Dragon Age 2 Sure is...Busty.

[Vrach]

I'm just wondering, have you guys ever seen the difference a push up bra makes on the appearance of a woman's breasts? Just what makes you think fantasy settings are devoid of them?

 

[SageRuffin]

When I first saw, I found it a little unsettling sure. But now, I'm like most others, and am simply indifferent to it all now.

 

[8bitmaster]

I never finished the demo, although I got to the non-exaggerated story and I cannot believe I missed that. Ah well, looks like I need to play it through again to find that. I really didn't notice all that much, then again I was playing a male mage Hawke and did everything from way in the back. I don't see how all women in the game with big breasts is that much of a problem. Its a game. Just go with it.

 

[Caiti Voltaire]

Actually I dated a very, very, well endowed black belt for quite a while. And since I'd known her since we were in junior high I can vouch for their natural qualities.

That would mean more to me if certain martial arts schools didn't hand out black belts like candy these days.

 

[Dethpixie]

Now can we please stop complaining about tits? Seriously guys it's just getting silly.

I think that's the point though. Hollywood and by extension, the gaming industry either cannot or refuses to give us female (and for that matter, male!) characters with realistic or even average proportions, except in a small minority of cases.

Sure, I love tits. You love tits. We all love tits, but do they always need to be gargantuan? Does the female character always need to be long legged, thin waisted, huge chested and beautiful? It really shows a lack of imagination, imo.

Actually the point I was making is that every time a game comes out that may feature breasts there's this big uproar on forums about how it's unrealistic and over-sexualizing. It's like there's no middle ground between pocket-mining teenagers and the sexually repressed.

Personally I like large breasts, I like looking at attractive characters. But I like a good story more and if a game can deliver that they can make the breasts whatever size they like, I don't care. We're really fixating on the wrong parts here.

I think diversity in game characters will come in time. I'd love to see some female characters with a wider wasteline, I'd love to see male characters that were thinner and less muscular. I think eventually we'll get there but it won't be because we complained about tits on the internet it will be because it fits in the narrative of the story and because the developer actually believes that what matters to players is a characters personality. Right now we aren't showing that, we're showing that what matters is a woman's cup size.

 

[Fappy]

Its kind of the same principle that super heroes/villains follow in regards to their capes. As Taskmaster once said, "I know its a liability, but it just looks so cool."

Obviously in this case we can substitute "cool" for "hot". And while I agree that the massive chests on these women is unnecessary, the whole realism argument kind of falls apart when you have characters in full plate armor lunging into giant groups of enemies while swinging a sword that can kill horse and rider in one chop. I don't think physics are taken into consideration when making fantasy RPGs.

Yes, I do suppose that we are in the realm of juvenille male power fantasy, but it would be nice if, one of these days, someone would make a fantasy game that at the very least was less demeaning to use "girl gamers". Who says I even WANT to make a character with huge jubblies? Honestly I see some of the women in these games and cant help but sympathetically wince, because tits that large are an express ticket to lifelong back pain.

So sure, its shallow and demeaning and all that, and we've probably beaten that discussion to the ground in countless other Escapist threads, but I basically have to play a kid, to play a girl that doesnt have huge mammaries. And that's both frustration and depressing.

The Elder Scrolls series never had any hyper sexualized or extremely busty women from what I can recall and Skyrim, while the women certainly look prettier (and by that I mean not hideous), doesn't give me the impression that things will change for the franchise. So that's one fantasy RPG that isn't guilty of all this

 

[Caiti Voltaire]

The Elder Scrolls series never had any hyper sexualized or extremely busty women from what I can recall and Skyrim, while the women certainly look prettier (and by that I mean not hideous), doesn't give me the impression that things will change for the franchise. So that's one fantasy RPG that isn't guilty of all this

Okay, I have to conceed that point. In fact I actually remember thinking Morrowind's girls were kind of pretty without being overly sexualised, and in face actually looked kind of real, as far as anything looked real back then. But the faces in Oblivion, inversely, looked like they'd gotten beaten with an ugly stick, so there's that.

Skyrim looks promising, I must admit.

 

[Caiti Voltaire]

I agree with this; if the story is interesting enough it shouldn't matter whether their breasts are pancakes or melons, because your attention will be elsewhere. If its the tit factor people play the game for you have failed as a designer.

OT: I never played DA, but this is-pardon the pun-shaping up good. I might go ahead and buy it...as soon as my PS3 is fixed.

We all know why DA:O sold so well. It involved lesbian sex scenes with Leliana. And that's why some people are reacting to DA 2 having such ridiculous knockers with a great deal of cynicism.

 

[OliverTwist72]

This thread arouses my interests [sub][sub][/sub][/sub]

 

[Caiti Voltaire]

Again, I haven't played any of the games or even read about it (bar a few internet articles) so I wouldn't know why it sold well. I select my games on whether they keep my interest from beginning to end-or at least partway to the end- and whether they have good characterisation and atmosphere. Not what girl licks what. If I want that I'll go find porn, or get a girl myself. For games its strictly business.

That being said, if its relevant to the storyline/romance then I'll do it; otherwise, I'm not in the least bit fussed.

I can see what you mean for other folk though; I'd be pretty cynical of a game in which sex was one of the highlights.

I think that was my problem. I had the original DA recommended to me by a friend whom thought that perhaps I would enjoy it as it was a roleplaying game which offered lesbian romance options, and I am myself, with another woman.

Unfortunately for all of Bioware's vaunted writing abilities (I think Bioware is increasingly overrated these days personally), it basically boiled down to "Say things in a particular order, complete quest, get sex scene as a reward." It was as shallow as a spoon and quite uninteresting, and I found it rather demeaning. I pretty much played it through the once and forgot about it.

That the characters are so blithely well-endowed in DA 2 does not fill me with hope that they're going to improve upon that, this time.

 

[Caiti Voltaire]

The problem is that it is hard to write something like sex into a game and have it done tastefully; whether because this is due to years of repressing it in games or just generally poor writing on the part of the entertainment industry is another matter. From a gamewise standpoint it looks good enough to buy and play; the characters could still be exagerrated by the narrator-as other folk have mentioned.

Personally I don't mind breast size; its not as if I watch it and think 'hey, this is great material for personal use.' I view it as just a body type, as much as women with small chests. If the women are B's, good. If they are DDD's, good. If the writing is good, the plot well-paced and the animation up to scratch, I'm not bothered.

As a bisexual male I can sort of understand how it would be demeaning, but that is down to-as I mentioned- poor writing; its hard to humanise love/sex in a virtual world, which is not the case with films, as they feature real people. It might be just gamings own version of adolescance, come to think of it.

Given DA:O's plot, Im not holding my breath for the writing to justify the gratuitous titties.

 

[Caiti Voltaire]

Given DA:O's plot, Im not holding my breath for the writing to justify the gratuitous titties.

So from someone who has played it to someone who hasn't, you wouldn't recommend it?

Yes and no. If you're looking for an average RPG game that will kill a few hours? Sure, give it a whirl. It is a very safe game. It pushes few envelopes, and other than the lesbian sex scene potential, it doesn't do anything new or inventive. It's good gameplay in a fairly interesting world that gets let down by an uninspired story and insipid writing with stereotyped characters. Morrigan and Leliana are both terrible women stereotypes (girly-girl and action girl respectively) whilst Alistar, for those of you who've played KOTOR, is basically Carth 2.0 - an emotionally fragile, whiney man whom Im not surprised men find demeaning.

Its a decent game, if you lower your expectations. But I only played it once. Im certainly not paying 80$ CDN for DA2. Maybe if it ends up in the bargain bin.

 

[Meggiepants]

Seeing as how half the people here are saying it isn't a problem, I guess the OP has his answer. I for one find it off putting, mostly because it's distracting as hell.

Not to mention, big fucking boobs get in the way of complex maneuvers. When was the last time you saw an Olympic gold medalist with DD boobs. Not to say it's impossible, but it certainly seems less likely.

I would also find it distracting if they put a 70 pound teenager in full scale armor and had him running around like a jumping spider.

I want my Linda Hamilton/Sigourney Weaver/Grace Jones bitches back. They were bad ass bitches without big ass tits.

There is such a thing as too big. I mean, anything more than a handful and what's the point?

Silly... Obviously women with melon boobs are for men who fantasize about having giant... hands.

 

[TheDoctor455]

Hmm...
I didn't really notice it earlier...
I can't unsee it now.

But...
Now that I think about it...
most do get smaller when Varric isn't exaggerating things.