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[cw_sasuke]

I would be less excited about the title if the main chara was just another dude.

 

[John Harker]

I'm not angry, but asking whether a focus group has a problem with the main characters gender is inherently a loaded question.

Again; this isn't a story where when asked questions like "How do you feel about the main character?" / "Can you give a word that best describes your feelings about the main character?" / "Would you be excited to play a game starring this character?" or any of the other usual questions asked, where focus groups came back saying "I dunno, its a woman and I hate them..." and they had to react accordingly.

This is a story where the dev team wanted a female character and internally executives argued with them saying that people wouldn't go for that. So they had to have focus groups specifically asking that question just to make those executives stfu and - lo and behold! - its not a problem at all.

... but what you're describing is a good thing

 

[John Harker]

I think the good thing about this crop of games and female leads is that among them many are big budget AAA games that will get strong promotional pushes that will help them to succeed. In that way, they start creating more data points to draw from and encourage future female character led games.

exactly. From that regard, it was a really positive E3 for inclusion overall.
I've seen a few post-E3 reports already that have been specifically tracking the amount of female-lead AAA games this year and flagging them for performance tracking/follow ups on social media and whatnot

 

[Two Words]

From the OP, and repeated by me on this very page:

How is that saying questions were asked that skewed to get the answer they wanted?

 

[Figboy79]

I've known more than my fair share of gamers who refused to play games starring female protagonists.

One of my friend's dads, many years ago, who is a huge gamer (he owns every system, and plays just about everything), refused to play Silent Hill 3 because it starred Heather. He was a huge Silent Hill fan, but wouldn't even touch SH3 because of Heather.

Now, multiply that by potentially millions of consumers who feel the same way, and I can understand why execs would be skittish about the female protagonist in their new, multi-million dollar IP.

I absolutely love games starring female leads (Beyond Good & Evil is one of my favorite games of all times), so I was pleased as punches to see Horizon have a female lead. One that seems incredibly likable at that.

I hope the reactions to more games like Horizon (especially when they look as promising as this one does), becomes a regular occurrence.

 

[Raistlin]

I'm kind of surprised this thread is still active

 

[Mr. Giggles]

I don't care if I'm playing as a man, woman, goat whatever.

Good game is good.

Besides we've had many female protagonists in actiony games:
> Bayonetta
> Samus
> Dragons lair (amazoness and sorceress)
> mirrors edge
> Narikko from heavenly sword
> Portal person (I forget her name lol)

sure there are more

 

[Adam_Roman]

I honestly wouldn't be as interested if this were a game where you played as a dude. Female lead, interesting enemies, unique weapons, and a fresh setting were all the main reasons this game stuck out to me. I'm really glad that wasn't focus tested out of the game.

 

[prwxv3]

Why is anyone getting mad a Yoshida. He greenlit the game and the concerns came from other sony executives and its yoshida's job to confront these concerns. He did so by focus testing and it showed that the concerns were unfounded.

 

[Jinkies]

I'm not sure why they would feel that way when it isn't risky to feature a female protagonist.

That said, I still think her design is a bit generic. She looks just like a specific Wildling, and the whole feral warrior thing has been done a bunch of times before that. I hope there is equipable armor in the game that changes her look (I haven't read much about it).

 

[Dr. Kitty Muffins]

People who refuse to play this game because it's a female protagonist are going to miss out on an amazing game.

Best thing GG can do is make the game the best it can be so people can't miss out on it.

Maybe they should go for gender equality and offer an alternative male option? Fallout 4 has one of each.

 

[Eusis]

Maybe they should go for gender equality and offer an alternative male option? Fallout 4 has one of each.

And if the game is truly written around her? Fallout and similar RPG characters are blank slates, she doesn't appear to be one so it'd make as much sense as cramming a female option for Talion in Shadow of Mordor in the name of gender equality. And while potentially more interesting BECAUSE of how much they'd need to change, neither can it be treated as some arbitrary call.

 

[Son Of D]

I don't care if I'm playing as a man, woman, goat whatever.

Good game is good.

Besides we've had many female protagonists in actiony games:
> Bayonetta
> Samus
> Dragons lair (amazoness and sorceress)
> mirrors edge
> Narikko from heavenly sword
> Portal person (I forget her name lol)

sure there are more

The new Tomb Raider is a bit more action based than the older games so you can add Lara to that list.

 

[Exentryk]

I buy RPG games depending on interesting gameplay, not if the protagonist is a male or a female. Also, I prefer having a dedicated character, rather than create a custom character. So good to see them sticking to one character.

Still, I am hesitant on this game because it seems to be more 'aiming and shooting' gameplay, and I'd have preferred more close combat with a sword or something. The open world, characters, and the setting do seem interesting to me though.

 

[Game4life]

Maybe they should go for gender equality and offer an alternative male option? Fallout 4 has one of each.

Why? Deus Ex is written keeping Adam Jensons character in mind so why cant this game be written with Aloy in mind?

 

[truly101]

I still don't get the whole female character phobia that publishers profess to have. In the late 90s and early 2000s, having a female protag never seemed to be that big of a risk. It wasn't the norm but you look at Tomb Raider, Resident Evil, Dino Crisis, Fear Effect, those games did well and the female characters for RE were just as popular as the guys.

They were in JRPGs like both Valkyrie Profiles, Wild Arms 3, Suikoden III (buy it today kids on PSN). There are a bunch of PS2 era games with Female leads or main characters: Primal Silent Hill 3, No One Lives Forever (I know it was PC first) Tenchu 3 and 4, Bloodrayne, just to name a few

I don't get where having a female protagonist went from at least a common occurrence to OMG NOBODY WILL BUY THIS!!!! Timing wise that attitude seemed to coincide with the whole FPS and TPS explosion from last generation. What was the real cause of this?