocket:



And a non-humanoid, Cynder the Dragoness: