SpookSpark
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SpookSpark
earned the 
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20 hrs ago
2 days ago
SpookSpark
commented on
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Games Featuring Transgender Characters
@lollipop Yeah fair enough, Druckmann is an asshat so the less he is talked about the better
4 days ago
SpookSpark
earned the 
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5 days ago
SpookSpark
commented on
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Games Featuring Transgender Characters
Hi, saw this linked on Tumblr and thought you might enjoy some more additions:
-Dark Souls 1: The series' deliberately cryptic storytelling makes it impossible to make any definitive statement, but taking into account lore and design there are fans who interpret Gwyndolin as a trans woman. Still, it's all interpretative so you might wanna mention that.
-Dark Souls 2: This one is a bit unique in that it doesn't have a proper trans character but it does feature a coffin you can get into that changes the gender of the playable character. Might be worth mentioning.
-Labyrinth of Galleria: The Moon Society: A secondary character (Hubert) is a trans man who is later given a potion by the protag team to give him the body he wanted.
-Persona 5: Lala Escargot is depicted as a rather stereotypical "okama". Strictly speaking the more direct English equivalent would be a drag queen, but writing-wise could also be interpreted as a trans woman. Still worth considering, imo.
-The Last of Us Part II: One of the main characters (Lev) is a trans boy and his identity plays a big part in his story.
-Chicory: A colorful tale: Protagonist character is never referred to using gendered pronouns, but perhaps more noteworthy is how the translations into gendered languages allow the player to choose either male, female, or neutral pronouns for the player character.
-Dark Souls 1: The series' deliberately cryptic storytelling makes it impossible to make any definitive statement, but taking into account lore and design there are fans who interpret Gwyndolin as a trans woman. Still, it's all interpretative so you might wanna mention that.
-Dark Souls 2: This one is a bit unique in that it doesn't have a proper trans character but it does feature a coffin you can get into that changes the gender of the playable character. Might be worth mentioning.
-Labyrinth of Galleria: The Moon Society: A secondary character (Hubert) is a trans man who is later given a potion by the protag team to give him the body he wanted.
-Persona 5: Lala Escargot is depicted as a rather stereotypical "okama". Strictly speaking the more direct English equivalent would be a drag queen, but writing-wise could also be interpreted as a trans woman. Still worth considering, imo.
-The Last of Us Part II: One of the main characters (Lev) is a trans boy and his identity plays a big part in his story.
-Chicory: A colorful tale: Protagonist character is never referred to using gendered pronouns, but perhaps more noteworthy is how the translations into gendered languages allow the player to choose either male, female, or neutral pronouns for the player character.
6 days ago
SpookSpark
completed
Rise of the Ronin
At this point in time the ubislop school of open-world design is simply inexcusable, and is by far the biggest factor in play at making the game feel as bloated as it is.
Still, while it certainly overextends its welcome, Rise of the Ronin is pretty god damn fun to play thanks to its strong spoof in Sekiro's combat system that adds enough of its own identity to keep things interesting. The game however at times feels like a Frankenstein's monster of mechanics tacked on from Team Ninja's previous games: The gear stat system is completely pointless, 90% of the inventory might as well not be there, etc. Still, none of its mechanical messiness affects the core gameplay loop in any noticeable way, so while it is certainly pointless at the very least it is not disruptive at all.
Story also ended up being unexpectedly interesting; the Bakumatsu period has been heavily romanticized in popular fiction thanks to its myriad of larger-than-life personages, but I liked the way this game kept contrasting that starry-eyed idealism of its characters with the incredible amounts of bloodshed all their political action demanded, and the inherent tragedy of it all. The story does end up feeling rather messy towards the end due to its incredibly large cast (they really REALLY wanted all these historical figures to have their spotlight), but at the same time the actual period was a complete mess in real life too so I feel like the game ends up being reflective of that. I also find amusing how its most direct comparison, the American-made Ghost of Tsushima, ends up feeling much more nationalistic than the Japanese-made Rise of the Ronin lol.
Speaking of characters, I very much enjoyed how the game was not content with focusing only on the Big Warrior-slash-Politician People and also included plenty of real-life figures outside that big political circle. From courtesans and photographers to interpreters and firefighters, I appreciated how Rise of the Ronin acknowledged that the "little" people are as important to the tides of History as the more celebrated lawmakers and warriors are.
Anyway, while not an all-timer by any means, Rise of the Ronin is a pretty solid game that makes for a fun playthrough, and a very interesting take on the Bakumatsu period. I do hope Team Ninja's perpetual lack of proper identity doesn't make them forgo the open-world formula forever; if they manage to learn from Breath of the Wild and Elden Ring's much more interesting design choices and marry that to their already excellent combat design we could end up with something truly great in our hands in the future.
Still, while it certainly overextends its welcome, Rise of the Ronin is pretty god damn fun to play thanks to its strong spoof in Sekiro's combat system that adds enough of its own identity to keep things interesting. The game however at times feels like a Frankenstein's monster of mechanics tacked on from Team Ninja's previous games: The gear stat system is completely pointless, 90% of the inventory might as well not be there, etc. Still, none of its mechanical messiness affects the core gameplay loop in any noticeable way, so while it is certainly pointless at the very least it is not disruptive at all.
Story also ended up being unexpectedly interesting; the Bakumatsu period has been heavily romanticized in popular fiction thanks to its myriad of larger-than-life personages, but I liked the way this game kept contrasting that starry-eyed idealism of its characters with the incredible amounts of bloodshed all their political action demanded, and the inherent tragedy of it all. The story does end up feeling rather messy towards the end due to its incredibly large cast (they really REALLY wanted all these historical figures to have their spotlight), but at the same time the actual period was a complete mess in real life too so I feel like the game ends up being reflective of that. I also find amusing how its most direct comparison, the American-made Ghost of Tsushima, ends up feeling much more nationalistic than the Japanese-made Rise of the Ronin lol.
Speaking of characters, I very much enjoyed how the game was not content with focusing only on the Big Warrior-slash-Politician People and also included plenty of real-life figures outside that big political circle. From courtesans and photographers to interpreters and firefighters, I appreciated how Rise of the Ronin acknowledged that the "little" people are as important to the tides of History as the more celebrated lawmakers and warriors are.
Anyway, while not an all-timer by any means, Rise of the Ronin is a pretty solid game that makes for a fun playthrough, and a very interesting take on the Bakumatsu period. I do hope Team Ninja's perpetual lack of proper identity doesn't make them forgo the open-world formula forever; if they manage to learn from Breath of the Wild and Elden Ring's much more interesting design choices and marry that to their already excellent combat design we could end up with something truly great in our hands in the future.
14 days ago