Category: Video Games

Posted in Gaming News, Playstation, Shift Up, Stellar Blade, Video Games

Stellar Blade – The Beauty of Eve

Posted on by Ms. Bella
4–6 minutes

The upcoming release of a new game is nothing new and, in most cases, only special to those that have discovered it and find it interesting. Sometimes, however, a game gets so much press that it catches the attention of a wide audience. One such game is Stellar Blade, both for the right and wrong reasons.

Stellar Blade, a game by the Korean developer Shift Up is a story-driven action adventure that’s set to release on April 26th, 2024 to the Playstation 5. The main protagonist is Eve, a solider sent to fight an alien race and reclaim Earth. It’s action-packed, with beautiful graphics and an interesting story.

The opinion of most gamers was positive and the release of a demo only increased interest. The title quickly shot up to #1 in pre-orders for many countries.

Not everyone agrees though, with the majority of the conversation revolving around the physical appearance of Eve. She is, to be blunt, quite a stunning female with near perfect proportions shown off to great effect by her various outfits. So why the dissent? What are the arguments against Eve and why do some people seem to hate her?

Unrealistic Body Proportions –

The first arguments that I saw against Eve were the tired supposition that her figure depicts ‘unrealistic body proportions’. This couldn’t be further from the truth, as there are many women who have similar proportions to the character. In fact, she was based off scan of a real Korean model, Shin Jae-Eun. So to claim that Eve is unrealistic is to indirectly insult the woman she was based off of.

She Was ‘Created by someone who’s never seen a woman’ –

“The design of the game, in particular its character, highlights an obvious bias,” We’re going to beat up the alien, but if we can do it while pleasuring the eyes of the men, that’s a bonus.”

“And the result doesn’t really work. It’s not new, and other games have made the choice to highlight the assets of their female characters, but where Bayonetta bears an iconic character design, or 2B from NieR: Automata, inspired an entire generation of cosplayers, Stellar Blade’s Eve is just boring. A doll sexualized by someone who has never seen a woman.”
— From an article by IGN France, which has since been redacted and an apology issued by parent company, IGN

It clearly appears that the writer of this article didn’t do his due diligence before writing this derisive piece. Eve’s designer, game director Hyung-Tae Kim, has definitely seen a woman before, as evidenced by the fact that he is currently married to Shift Up concept artist Jiyun Chae.

Eve Is Made for the Male Gaze –

This is such a tired old argument and oversimplifies human attraction. Humans appreciate beautiful things. We love sunrises, sunsets, flowers, and, yes, beautiful people. And it’s not just men that think Eve is beautiful. Many female gamers are also excited to see a beautiful female protagonist, myself included. We love playing and seeing beautiful characters too.

Male Characters Aren’t Sexualized –

I can think of several male characters who are gorgeous, with rugged good looks and strong personalities. And yes, they are also sexualized by some people. Some that come to mind are Geralt from The Witcher, Cloud and Sephiroth from FF VII, Joel from The Last of Us, Simon Belmont from Castlevania, Alucard from Castlevania, Liu Kang from Mortal Kombat. There are many more examples, but those were the ones I thought of. I don’t recommend doing a search for the NSFW content created around male characters. Unless you really want to. You’re an adult, after all.

The Character Will Lead to Real Life Harm To Women

I swear, I saw this and my first thought was ‘huh?’ But apparently the IGN France Editor in Chief, had a multi-tweet thread on Twitter. According to the thread, women will be beaten, denigrated, or even contemplate suicide because of the unrealistic beauty standards expected by men.

The fact that this is a video game character appears to be lost on this person. I’ve yet to meet anyone, male or female, who looks at the pixels on their screen and goes ‘yeah, I need to go beat a woman’ because of them.

As for women harming themselves, their issues run far deeper than just an image on the screen. Mental health is a whole topic on its own, but I can say that there’s a lot more going on in the mind. Anyone who suffers from depression and believes that suicide is their only option, I highly encourage them to get help and a good place to start is to dial 988 and speak to someone. Things can get better.

So, with all that said, I’ve looked at some of the gameplay for Stellar Blade and it looks fun and challenging, with an interesting story. The fact that Eve and other female characters in the game are beautiful doesn’t detract from those things, and only adds to what appears will be a great experience for everyone. If it ever comes out for the PC, I may give it a try. Though, I can pretty much guarantee I’d suck at it to start.

And if Shift Up ever makes an MMO I’ll try it too, especially if the character creator lets us create characters like Eve. Wishful thinking? Perhaps, but no more wishful than wishing other game developers would take note and stop making ugly characters that no one wants to play. I know I don’t.

But what are your thoughts about Stellar Blade? Leave a comment below and let everyone know.

Until next time, bye for now!

Posted in aRPG, Capcom, Dragon's Dogma, Dragon's Dogma II, Gaming News, Inside the Game, Video Games

Inside the Game – Dragon’s Dogma II (or a Tale of Everything Wrong with AAA Games)

Posted on by Ms. Bella
4–6 minutes

I recently received a copy of the highly anticipated Dragon’s Dogma II as a gift. After having heard so much about it, seen videos of it on YouTube, and even checked out the first Dragon’s Dogma, I was excited to try it out. Heroes? Check. Evil dragon? Check. A quest to recover something of great importance? Check. An open world to explore? Check. Great character customization? Check.

In summary, the game ticked all the boxes for me. Despite concerns about whether my system could handle it, I eagerly awaited its download. It took what felt like ages, giving me time to tackle more mundane tasks of life. But, when it was done, I loaded the game up knowing my character was already premade, patterned after my high elf Medrielle in LOTRO. And off I went to start my adventure.

So far the game hasn’t disappointed me in this aspect. I died early on, as I expected I would. I also succeeded. I found myself in a new world with people who questioned who I was and with strange, humanlike people known as pawns swearing fealty to me at every turn. I was Arisen, alive despite my heart having been ripped away from me by a dragon.

Yet, amidst the enjoyment I’ve experienced with the game, I can’t overlook the numerous negative reviews it has garnered since its launch. These criticisms fall into three distinct categories, one of which particularly baffles me. Let’s delve into why players are expressing frustration with Capcom.

Performance Issues –

While it’s not uncommon for games to launch with performance issues, the trend seems to be worsening in recent years, and Dragon’s Dogma II is no exception. Players have reported severe FPS drops in cities, critical crashes, and freezing within the game.

It’s evident that the game was made for high-end machines, which many players do not possess. Some may opt not to upgrade their systems, while others may have more pressing financial obligations such as rent, food, or medical expenses.

However, even players with high-spec computers are experiencing issues, indicating that the problem lies not only with hardware but also with optimization.

Paid MTX in a Single-player Game –

This aspect has sparked considerable outrage and likely contributes significantly to the negative reviews. Despite its $69.99 price tag (or $79.99 for the deluxe version), the game offers a range of microtransactions (MTX) for sale. These include items like the Explorer’s Camping Kit for $2.99 and the Makeshift Gaol key for $0.99, among others. The total cost of these MTX, should a player purchase them all after buying the standard edition of the game, amounts to $42, on top of the initial $69.99. It’s worth noting that these items appear to be included in the deluxe edition, which was the version gifted to me.

While I’ve heard that almost all of these items can be acquired easily within the game, it raises the question: Why introduce this additional layer of monetization? Was it a response to Capcom’s CEO suggesting that games should cost $100? If so, it seems that the negative reviews suggest this strategy may not be as profitable as anticipated.

No New Game Button?! –

This design choice is perhaps the most perplexing. In a single-player RPG, players expect the ability to start a new game easily. However, Dragon’s Dogma II lacks this feature. If a player encounters a glitch that renders them stuck or experiences a critical crash, there’s no straightforward way to start over.

A workaround has been discovered, involving multiple steps that look something like this –

1) Turn off Steam's Cloud save for the game
2) Navigate to the game's folder (typically under Program Files            
    (x86)\Steam\userdata\ (your user id) \2054970\remote\win64_save)
3) Delete data000.bin and data00-1.bin
4) Restart the game and make your character.
5) Close the game and reenable Steam Cloud save for the game
6) Steam will inform you of a Cloud conflict with the game at 
    this point and here you choose the save version to keep 
    before starting the game again. In this case you want to 
    choose Local Save, overwriting what's in the cloud.

However, people have reported issues doing this and it seems that Capcom keeps your save files on its own server as well, so can overwrite the save on your computer and in Steam’s cloud with its own version. Others have reported being temporarily banned from playing by Denuvo, the anti-tampering feature used by Capcom for most of its games. I’d use this with a buyer beware caveat.

Capcom has since come out with a statement, including looking into adding an feature for the Steam version that allows players to restart the game. Just add a new game button. The first Dragon’s Dogma had one! I don’t even care if it means the new game wipes the previous game, although I’m sure I’m in the minority on that sentiment.

In conclusion, while Dragon’s Dogma II offers a captivating experience in a beautifully crafted world, these issues detract from an otherwise great game. I look foward to playing many hours of it and dying a lot, but I can’t in good conscience recommend it until Capcom addresses the concerns raised in the negative reviews.

What are your thoughts on Dragon’s Dogma II? Are you excited to try it, or have the negative reviews given you pause? Share your opinions in the comments below.

Until next time, bye for now!