Comments | inclusive_geeks: Leigh Alexander at and on Kotaku

korinna in inclusive_geeks

Leigh Alexander at and on Kotaku

Jul 30, 2010 11:11

When I had the opportunity to play a favorite game all over again with Persona 3 Portable, I was happy to do so. I didn't realize a virtual sex change would make the experience anything but the same as before ( Read more... )

articles, leigh alexander

Comments 4

yhibiki July 30 2010, 12:51:32 UTC

Hmmm. I'll agree that the backlash is kind of disgusting, but I can't get behind the original article as something that applies to women as a whole -- for herself, maybe, but... I've played Persona 3 PSP (albeit in Japanese) and one of the reasons you can't play the female main character as an "aloof" individual is because, quite frankly, the game does not allow you to. The dialogue options for the female main character are not the same ones as the guy gets, and her general reactions seem to differ anyway.

Aside from that, there are also other game mechanics to consider, which is that in order to get ahead in the game, you need to try to please as many people as possible in the "social" aspect of the game. So while both main characters have some callous responses, it's just not wise to choose them unless you're willing to take the loss.

(Although the female main character's limited romance options have not gone unnoticed, and I shake my fist at Atlus for it.)

The people at the P3 comm were discussing the article here.

shrines July 30 2010, 16:36:03 UTC

i mean, that doesn't mean we allow the difference in dialogue to go unexamined, yeah? i always dread jrpgs where you play as a woman (or there are high-profile woman characters) because i know the writing of them is going to be awful. and obviously that's a gaming-at-large issue as well, but i think it's particularly painful in rpgs (and specifically in jrpgs).

yhibiki July 30 2010, 17:31:44 UTC

Oh, I didn't mean it like that at all! Of course the differences should be examined, and I believe part of the reason the female main character can't be a "man eater" the way the male main character can be a "womanizer" is because of the difference in perceived acceptable behavior by both the Japanese developers and the original Japanese market audience.

The part I disagree with most is this one:

But it makes the social interactions of Persona 3 Portable inherently more complicated when I'm a female playing as a female. Swap the gender and suddenly my ideas of who I'd like my character to be - aloof, clever and a little dark, as my Persona 3 male character was - collide with my own knee-jerk reflex to conform to the sort of social expectations women are often told they should fulfill in order to be likeable. I found myself hesitating between conversation responses that would be consistent with the character I had visualized, and those that were more closely aligned with the ideals of "be attractive, sweet and likeable.
Persona, in ( ... )

foxie July 30 2010, 19:16:26 UTC

It's probably worth noting that Leigh doesn't see herself as a feminist and actively tries NOT to engage in gender-related discussions. So ... often she comes at the problem from a place of innocence. I don't want to say ignorance. So I will say innocence. (She hasn't exactly read a bunch of books/blogs/websites about feminism and gender studies, is what I'm saying ( ... )