Video Game Growing Pains Awards 2013

Greetings and salutations!  Seeing as it's a brand new  year, I felt it important to, as with last year, totally copy all the other reviewers out there and make a best/worst list.  Yes, I know, I'm a hack.  Moving on, this list will consist of three categories of games that I played in 2013.  Some of these came out in 2013, some just need mentioning...just because.  Also, this list is purely subjective, so if you disagree with me, fine, disagree.  Better yet, comment and explain to me your perspective.  I'm genuinely curious.  Anyway, let's take a look at the best, worst, and most WTF?! games for me of 2013.

Worst

            Which games made me sad, angry, or just plain frustrated?  This list is all about games I wish I hadn't bought, wish I hadn't played, wish...hadn't been, really.

Worst Identity Crisis: Bioshock Infinite(PS3/Xbox360/PC)

            Starting off controversial, huh?  Don't I always?  Let's get this out of the way.  Bioshock Infinite is a critical darling.  And I can't stand it.  Most of this stems from my distaste for the plot, which focuses on the concept of hyper time.  Hyper time basically posits that all decisions made by anyone creates a split parallel universe where the opposite decision was made.  I think this is handled very poorly, especially through the ending, and just frustrated me.  However, even without that thorn in my side, this game still would have made my worst list.  Why?  Because it doesn't know what kind of game it wants to be, really.  

Be Halo or be Biocshock...at least commit to SOMETHING.

            There are a lot of elements of the first two Bioshocks in this game, like scavenging in trash for food and coin, comboing plasmids and weapons for greater effects, moral ambiguity, audio logs, etc.  However, the game plays very much like a Halo clone.  You have a regenerating shield, you have a stock array of military weapons, from pistol, to shot gun, to RPG, to machine gun, and you are only allowed a two gun load out.  Putting aside personal preference, whether you like the two gun load out of Infinite or the carry as many guns as you want of the previous two, the fact that they couldn't decide on how it plays...whether the pace should be interrupted to scavenge or whether you were pressed for time...whether you should become skilled with one weapon or, in case the enemies don't drop ammo for it, just be an all rounder...it says to me the developers didn't want to commit for fear of alienating...well...ANY potential buyer.  And the game is weaker for it.  The tone of the story clashes with the actions taken by the player.  The style of play in down situations clashes with the style of play in fire fights.  Even the gameplay seems torn, as the improvements made to Bioshock's plasmid/weapon system in Bioshock 2 were either forgotten or excised for Infinite.

This was what we were promised...what we got was a game that didn't know what it wanted.

            I just wish Infinite was more consistent...if it were more consistently Bioshock, I'd have liked it more.  If it were more consistently Halo or some other modern military shooter, I'd have stayed away and been happier for it.

 

Most Boring/Pointless Grind: Skyrim Legendary Edition(PS3/Xbox360)

            I started playing Skyrim wanting to love it...and ended up feeling kinda empty and bored by the end.  I played Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion to death.  5 full playthroughs.  It was a colorful game that made me feel like I was on a grand adventure, that each item I got was unique and that some should be kept or stored rather than sold, that each situation was different, special, and fun.  And Skyrim felt like a grind to me.  First, yes, Skyrim is an amazing game.  It greatly improves the combat of Oblivion, adds in some more options, improves graphics with a new engine, and gives the players more freedom and choice.  However, in doing some of this, other changes were made that kind of turned the game into a slow, boring grind.

We're all just slaves to the grind

            The inclusion of a skill points system, with perks, was a positive change from Oblivion, but because armor, potions, and enchanting were tied to it, often times players had to grind out skill points to get the best stuff, unless they wanted to face vastly over powered enemies...and this was boring. 

"Okay, I bought a thousand iron ingots and leather strips and made a few hundred swords!"

"Congratulations!  You gained 10 skill points.  Do another thousand and you can make NEW armor.  Now, let me take those swords and give you money."

"What should I do with the money?"

"Why, buy more materials...to make more SWORDS!"

Yeah, to me it just felt kinda like a pointless slog.  Added onto that, the game has serious loading issues on a console, is very glitchy, and...really, there was no great reward at the end.  At the end of Oblivion, the gates to Oblivion were sealed...you could tell a tangible difference in the game, because you no longer got ganged up on by otherworldly beasts and there were no more red skies.  In this game...you kill a dragon, other dragons still exist for you to grind out materials on...nothing has changed.  The game is also very modern...by that I mean, washed out colors, lots of grey, white, brown, black...Oblivion was colorful and vibrant, a place I wanted to explore and enjoy.  Every mine and every dungeon of Skyrim just made me more and more bored and question why I put so much time into it.  This even extends to the maps and menus.  Oblivion had an old world, parchment like menu theme, for maps, skills, etc.  Skyrim goes for a semi-clear, bland, boring look to the map and menu screens.

This would have made the grind all worth while...cept this was just an awesome mod for PC versions.  Console gamers got left out.

            Let me just say, this ONLY applies to console versions of Skyrim.  PC versions are much better.  The inclusion of mods allows players to experience a fuller, more enjoyable game, such as with the High King of Skyrim mod, which feels like what I should have gotten for beating the game regularly.  You would still have quests to do, but you have the authority of a king to fall back on, to belittle, build up, or just mess with your subjects to your own enjoyment.

            For me, it was a grind...and grinds can be fun, but Skyrim was not.  It gave me no real feeling of changing the world or its people...everything was pretty much the same at the end of the game as the start.  A dragon and a few extra people were dead, but...no real change to the world at large.

Game That Loves to Give Players the Middle Finger:  FTL(PC)

            I hate FTL.  Some friends of mine encouraged me to try this starship simulator and, to their credit, it was pretty fun for a while.  However, FTL is a roguelike game done poorly.  Roguelikes frequently have you die and have to start over from scratch, however one of the cornerstones, in my opinion, of a good roguelike game is incremental progress.  You get better as a player, you get small rewards to make your next playthrough different or more enjoyable, etc.  Spelunky does this with unlockable shortcuts, players, and by slowly teaching you skills needed to survive through trial and error.  Rogue Legacy does this by allowing you to purchase new weapons, classes, or stat upgrades after each death that you keep.  FTL...doesn't really do this at all.  If you are SUPER lucky, you can have an event which may unlock a new starship.  These events are few and far between, though, and most players will be damned lucky to ever see one.  I've dropped at least 30 hours into FTL and only unlocked three of it's twelve ships...yeah...

Get used to seeing this.  FTL screws you.  A lot.

            FTL just wastes my time, largely because it is so random and luck based.  Now, lots of roguelikes are random and luck based, but FTL, regardless of your skill, can and will kill you with random events for no reason.  No matter how skilled you are, it will just end you...and to me, this is bad game design, because it wastes the player's time and isn't fun.  Others may enjoy it, but I don't.  You may as well roll a set of dice and end the game immediately unless you roll anything but snake eyes.  The game gleefully kills you and wastes your time, with no real lessons being learned and no progress being made.

Egregious Backpedaling: Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time(PS3)

            I am a HUGE Sly Cooper fan.  Alongside the Jak and Ratchet and Clank games, it was one of the finest platformers of the PS2 era and I was super sad that it wasn't making the jump to the PS3.  However, when it did, I was psyched.  I grabbed this beauty up and played it right away, and...it wasn't BAD, but...it felt like a huge step back for the series.

Bentley's expression says it all.  WTF, Sly Cooper.

            First, the plot...it is hugely contrived and turns fun characters we loved into enemies for the sake of getting our main cast back together.  This pissed me off, as we saw a series favorite turn evil for...really no reason.  It.  Made.  Me.  Angry.  Putting that aside, though, there was just a general lack of variety in missions, in my opinion.  Granted, there were a few interesting ones based on new outfits Sly Cooper could wear, such as deflecting projectiles with samurai armor or making huge leaps with a sabertooth tiger rug, but...the general play felt lackluster.  We also had the return of clue bottles, which were included in the first Sly game, however with no map, radar, or other way to find them, digging them up in each hub world became a chore...the first 28 are easy.  The last 2 are impossible.  It was just a ton of amateur mistakes and step backs.

            Sly 4 rubbed me the wrong way...it's not a bad game, but it was a huge step back for the franchise...and that makes me sad.

Honorable Mention: Resistance 3(PS3)

            Once again, Resistance 3 isn't REALLY a bad game.  It's got some fun weapons, interesting enemies and gunplay, and while the story is boring, it was a pretty enjoyable ride.  HOWEVER!  Not only did this game have to dump several gigabytes into my PS3 before I could play it, when I tried to erase it to make room for other stuff, the data corrupted and now it's stuck.  This game was glitchy and had issues with pacing, but that was the nail in its coffin for me.  It doesn't deserve a title under my worst list, but I have to bring it up.  First Sly is handed off to a new team, now Insomniac botches it's PS3 shooter...what's happening to game developers these days?

You done me wrong, Resistance 3...you done me wrong.

Best

            Okay, the depressing worst is out of the way, so let's move onto a few games that I absolutely ADORE!  These games made my year bright, fun, and were true reminders of why I play video games at all.

Delicious blend of genres and themes: Sang-Froid(PC)

            Fun fact.  I spent January 2013 in Montreal.  November 2013, after Steam's fall sale, I got this game and gave it a try.  Oh.  My.  God.  Sang-Froid is a wonderful blend of separate elements that come together in a gloriously silly, wholly unique experience.  Sang-Froid is a story about two lumberjack brothers in Canada who have to protect their sister and neighbors from Werewolves, skin changing Inuit, Wendigos, and the Devil himself.  TotalBiscuit calls this the most Canadian game ever and that's not a bad thing at all.  The new twist on a familiar story, the interesting cultural references and differences, and the strange characters and names that could only come from our friends to the north, accents and all, make this a very memorable play.  However, what sold me was the gameplay.

Yes.  You kill ice demons with a magic axe, a musket, and a ballista.  This game is made of Canadian win.

            The gameplay is divided between a strategy section and an action section.  In the strategy section, you can set traps, some automatic, some you need to activate, you can chop lumber for money, you can buy items or check the movement paths of the waves of wolves, etc.  In the action section, you take those traps and information you gained during the strategy section and try to defend your home.  Not only can players rely on their traps, but they can also fight with axe and musket, making this an interesting blend of action/hacknslash/strategy/rpg/canadian game.  It's great fun.  The voice acting and story can be a bit off or cheesy or stilted, but it kind of lends to the game's charm.  It's dark and serious, but also a bit silly, like an old B movie.  And I love it, for blending a fun story, Canadian culture, and rock solid, super fun gameplay together.

Valentine's Came Early: Pandora's Tower(Wii)

            The last game of Operation Rainfall came out in 2013 and...it was a bit of a Zelda clone.  But my god, what a fun clone it was.  This game features our hero, Aeron traversing several dungeons, killing enemies, and getting new items for the sake of a cursed girl named Elena...yeah, sounds familiar.  However, it really is a fun play.  The chain you are given at the beginning is both weapon and tool and it's just as fun to swing around or grab distant items with as it is to tear chunks of your enemy off with it.

How can I love a monster?  Pretty easy, when she's as wonderful as Elena.

            While the combat is fun, what really sold me on this was the relationship dynamic.  You have Aeron killing monsters and giving meat to Elena, who is a vegetarian, but has to eat or she will turn into a monster.  It's an interesting, subtle bit of character study, between these two friends who slowly grow closer, but also more distant due to Elena's curse.  The game reflects this with a stock relationship meter, but Elena really is an endearing character who works with Aeron rather than being his reward or his burden.  The game does have a few glitches and is at times a but frustrating, but for the characters and for how fun it is living in their world, I have to put it on my best list.

Fantastic, in Spite of Abysmal Publicity: Dragon's Crown(PS3)

            Dragon's Crown has had an unfortunate series of public shamings.  The flame war between producer George Kamitani and Jason Schrier of Kotaku, the examination of character art by Jim Sterling and TotalBiscuit, the decrying by both reviewers and gamers for how the art style or depictions of women interferes with the game...it's been a bad time to be Dragon's Crown.  In spite of all that, it has managed to do very well.  Selling a good amount is one thing, but Dragon's Crown is also a fantastic game.

Not your proudest moment, Mr. Kamitani -_-u

            Make no mistake, some of the complaints made by the above personalities are valid.  Hell, I've made similar complaints here.  The Sorceresses design is sexist and frustrating, the Amazon has some unfortunate animation choices, and oversexualized women of the fantasy genre are front and center.  However, it's still a great game.  Six characters, each with a different style of play, in a world that is full of strange beasts, myriad treasures, and awe inspiring sights.  It's a joy to play and I've sunk at least 80 hours into it, completing all 6 character campaigns and beating the final secret boss.  It's been a fun ride and in spite of all the negative publicity that Dragon's Crown has...well...rightfully received, it is still a great game.

In spite of the controversy, the game is still beautiful and plays like a dream.

            Some people may not be able to get over the art style, and that's fine, but it is still something I heartily enjoyed.  I wasn't bothered by the art because I was too busy trying to stay alive fighting cyclopian monstrosities, wicked demons, and the fearsome fire dragon.

Best Bang For the Buck: Rage of the Gladiator(Wii)

            Welp, this was a surprise.  I'd heard about Rage of the Gladiator on the Wii for a while, but only recently got a chance to play it.  It's...pretty awesome, if I do say so myself.  The game plays a lot like Punch Out on the Wii, with various enemies appearing and attacking with specific patterns that you need to block, dodge, attack against, or what have you.  The kicker here is that the enemies are all monsters, like goblins, beholders, magicians, minotaurs, etc. and it's super fun getting to fight them all.

You take on dragons and demons Punch Out style...need I say more?

            There are two modes of play, basic and challenge, and they both scale up the difficulty very well.  There is a skill tree that requires some sacrifices to get what you want.  There is also one of the best things to ever exist in a Wii game.  The option not to use the Wiimote.  It's a game that very much uses Wii motion controls, however you can select a classic controller or just the Wiimote held side ways if you want.    These options allow the game to be played by both the hardcore and the casual alike and really feels like it should have been a full on retail release rather than a 15 dollar downloadable title.

            Rage of the Gladiators is what all Wii downloadable games should be.  It's fun, it's got a lot of content, it's got a lot of options, and it may just be the best Wii game that no one has ever played.

Honorable Mention: Dark Souls(PS3/Xbox360/PC) & Ni No Kuni(PS3)

            Yep, two honorable mentions for Best.  While I am getting more and more jaded with the games industry, this has been a pretty great year.  I played Dark Souls the most last year, but because it frustrated me, I kept it off my best/worst list...and that was unfair, because I've easily sunk over 200 hours into it.  Dark Souls is a fantastic game, mixing moody old school challenge with brilliant graphics that make even the dark or dreary beautiful and well honed design placing control almost completely in the player's hands.  I love this game...almost as much as I hate it.  But...I felt others deserved the mention...especially since I'm now waiting for Dark Souls 2 to come out.

Intimidating, frustrating, but oh so satisfying to conquer...Dark Souls in a nutshell.

            And Ni No Kuni...this would have been my game of the year if not for the crappy control scheme in combat.  It should have been a regular turn based RPG.  That's basically what it is, only you can only control one character, the others have crummy AI, and it goes in real time, so the game doesn't give you a lot of room to rest/mess up/think.  Which is frustrating, since Ni No Kuni is amazing in all other respects.  The villain is amazing...well, except for the White Witch.  Shadaar is amazing.  Let's say that.  Ahem.  Anyway, the graphics are fantastic, with cut scenes by Studio Ghibli.  The dialogue is actually worthy of mention, since it's tame enough for kids, but not painful for adults.  The creature raising mechanic is fun, if in need of a bit more polish/speeding up, and the quest and crafting systems, as well as the wizard hand book you get near the start of the game are great for immersion, world building, and overall fun.  The combat rubbed me the wrong way and that's why it's not on my best list, but Ni No Kuni is a damn fine game.  I just wish it were better, so I could heap more praise on it.

So close to perfect!  If only the combat had been fixed TT_TT

WTF?

            Some games are just...weird.  Or deserving of more than just an arbitrary good or bad rating.  They deserve a new perspective.  So, let's look at these WTF titles and see what craziness was heaped onto use this year.  Also, confession time, these are all great games...I just wanted to talk about them and couldn't fit them into my other lists.  They are certainly strange though.  Trust me.

Game You Love to Hate to Love: Hearthstone

            I hate Hearthstone.  I love Hearthstone.  I...have an odd relationship with Hearthstone.  It's basically a free to play version of the World of Warcraft card game.  It's not perfect by any means, as it's still in beta and still being balanced, but it is a ton of fun.  However, it's probably the only game besides Dark Souls that I scream at, at the top of my lungs, and yet still want to go back to.  It's frustrating, but there are moments of supreme bliss, like when you pull that one card you need in a match.

Yu-gi-oh: Warcraft edition.  Insanely frustrating.  Insanely fun.

            The real reason Hearthstone makes it on my list though is because it's...the way a free to play game should be.  It basically gives you a Yu-gi-oh starter deck and tells you to go unlock the others by playing with the one you have.  Then it tells you to play more and unlock the structure deck cards.  Then it tells you to earn gold and buy booster packs for all the rest of the cards.  If you don't want to earn gold through daily quests, you can buy with real money...but you don't have to.  You can play the game, make good strategies, meet friends or tough opponents, all without spending a penny.  In fact, the shop is just a tiny icon near the bigger play ones and the game only tells you it's there once.  It never badgers you for money and if you are actually about to spend real money, Hearthstone says "Wait a minute...are you SURE?!  You know you'll be spending real money, right?"  It's very honest for a free to play game.  And yet, supremely well polished.  It has a few glitches here and there but it's a balanced game that works well.  With the promise of more to come, I have to say it's probably my game of the year for 2013.  It made me fall in love with collectible card games again, but isn't being a huge drain on my wallet like Yu-gi-oh or Magic the Gathering were.  It's a fantastic title and once it goes open beta, I heartily recommend it to any card gamers in the world.  You won't be sorry.

Come and play a game or two beside the hearth, friend.

THE WIIMOTE ACTUALLY WORKS: Trauma Team

            I've been an apologist for motion controls in the past.  however, the truth is, they don't really work as well as a regular controller or mouse and keyboard in terms of input and probably never will.  However, Trauma Team...Trauma Team makes me question that truth.  It's a fantastic little Wii title that uses only motion controls and uses them well.  Part of the well established Trauma Center series, it focuses on surgeons who have to save patients from everything from regular transplants or lacerations to a brand new super virus.  However, this one focuses on a team of doctors at a specific hospital.  One is early response and can only use certain tools due to having to be on the go, while another performs bone cutting, setting, and makes braces.  Another uses an endoscope to look through a person's body from the viewpoint of a snake while another does triage to determine the malady a patient has.  Each of these doctors uses tools that the Wii mote substitutes as or in the case of triage or mortician, acts like a mouse pointer in a point-and-click game.  And it works.  It works amazingly well.  The wiimote is very accurate, but more than that, it also feels natural doing all the things that the doctor's do.

Even diagnosing an illness feels natural...on the WII!  That is amazing.

            The game isn't perfect, mind.  It can get quite hard in places and the triage and mortician sections are much longer than the surgeries, since they follow the same rules of point-and-click titles, namely, "What the hell do I do now?!"  There are also some odd story bits, like the bone surgeon having a side job as a super hero or the endoscope user having a butler who she regularly shoots arrows at and who can wield a samurai sword.  Hell, the head surgeon is a prisoner sentenced to serve 120 years in a biological freezer.  Yeah, it's a weird title, but the story is surprisingly heartfelt and compelling and the gameplay is just plain fun.  I highly recommend.  If more games like Trauma Team came out, we'd probably be heaping praise on motion controls rather than wishing for their death.

From right to left.  Biker chick, best friend is a robot, talks to ghosts, 120 year sentence prisoner, samurai endoscope doctor, costumed superhero.  So...yeah...the cast is a bit strange.

Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Grandson: Rogue Legacy

            What does one even say about Rogue Legacy?  Fantastic roguelike?  Check.  Enjoyable little Metroidvania-esque game?  Check.  Most likely to make you go WTF IS UP WITH THIS CHARACTER?!  Ehehe...check.  This is a fun, interesting little roguelike game where you build up stats and unlock new classes by gaining money inside a castle and then try and kill the four main bosses to unlock the final one.  The story is okay, but really, what people came to this game for were the wacky, insane descendents system.  See, each time you die in this game, your son/daughter takes your place.  You get the choice of three, each with a random job, power, and...handicap?  Players have different unique traits about them, like the ability to only see the world in sepia tone because they are "nostalgic" or they fart every few seconds because they have irritable bowl syndrome.  Some are actually quite useful, like the inability to set off spike traps because they are "Light on their feet" or more amusingly, excitable, meaning that each hit they take claims to be thousands of points more damage than it really is.  This game truly does offer an interesting and unique look at roguelikes and Castlevania-esque games with this mechanic.  It's weird, but oh so fun and silly.  What other game can you have an amnesiac, gay, daughter?  Or a short sighted, dyslexic, old man for a son?

Even the greatest of Knights can have irritable bowel syndrome

2013's Shortest Game: Tiny Barbarian DX

            First game I ever kickstarted.  Tiny Barbarian DX is a super fun throwback to the NES era of games.  It's got arcade gameplay and while challenging, doesn't use a lives system that arbitrarily throws you back or ends your game after a certain number of deaths.  It's wonderful at showing with actions and expressions rather than dumping exposition and it's all around a very fun title.  It's also less than an hour long.  For a $10 game on steam.  Usually, I wouldn't even pay half that much for such a game.  But Tiny Barbarian DX won me over.  Its music, its aesthetic, its gameplay...it's a strange little title, for being so short, but it's surprisingly enjoyable.  I have to recommend this to any old school fans of chip tunes, Conan the Barbarian, and NES gameplay.  While short, it's worth it...though I have to wonder how this game gets a digital for profit release and Maldita Castilla is free.  Then again, different strokes for different folks.

Conan would be proud, even if the game is short...or rather...tiny...

Honorable Mention: Dragon Quest 9: Sentinels of the Starry Night Sky

            I played this game to death all the way back in 2011.  And then I bought it again this year to play it again.  Yes, really.  So, now I own 2 copies of DQ9.  Why?  Cause there's only one save slot and with the DQ9 wi-fi store being shut down I didn't want to wipe my old game or my old items.  I'd rather keep those and all the quests I beat and just buy a new DQ9 to play through for fun.  And I did.  And it was fun.  But...yeah, looking back...wtf was I thinking?  Either way, still just as fun now as when I first played it.

Yes.  Yes I am DQ9.  So nice, I bought you twice.

             Welp, that rounds out 2013.  Thanks again to any and all fans for sticking with me and I can only hope I will be able to enrage you further in 2014.  I have about 2-4 articles I'm sitting on for one reason or another and really do want to get out, but my time is seldom my own, so that's why I've not had much output.  This list was just plain fun for me, though, so that's why it's out before anything else.

            Anyway, give the good games a try and the bad games the middle finger.  And remember to enjoy 2014.  Life is short...so game on.

Oversexualized Vs Objectified

 With the release of Dragon's Crown just a few short weeks away, I'd like to talk a little bit about something that happened in May.  You see, Jason Schrier of Kotaku fame recently did a smear job of Dragon's Crown and itscreator, George Kamitani. Kamitani and his company, Vanillaware, make some of the only games I will buy no questions asked anymore in this boring, over saturated, overblown game industry, because they are fun, often feature strong female characters, have interesting art styles, and prove that hand drawn sprites are still relevant in this day and age. So, why the smear job? Because some of his characters are sexually exaggerated...and this naturally descended into the typical flame war between journalist, developer, and fans of both.  We're so mature in this field of entertainment, aren't we?  However, while looking on with a mix of disgust and disappointment at the state of games media and even developers themselves, I read a few arguments from fans who were more than just well thought out.  They were somewhat transcendent. 

Kamitani's rebuttal to Schrier's criticism.  We're so mature here...from the moment I saw this picture, I began the count down to the Kamitani x Schrier flame war.

            "Oversexualized does not mean objectified," was the thesis I took away from the most eloquent of these arguments. There are tons of oversexualized women in gaming and while some of it may pander to the male demographic, these women only become less as characters if you fail to see them as characters to begin with. True, there are the token eye candy cheesecake shots, but most of these women have a personality, a past, and a drive, beyond the outlandish designs...if you're willing to look for it. And really, many people who cry foul about oversexualization should perhaps examine for themselves why they jumped onto that bandwagon to begin with. I don't deny being a man and being biased towards the outlandish designs of some women in gaming, but if a woman is an object, I tend to get frustrated...I would rather they be a well rounded character who contributes to the story, because that is kind of why I play games.

 

Outlandish, perhaps, but objectified?  Not if you know who this character is.  Especially not if you know who this character is.

           Following that same line of thought, I examined why certain women are dressed the way they are.  I found that those who are blatantly pandering, like the Oneechanbara girls who fight zombies in bikinis, are...well, rather stupid.  Their outfits make no sense and come off more as idiotic, rather than sexy.  Some of the pandering games at least gave their characters good reason to dress the way they did, thus sucking me more into the world.  Juliet Sterling, for example, in Lollipop Chainsaw was a high school cheerleader, so her short skirt and tank top, while very much showing off her body, made sense in the context of the world.  On top of that, Juliet is a strong female lead who is capable, unreliant on men for protection, has an emotional support system through her family, wit and intellect that is buried behind a valley girl personality, and some self loathing which makes her more relatable, as she has self-image issues.  These personality traits mesh well with her role in the game as a cheerleader/zombie slayer, creating a nice balance between cheesy, over the top, and somewhat relatable.  Her occasional lapses of understanding are still played for yucks and the camera loves to zoom in on her short skirt or her tight top, but she, on her own, has both a personality and context.  Even if the character herself is oversexualized, to an extreme degree might I add, her strong, distinct personality and the proper context for her behavior and clothes go a long way to combat the idea of objectification.  In the current video gaming environment, this seems like the status quo for strong female leads.  They're allowed to have some character, but there must always be sexual appeal and their clothes often need to show off their bodies.  While this is understandable to an extent...it is also very unfortunate, given how in the past video games have created strong female characters who didn't need to rely on sexuality to sell their games.

 

Juliet Sterling:  Oversexualized?  Most definitely.  Pandering?  Without a doubt.  But look at her clothes.  She's a cheerleader caught in a zombie outbreak on her way to school.  At least her outfit makes some kind of sense.  We aren't always so lucky.

            I shared some of these ideas with a non-gamer friend of mine who was markedly more critical of my approach, stating that oversexualization, even with a strong character, is still objectification to a degree, since game designers have control over how a character looks and acts.  While we did get a bit heated, we managed to stay civil and she broached the idea to me that one of the few times oversexualization is okay is when it is done not for the sake of pandering but for the beauty of the form.  When sexuality is just created for beauty's sake, for its own sake, then it is alright.  No cheesecake shots, no snide remarks or drooling idiots hounding a beautiful woman, just someone who is beautiful on their own and it does not have to become an issue with the story or the audience.  To her credit, I found this idea intriguing and after re-examining some of my own favorite female protagonists, I found that the ones I liked the most did in fact adhere to this kind of mentality, where they were beautiful, but not objectified or even used for male pandering.

 

Meet Ellen, from the game Folklore.  Ellen is very attractive.  Without showing a bit of skin.  She is beautiful for the sake of being beautiful, not for titillation or pandering.  Well done, Folklore.  Well done indeed.

            So, I decided I wanted to have a little chat with the gaming community on oversexualization.  When it is actually well done, when it is tolerable, and when it is deplorable.  For these three examples, ironically, I can use the three female leads of Dragon's Crown to tie it all together, because of their varied designs.  The elf fits the criteria for beautiful, well rounded, and contextual character, making her the strongest female lead and the one requiring the least pandering, while still being able to be attractive.  The amazon fits the well rounded and contextual character and while her design does pander a little to the male audience, it largely stands on its own since she has a unique and independent persona.  The sorceress sadly falls into a trap that was started in the Playstation 2 era where "jiggle physics" became a thing.  Her clothing makes a kind of contextual sense, but largely it seems out of place and only meant to show off her cleavage and legs.  Speaking of her cleavage, her breasts jiggle around willy nilly with no rhyme or reason and her personality seems ditzy, flirtatious, and reliant on men, even if it is for the sake of manipulating said men for personal gain.  She is the kind of character that needs to be avoided.  I hate bashing on her because Kamitani probably didn't create her with that in mind, but it speaks to an archetype that really needs to be laid to rest in gaming at large. 

            I want to add for the sake of completeness that this is a preliminary analysis from before the game launches to broach the idea of oversexualization vs objectification.  The characters are being examined based on gameplay footage, since the story has not been officially released, so their personalities, as seen through their in-game animations and dialogue, may change.  This is just based on what we know right now. 

 

Get ready kids, we're about to jump into examination and wild speculation on character design and personality.  Fun times.

            Anyway, with the background out of the way, let's start with the best first.  The elf fits the bill of being beautiful byhaving a slender, attractive body that is fitted into a ranger's uniform.  A green tunic and brown cloak for disappearing into the woods, a hood to keep the rain out of her eyes, thigh high boots for traversing through muck unimpeded, and all of this together without needing to show much skin for titillation.  Her pale face and well proportioned body speak of a kind of beautiful woman who is agile and capable, even if she cannot wield a gigantic sword like some of the male characters.  She has strong bow skills and the ability to use martial arts to defend herself.  The elf's in-game animations give her an air of seriousness, with a tender side as she appears to be friendlier to animals than the other characters.  The elf hits the perfect balance, in my opinion, of strong, attractive female characters that are beautiful for their own sakes, not for the audience's sake.  She is like Gwendolyn from Odin Sphere, Elly from Xenogears, or Lenneth Valkyrie from Valkyrie Profile.  Her clothes make sense in context with both the setting and her personality and her body type is pretty average.  Truth be told, she could have been given larger breasts as an attempt to titillate the audience, but if her overall design was the same, I.E. no cleavage, then she'd still be able to hold onto this beauty for the sake of beauty ideal.  This is what we want if we're going to have an oversexualized character.  One who is beautiful for their own sake, not for the sake of a male audience, who has a strong, independent personality, and one who dresses and acts with proper context based around their persona and the setting.

 

The elf has a slender, beautiful body, but her clothing makes sense and doesn't needlessly show off skin.  She is cute and attractive without having to flash breasts or butts to the male audience.  This is what we need more of.

            Next up is the amazon.  The amazon, in my opinion, fits into a precarious position between overtly pandering and beautiful in her own way.  From her animations, the amazon appears to be very much like a barbarian heroine from a Borris Vallejo painting.  She is muscular, comfortable with her body, and favors brute force over subtlety or protection.  The amazon has a fairly decent sized chest, complete with cleavage showing, and massive muscular thighs, which have earned her some criticism because she dresses in what amounts to a chainmail thong bikini.  This may sound like me, as a male, making excuses, but hear me out.  I honestly think this aesthetic works for the barbarian woman personality the amazon seems to have.  Barbarians are traditionally known for wearing little clothing, as they prefer freedom of movement over heavy armor, and only cover their weakest spots, like genitalia, feet, or their head on occasions.  In this context, the amazon is a mass of muscle, but still has weak points in her feet, for example, if she had to cross jagged ground, in the area of her genitalia due to the nerves and sensitivity, and the head, which controls the rest of the body.  Thus, it makes sense for her to cover these parts, while not covering her muscle.  And the clothing she wears, while very revealing, allow her to make full use of her legs, as she favors kicking enemies as well as using an axe.  She is confident enough in her own strength that she doesn't need the covering and would prefer the freedom of movement.  To me, this costume makes sense with her personality and the context of the game.  Is it pandering?  Well...yeah, unfortunately.  The amazon doesn't have a body thought of as traditionally beautiful but she does have some parts which could be singled out as sexy by others which overlook her as a whole

 

The thong will be a sticking point for a lot of people, but considering her aesthetic, I think the amazon works.  Is she pandering?  Yes, but at least there is more under the surface and her outfit makes sense in context.

            In this case, like with many women in games who have a strong personality and clothing that matches context but is still revealing, I want to say this.  A character is only objectified if you THINK of them as an object.  The amazon has a personality, a reason for dressing like she does, and even if she is somewhat pandering, it is easy enough to ignore it because she can be seen as beautiful in her own right.  The beauty of the human body at its peak physical perfection.  However, if all you see are the giant thighs and the cleavage, or the lack of clothes, you are turning her into an object.  She wasn't made as one, you are TURNING her into one.  This is true for a fair number of female protagonists in modern gaming.  Bayonetta, for example.  Her personality shows that she feels dismissive towards men and enjoys using their sexual thoughts against them, while using an outfit that is made of her hair which is equal parts weapon and armor.  Is she pandering?  Absolutely, there are plenty of cheesecake shots or moments where she herself is overtly sexual.  But for her personality and the world she exists in, her costume makes sense and her actions seem more like a middle finger towards the largely male audience oggling her.  So, she's only objectified for her looks if you refuse to see how she is subverting the norms of the jiggling bimbo heroine and choose to only see her AS a jiggling bimbo heroine.

 

Bayonetta and the amazon are where we are right now in the games industry in terms of regular female protagonists.  They can be strong, but they do have to pander the audience, with sexy poses, cheese cake shots, or a general lack of clothing.  They're still characters and are only objects if we reduce them to objects...but we can do better.  I know we can.

            Sadly,the worst example of female character design in Dragon's Crown comes from theSorceress.  Her clothes feature a dress that has a slit in the side to show off her long legs and her top is low cut, allowing her breasts to jiggle about like crazy.  She has a ridiculously thin waist and seems content to shove her legs and chest wherever she pleases.  Her attacks seem to focus on a mix of magic and titillation.  She has some impressive magic feats, such as ice and fire spells, true, but she also has spells like charming enemies, turning them to frogs, or turning them to stone, which reflect back on female ideas of titillation and temptation.  Her design seems to dip heavily from traditional witches and mythical temptresses.  This could be me looking too far into it, but this kind of design seems reliant on men for her success, as she counts on her sex appeal to a degree, and with clothing that really doesn't fit the context of the game world.  In Dragon's Crown, players enter all kinds of dungeons, from dank sewers to dragon's caves.  I'd think you'd want clothes that either protects your entire body, like the knight who is covered in armor, that allow freedom of mobility while protecting the essentials, like the amazon, or which makes sense based on your skillset, like the elf, whose costume seems built around keeping her mobile and able to snipe enemies with her arrows.  The sorceress's clothing seems more reminiscent of a bar waitress's clothes, with a witch's hat added in for good measure.  I'm not saying bar maiden's or bards or any other unorthodox type of person can't be an adventurer, but it seems oddly out of place amongst the other adventurers.  She seems like fan service for the sake of fan service.  And really, that is, in my opinion, the worst kind of female character in video games.  These are the characters who are objectified because they have no strong persona, their clothing and design in and of itself are meant to not fit into the world, but rather to catch the male eye, and they cannot stand on their own without a male audience.  I'd find it hard to believe with her jiggling breasts and overly sexual design that women would be able to enjoy the sorceress as much as men.  Which is a shame, because some of the ideas they had for her seemed interesting, like turning male monsters into toads, thus subverting some fairy tale and female tropes of storytelling.  However, the whole package with the sorceress seems to be a bit much.

 

Look at that shot.  The skull between the breasts.  That should say it all.  The sorceress might turn out to be fun and not nearly as sexist as she seems, but...just this image of a woman in gaming is discouraging.  Guys, we really need to stop doing this...

            This is what I hate.  I hate it when a character isn't given enough personality to work with, like Paula in Shadows of the Damned, and where what little they have either panders to the male audience or makes little sense.  I hate it when characters are dressed up like barbie dolls for no reason at all and without context, like in the DOA volleyball games.  Think about those games for a second.  Not only are these female characters regular enemies in fighting tournaments, so they wouldn't be hanging out together at a resort, but they also have jobs or personas which make them lounging on a beach in a bikini, posing as hard as they can to look sexy, really unlikely.  Christie is an assassin.  Sex appeal can be used in her work, but in her downtime too?  Lisa is a wrestler.  Maybe she wants to relax, but...with people she's smacked down with?  Ayane is a bloody ninja who is frequently in contact with and assisting the Hayabusa clan!  Why is she traipsing around in a bikini on an island that seems to be inhabited only by eye candy for the male audience?!  Perhaps worst of all though, I hate characters that have potential, but have that potential is squelched for the sake of fan service.  The character Tala in Darkwatch was a bit oversexualized, with her gothic look, black clothes, open cleavage, and cold, but flirtatious persona.  But she provided some nice character development for the main character, Jericho.  Jericho is a vampire and still coming to terms with his powers, so Tala acts as the devil on his right shoulder vs. an angel he had on his left in the form of a ghost.  Then the game thought, let's show them having sex, with Tala naked and straddling Jericho, who is still fully clothed.  ...Really?  Why was that necessary?  Yeah, she uses the moment to tempt Jericho to bite her and uses her new vampire powers to become the main boss later, but...there were dozens of ways to do that which didn't just degrade the character into bouncing breasts.  Talya had potential as a female villain because she was subtle and clever...I'd think she could've figured out a quicker, easier way than screwing Jericho to get bitten.

 

Darkwatch, DOA Volleyball, Oneechanbara...this is just pathetic.  Fan service women with no character whose only goal is to titillate.  THESE are the objectified women.  These are the ones I feel sorry for and the ones I am unable to play, because they're so vapid, pandering, and empty.

            So, there you have it.  Three examples of oversexualization in gaming through the lens of Dragon's Crown.  What I want you to take away from this though is that oversexualization does not automatically mean objectification.  In the first case, objectification is damn near impossible because the character is so well designed that she is beautiful, but in perfect balance between body, clothing, persona, and likability.  In the second case, objectification is possible because certain parts of the character's body and clothing put aspects of her on display, creating an imbalance, but her personality and the context of her design make it your choice.  You can choose to see her as an object or as the character she was meant to be.  The third case is the most depressing, as it blatantly panders to the male audience without really providing context in costume, character, or setting as to why she needs to be this way.  The character herself is not strong enough to carry the design and while the abilities she possesses are nice, they don't excuse or hide the fact that the design is too catered towards the male audience, rather than a gender neutral party, which most games should be.  A good game can create male leads that both men and women find either admirable or attractive or female leads which women feel empowered playing and which men can find beautiful, but without feeling the need to ogle.

            Let me close with this. Oversexualization of both men and women is a common thing in all kinds of media, from books, to movies, to games. And not all of it as unwanted as some might believe, as many people, men and women, enjoy the form, the outlandishness of the design, or the costuming without even getting sexuality involved.  They enjoy the beauty of the character for what it is.  Oversexualization is not a bad thing in and of itself...it's when you reduce the characters being oversexualized to objects that we have a problem.  Oversexualized doesn't have to mean anti-feminist, misogynistic, or even unhealthy.  It's when you reduce that character to an object that you give them this negative connotation.  So next time anyone wants to do that, think about the game, the context, or the character you're talking about.  Think about who they are, what they mean, why they're depicted that way and if there really is a reason to get upset.  Don't just point and go "SEXIST" as a knee jerk reaction. And likewise, don't pick up a game or get enamored with it because of sex appeal...games are there to be played. You want sex, you've got the internet.
 

Vallejo paintings are full of oversexualized women and men.  Does this make them objects?  Well...I say that's up to you.  I'm more interested in the wings and the alien world that the fact the woman's in a bikini.  To me, she isn't an object...I don't know if the same can be said about others.

             All in all, game developers should strive to make characters like the elf, but we shouldn't be as critical of the amazons or the Bayonettas out there.  They are pandering to increase sales, but their character, design, costume, and their overall likability coupled with the game's enjoyment factor often make this a matter of choice.  You can reduce them to objects if you only focus on certain aspects, but that is YOUR decision to make.  The character still has character.  Game developers should avoid making characters like the sorceress, or at the very least try and make her BETTER.  The sorceress had potential and with a little re-tooling, I think she could be just as strong as the amazon or even the elf.  Don't make a character only for eye candy's sake, though.  We all lose when that happens.

            Finally, let me say once again, this is just one person's opinion.  Take it or leave it, argue with it if you want, but at least think about what I've said and why I've said it.  The fact that we live in a world where A) Men think it's okay to make a pandering piece of eye candy as a main character in a game and B) Where the world is such that women are so jaded about the portrayal of all characters that they may call sexist as a knee jerk reaction makes me very, very sad.  Also, this is based on the impressions of Dragon's Crown from its promotional material.  I wanted to use this to kind of defend Kamitani to a degree, because I don't think he tried to make his characters eye candy.  I want you to see how he probably thought about their design and creation, through these three examples.  I think the sorceress design is flawed, but it at least had potential.  That's more than I can say for the DOA Volleyball series, which took established characters and turned them into dress up dolls.