One of the last things about this game lingering in my mind: the way the women are dressed. Now I don't wanna start a whole heated argument like the ones I got involved in when 2B was first shown off etc, but as far as I could tell there was no in-world reason for the way a lot of the female androids dressed in this game.
I think 2B is fine but A2, while looking badass, did make me think "but why". It takes me out of the game to an extent (cause I'm thinking about who designed such a perfect butt, and who they designed it for), and I know people say "that's just who Yoko Taro is and if someone wants to have a game with sexy women they're free to do so" and to that I say ... sure... but that doesn't mean it isn't problematic, right? Just for some added info, my gf was fine with 2B but when she walked passed when I was playing as A2 she was like "that's just silly". I agreed but also tried to explain how it's not quite as bad as some other Japanese designs etc, but it's a hard position to hold when one person hasn't spent 30+ hours with the game lol.
One thing that took me til near the end of Route C to realise is, apart from how she actually looks, A2 (or 2B) is never sexualised like the women of a game such as the Witcher are. In the Witcher the implied threat of rape of any woman alone in that world is ever present, and as Ciri you're called a whore etc. No-one, male or otherwise, behaves in a threatening manner toward any female character (that I can remember) or treats her like dirt in an objectifying way. Is this how you get away with it? Is it alright to ogle if the world/script treats women with respect? I love the Witcher but it is kinda mixed with characters saying "fuck you whore!" and also having lots of female nudity in sex scenes and brothels etc.
Anyway just my thoughts.
Yea I always found it amusing that 2B got the majority of the scrutiny, while no one paid much attention to A2. (Even more ironic since 2B dies...) But yea, it is what it is.
I stand by what I've been saying whenever the topic gets brought up, in that I ultimately feel that 2B's design is ultimately acceptable, albeit perhaps being right on the edge of being "not fine". It's just classy and alluring enough that I consider it to stand out in a good way, as opposed to other designs where the implied sex appeal comes off as being a lot more gaudy. That said, it's not really a hill to die on, so I just don't bother these days since the early threads where it got brought up, especially if it feels like it's about to get heated, as there is some aspects to it that admittedly could obviously be criticized, like her having heels for instance, or the game allowing you to blow up their skirts (9S being included in this doesn't really make it that much more appropriate, though it is funny.)
A2 even moreso is obviously not a hill to die on. Like, at all. There's definitely a more tasteful way that they could've gone about having her skin be peeled off, or her attire in tatters due to her being a fugitive. Instead as we all know, they did it in a way that is clearly meant to titillate.
But like you said, while stuff like that is problematic, it's kind of odd, in that the game virtually does little to nothing to sort of, I dunno, completely go along with the designs and objectify them, at least where dialogue and camera angles are concerned. Like aside from the self-destruct (which is completely unnecessary to the point where several people didn't even know about it, and can even be later disabled so that their clothing does not come off) I don't recall anything. That's just simply the aesthetic of the YoRHa androids, and nothing more. A2 being in tatters is just completely played straight as well. And then on top of that, Yoko Taro freely and bluntly admits that he wanted attractive character designs, an doesn't do any BS where he dances around the subject and acts as if the game's universe is about to give you a justification for the way they're (namely 2B and co., but not A2) dressed. There is some symbolism involved regarding parts of their attire, but even that is never directly brought up within the game. Basically, he just thought it looked good if I recall correctly. At best you have the trophy where you're given it if you attempt to peek under 2B's skirt 10 times, but I saw that as it being a cheeky way of being fully aware that people would attempt to do so.
So with all that in mind, I guess it has me feeling like there are bigger fish to fry, so to speak. But at the same time, it's kind of weird that Taro actually doesn't play much into these kind of things. Because then, one could simply ask why he couldn't have made it so that A2's design wasn't so blatantly revealing. Her design and being able to explode your skirt off is the only things that really gnaw at me.
The other thing is that, regardless of Yoko Taro's reasons or in-world reasons, this representation of a scantily-clad woman is still just adding to the existing pile and to a young person playing this, it still has the potential for harm. A male teenager sees it and goes on thinking that's how women should dress to be 'hot', a female teenager sees its and feels pressure to dress that way to be attractive. Just examples I'm not saying this is what happens any time there's a sexy woman in a game.
I agree that A2's design at the very least isn't helping anything. 2B on the other hand, is a bit harder to gauge. Her design seems rather popular to both genders, even to the point where people like to cosplay as it apparently. (Cosplay material doesn't handwave concerns completely, but I guess it's interesting to take note of it nonetheless) Your GF as you noted, was also fine with it. In the end I guess it's always gonna be a divisive subject. Like I said, I feel that her design is borderline "acceptable".
As for teenagers, I mean, these androids in particular are weird examples to use, namely regarding female teenagers. For guys, yea, I can see it potentially enforcing a mindset where they desire designs that show less and less skin I suppose. Girls on the other hand, I mean, I feel like they're highly likely to side-eye a design like A2's, because it's not much different from a lot of questionable female character designs, but feel pressure to dress like that? Eh, I dunno.