Final Fantasy XV's reception and political correctness

It’s a bit too early for a hype thread, but I just wanted to say something about it. I feel like the game will get critically panned because of the lack of female characters in the party and places like Polygon will try to make the game seem like a huge injustice.

Then I thought about it for a bit, and it’s just double standards. Where were these political correct feminists and white knights when games like Rumble Roses and Hyperdimension Neptunia ect were out? These games lack male characters so where were these guys to correct this so called “injustice?”

What are your thoughts about video game reviews and should this be something devs should have to consider in the early design process?

Well nobody cared about those games, so nothing happen. You are talking about one of the biggest Jrpg franchise in the world vs two obscure titles that was probably played by a very small portion of horny 12 years old boys. To make it worse one is a ps2 title that probably came out a long time ago.

Compare it to final fantasy X-2 at the very least.

Uhm. It's not called Cid. It's called perfection.

It will be panned as long as this "issue" is stilll an effective bait click when the game it's released, so shit sites like Polygon and Kotaku can ride that dick again.

@da_illest101: That's my point exactly. Since FF is popular they jump on the bandgwagon and try make the game villainous, instead of them actually caring about the "problem" no matter what the budget of the game is.

If they really cared the would have said something about the old ps2 game I posted years ago. If they really cared they would call out all games rather than just major ones like GTA, Final Fantasy and other AAA games.

First off, I don't think FFXV's full party has been revealed yet.

But I do get what you're saying. Polygon and other sites that buy into this SJW bullshit have made Japanese games an easy target for low reviews. Look at how Polygon reviewed GTA V and Bayonetta 2: one game features no female characters while the other features two prominent ones, and yet only Bayonetta 2 suffers the low score because of "sexism." Not to mention the guy who reviewed Bayonetta 2 for Polygon uses "Japanese" as an insult:

I can definitely see FFXV and MGS5, hell maybe even Persona 5 suffering low reviews because of nonsense like this

I cant believe people actually worry about these type of things. Make your own games with the genders and sexual orientation that you want then.

too soon to make the call but it's gonna happen if there's no significant female lead. MGSV is another one that when it releases it's gonna be fun to read what the likes of polygon will have to say about Quiet. Although there was already an outrage when she was first unveiled but who knows?

But in my opinion I still feel like Quiet's costume has not been justified and I don't like the Cid of FFXV but if that's how they want to roll then who am I to censor them? I'm still very interested in both games though and the issues I have are purely with the aesthetics and my own taste not because of sexism or anything. I don't like the main cast of FFXV either.

Kojima promised there's a functional reason for Quiet's costume. I think that, based on her trailer and the way her powers look, it's made of a special type of fiber NANOMACHINES!!!!! that allows her to use her teleportation power without worrying about destroying her equipment.

Doesn't matter. If the game is good it will get good reviews. Maybe not from the fake SJW gaming sites, but the majority of reviews will. Its meta might take a couple points of damage but it is the price you pay (according to SJW sites) when you refuse to bow down to their agenda.

Hard for them to comment on obscure titles they probably never heard of or played.

All dude party sucks, maybe if we rile up the SJWs enough they'll sort it out before launch...

GO, internet!!

Sure a few sites will make clickbait complaints about it, probably not most.

Doubt it, I just think this game will get critically panned for other reasons, for instance when you have something hyped for soooo long (and this game has certainly been in the works for a very, very long time) it's likely people's expectations surpass what the developers are capable of delivering on. Also, given it's no longer exclusive, it's not going to get that bump of uncondition praise that fanboys give exclusives. Heck, some fanboys might be subversively resentful that it's now a multiplat.

I don't think devs should have to worry about any of this but sadly with the world in the state it's in with people literally searching the internet avidly for things to be offended by they are kind of forced into a corner.

I think devs should be able to make games however the hell they like. They decide how many female or male characters, which races to include, what sexual orientations if applicable and if people don't like it hey no problem don't fucking buy it.

Sadly, the entire world seems to have caught 'stupid disease' so these issues are a major stumbling block when they never were before.

FF is a japanese game why do all the girls look white?

They have a thing for white girls.

It's a Japanese game and they won't give two hoots what junk publications like Polygon and Kotaku have to say. Fortunately neither will most of the rest of the world. Some of my RL mates (filthy casual gamers ;) ) are looking forward to FFXV and I'll guarantee they've never heard of either of those trash site or that Anita woman.

They can't be that casual if they want to play an FF game! They won't be finishing that in a couple of hours, we're not talking about The Order here :)

I agree whatever devs should do what they wanna do with characters.

Why do you even care? If you don't like those sites, then why do you even care what they write?

Also, do you even notice how lame your post is? Final Fantasy is a series that appeals to everyone. Rumble Roses and HyperDimension were made to appeal strictly to a male audience. Obviously no one is going to give a **** about those games in terms of political correctness.

They enjoy gaming but don't really follow it, they get most of their gaming information from lads mags such Zoo or Maxim.

Someday, y'all are going to mature and move past this angsty phase.

Someday.

They probably play just as much as we do they just don't obsess over it like we do which really isn't a bad thing!

That's probably pretty accurate :)

Eh, moot point. FFX-2 was all female (as far as the party goes) and no one cared. Doubt anyone will care about an all male cast this time around.

I can however see people take an issue with the eye candy that is Cid in FF XV, though once again it can be argued that to a lesser degree the all male cast is pretty sexualized too (they just have clothes that cover a "bit" more than 20% of their bodies >.>).

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Also, caring about anything Polygon is a recipe for massive (and pointless) headaches. Crappiest mainstream gaming site by far.

I was thinking social justice warriors would love the game on the basis that FFXV seems to be a bold next step forward in depicting homoeroticism in gaming. This is basically Gears of War of this generation.

SJW's shouldn't be complaining.

FFX had female characters. FFX-2 was ONLY females.

FFXII had females characters and Vaan was very feminine looking.

FFXIII, FFXIII-2 and FFXIII-3 had tons of females.

FF11 and FF14 can pick male or female as they are online.

God forbid we have one game where we have males as the main characters and females as the secondary ones. SJW's need to stop.

Im curious if their going to say something about cids look.

I don't really care much about the lack of female party members. I'm sure there will be plenty of female characters within the storyline itself, just not in your combat party. Although I am worried about what the storyline itself will be like and whether the open world aspect will have an effect on it. I really hope they handle the sidequests well and not make it like some MMO fetch quest grind, a lot like Dragon Age Inquisition did. I swear that game was like 80% MMO fetch quests and 20% story.

These feminist and "social justice garbage warriors" are a plague in gaming and everything else.

@princeofshapeir:

At least we know that Kojima fully expects a shit train of haters on multiple levels and doesn't give a ****. He was up front about it. MGSV is going to piss people off and he doesn't care.

I was so glad to hear it too, good on him.

I just ignore those sites. These days I get feedback from friends online about certain games then reviews.

I don't care if the main character is male or female as long as they are great cherecter. I also hated win people were hating is on bayonetta because first they complain about female character being weak but then bayonetta is strong,smart,fast, and love talking dirty they hate her. I think those fans should stop trying to make developer listen to their demands and let them do what they want.

i think it will get critically panned for being yet another tired ass jrpg that has hardly evolved from the formula it had in 1990's.

hey, here's a plucky/annoying/dimwitted/chipper little sister type girl, hey here is a gruff/sarcastic/damaged outsider with a shady past, hey here is a 14 year old protagonist working through family issues, hey here is a talking/cute animal. now lets thrown in some random encounters while they connect a plot going from a to b to c to d.

boom, break for lunch! we are halfway done on this thing!

That's my point. These politically correcting "heroes" only seem to come around when a game is big and popular. They really don't care about the issue at hand and how it effects the game industry, otherwise they would try to attack all acts of "injustice". Therefore they only want attention. For example, crime is a crime, no matter your social class, but if these guys were cops they would only go after the richest, well known people.

That is why I put the most obscure games I could think of to prove my point.

Some people are going to find any reason to complain.

I don't see your point at all. Your cop comparison does not work for this scenario. There is no point in picking on games like Rumble Roses. They know who their audience is and they aren't interested in other demographics. As another example, Pornography is an industry that treats women like trash, but you don't see most feminists attacking porn. it is all built for a male audience. However, a game like Final Fantasy is a different story. It is a series that can appeal to everyone, so if it started pushing away a specific audience for no good reason, then that would be troubling for some people.

yeah but c'mon...it's blatant titillation. i just wish they would stick with their guns than come up with a ridiculous 'excuse'

If they don't want to put lead female characters into THEIR game, that's their choice. Are you so quick to forget that the last final fantasty had a lead female character? Which i found annoying, Square Enix do not seem to know how to write a decent female character these days. Take a look at FF6 and FF7, great examples of interesting female characters. So yeah, i'm not bothered.

I don't think a counterargument involving those two games would take you very far against feminism.

Both of them would actually further exemplify sexism in games.

Well in Japan no one really needs to give a shit about American feminist movements... I mean it won't even affect sales either.

Square Enix's Final Fantasy series has retreaded the same topics so many times dev's heads are spinning. The real best application of Shigero Miyamoto's philosophy has GOT to be Final Fantasy 7. That was the first 3D FF job and (gameplay-wise) the most fun. I hope a LOT that in the future the Final Fantasy series, say in XVI, goes 'Sci-Fi' & into space.

FFXV's reaction isn't really comparable to GTA5. Last I checked, only around 10-15% of GTA players are female, whereas around 30-50% of FF players are female, so there's a bigger risk for FF, as it has more to lose. FFXV is the first time time a main numbered FF has an all-male playable cast in 25 years (since the original NES version of FFIII), so there's a risk it might lose a lot of female players... so Squenix is trying to balance this out by making the main characters, uh, look like a boy-band. While some female players might be complaining about the lack of playable girls, some seem to like the whole "bromance" thing (especially the "fujoshi" crowd)... so it might work out okay for FFXV, after all.

If reviewers rate it low because of "hurr gender roles in games are super important" I'll buy the game out of spite. Two copies.

I'm sure it's not because of this. But I think we need to remind everyone gaming is about all kinds love. So it's certainly not a problem. If your party of village people want to go on a super important FF quest to save the world, I say go for it. ;-)

I'm just kidding before anyone gets mad :-)

It looks like Gamespot is pre emptively justifying why they wont be making an issue of it. They shouldn't have to but then there are always plenty of puffed up imbeciles making a major issue out of everything and demanding the world moulds to their own sense of politics.

There's a nice article out remarking on why the male intimacy aspect is fine, so hopefully they will review the game not on personal politics but on actually how good the game is. It's come a long way recently since getting rid of some of the awful dead wood.

@Jag85: Utter nonsense. Final Fantasy, like many games in japan, have had androgynous characters going back years. There were exceptions, but many of the males particularly the younger teenage/early 20s ones have been less than macho. FFXV is merely par for the course. They have changed nothing. They are making the game they want to make.

I already know FFXV was created like that since the start... I've been following FF Versus XIII's development since 2006. I was looking at it from a business perspective, not an artistic perspective. From a business perspective, Squenix are hoping the boy-band looks and bromance male-intimacy theme will go down well with their female audiences in spite of the lack of playable girls, so they probably won't lose many female players despite that.

yeah but stocking and a bikini? And for the entire game? And it's not like she doesn't look kind of cool (better than Cid on FFXV at least) but the contrast between the military equipment, and the soldiers but then you see Quiet in bikini and stocking, it reminds me to Onechanbara. XD