Realism, Except for women or Are there any real girls in video games.

[AdeptaSororitas]

Hi there, friendly neighborhood blah blah blah. Lets get straight to my point:

So while fussing around on some awesome Character Creation Engines suggested by all you delightful Escapees, when I realized that I only ever see "real" women on games that feature them, or, barring that, ATTEMPTS at "real" women. So I'm wondering one thing, solely because if I addressed the second I'd just get one million valid opinions I've all already heard, so, instead I ask: Are there any games you can think of that include "real" women? Either physically or emotionally, and yes, I know, some real women are sticks with balloons attached, or single note stereotypes, thus the use of quotations.

TLDR: You're a bad person, read the post, it's like, ONE paragraph.

Edit: I'm seein this pop up a bit so I'll say this now. I'm not here to discuss the amount of male Idealization the occurs in Video Games, I do however, plan to, just at a later date. Thank you all for understanding. ^^

 

[acosn]

Real women? No, not really. The simple fact of the matter is that there's no solid statistics connecting women to any sort of gaming beyond the casual, so for the most part what you get is an industry beyond the casual platform that's largely made by nerds for nerds.

 

[Beautiful End]

Well...I must admit I haven't been exposed to a lot of "real women" in video games (I'm looking at you, Lara Croft). But I'll give it a shot at the risk of being shunned for it.

-Ashe (FFXII): No cheesy romantic interest, she fights for her country, she has doubts, she is tempted by the dark side and she manages to rise above all of it. Forget the weird clothing and the nose picking. I'm talking about her personality.

-That one blonde girl from Uncharted: Sorry, never really got into the game. Maybe someone can expand this for me.

-Bonnie McFarlane (Red Dead Redemption): You can kinda feel an awkward kind of tension between John and Bonnie. But she's got responsibilities; a father to look after, a ranch to run, she's pretty much the man of the house ranch in a time where this was frowned upon. She's gutsy but not...gay? I mean no offense.

-Morrigan (Dragon Age: Origins): UGHHH! I can't help myself! Perhaps its the fan in my who just wants to see her as a real woman. But I mean, you see her evolve from a cruel and heartless woman who doesn't believe in love into a heartbroken, confused woman who eventually does fall in love. Even though the topic of love is like a side plot in this game, it's still pretty realistic in that sense.
Can't really say anything else about the other characters. I've only finished the game with Morrigan as a love interest. But I assume it's the same, kinda sorta?

-Garnet (FFIX): Again, fan in me! Must suppress! But! I like her because she's not your stereotypical busty woman with curves all over the place (*coughTifacough*) and she goes through a lot of emotions throughout the game. Just imagine what you would do in her position; you find out your mom is evil, she dies, you're the new ruler and you must fight off a war. And you're 16. I think her emotions are amazingly described throughout the game, from her trauma where she loses her voice to her newfound confidence towards the end.

 

[KarlMonster]

Some of the women that I became interested in turned into Harley Quinn. And not in a good way.

OK. Kidding aside... briefly!

Alyx from HL2 came close, but I felt VALVe was trying too hard.

I can't think of a Genevieve Aristide joke, so I guess I'm tapped out for in-game femalez.

 

[NoeL]

Jade from Beyond Good and Evil.

 

[NeutralDrow]

Basically everyone (female and male) in Symphonic Rain. Sometimes to my detriment.

 

[Grospoliner]

Aya Brea from Parasite Eve

 

[dyre]

eh, I'd say in most Western RPGs, the women are about as "real" as the men, unless the devs are obviously using a particular woman as fanbait (I'm looking at you, Miranda...)

Can't really say much about JRPGs, as I lack experience in them (well, I played Radiant Historia, if that counts. Not a bad game, actually), but from an outsider's perspective, the women and men look equally, uh, not-too-real

 

[Mallefunction]

A lot of the women in Assassin's Creed outside of maybe Maria (she has had only one line, that's why XD). They are not all just love interests and even when they are, they tend to have small, but noticable personality traits that really make them more well-rounded. I especially loved reading Lucy and Rebecca's emails in Brotherhood. The banter was cute and made them all the more real to me.

 

[TakeFour]

Alyx from HL2 came close

sounds like you never let her walk in front of you....

 

[AdeptaSororitas]

eh, I'd say in most Western RPGs, the women are about as "real" as the men, unless the devs are obviously using a particular woman as fanbait (I'm looking at you, Miranda...)

Can't really say much about JRPGs, as I lack experience in them (well, I played Radiant Historia, if that counts. Not a bad game, actually), but from an outsider's perspective, the women and men look equally, uh, not-too-real

Still, men usually come in several shapes and sizes, Gorden Freeman is Different from Default Shepard whose different from Soap in COD, whose different from The protagonist of GTA 4 (forgot his name). Men get several different REAL body types, women get, well, Sticks, sticks with boobs and sticks with boobs and an ass *coughmirandacough*

 

[Reaper195]

It really depends on your perception on the word 'real'. There are some games that have sticks with tits that are braindead...but there are also real life women exactly like that. And then there are the quiet ones, the social but not overly social, so on and so forth. Although the female character that I have found to be the most....interesting, for lack of a better word, was Jenny from The Darkness. I love that game through and through......unfortunatly, the second doesn't look to top it.

TLDR: You're a bad person, read the post, it's like, ONE paragraph.

HAHAHAHA! Ah, Christ, I love these in threads.

 

[AdeptaSororitas]

Maybe you should play The Darkness...

Probably the most 'realistic' woman in a game. Jenny is really well characterized.

Huh, maybe I'll look into it, thats actually a really well configured female, I'll have to see if her personality matches up.

 

[Tonythion]

Already been taken Lara Croft HERP

uh not that I know of no. They've all been really cookie cutter to me except maybe DARE I SAY IT?! Kat from Halo Reach. I hate her so much but because she actually had some character.
SOME character, not a lot but more than most.

She's a soldier, she's kind of a butch but not totally, she's smart and she can be pretty bitchy ZING no no NO I'M KIDDING DON'T WARN ME AGAIN ESCAPIST!

I don't think I've played many games with women as playable characters or even big characters in the plot.

 

[AdeptaSororitas]

Already been taken Lara Croft HERP

uh not that I know of no. They've all been really cookie cutter to me except maybe DARE I SAY IT?! Kat from Halo Reach. I hate her so much but because she actually had some character.
SOME character, not a lot but more than most.

She's a soldier, she's kind of a butch but not totally, she's smart and she can be pretty bitchy ZING no no NO I'M KIDDING DON'T WARN ME AGAIN ESCAPIST!

I don't think I've played many games with women as playable characters or even big characters in the plot.

I liked Kat, you could learn alot about her by using her voice in firefight. For instance: She GIGGLES when you get a good kill streak. So while being a soldier raised from a young age, shes still YOUNG. It does speak alot to her character, plus, robo-arm, common on men, less so on women.

 

[dyre]

eh, I'd say in most Western RPGs, the women are about as "real" as the men, unless the devs are obviously using a particular woman as fanbait (I'm looking at you, Miranda...)

Can't really say much about JRPGs, as I lack experience in them (well, I played Radiant Historia, if that counts. Not a bad game, actually), but from an outsider's perspective, the women and men look equally, uh, not-too-real

Still, men usually come in several shapes and sizes, Gorden Freeman is Different from Default Shepard whose different from Soap in COD, whose different from The protagonist of GTA 4 (forgot his name). Men get several different REAL body types, women get, well, Sticks, sticks with boobs and sticks with boobs and an ass *coughmirandacough*

Eh, I wouldn't say that. I mean, the guys mostly look the same too...they just have varying degrees of muscles, a lot of which is hidden under the scientist outfit or the camo fatigues anyway. But there's a decent amount of exceptions in both sexes, I'd say.

About the games you're talking about, I don't think anyone could call HL2's Alyx "boobs on a stick," and femShep isn't boobs on a stick either. CoD doesn't have female protagonists, so I can't say much there, but GTA 4 does a good job of showing all sorts of people of all proportions, I'd say.

And yes, Miranda is obviously meant to help attract a more juvenile consumer base for the ME series, but that's just an advertising thing. You don't see ugly women in TV commercials either

 

[OmniscientOstrich]

-Bonnie McFarlane (Red Dead Redemption): You can kinda feel an awkward kind of tension between John and Bonnie. But she's got responsibilities; a father to look after, a ranch to run, she's pretty much the man of the house ranch in a time where this was frowned upon. She's gutsy but not...gay? I mean no offense.

Don't get me wrong I like Morrigan and Garnet but Bonnie stands out as the best example of real female character that isn't exploited or shoehorned into any kind of romance. If we're talking about appearance than I'd say there are practically no real male or female characters as both resemble completely unrealstic standards of beauty, though admiteddly females are generally made to wear more exploitative clothing. As for characterisation then females definately got the short end of that stick. But I think there's still hope, using characters like Bonnie as a good archetype to model on.

 

[AdeptaSororitas]

Still, men usually come in several shapes and sizes, Gorden Freeman is Different from Default Shepard whose different from Soap in COD, whose different from The protagonist of GTA 4 (forgot his name). Men get several different REAL body types, women get, well, Sticks, sticks with boobs and sticks with boobs and an ass *coughmirandacough*

Eh, I wouldn't say that. I mean, the guys mostly look the same too...they just have varying degrees of muscles, a lot of which is hidden under the scientist outfit or the camo fatigues anyway. But there's a decent amount of exceptions in both sexes, I'd say.

About the games you're talking about, I don't think anyone could call HL2's Alyx "boobs on a stick," and femShep isn't boobs on a stick either. CoD doesn't have female protagonists, so I can't say much there, but GTA 4 does a good job of showing all sorts of people of all proportions, I'd say.

And yes, Miranda is obviously meant to help attract a more juvenile consumer base for the ME series, but that's just an advertising thing. You don't see ugly women in TV commercials either

You're right, I should have quantified my statement, there are some good realish designed girls, but still, the examples are few and far between, and ME2 FemShep seemed to get some uh, slight additions from cerberus.