Thoughts on selling your game off sex appeal (Stellar Blade) in 2024?

[Zenfoldor]

Because she's a robot with a single goal, and it's pretty clear that she's not even the first model of her own kind? The whole plot isn't known yet of course but the synopsis even mentions that part of it is about Eve learning about her mission, which implies that she doesn't even know much at all.

Have you ever seen the anime Claymore? It's one of my favorite animes and has a great set of characters. Much of it mirrors some events in the demo, and the MC very much reminded me of Eve.

Similarly, many the characters in that show are ostensibly emotionless and without personality. I would argue that premise exists to give juxtaposition for the inevitable time when the character arc starts to become complete.

I don't think such criticism is fair until we have seen the arc play out.

I'm actually interested in this story and characters, unlike Bayonetta. I didnt' buy Bayonetta for the lewd either, but I do skip the cutscenes because it makes the Bayonetta games way better skipping the shlock. I have little doubt based on the demo that no matter how this game turns out, it will have better characters and story than Bayonetta...

I also skip/ignore most of the cutscenes on all the tomb raider reboots except the first one(it was legit good). Bad characters, bad writing, meh va AT BEST, so I don't know why we are picking on this game for shallow characters, they are already way better than Lara or Bayo by way of being the least bit interesting.

- - - Updated - - -

If you think tomb raider wasn't created the way she was for horny gamers then you really have lost some brain cells

This. Also most of the Overwatch characters.

Do people think they just happen to be attractive by random coincidence?

...but as you say, I can see someone who only played the reboots saying that about Lara, but they obviously don't realize that there were many games that came out BEFORE tomb raider 2013 and they need to study their gaming history.

[RobertoCarlos]

This year has been pretty amazing for games. I dunno if that's covid and the amount of games that got delayed and pushed into 2024 but this year already feels stacked and this forums most active thread about games is about an attractive female character.

Do you all also go to church and complain about how there's no real music anymore since elvis died?

[Zenfoldor]

Oh man. The lack of awarness is astounding.
"THERE ARE WOMENS LIKE HER ON ONLYFANS AND INSTAGRAM!!!!!!!!!!!!"
"GO TOUCH GRASS!!!!"

But i never expected anything more from you. At least you admitted, but dont know it, that Eve is nothing more than a oversexualized product, just like instagram photos and only fans.

EDIT: specially for you, i bet you know what this means

The same thing(bolded) was said about every attractive female in games, movies, books, ever by somebody(mostly people we probably wouldn't agree with).

It's not something we can even know. Why prejudge? Why jump to conclusions? What brings out the strong beliefs going AGAINST this game....

Anyway...as far as I'm concerned, personally, even if EVE is meaningless, the selling point to me is the excellent Sekiro like methodical gameplay.

IMHO more people should try the demo.

- - - Updated - - -

This year has been pretty amazing for games. I dunno if that's covid and the amount of games that got delayed and pushed into 2024 but this year already feels stacked and this forums most active thread about games is about an attractive female character.

Do you all also go to church and complain about how there's no real music anymore since elvis died?

I mean...this is one of those games. I think it's going to be great. Not rebirth great, but great.

Yoko Taro agrees at least.

https://www.ign.com/articles/stellar...source=twitter

Yoko likes it! Maybe we could give it a chance.

[Dead Moose Fandango]

Is the actress the character is based on underage? No? Then I don't care.
Is the character underage? No? Then I don't care.

[Zenfoldor]

That's a good comparison yeah.
Design-wise, Bayonetta is borderline softcore porn, and yet it would work as a game even without that because the games are actually good, so it ends up only working in the games' favour.

Stellar Blade however seems to be mostly coomer bait without substance

Have you played the demo? I thought the gameplay was really on point and the boss was great. Like, your thoughts on the game could have mirrored mine until I tried it, but now I realize how wrong I was...

[RobertoCarlos]

The same thing(bolded) was said about every attractive female in games, movies, books, ever by somebody(mostly people we probably wouldn't agree with).

It's not something we can even know. Why prejudge? Why jump to conclusions? What brings out the strong beliefs going AGAINST this game....

Anyway...as far as I'm concerned, personally, even if EVE is meaningless, the selling point to me is the excellent Sekiro like methodical gameplay.

IMHO more people should try the demo.

- - - Updated - - -



I mean...this is one of those games. I think it's going to be great. Not rebirth great, but great.

Yoko Taro agrees at least.

https://www.ign.com/articles/stellar...source=twitter

Yoko likes it! Maybe we could give it a chance.

Well I mean there are definitely worse games out there to be inspired by with nier automata.

Did nier get so much attention for the character looking like a sex doll or was it OK because there's a cute boy sex doll character as well? I just wanna understand the rules

[Ereb]

...but as you say, I can see someone who only played the reboots saying that about Lara, but they obviously don't realize that there were many games that came out BEFORE tomb raider 2013 and they need to study their gaming history.

I feel like this is more and more the case lately

- - - Updated - - -

Is the actress the character is based on underage? No? Then I don't care.
Is the character underage? No? Then I don't care.

It's not underage it's a 10,000 year old demon you just don't understand!

[RobertoCarlos]

- - - Updated - - -



It's not underage it's a 10,000 year old demon you just don't understand!

Oh God I'm getting anime and vampire plot flashbacks.

[Orange Joe]

As I've said several times now, I'm more than willing to hear out if anyone can actually explain why they don't think Bayonettas sexualization is important to the character overall.

Dunno why people are unable to accept Eve is nowhere near the same as Bayonetta as of what we know right now.

you telling me there is no other way to show "hair power" without it involving stripping her naked?

- - - Updated - - -

PORNOGRAPHY is the depiction of erotic behavior (as in pictures or writing) intended to cause sexual excitement.

Odd. I'm seeing very different words when I look up the definition.

[loras]

Yeah, it's called the video game market.

Honestly, folks just need to accept that content featuring women exists. People should stop trying to censor their appearance in games. Like, why even do that?

Honestly, the censorship push from the far right and the far left for this game have me so confused. Is everything arbitrary now, or just based off how one feels that morning? Is there no rhyme or reason to our bankrupt ideologies?

Do we believe in female empowerment? I hope so. So what is the difference between this game and Tomb Raider or Neir Automata or Bayonetta, besides this game having much better gameplay and production quality?

- - - Updated - - -



So much this. Strange bedfellows. What do these folks even think they are protesting?

I'm inclined to say something along the lines of "sanity" or "reality itself", but honestly mostly they seem to be in it for the monkey business of being seen as having said this or that.
I mean many of 'em aren't stupid individually, but the moment groupthink triggers it's as if you're talking to a dumb scared animal or something.

[Jester Joe]

you telling me there is no other way to show "hair power" without it involving stripping her naked

I'm telling you that they built the game around it and made it relevant to her character and the story. Dunno why you refuse to accept that.

- - - Updated - - -

Have you ever seen the anime Claymore? It's one of my favorite animes and has a great set of characters. Much of it mirrors some events in the demo, and the MC very much reminded me of Eve.

Similarly, many the characters in that show are ostensibly emotionless and without personality. I would argue that premise exists to give juxtaposition for the inevitable time when the character arc starts to become complete.

I don't think such criticism is fair until we have seen the arc play out.

To each their own but I recently read all of Claymore and if stellar blade ends up like that I'd feel like my point is valid honestly.

Claymore kinda screwed itself over by making every Claymore look very similar to each other which made it harder to follow or get attached to anyone. It's like if every Witcher looked similar to geralt, I'd have the same complaint. It did, however, use the emotionless aspect as a coping method for the characters. It doesn't seem like Stellar Blade is taking that angle since it's not about Eve locking away her emotions but rather about just having none.

[Mahcake]

Oh man. The lack of awarness is astounding.
"THERE ARE WOMENS LIKE HER ON ONLYFANS AND INSTAGRAM!!!!!!!!!!!!"
"GO TOUCH GRASS!!!!"

But i never expected anything more from you. At least you admitted, but dont know it, that Eve is nothing more than a oversexualized product, just like instagram photos and only fans.

EDIT: specially for you, i bet you know what this means

Congrats dude. You just showed how insane you are. Nobody can take you seriously after this.

[Zenfoldor]

I'm telling you that they built the game around it and made it relevant to her character and the story. Dunno why you refuse to accept that.

- - - Updated - - -



To each their own but I recently read all of Claymore and if stellar blade ends up like that I'd feel like my point is valid honestly.

Claymore kinda screwed itself over by making every Claymore look very similar to each other which made it harder to follow or get attached to anyone. It's like if every Witcher looked similar to geralt, I'd have the same complaint. It did, however, use the emotionless aspect as a coping method for the characters. It doesn't seem like Stellar Blade is taking that angle since it's not about Eve locking away her emotions but rather about just having none.

That's fair and I'm not here to keep hammering on about this topic, I just think we should not be so quick to judge a game before all info is known.

After the game is out, we can all play it and make our own opinions, or not play it and admit that when we make our arguments, but the knee jerk reaction of "this character is just a sex object because of the screenshots I saw" is not it. I'm not saying you particularly did that, because I don't think you did, but others obvious have.

This whole thread is just a pointless circle jerk until the game releases anyway, but from what I played of the demo, if you like souls, if you like sekiro, the gameplay is solid.

This weekend I actually sat down with my brother and played a few games:

1. Infinite Wealth
2. The Lost Crown
3. Helldivers 2
4. Unicorn Overlord
5. Rise of the Ronin
6. Stellar Blade Demo
7. Talos Principal 2

Now we had been played rebirth already and that is my goty so far, and better than SB, but of those games above, the SB demo impressed the most. It has ultra slick graphics and gameplay that was actually SURPRISINGLY similar to Rise of the Ronin, right down to the damn buttons being almost the same. Parrying mechanics were also nearly identical and both felt good.

Before this I kinda assumed SB would be a lewd hack and slash with shallow gameplay but after this demo, above all of those games it impressed both of us the most. The lewdness is actually a drawback for me personally but not a big deal and about 2 seconds in the demo I didn't even notice it.

Level design is basic, but the combat is good. I think it will be a solid 8/10 for me and I think the next game(part 2) will be big and much more accepted that this first one.

[Eapoe]

I'm telling you that they built the game around it and made it relevant to her character and the story. Dunno why you refuse to accept that.

- - - Updated - - -



To each their own but I recently read all of Claymore and if stellar blade ends up like that I'd feel like my point is valid honestly.

Claymore kinda screwed itself over by making every Claymore look very similar to each other which made it harder to follow or get attached to anyone. It's like if every Witcher looked similar to geralt, I'd have the same complaint. It did, however, use the emotionless aspect as a coping method for the characters. It doesn't seem like Stellar Blade is taking that angle since it's not about Eve locking away her emotions but rather about just having none.

They designed gameplay around sexualizing the main character. They didn’t have to make an over the top DMC style game with a badass witch that gets naked, does stripper pole spin attacks, or has climax special moves, but they did. The entire game was built around sexualizing this character.

[Jastall]

They designed gameplay around sexualizing the main character. They didn’t have to make an over the top DMC style game with a badass witch that gets naked, does stripper pole spin attacks, or has climax special moves, but they did. The entire game was built around sexualizing this character.

Personally I find that easier to stomach when the game goes so hard (eh), so over the top that nobody can take it seriously. So it feels more like the devs knew they made something ridiculous and the player is along for the ride. Kinda like when you're watching JoJo or something along those lines. The exaggerated sexualization felt like it had a purpose in the game, rather than being gratuitous, because everything about the game was tongue-in-cheek and exaggerated.

Stellar Blade seems to want the player to take its heroine with a completely straight face, which to me just doesn't work when they're also being this blatant with wanting said player to know how sexy she is designed to be. Imagine you're playing Witcher 3 and Geralt only has access to incredibly skintight outfits showing off every bulge and muscle of his Gigachad-tier body and incorporates various male model poses into both his traversal and fighting styles for no reason other than to be there. I'm pretty sure no one would be able to take the game seriously when it then turns around and tries to serve the player a gritty, emotional story.

Then again I tend to find porn more funny than arousing most of the time, so maybe I'm the weirdo here.

[Jester Joe]

They designed gameplay around sexualizing the main character. They didn’t have to make an over the top DMC style game with a badass witch that gets naked, does stripper pole spin attacks, or has climax special moves, but they did. The entire game was built around sexualizing this character.

https://www.platinumgames.com/offici...g/article/1278

Just to point out, at no point was sexualizing part of what they were told to design her around. And they already had the gameplay before the character, it seems. But either way this is kinda going into semantics kinda argument at that point.

Whether the design came first or the sexualization idea, it was heavily incorporated and made important to the game and Bayonetta as a character.

[Orange Joe]

I'm telling you that they built the game around it and made it relevant to her character and the story. Dunno why you refuse to accept that.

Not that i refuse to accept that I just don't see a difference in the end. You don't know the story for eve so how can you make any claims to her?

[Jester Joe]

Not that i refuse to accept that I just don't see a difference in the end. You don't know the story for eve so how can you make any claims to her?

Because we have the person who designed her on record saying they made her hot because they wanted to.

And that they spent extra time on designing her butt, because they wanted to.

To emphasize on this, I do not have an issue with them being open about that and people enjoying it. But it's very clear that it's not the same reason why Bayonetta is the way she is, unless you think the team working on Stellar Blade lied. Which fair, maybe they did, but as of right now all we have is their word.

My issue was with the weird idea that it's hypocritical to like Bayonetta and hate Eve.

[Eapoe]

https://www.platinumgames.com/offici...g/article/1278

Just to point out, at no point was sexualizing part of what they were told to design her around. And they already had the gameplay before the character, it seems. But either way this is kinda going into semantics kinda argument at that point.

Whether the design came first or the sexualization idea, it was heavily incorporated and made important to the game and Bayonetta as a character.

It doesn’t matter what came first. The character was highly sexualized.
I also read that article (just yesterday as a matter of fact as I was looking into the character a bit reference the topic on if she is or isn’t a feminist icon). She was designed by a woman, with very little input on what he wanted, but that doesn’t mean that the game didn’t sexualize the character.

- - - Updated - - -

Personally I find that easier to stomach when the game goes so hard (eh), so over the top that nobody can take it seriously. So it feels more like the devs knew they made something ridiculous and the player is along for the ride. Kinda like when you're watching JoJo or something along those lines. The exaggerated sexualization felt like it had a purpose in the game, rather than being gratuitous, because everything about the game was tongue-in-cheek and exaggerated.

Stellar Blade seems to want the player to take its heroine with a completely straight face, which to me just doesn't work when they're also being this blatant with wanting said player to know how sexy she is designed to be. Imagine you're playing Witcher 3 and Geralt only has access to incredibly skintight outfits showing off every bulge and muscle of his Gigachad-tier body and incorporates various male model poses into both his traversal and fighting styles for no reason other than to be there. I'm pretty sure no one would be able to take the game seriously when it then turns around and tries to serve the player a gritty, emotional story.

Then again I tend to find porn more funny than arousing most of the time, so maybe I'm the weirdo here.

That’s not the topic though. The comparison is based off of 2 characters being sexualized. The fact of one being easier to stomach then the other doesn’t really matter when it happens for both characters.
From what I’m seeing, yes, Bayonetta is more over the top in the scenarios and way it handles it, compared to Stellar Blade; but, it’s still there.
I understand your 2nd point, but I think that also has some roots in society and societal norms around men and women, and how in some media references it’s okay for women to be seen in bikini type armor, while men wear full plate armor pieces. Then we have other media, like Golden Axe, where both the human man and woman are both comically underdressed for fighting hordes of monsters and human like enemies.

[Jester Joe]

It doesn’t matter what came first. The character was highly sexualized.
I also read that article (just yesterday as a matter of fact as I was looking into the character a bit reference the topic on if she is or isn’t a feminist icon). She was designed by a woman, with very little input on what he wanted, but that doesn’t mean that the game didn’t sexualize the character.

No one was ever denying that Bayonetta is sexualized.

The point was that it's actually made important to the entire game and Bayonetta as a character. Which is an important difference that people are allowed to have a different view on.