Unappealing Characters Signal Deeper Issues (usually)

My opinion on Ciri, how CDPR might explain what we saw in the trailer:
1. Ciri looks strangely off in the cinematic, but so did Geralt in his cinematic for Witcher 3, so I think it's just that they are not using the same model for the cinematic and the game.
2. Ciri could drink the potion because either she can withstand it due to her elder blood, or she survived the trial kind of like the cursed elf did in Witcher 3. If the elf survived and transformed back, maybe Ciri went through a watered-down trial of the grasses too?

I am sure there are people out here who are not just hiding their sexism and misoginy behind lore concerns, and some people actually would not get mad if Ciri was the protagonist ONLY IF she looked more like in the previous game, and if she didn't have "Puss Peepers" 😀

As you said in this video: Neil Druckman is absolutely fucking DYING to be an "ally" and make a "NoN-SeXuALiZeD FeMaLe pRoTaGaNiST" sooooo bad that he is completely obsessed with it now; and it weird as fuck and down-right off-putting. He needs to stop inserting his damn gender politics into games and just needs to be fired or removed from his position; simple as that.

Boycott

The worst part is they're not just visually unappealing, but they tend to be either written to be obnoxious, dull, or just poorly written on top of that. Somehow they expect us to engage with these characters they've purposely made annoying or barely better than a paper doll. Actually no, that's insulting to paper dolls; at least those you can make exciting by how you play with them. So, they're worse than paper dolls… Joy.

That modern gaming feels the need to "(re)educate" players shows a clear lack of respect and consideration for their players intelligence and individuality…

They think we’ll forget, like you think we will.

It’s about more than another girl boss. It’s the decisions and practices and initiatives at these studios.

Ghost of Yotei will underperform. The Witcher 4 very well may too.

I think the problem I have is that people think female characters that aren't explicitly sexualised or feminine are always created in bad faith, which doesn't make sense to me as someone who's played games almost my entire life.

If you were a solider/criminal alone on a ship (which it looks like the first woman is), what would be easier: Shaving your head or keeping scissors and hair products around to keep a hairstyle? Not to mention that longer hair can get in the way in a fight.

Depending on the realism of the game, decisions that would make female characters less sexually appealing to young men make sense narratively.
You wouldn't park your space ship before a fight to put on a full face of make-up, so why would this character do that just because she's a woman?
The character model isn't even ugly.

I can agree that while yes, the story and game play is the most important, the visuals are also important.
That being said, there's a difference between balanced and visually appealing visuals vs. subjectively sexy.
If a male character wouldn't get flack for something, I think it's hypocritical to do so with a female character.

I completely agree that we should criticise a game if it's boring, has bad mechanics, a poor story or lacklustre design etc, but I'm gettin really tired of some male audience specifically being mad that not all prominent female characters look like their ideal porn stars, REGARDLESS of what their role is.

Bayonetta is sexy as hell, but that fits the character, gameplay AND the story! She's a fun and witty witch with magical powers, dressed in her own hair FFS. Her design makes 1000% sense, AND is visually appealing.
Samus's Zero Suit design makes complete sense when you look at her in the suit as well. She looks cool either way and it fits gameplay, story etc.
Peach and Daisy are princesses, their design fits their part.
Even Zelda is a perfect representation of this, as she looks completely different as Shiek, but her design is functional AND fits the story line!

The differences between these games and characters versus the new stuff has more to do with the industry changing in general, as the companies have grown more toothless in a pursuit of their endless greed.
They think removing any and all characterisation, complexity and conflict will sell more games, but really it destroys any good and unique stories the actual writers would want to tell.

There have been plenty of good games with VERY clear political messages throughout the years, but to tell that kind of story, you need to commit to it 100%.
If you watch Josh Strife Hayes' video about Dragon Age 1, he comments on how instead of telling you what someone said or did was bad, they'd just show you through actions and consequences in the game. This has disappeared in many mainstream franchises in general regardless of the topic of discussion, but that also significantly impacts the enjoyment of the story IMO.
If you're not gonna commit to something wholeheartedly, doing it half-assed will only produce a bad product.
Couple these shifts with everyone knowing how to make a good game being laid off in recent years, and you get the ultimate storm.
Sadly, I think many people have taken the wrong lessons from this development, as I've seen disappointingly many believe that "Not straight white 20-30 something man" equals bad protagonist, but that's not true.
I think the companies either know they are producing low effort products, instead of telling a quality story with quality gameplay, and are intentionally trying to sell more games based on controversy, or they think they will reach new customers solely through offering a different protagonist than last time, and forget that what we as customers actually want is a good story, good gameplay, cohesive visuals, great music etc.

The newest Final Fantasy is a perfect example.
Visuals and music are always stellar in the franchise and the games have usually had a varied group of NPCs, but the story of the new game is boring at best and the protagonist is nothing to speak of either. Gameplay is so and so.
Go back to their classics, and you see a great balance of story, mechanics, visuals and music, regardless of what era they're from.
Most people don't yank it to the FF6 pixel sprites or the FF7 polygons, but the games were still amazing!

By not recognising that we are actually missing quality in a complete package across the spectrum, and not specifically "female character must be sexy", we are doing ourselves a disservice.
There will always be the opportunity for sexy girls, we all like to see attractive characters, but it should make sense, just like not every woman always having to be your subjective idea of sexy makes sense. Nobody complains about the looks of male characters as long as their design makes sense, and that should be fair for female characters as well.
Not every game has to be Dead or Alive, nor does every game have to be TLOU or (god forbid) Concord.

Personally I just want something I can enjoy without cringing, you know? Something fun I look forward to playing in the afternoon, just like when I was a kid. At this point, I don't care about the protagonist's gender, just give me a good story and gameplay, damn it!

“I can’t wait to play Critical Theory in space!” Hahahah! That hit me clean on the chin and made me snort coffee into my nasopharynx!

More seriously though, congrats on accurately naming it. I don’t think many people do, getting caught up with terms like woke, or focusing on the identity groups and the present day descendants of Critical Theory. I’d agree with you that this is the praxis of Critical Theory in the modern context writ large. To me, few things are quite as hard to swallow as a philosophy that hates your culture being shoved down your throat through the products of that same culture. And that, I suppose, is the point of the strategy.

To be fair though, it’s not just Western culture or video games. Critical Theory hates any aspect of any culture that is not in line with the Marxist ideal. You can see Marcuse’s views on the arts and popular culture from his last book, The Aesthetic Dimension, reflected in this, as well the most cynical elements of Counterrevolution and Revolt. I wonder how Theodor Adorno would have felt about this game and the commentary surrounding it though?

Neil Druckmann is one of the human devils thats for sure

I dont get the hate for the witcher 4 but thats prob cuz im not a diehard witcher fan. I really dislike sjw slop games but idk witcher 4 looks good, ciri being the main character makes sense. I kind of like her looking older and weathered/experienced/jaded with the world. It makes sense as a natural progression of her characrer.

Remnant from the ashes 2: Fantastic visually, fun gameplay, story cinematics take every opportunity to have a Mary Sue or another female character make you look weak. It's so bad they even use her to rob you of your final boss win. Worse they write her like she's a human that's becoming godlike inter-dimensional being just for being old but looking 20 something. Her powers seem effortless and not earned and in areas where the boss fight is hard and I have to redo cutscenes with her they are the only scenes I skip because the rest of the game is that good. Really annoying.

Your coffee got cold.

When I played Monster Hunter, I played as a female(I’m female) with the highest defensive armor, which made me look like an over-armored samurai. I was displeased with my aesthetics, but that armor saved my butt!

W4 Trailer had all the red flags. It’s not Ciri herself, it’s how she is portrayed. Trashing the lore don’t help things either.

Where did I hear his voice before?