My Thoughts On The Ghost Of Yōtei Debate
i'm hyped, but the sexists actually might be right about this one
Or at least, there’s something to be said.
For some background for those of you that are blissfully off the “disgruntled gaming” section of YouTube, Sucker Punch’s 2020 release Ghost of Tsushima, to put it mildly, was a f****** success.
Gorgeous visuals
Compelling characters
An iron-clad storyline…
So when news of a GoT (Ghost of Tsushima) sequel started buzzing around the interwebs, I and the rest of the living, breathing human population, were certifiably hyped.
Our suspicions were confirmed with Ghost of Yōtei being announced at State of Play this September.
The announcement had all the hallmarks of a Ghost game.
Gorgeous visuals…
What looks like to be a compelling storyline…
A nuanced character…
. . .
GASP
Surprise, it’s a girl.
I didn’t think too much of it at first, I was just pretty excited another Ghost game was back.
So when I went online after the release…I’ll be honest, I was pretty shocked about the backlash.
“Women didn’t even fight back then!”
“Bring back the men!”
"This is just hyper-feminism bullshiz!”
I’m not going to spend too much time on this, but..these arguments are just bad. Regardless of the fact that Jin is a fictional character within a historical time period, making the claim that female-warriors or fighters, lest, didn’t exist during that time period is…just wrong? A quick Google Search is enough to settle those arguments.
Relatability sure, but being a man didn’t stop the whole horde of you guys from enjoying Tomb Raider. Or enjoying Yuna.
Frankly speaking, nothing relevant within a game that could potentially influence your enjoyment is dependent on gender.1
Unless you’re a misogynist..
So all the “arguments” above - Ignore.
But
I get the criticism.
I see a lot of women online being downright outraged by the backlash (which, fair) but some of the skepticism echoed by these male (and female!) gamers is pretty valid.
Let’s get into it.
Socially speaking, the push for more representation in content (a very noble cause) has led companies for the past ten years or so to steamroll as much of that content as possible. Social movements are powerful, and in this digital age, criticism and blacklisting is so strong that company actions (like always) are motivated by profit (the ability to make profit permitted by social acceptance).
After being relatively non-existent within the long discography of content, writers with desires to portray their own communities started being flooded onto projects.
Especially concerning women. A desire for strong, badass, competent female characters.
That was not the outcome.
The stories weren’t bad because they had female characters, the stories were bad because they were poorly written.
And you got the same. Formulaic. Poorly written. Female character.
So now you have audiences associating women…with bad content.
(Sidebar: I was going to include a couple photo examples of “bad female characters,”, but I would also like to point out that even though they were poorly written, the backlash they got would have been 1000% less if they were men. Ex: Captain Marvel - not a good character, badass for the sake of being badass, but…if she were a man… Sigh, I think T.Swift sums it up pretty well. If ya’ll want a more in-depth critique on this let me know.)
That is not good. In fact, I’m surprised people didn’t point out this injustice earlier.
So yes, people have a basis for being skeptical about female characters in newer and more recent content.
With the way the media industry has handed inclusivity, dishing out the same poorly-constructed characters with their poorly-constructed arcs in exchange for “activist” stamps of approval, consumers everywhere grow to be skeptical of it at default.
Dear Game Devs, if you want to support women, showcase their stories in a way that isn’t inauthentic. Open creative floodgates and research all the things women can and have done over the course of history. We’re completely capable. I guarantee you can find a creative storyline that doesn’t determine badass through massacre and being devoid of emotion.
My guy Jin wrestled with his emotions the entirety of the game.
(Oh, is that emasculating? Sorry. It makes for a damn good message + PEICE OF FREAKING ART)
Oh, and also. If my logic is hard to follow.
Women are people.
People have complex thoughts, emotions and motivations.
People should be written with complex thoughts, emotions and motivations.
Women have complex thoughts, emotions and motivations.
Women should be written with complex thoughts, emotions and motivations.
Write them purposefully with a creative intent and a story that enhances the purpose behind it all. Video games are just another way to present narrative longform content.
Point blank: Women don’t deserve being trashed around in subpar content.2 Character’s are narrative tools. Write women as character’s and not whatever profit-based activism tells you to.
All that being said, I don’t think you guys should be worried about Ghost of Yōtei. Sucker Punch does women pretty damn well.
-Srusti
the character, regardless of their sex or gender, is a narrative tool. you control the character. what they can and can’t do is dependent on the storyline, not the character. why would game devs purposefully make their character unable to do anything?
I’m planning to make another post about the fact we get so much shitty content and we call it revolutionary. demand good content and good artwork. i’m sick and tired of seeing bad art being praised as revolutionary and “glorifed” solely because its marketable.