@Strikke You must not run in Nintendo fan circles much lol. People are absolutely giving Nintendo grief for DKC Returns HD right now.

My previous comment was about new games in existing IPs, not remasters, etc.

This is why I mainly play on my Switch now. I know people give Nintendo grief about always reiterating on the same IP but it’s always reliable and high quality. Just saying.

The fact that there are less people like Shuhei at PS these days, now including the literal man himself, is why, in my opinion, PS become less and less special and fun over the last 10 years or so.

I’ve said it before so I guess I’ll say it again: multiple things can happen and be true at once.

1. Literally no one hated Horizon ZD. Most people loved it as a new IP, interesting story and Aloy was an endearing character. As matter of fact, the only controversy I recall was focused on left-leaning “journalists” complaining about Native American cultural appropriation.

2. FW stirred up a hornet’s nest at first because there was a soft facial redesign of Aloy that, objectively, made her less attractive. A big deal? No. A sign of attempting to spread “The Message”? Possibly. But then we had the controversy of how Sony handled PS4-PS5 upgrades. Then the game itself was fine but not a large enough leap. Then you had DLC that continued to push “The Message” by bringing in Aloy’s sexuality. It was a perfect storm of things that lessened excitement for the game and the IP.

3. As some have stated, why are other IPs rotting away but this one is somehow alive and kicking? That is a genuine sentiment some feel.

4. Lastly, it is a legit statement to say that sales don’t equal enthusiasm. First, even though the first Horizon hit really well, those sales are also held up due to it being bundled with later PS4 models. Then you have the remaster. Someone compared it to Avatar earlier and that is so perfect. Data shows the second film made billions of dollars but I swear I’ve never met anyone in person who has seen it.

“We’re getting tired of this discussion…so let’s write a condescending article that perpetuates this very tiring conversation.”

The second picture looks fine.

But please, do not try and pretend like the first one does not have male facial structure features. And then don’t pretend that this is not the typical go-to of female character design for ND lately. And then don’t pretend that this isn’t tied to statements from people like Druckmann himself, about trying to make more feminist leaning games. And then don’t pretend that, because of all the previous factors mentioned, that it is incredulous that people would connect all those dots and have a laugh at this.

Should people be downright mean and hateful? No. Are there some people who have just lost their mind in regards to ND? Sure. But there are also those who, as demonstrated by some of these comments, seem to be very disingenuous and want to pretend that anyone having ANY issue is just unreasonable.

Multiple things can be true at once:

1. There are those that have lost their minds when it comes to ND.

2. ND does have, both admittedly and inferentially, a certain agenda.

3. There are those who have legit concerns because of #2.

4. There are those who refuse to acknowledge #3 because they think anyone with any issues are #1, or they’re just being disingenuous. Or both.

Maybe don’t waste money on consulting firms to “diversify” your game and don’t bloat your game with pointless mini games and other nonsense. Maybe you should’ve made one solid remake instead of getting greedy and creating essentially the video game version of the Hobbit movies.

This really seems a case of multiple things being true at once. At least to me.

1. Decisions are intentional. It is an intentional decision to design and write this character in the way that she is designed and written. Also, this design is not the traditional female look. And no, that does not mean hourglass proportions or a subservient personality. There are countless awesome female protagonists all through media that are neither of those but that I would argue are “traditional”. But some, including myself admittedly, would rather see traditional looking female characters instead of one clearly designed to buck that trend. For instance, the main character in SW Outlaws upset people but that confused me. She looked like a typical, traditional female character.

2. While I am no fan of anything I’m seeing here, there’s no need to be a jerk about it. Just don’t buy it.

3. The same people upset over people being upset need to also calm down. You’re coming across like those guys at colleges who want to be “allies” to the progressive female students.

The fact a female protagonist is in this is fine and, depending on how they do the story, historically accurate. There absolutely were female ronins and samurai.

The ONLY thing I’m bummed out about is that I won’t play as Jin. He became one of my favorite PS characters ever.

No because, when it’s reasonably possible like this particular situation, I refuse to support the CCP.