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[kyussman]

She's relentlessly stoic and sincere.......someone needs to tip some gravel down her loincloth.A sense of humour in a character is essential if I'm gonna connect with them.

 

[Kupfer]

Well i love new kratos and like aloy well enough so i don't share the complaints, sorry.

I don't see her as a narcissist crybaby at all.

Fair enough.

I am not trying to convince anyone of my opinion or to proselytize others with it.
I mean, the game got good reviews, is so successful that it even gets a DLC, is played and liked, so something must be right.

For me, these characters just don't work (anymore) and even if the games are technically well implemented and real eye-catchers, I'm now completely turned off because of the characters. But that's okay, you don't have to like and play everything.

tired trope of a strong female character that can do anything she wants and she has no flaws or desires

I think the "female" is unnecessary here, since it has nothing to do with her gender. Unless you assume that the developers have jumped on the bandwagon of wanting to impose exactly these characteristics as strong and desirable for a woman, which I would almost call fem-washing.

 

[Hunnybun]

I think the "female" is unnecessary here, since it has nothing to do with her gender. Unless you assume that the developers have jumped on the bandwagon of wanting to impose exactly these characteristics as strong and desirable for a woman, which I would almost call fem-washing.

I'd say the bold is almost patently the case, no?

Most games these days feel like the product of the same old stifling political correct cliches about 'marginalised people' and 'strong independent women' etc. Horizon feels like that even more than most.

 

[CashPrizes]

She is fine. Yeah she is kind of "perfect" but that is the point, she was built to save the world and be good at everything and athletically super enhanced. Her biggest flaw in the 2nd game is that she can't accept help, but as the plot unfolds she obviously gathers a team and gets over it.

My only issue is that as a genetically engineered being and destined planet savior, I think they should have made/kept her face more attractive, closer to the real life actress they based her on, who is extremely pretty.

 

[Tiago Rodrigues]

Imagine saying alloy is represented as someone with no flaws.
The entire game keeps showing you what a flawed character she is. It’s 100% intentional

 

[Gudji]

 

[CGNoire]

For me its the dinosaurs being machines.
I just want my 3rd person B.C. game already.

....and yes Aloy's a Snooze.

 

[CGNoire]

There's this overpowering earnestness to the games that's just exhausting.

This. Its so annoying and is built into the damm theme song as well...ugggghhhh

 

[Kupfer]

I'd say the bold is almost patently the case, no?

Most games these days feel like the product of the same old stifling political correct cliches about 'marginalised people' and 'strong independent women' etc. Horizon feels like that even more than most.

It's noticeable when certain views of current developments are forced upon the consumer and are to be implanted with a sledgehammer. This is not to say that such views are wrong, it's just the forced creation in the medium and the transmission back to the recipient that's the problem. You can master this balancing act between a fictional world and believable characters, which of course can or should also be diverse, depending on the universe, with more sensitivity and real knowledge of the material. In this case, it seems like a potpourri of various clichés that, according to current trends, have to be dealt with in order to keep the audience quiet and avoid any controversy.

 

[mxbison]

I'd say not just Aloy but the characters in general are the biggest problem with the franchise.

I finished HZ:FW and the combat and quests and everything were fun but I found all the characters pretty boring. I can't remember a single side quest NPC from that game.

 

[Beer Baelly]

I'd say not just Aloy but the characters in general are the biggest problem with the franchise.

I finished HZ:FW and the combat and quests and everything were fun but I found all the characters pretty boring. I can't remember a single side quest NPC from that game.

I do. It were all strong women!

 

[Icymanipulator]

I think OP is more or less right on the money about Aloy, and I’m OK with it. What gets me though is her constantly exasperated sounding voice.

 

[Flutta]

Blame the writers or blame the one who hired them or blame the pub who let any of this take place in the first place.

 

[Drizzlehell]

The monotone protagonist worked for Geralt. Didnt hear anyone complain.
Rather have her be emotioneless than Tiny Tina.

Please. Don't even try to compare Geralt to this dry plank of wood. He is a very reserved person but he's also characterised by many positive traits that make him endearing, such as his dry wit, pragmatism, loyalty to his friends, his tumultuous relationships with women, and so on. A lot of these traits have been carried over from the books where he was even more fascinating. I would love nothing more than for Aloy to be a female version of Geralt.

 

[Johnny Concrete]

When I first approached Forbidden West, it was with a preconceived notion that it's gonna be just more of the same stuff that the first game already had to offer, and that there was very little that it improved upon compared to its predecessor. Now, to give credit where its due, the first game had an extremely intriguing lore and uncovering it throughout the campaign was probably the most engaging thing about the game. The thing that let it down, however, was an extremely bland protagonist that I never managed to connect with.

It's important to understand that a game like this lives or dies on whether you will be able to connect with the main character because this is the person that will be your guide through this strange world and she will serve as a conduit for your emotional investment in the story. If you don't give a shit about the main character because she's as lively and engaging as a brick wall, and her emotional range makes me wish that I was watching Brie Larson as Captain Marvel, then you might as well be watching paint dry on a winter day. And this unfortunately spoils every other character surrounding your protagonist because every interaction that she has throughout the game is just so flat an awkward that it's like watching a giraffe trying to fit in with a pack of sheep.

She really is the focal point of all the problems I have with this franchise because what's interesting about Forbidden West is that the writers managed to vastly improve upon the characters in the game, except for Aloy. She's pretty much the same po-faced Mary Sue with a single-minded determination to save the world as she was in the last game, and she's basically represents this tired trope of a strong female character that can do anything she wants and she has no flaws or desires whatsoever. There's literally nothing about her that would be even remotely interesting. They even had to bring another clone of hers on board in order to introduce some much-needed character drama because Aloy herself is so perfect that there was no internal conflict that she could overcome and grow as a character. I was way more invested in the events of the game, because - once again - the overarching world-ending conflict and lore were the main driving force behind the plot, and they significantly grew in scope and stakes.

And it's a really big shame to have such a bland protagonist because this is a franchise that has all the potential in the world to be one of the most memorable ones that Sony produced in the last two generations. The game is chock-full of memorable missions and set pieces, and the secondary characters were all pretty interesting for the most part. The gameplay, environmental storytelling, and level design were all improved significantly. The map in Forbidden West is a fascinating world to explore, and the refined combat coupled with new enemy designs made it so that I was rarely bored while roaming the map and completing random side missions. The variety of scenery and vastly increased level of detail in the environments made the sandbox much more fun and engaging. The addition of the Sunwing was also great, and being able to lift off the ground and traverse the map from the air was a feeling comparable to that of flying a helicopter in Vice City after spending the entirety of GTA III dreaming about it.

And if that wasn't enough, I recently played through Call of The Mountain and that game only solidified that sentiment for me because it was a chance to immerse myself in this world and look at it through the eyes of a much more lively and relatable character.

It's an aspect that I hope Guerrilla will put more effort into in the future to finally make Aloy more appealing.

I'm enjoying HFW way more then I thought I would. Like you said, the world and combat are great, but I also totally agree about Aloy being written as dull as can be.

It's not just her, though. I feel almost all characters in that world are written 1 dimensional. They either serve as an information/backstory hub or they want this 1 thing that you can get. Maybe Erand is the most interesting, since he actually has feelings that he tries to hide because he does not want to lose her, making him the most complex character in all of the series.

 

[GymWolf]

Please. Don't even try to compare Geralt to this dry plank of wood. He is a very reserved person but he's also characterised by many positive traits that make him endearing, such as his dry wit, pragmatism, loyalty to his friends, his tumultuous relationships with women, and so on. A lot of these traits have been carried over from the books where he was even more fascinating. I would love nothing more than for Aloy to be a female version of Geralt.

You are describing all quality that aloy has.

She trolls\snark half of the sidecharacters and quest givers for their absurd religious believings and because she clearly knows shit better than most (exactly like geralt deals with peasants and ignorants or people who menace him) she is the literal definition of pragmatism (Pragmatism is a way of dealing with problems or situations that focuses on practical approaches and solutions) and she is super loyal to his father figure and to his allies in both games.


She is an inferiorly written character but not because she lacks quality that geralt has...

 

[Tsaki]

I liked the first game but haven't played Forbidden West (though I will when I get a PS5), but Zero Dawn had some of the most uninteresting NPCs I've ever seen in an open world game. Like I even platinumed the game and barely remember any of them. Guerilla should poach writers from CDPR. Though I hope not since The Witcher 3 is probably my favourite game ever and I want that to continue on the next Witcher trilogy.
The pan lady from White Orchard has more soul than any character in Horizon.

 

[Goon_Bong]

I liked the first game but haven't played Forbidden West (though I will when I get a PS5), but Zero Dawn had some of the most uninteresting NPCs I've ever seen in an open world game. Like I even platinumed the game and barely remember any of them. Guerilla should poach writers from CDPR. Though I hope not since The Witcher 3 is probably my favourite game ever and I want that to continue on the next Witcher trilogy.
The pan lady from White Orchard has more soul than any character in Horizon.

The voice actors in Witcher 3 were from my understanding, professionals.

The voice acting in the Horizon seems to me like the dev’s staff’s friends and family were invited to voice the stiff husks that inhabit the game world.

 

[drganon]

I wouldn't call her a particularly great character, but she didn't bother me that much that I wasn't able to enjoy the games.

 

[Drizzlehell]

You are describing all quality that aloy has.

She trolls\snark half of the sidecharacters and quest givers for their absurd religious believings and because she clearly knows shit better than most, she is the literal definition of pragmatism (Pragmatism is a way of dealing with problems or situations that focuses on practical approaches and solutions) and she is super loyal to his father figure and to his allies in both games.

Really? I haven't noticed, and I'm not even joking.

There was maybe like one scene in FW where she did something along the lines of what you're describing, where she trolled some blowhard religious dude, and she even cracked a fucking smile for once, and it was like a standout moment in the game for me because it was the one time where she reacted to something with an actual positive emotion, even if it was a rather smug sense of satisfaction. But all the other times she was just the usual self where she kept commenting on things in a monotone voice or complained about people wanting to help her with an irritated sigh.

She even snubs that one dude who shows a clear romantic interest in her and I remember even being hopeful for a second that maybe they will finally give her something more personal to give a shit about throughout this whole story. But nope, apparently that doesn't compute with the Strong Female Character™ archetype that Guerrilla was going for, and she is not allowed to have a romantic anchor to get you more invested in the story.

Nah man, she is nothing like Geralt.

 

[Skifi28]

Can't say I really minded Aloy, if anything she felt like an improvement from the first game where she just had a wooden expression all the time. I also really enjoyed the combat. For all the shit the game gets, it has some of the best and most deep combat in a tripple A release. It's a little bloated and the writing/story could have been better, but I just don't get all the constant hate I read about it.

 

[Drizzlehell]

I liked the first game but haven't played Forbidden West (though I will when I get a PS5), but Zero Dawn had some of the most uninteresting NPCs I've ever seen in an open world game. Like I even platinumed the game and barely remember any of them. Guerilla should poach writers from CDPR. Though I hope not since The Witcher 3 is probably my favourite game ever and I want that to continue on the next Witcher trilogy.
The pan lady from White Orchard has more soul than any character in Horizon.

This is completely unrelated to the topic at hand, but I just a week off from work for Easter and having just finished Bioshock Infinite, I wasn't sure what to play next for the rest of the week. This post made me realize that I should get back to playing next-gen version of The Witcher 3.

So thanks, I guess...

 

[GymWolf]

Really? I haven't noticed, and I'm not even joking.

There was maybe like one scene in FW where she did something along the lines of what you're describing, where she trolled some blowhard religious dude, and she even cracked a fucking smile for once, and it was like a standout moment in the game for me because it was the one time where she reacted to something with an actual positive emotion, even if it was a rather smug sense of satisfaction. But all the other times she was just the usual self where she kept commenting on things in a monotone voice or complained about people wanting to help her with an irritated sigh.

She even snubs that one dude who shows a clear romantic interest in her and I remember even being hopeful for a second that maybe they will finally give her something more personal to give a shit about throughout this whole story. But nope, apparently that doesn't compute with the Strong Female Character™ archetype that Guerrilla was going for, and she is not allowed to have a romantic anchor to get you more invested in the story.

Nah man, she is nothing like Geralt.

oh you haven't noticed it like you didn't noticed her pragmatism or her being loyal to her allies, why i'm not surprised...
They made her a bit more kind in the sequel because people were mad that she was so bitchy and snarky in the first one, but at the core she still trolls a lot of people.

She is in a different situation from geralt, she is trying to save the entire planet, all the weight is on her shoulders and she has very limited time, a love interest is not exactly a priority for her, and if you actually played the game, you know that she post-pone any romantic interest for when the world is saved, she doesn't straight up says no, she has a knack for the king avad.

Geralt having the time to fuck everything that moves while searching for his fake daughter is more silly than aloy not fucking anyone dude, context is king.

 

[Beer Baelly]

Damn gym are you in love or something

 

[GymWolf]

Damn gym are you in love or something

Not really, i think that she is a bit bland and boring (vastly inferior to geralt of course) and the plot in h2 got a nosedive in the third act, i also think that secondary characters are pretty trash except 2 or 3.

But i also know that context matter for a character, and people ignore all the shit that made her that way.

 

[Drizzlehell]

Hmm, from my experience I think It came down to identity, according to GirlGamer reddit, she is the main reason why so many girl gamer likes the game, Horizon franchise was their favorite Sony exclusive because most of them felt Aloy represents their power fantasy, and her character design clicked with them. I assume maybe most of gamers were men on Gaf. I guess its hard to please everyone unless it had character creation.

They also praised the new God of War, but most of them felt disconnected to a father and son story even when they think the game is objectively good. (BTW Last of us part 2 was also one of their favorite Sony exclusives)

I just want to add a bit of a different perspective to the conversation, I don't intent to discredit OP's perspective

That's actually pretty interesting and makes me wanna explore the topic more.

I mean, I would still hazard a guess that people just tend to be shallow and identify with the character they're playing merely because they represent an idealized power fantasy that's of the same gender as they are. It's the same reason why we have so many brown haired athletic dudes who do superhuman things throughout so many action games. It's basically the same principle. Nathan Drake wasn't a particularly deep character until Neil Duckman took over Uncharted 4.

But what's interesting is that Drake was also a character with a lot of spunk and upbeat humor to him and it's what he's known for the most (apart from being voiced by Nolan North). I wonder what it is about Aloy that the female demographic finds so endearing, apart from the fact that she has tits and does superhuman things. Assuming that there's anything in that study at all that would help answer that question.

 

[Drizzlehell]

oh you haven't noticed it like you didn't noticed her pragmatism or her being loyal to her allies, why i'm not surprised...
They made her a bit more kind in the sequel because people were mad that she was so bitchy and snarky in the first one, but at the core she still trolls a lot of people.

She is in a different situation from geralt, she is trying to save the entire planet, all the weight is on her shoulders and she has very limited time, a love interest is not exactly a priority for her, and if you actually played the game, you know that she post-pone any romantic interest for when the world is saved, she doesn't straight up says no, she has a knack for the king avad.

Geralt having the time to fuck everything that moves while searching for his fake daughter is more silly than aloy not fucking anyone dude, context is king.

Yeah, well, being concerned about their allies is only a small piece of the overall puzzle. You cling to that trait that I mentioned just because it happens to be the only one that's commonly shared by both Geralt and Aloy, but standing on its own it doesn't make for a great character. It's all those other things combined that make the character a whole person. And Aloy isn't funny. She doesn't have any particularly sharp world views. She rarely ever faces morally ambiguous situations that would help flesh out her moral fiber and build her as a character. She doesn't even care about any personal relationships even when people are literally thrusting themselves as a sacrifice on the altar of Aloy.

No, the things that spring to mind when I think about describing her is: dry, stoic, monotone, and boring.

 

[Chukhopops]

She is fine. Yeah she is kind of "perfect" but that is the point, she was built to save the world and be good at everything and athletically super enhanced. Her biggest flaw in the 2nd game is that she can't accept help, but as the plot unfolds she obviously gathers a team and gets over it.

My only issue is that as a genetically engineered being and destined planet savior, I think they should have made/kept her face more attractive, closer to the real life actress they based her on, who is extremely pretty.

Maybe I missed it at some point of the story but isn’t she just a clone of the scientist who came up with the Zero Dawn plan?

Not sure how she was enhanced when the other clone (the one from HFW) is physically identical to her.

 

[nowhat]

Maybe I missed it at some point of the story but isn’t she just a clone of the scientist who came up with the Zero Dawn plan?

Not sure how she was enhanced when the other clone (the one from HFW) is physically identical to her.

Yeah, she's a clone, almost 100% if some of the displays in the games are to be believed (the ever-so-slight difference can be attributed to DNA degrading over time). That she's athletic and all that is just due to training (and good genes too I suppose, but by chance instead of by design).

 

[Tsaki]

This is completely unrelated to the topic at hand, but I just a week off from work for Easter and having just finished Bioshock Infinite, I wasn't sure what to play next for the rest of the week. This post made me realize that I should get back to playing next-gen version of The Witcher 3.

So thanks, I guess...

Haha you're welcome. The OST and ambience is just superb too!

 

[Edge Lord]

Aloy is a boring character and the whole game smells factorymade just like Ubisoft games.

 

[DenchDeckard]

She is fine. Yeah she is kind of "perfect" but that is the point, she was built to save the world and be good at everything and athletically super enhanced. Her biggest flaw in the 2nd game is that she can't accept help, but as the plot unfolds she obviously gathers a team and gets over it.

My only issue is that as a genetically engineered being and destined planet savior, I think they should have made/kept her face more attractive, closer to the real life actress they based her on, who is extremely pretty.

She is smoking, and 36 so I can actually feel good about wanting to roll around with her in some hay!

 

[TerribleAtThisGame]

One of those series that seems to combine everything I don't want in a game.

 

[omegasc]

Not really, there are no bad consequences for her for doing everything herself. She's just, there, a bland perfect Jesus figure that worships her past self, that's a great metaphor for how narcissistic people are these days.

Having no consequences does not mean she has no flaws. I agree she could have a better development, though. But the way I see it, the first game was about her, the second is about how the world got to where it is, and finding out how to heal it, or moving on. They really kicked the bucket in the last part though I have no idea where they want to go next.

 

[Interfectum]

TLDR

The author found Forbidden West to be an improvement over its predecessor in terms of gameplay, level design, and secondary characters, but was disappointed by the continued blandness of the protagonist, Aloy. They hope that future installments will focus on making Aloy more engaging and relatable.

 

[Drizzlehell]

Having no consequences does not mean she has no flaws. I agree she could have a better development, though. But the way I see it, the first game was about her, the second is about how the world got to where it is, and finding out how to heal it, or moving on. They really kicked the bucket in the last part though I have no idea where they want to go next.

The author found Forbidden West to be an improvement over its predecessor in terms of gameplay, level design, and secondary characters, but was disappointed by the continued blandness of the protagonist, Aloy. They hope that future installments will focus on making Aloy more engaging and relatable.

Thanks, Chat GPT!

 

[DryvBy]

I don't like the character at all and part of that is how the character is just a complaining heroine. The actress always sounds out of breath and it's annoying.

 

[Interfectum]

Thanks, Chat GPT!

Thank you for your kind words, and I'm glad the summary was helpful! If you have any more questions or need further assistance, please don't hesitate to ask.

 

[Filben]

I for once like a character that is ultra-focused on his or her job and it's a quality I like with this character. I find her behaviour Aloy faithful to the story they're telling.

You are describing all quality that aloy has.

She trolls\snark half of the sidecharacters and quest givers for their absurd religious believings and because she clearly knows shit better than most (exactly like geralt deals with peasants and ignorants or people who menace him) she is the literal definition of pragmatism (Pragmatism is a way of dealing with problems or situations that focuses on practical approaches and solutions) and she is super loyal to his father figure and to his allies in both games.


She is an inferiorly written character but not because she lacks quality that geralt has...

Agree. She's heavily frustrated at times, is utterly lost in arguments with and outplayed by Sylens, is overwhelmed with her clone's emotions, but is focused, loyal, doesn't take shit, is annoyed by some people and their beliefs, is also interested in others (if you choose so, as always in open world games with side quests). Comes across a little weird at times but given how she was shunned by the community as a kid it's plausible.

Of course bonding with a character or having sympathy is much more complex than listing traits and sometimes it simply doesn't click even if it should on paper.

 

[Chronicle]

A reverse ugly duckling?
So she's hot but... ugly? Lol

She went from hot to ugly rather than vice versa. She got motley in FW.

 

[Drizzlehell]

She went from hot to ugly rather than vice versa. She got motley in FW.

 

[SeraphJan]

That's actually pretty interesting and makes me wanna explore the topic more.

I mean, I would still hazard a guess that people just tend to be shallow and identify with the character they're playing merely because they represent an idealized power fantasy that's of the same gender as they are. It's the same reason why we have so many brown haired athletic dudes who do superhuman things throughout so many action games. It's basically the same principle. Nathan Drake wasn't a particularly deep character until Neil Duckman took over Uncharted 4.

But what's interesting is that Drake was also a character with a lot of spunk and upbeat humor to him and it's what he's known for the most (apart from being voiced by Nolan North). I wonder what it is about Aloy that the female demographic finds so endearing, apart from the fact that she has tits and does superhuman things. Assuming that there's anything in that study at all that would help answer that question.

Its kind of identical to the original God of War trilogy which was solely to please male power fantasy (which you depicted pretty flawlessly in your other thread), its just now that companies find out that there is huge money come from female audience, many triple A franchise starting to explore that potential. Its not a about wokism or anything, the only thing publisher care for is money

The same game I searched 5 years ago on youtube for blind playthroughs, it was primarily male streamer, now its almost dominated by female streamer, for example just go search "Batman Arkham Asylum Playthrough" on Youtube, sort it by time, for me the entire page are only female streamers, not a single male could be found, and this was from a game that was made primarily catered to male audience!

My presumption is, female gamer typically have way more free time compare to male gamers, especially stayed at home moms

This change do have drastic affect on many franchise, for example some people on Gaf were not happy with RE3 remake Carlos's new design, however I could safely tell you, on GirlGamer reddit, the new Carlos is the one of the most simped RE character, people were drooling over him, my assumption is that this new design was specifically to cater to female sex drive

 

[Tomeru]

Ok you've whined about God of War and Horizon. What Sony franchise are you going with next?

Lets make a thread with a poll. I can't stand the suspense. I need to know.

 

[Drizzlehell]

Its kind of identical to the original God of War trilogy which was solely to please male power fantasy (which you depicted pretty flawlessly in your other thread), its just now that companies find out that there is huge money come from female audience, many triple A franchise starting to explore that potential. Its not a about wokism or anything, the only thing publisher care for is money

The same game I searched 5 years ago on youtube for blind playthroughs, it was primarily male streamer, now its almost dominated by female streamer, for example just go search "Batman Arkham Asylum Playthrough" in Youtube, sort it by time, for me the entire page are only female streamers, not a single male could be found, and this was from a game that was made primarily catered to male audience!

My presumption is, female gamer typically have way more free time compare to male gamers, especially stayed at home moms

Yeah, I mean, I was being facetious on purpose to get the point across but just to clarify, I don't think that the original Kratos is a shallow character either. He's a rage-fuelled killing machine, sure, but his entire story is built like a Greek tragedy, and his enduring legacy can be attributed to the fact that he's just an interesting and layered character. The fact that the most captivating scene of GoW 2018 is the one where he goes back to pick up Chaos blades is a testament to that.

But now we're talking about God of War again so yeah, this is just as an aside, lol.

 

[Spyxos]

Not only Aloy, is the problem. Almost all of them are boring and uninteresting in HFW. The fights don't work at all in the second part and the world is extremely pretty but at the same time very tedious to explore with the mount and also a bit boring.

 

[Drizzlehell]

Lets make a thread with a poll. I can't stand the suspense. I need to know.

So that's how it's gonna be, huh? My enduring legacy will be a series of award-winning NeoGAF threads where I'm being a pretentious snob and endlessly ramble about playstation games.

Maybe I should start a youtube channel after all...

 

[Kupfer]

Ok you've whined about God of War and Horizon. What Sony franchise are you going with next?

I don't think Drizzlehell is whining. He (She?) simply names problems that the press and reviewers probably don't take a stand on for fear of not getting any more press versions in the future or whatever - this is already happening, and it prevents critical reviewers from competing with reviewers who are doing right by the publishers. . The broad gaming community is no longer used to criticism of "their" games and interprets any criticism of game XY as a personal attack on themselves. In addition, Drizzlehell clarifies that said games are not bad games - and you can see how emotionally some people here react to criticism of a game.

Or Drizzlehell trolls on a level that has no equal

 

[Hunnybun]

Its kind of identical to the original God of War trilogy which was solely to please male power fantasy (which you depicted pretty flawlessly in your other thread), its just now that companies find out that there is huge money come from female audience, many triple A franchise starting to explore that potential. Its not a about wokism or anything, the only thing publisher care for is money

The same game I searched 5 years ago on youtube for blind playthroughs, it was primarily male streamer, now its almost dominated by female streamer, for example just go search "Batman Arkham Asylum Playthrough" on Youtube, sort it by time, for me the entire page are only female streamers, not a single male could be found, and this was from a game that was made primarily catered to male audience!

My presumption is, female gamer typically have way more free time compare to male gamers, especially stayed at home moms

This change do have drastic affect on many franchise, for example some people on Gaf were not happy with RE3 remake Carlos's new design, however I could safely tell you, on GirlGamer reddit, the new Carlos is the one of the most simped RE character, people were drooling over him, my assumption is that this new design was specifically to cater to female sex drive

I'd love to see some actual stats on this. To me the idea that gaming is now predominantly female seems like an extraordinary claim.

 

[GymWolf]

Yeah, well, being concerned about their allies is only a small piece of the overall puzzle. You cling to that trait that I mentioned just because it happens to be the only one that's commonly shared by both Geralt and Aloy, but standing on its own it doesn't make for a great character. It's all those other things combined that make the character a whole person. And Aloy isn't funny. She doesn't have any particularly sharp world views. She rarely ever faces morally ambiguous situations that would help flesh out her moral fiber and build her as a character. She doesn't even care about any personal relationships even when people are literally thrusting themselves as a sacrifice on the altar of Aloy.

No, the things that spring to mind when I think about describing her is: dry, stoic, monotone, and boring.

She is not super funny, true. (Like i said, i do love when she trolls religious zealots and tech ignorants but you havent't noticed so...)

But guerrilla games have almost zero humor, they try to tell bleak stories with stoic characters, and horizon is pretty fucking bleak if you think about it.
It would be out of place and tone if she was an happy girl full of humor after she grew up as an outcasted and with the destiny if the world solely on her shoulders, you continue to ignore the context of her character and world where she live dude.

She has not time for "sharp world views and ambiguos situations", she is on a run to save the entire planet, she is a no nonsense person, she grew as an outcasted, she has shitty relation skills (again, realistic with her context) but it's not true that she doesn't care about any relation, she is just too focused on saving the world, and she had literally no rest from the end of the first game to the second, she doesn't have the luxury if learning basic social skills because she is constantly on the run.


I'm repeating myself a lot but it's because her situation and the world situation is pretty important to understand why she act like this.
I take her stoicism and no non-sense behaviour over overly sentimental characters that need some shitty drama every 10 min to grow.

Kiryu from yakuza series, masterchef from hell's kitchen or kratos are as stoic and as humorless as it comes (during the main plot) and people have zero problem with them being super focused on their mission and nothing else, again, maybe not having a dick is part of the problem for some people...

You are gonna fucking need a lot of mental gymnastic to convince me that aloy is a worse character than the green can man that only communicate with cheesy super serious one liners other than "halo saga is cooler and i like his armour" my man...

 

[Drizzlehell]

But guerrilla games have almost zero humor, they try to tell bleak stories with stoic characters, and horizon is pretty fucking bleak if you think about it.
It would be out of place and tone if she was an happy girl full of humor after she grew up as an outcasted and with the destiny if the world solely on her shoulders, you continue to ignore the context of her character and world where she live dude.

The game's visuals, gameplay, and the fact that you're fighting robot goddamn dinosaurs is kinda at odds with that assessment. You don't normally create a magical fantasy land full of fun and adventure and then try to wrap it around a dreary, humorless story like The Road. Not unless you're intention is to have some drastic juxtaposition in service of some thematic subtext. But the last I checked, the authors of this game didn't intend to dethrone Spec Ops: The Line as the biggest video game "fuck you" to the player by subverting your expectations and punching you in the gut with some fourth wall-breaking revelation.

Yes, the game is layered with a very heavy handed eco-theme but that doesn't mean you're not allowed to have some moments of levity to make it more easily digestible for the audience. It also doesn't excuse the main character from having an endearing personality that would help to form an even stronger emotional connection with the story. Just because they have a specific goal that they have to work towards and they're on the clock doesn't mean they cannot be relatable. John McClane was a relatable guy, and he had only one night to save his wife and kill the bad guys!