Journal of Other Forum Analysis (Volume II, Issue 1)

[BIONIC]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/what-are-some-recent-prominent-games-with-female-protagonists-that-youd-recommend.1074177/#post-133839807

User banned (permanent): concern trolling, history of severe infractions

...Gender neutral? NGL this reads like a dog whistle about woke characters.

Also, WTF is wrong with "full armour"? If the game is about combat, of course I'd want the female protagonist to wear armour instead of a pretty dress...

I don't know what you are talking about. I thought I made myself pretty clear. Western videogames are ashamed of letting girls be girls. You talk about combat, but how come almost every prominant western game with female protagonist always has to be about combat? (The only one that isn't is The Sims, and it's the most popular game among female players). Maybe girls have other interests beside slaying monsters? Maybe some of the those interests are different from what boys usually like? Or maybe even when slaying monsters, some girls prefer to look pretty while doing it? I know a lot of female players who play all sorts of videogames that don't care about realism as much as you do. I think a lot of western videogames with female protagonists are not made by women, and not targeting women. They are made by men who project their own interests onto women, and they pat themselves in the back for having female representation, even though they fail to actually attract female players to their game.

The initial post Morricunt was replying to:

Interstingly, both Love and Deepspace and Infinity Nikki, two of the most popular femme coded games in the market are made in China. You don't really get these overtly "girly" games in the west. Female characters in western games have to be as "badass" and gender neutral as possible. Pretty clothes? Shiny decorations? Simping over husbando? Not allowed in mainstream games. You gotta be a sassy veteran dressing in full armour otherwise nobody takes you seriously.

And Kuntyuuji’s reply to it:

Made by the same company as well, who were (at least a couple of years ago) majority women. I get and relate to what you mean, I think the contention is like you say that a lot of the games for people who do prefer the realism are still designed with men in mind so those in decent armour are still rare. Though I'm with you that prominent, high budget and well produced games in the West shy heavily from being feminine in ways that target women as a primary audience and concern.

Which is why I've found the Nikki series a breath of fresh air since discovering it. A browse across the Love, Shining or Infinity Nikki subreddits and you’ll see a ton of women relieved to have a game series that’s decidedly feminine and pretty without creeping sexualisation or male pandering. Something that pays attention to the physics of clothes and not the boobs underneath them.

Yet they remain unscathed. Curious