Okay so just the inclusion of gays in a video game is activism by default?
I knew that’s what you’d go with lol.
Look at the first trailer of tlou 2 and tell me that’s not pandering. Look at Druckman’s presentation videos on the state of the industry and his beliefs.
No, having a gay character isn’t automatically pandering. But there are many (obvious to people who care and are paying attention) contextual moments and changes made to ND games that prove it’s activism.
Such as, taking Amy Hennig’s vision for Nate to have a son at the end of Uncharted 4 to a daughter, such as stronk buff woman Nadine kicking the shit out of the Drake brothers etc. The studio died the day that hack ousted her ; ironic as Druckman is a feminist but clearly only to score points.
The thing is the activism makes it worse but I always thought the og last of us was try hard amc network aping crap as well, so enjoy these walk along dramas if you like I guess, you’re not going to change your mind.
“What makes Returnals main character different from the 2nd playable character in TloU2 that makes it not activist unlike TloU2?”
Easy, it’s an original IP, not femwashing an existing IP and it’s about shooting aliens not about minority romance.
Edit : Also it’s a fun and challenging shooter with tons of replay value, you know, i.e. what a video game can bring to the table that’s different from films.