Sorry, D!, you've heard this all before
So: Catherine.
The internet is excited while I remain frowny in Atlus' general direction.
For all that it is good to see games being used as a medium to explore mature content with, hopefully, a little tact, I can't bring myself to like or be excited for this game because I'm already getting a strong read on how it's going to unfold.
When Bayonetta came out a lot of people were talking about the idea of female sexuality as scary, other, and weaponized, and how Bayonetta played into that narrative. I didn't really agree, but when it comes to Catherine, this is basically all I can see. A "herbivore," a passive male is taunted and terrorized by sex kitten Catherine, a bunch of rams (symbologically related to male power and virility) and his girlfriend's pregnancy.
Do you see any way to come out of this without the moral of the story being that Vincent's "femininity" was bad and a hindrance and that sexually assertive women are scary, dangerous, and downright evil? I really don't.
I will try to give Catherine a chance when it launches, but if this game really wanted to do something different, maybe they could have made it about a woman instead.
The internet is excited while I remain frowny in Atlus' general direction.
For all that it is good to see games being used as a medium to explore mature content with, hopefully, a little tact, I can't bring myself to like or be excited for this game because I'm already getting a strong read on how it's going to unfold.
When Bayonetta came out a lot of people were talking about the idea of female sexuality as scary, other, and weaponized, and how Bayonetta played into that narrative. I didn't really agree, but when it comes to Catherine, this is basically all I can see. A "herbivore," a passive male is taunted and terrorized by sex kitten Catherine, a bunch of rams (symbologically related to male power and virility) and his girlfriend's pregnancy.
Do you see any way to come out of this without the moral of the story being that Vincent's "femininity" was bad and a hindrance and that sexually assertive women are scary, dangerous, and downright evil? I really don't.
I will try to give Catherine a chance when it launches, but if this game really wanted to do something different, maybe they could have made it about a woman instead.