Nickolaidas
Member
I get what you are saying, I had the same problem as well. Seeing a character who looks like Keira Knightley beat the crap out of a guy who looks like Arnold Schwarzenegger used to look totally ridiculous to me.Tomb Raider, TLOU, Horizon are just a few examples of games (I know there are more but these stuck to me) I played this gen where you’re made to believe that physically significantly weaker sex can overpower hordes of men like they are joke. I don’t mind having female leads but it does create huge ludonarrative dissonance in my head.
So I’m playing modern Tomb Raider for the first time since it‘s PS Plus monthly game and notion that she can just strangle big muscle men with her bow like it’s nothing is absurd. It doesn’t work. I know people will mention how it’s also not realistic that Nathan Drake can gun down hundreds of people in his games but I think about it this way: if he can win in a single gunfight against 1 man it’s realistic in people’s minds that he can win in multiple ones.
Now, chances of any female winning in a single fight against physically larger and stronger men in real life is very small. Maybe through some trick or cleverness but not likely. Yet you can see what Ellie does or Lara or Alloy or anyone else.
I’m not emphasizing skill with guns because, obviously, females can be almost just as good there (although also not likely) or in cases where your enemies are zombies like in Resident Evil or similar games.
My point is, yes, make games with female leads as much as you like (though vast majority of AAA gamers are male) but put them in realistic scenarios that don’t always necessarily have to include melee violence because it just feels off.
But in the end, it's no different than seeing Conan the Barbarian taking out a dragon. It's equally cringeworthy once you put your mind into it. I mean, we're talking about a creature that breathes fire, is as tall as a building and its jaws are capable of tearing down the strongest of metals and its tail can level buildings. And yet a buffed up guy kills it?
I too believe that women are not as strong as men, but I like to think they are more capable than men in other things - for example, I think women are great in multitasking and have a higher tolerance to pain because their bodies are made to withstand the pain of childbirth and are genetically programmed to raise a family and have the ability to divide their attention equally to numerous children at the same time.
If people want to raise awareness that women can be heroes too by having Alloy being the savior of a fictional world, I say, let them do it. It's not like men haven't dominated that particular spotlight for 60 years in pop culture.
The next time you think that Alloy beating up huge dinosaurs is ridiculous, keep in mind it's not any different than James Bond shooting all the henchmen of the bad guy's headquarters without getting hit once.