Happyninja42 said:
*Snipped by the Ordos Editus Maximus.*
I only wish that the Space Marine buddy of the protagonist hadn't done the stereotypical "You...are the one in charge?" with a disbelieving tone. It felt very much like your typical thing in military movies where the woman takes off her helmet, showing she's female, and the guys are like "A GIIIRL!?!?" Though I did appreciate how the main character didn't even blink an eye about it. He just accepted she was in charge, asked for an update, and then proceeded to give her orders after listening to her advise on the situation, which she then followed without question. It felt very good to have them just interact with each other as equals, even though there was a chain of command involved. The protagonist is clearly in charge, but he didn't treat her any differently than any other soldier under his command, and trusted her to do her job effectively, considering she'd already done a damn good job so far.
Agreed regarding the buddy marine and the player character.
Captain Titus and his interactions with the Lieutenant were well handled I thought, with the main character taking his Emperor ordained position though not usurping her command.
Even bowing to her advanced knowledge of terrain and troop movements.
The buddy and his reaction did come across as the stereotype, which was unfortunate.
A clumsy wording if they wanted to highlight a flawed aspect of the buddy marine's personality.
He could have reacted poorly based on so many other reasons, even if she didn't deserve such a reaction.
Despite how we know the facts, the inexperienced brother marine may have held her accountable for the losses without considering the scale of the challenge she faced.
Also there's the whole post human element to consider too.
Some Marines develop a kind of arrogance towards unaltered humans, in that they forget the limitations that they once had before they were selected and the process of creating a marine begins.
It can show itself in expecting more than a human could physically and mentally give, display itself in a contempt for the weaknesses physical, mental and moral of humanity.
In some cases they lose the capacity to relate to them in any way, seeing them almost as another species albeit a weak one to be sheparded and guarded.
Fortunately, there are still some marines like Titus who hold a high regard for humans, given how hard they fight and the feats they managed to achieve without the advantages of marine genetic alteration.
I'm sorry.
I just realized I'm spewing lore all over the thread when we're meant to be talking about female protagonists.
Suffice to say, despite the trope you mention being played on, she was a well presented character and one that stuck with me after the game ended as an example of 'doing it right'.
I have to add here, I tackled the topic of the thread regarding 'protagonist' not in the gameplay sense, but in a story telling sense.
My mistake.
She was a hero without question and she faced challenges that would have overwhelmed most others.
While not the playable character in the game, I'd have been happy to have played sections or even a full game which focused on her experiences during the attack on the forge world.
