I prefer cartooniness/stylized video game art to realism. It really surprised me that I was able to get into FFXIV at all since the game is so pretty, leaning towards realism, and has mostly human player races. Wildstar really feels like it is the sort of game that would appeal to me more in its art.Â
But it didn't. I got into the beta, got to the character creation screen and was immediately disappointed. It goes far beyond the whole "men are triangles, women are hourglasses" thing. Before you even start your game, unless they changed it since I was in beta, all the women stood in poses that looked like they should be on a pin up calendar. That was your first introduction to player female characters. Your female character starts off half dressed while the male is properly covered. Your female character will walk and run in stereotypically feminine way. Sashaying is a requirement, not an option.Â
But the hourglass bothers me too because you can at least tell there is a difference in body types between a male aurin and a male granok. You can't do the same with a female aurin and a female granok--they have the exact same body type.Â
The hourglass may be exaggerated in a comical way but it comes at a time when people are clamoring for better representation of women in video games. Their attempts at cartoony smell more of the same old stereotypical female characters rather than something pleasantly nostalgic.
But it didn't. I got into the beta, got to the character creation screen and was immediately disappointed. It goes far beyond the whole "men are triangles, women are hourglasses" thing. Before you even start your game, unless they changed it since I was in beta, all the women stood in poses that looked like they should be on a pin up calendar. That was your first introduction to player female characters. Your female character starts off half dressed while the male is properly covered. Your female character will walk and run in stereotypically feminine way. Sashaying is a requirement, not an option.Â
But the hourglass bothers me too because you can at least tell there is a difference in body types between a male aurin and a male granok. You can't do the same with a female aurin and a female granok--they have the exact same body type.Â
The hourglass may be exaggerated in a comical way but it comes at a time when people are clamoring for better representation of women in video games. Their attempts at cartoony smell more of the same old stereotypical female characters rather than something pleasantly nostalgic.
