It’s not character development when it goes backward. Tannis was a well developed character already but it went a step back and changed her to…well, for me anyway, a more normal person who occasionally insulted your intelligence a bit. That’s the point I was making - they took already established personalities and instead of enhancing them and keeping them unique, they changed it almost completely.
Again I did say that the LGBTQ comment wasn’t offensive and yet of course people get defensive. Debatable about the right thing regarding modern feminism but I can agree with LGBTQ…but that’s not my point there either. My point was that because the two go pretty hand in hand, it would make sense for them both to be a priority while a straight male is a bad thing (that’s at least what I think some people get from that).
My point in that whole post was that all the characters weren’t done justice by the writing team.
Ellie went from someone who didn’t want the fact that she’s a female to matter - that she didn’t have to rely on her sexuality to matter like her mother does. But in 3 all she does is be sexually suggestive and boast about blowing crap up that is the opposite of her strong personality of 2.
Tannis went from a mysterious, self absorbed scientist who helps most for the gathering of knew knowledge and because Roland saved her life. She’s rude, cares about herself more than others…but that is thrown away and she becomes more like a leader, even becoming the voice of reason. When I believe (might be wrong here) she was confirmed to have Aspergers which explained why she had a better relationship with objects than people - she didn’t understand emotions and objects did their purpose. There was a logical reason behind them all but humans were so complicated and ‘trivial’. Yes she developed into something different but she lost her quirks and became bland for a lot of people. We already had a bunch of characters who are what she became - keeping some of her old self would have been a nice break between the female cast. Though I do blame the poor decision to make her a siren for that.
It was an arc, sure, but it wasn’t an interesting or suiting one. Though that could really be chalked to personal opinion. I will say that Tannis went from being one of my favourites to one I just didn’t care about anymore.
Moxxi becomes pretty non existent in this game because she isn’t a strong badass, she’s sidelined. And before she had such a pivotal role in the story - of making Handsome Jack even. She gets one side mission? And that’s it?
Lilith did nothing for the entire game despite how in the trailers she could be seen commanding troops. She sat on the ship and pouted - the only time she showed any kind of strength was when she had her powers. Lilith was the one character in all of this who could have been a total badass and it not feel out of place. But instead, she was glorified when she was a siren but sidelined when she wasn’t because they didn’t know how to make someone look cool without the use of siren powers - hence my peeve about Tannis. A viable and great character that was dulled down by ‘hey just give her powers, that’ll make her important’. I know people say that they didn’t like her impulsive behaviour but with that alongside her nerdy moments, we could relate with that. It seemed more human than what we got in this game. And she had the biggest potential out of the lot to be an enjoyable badass and let her go out fighting.
Ava I think a lot of people have already complained about her so I don’t even need to touch that. In short? NO development, she was suddenly in control of a power that took everyone else years to learn to control but she can do it instantly, everything handed to her but we see no development of her through the story etc.
I don’t think this game is an agenda for feminism or whatever. But I can understand how it might come across that way for some people as the characters were so poorly written - males and females. With males being made incredibly dumb with obvious flaws while the females all came across as the same whilst never being poked at or even flawed. It’s a complaint I have with the game in general is the lack of development for each character.
Maya’s death is the best example I can give. I don’t like she died but it’s whatever. What I hated was that it didn’t really lead to much other than Troy getting her powers and then eventually Ava. No one barely blinked, showed human emotions about it other than a tantruming Ava who made no logical points. And she’s a kid, that’s fine…but nobody corrects her?
When Roland died, however, there is a side mission to telling characters. And they all react in their own way regarding the news. Zer0 - a character that fought alongside her to stop Jack, the warrior and destruction of Pandora…I spoke to him after and all he said was how cool he was killing a guy with a crab fork.
I’ve kinda gone off on a tangent but I’m hoping it explains my point (I really struggle to form thought to words). A lot of people, myself included, felt characters were changed drastically with females being generic but badasses while males were poked fun at a lot. I could list a lot more examples but this is probably already an eyeful.
The game, as much as I still enjoy it for the loot and gameplay, does reek of ‘hey aren’t these females great! They’re practically flawless and the real heroes’ to the point we the vault hunter don’t even matter in the story. And it does rub the wrong way for a lot of people. I personally don’t feel it was meant to be feminist propaganda or whatever the heck people are trying to blame but I can see how it might seem that way.
I don’t know how many people have seen this but a great example of strong women but relatable personalities that keep it interesting and engaging? Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She is the embodiment of strength and beauty - because she also has flaws. And other characters around her - both male and female - have their own strengths and flaws which help build one another as well as the story. They were all unique and didn’t need to kickass to be relevant to the narrative and I’ll argue to be one of the best tv programmes out there for girls looking for role models.
Yeah…super long post from someone bunged up with the flu. But I really think my point was misinterpreted earlier.
Not feminism agenda or whatever. Just lack of good writing imo. With characters feeling more of a step back from previous games and females all being kinda the same. None of their personalities jumped out at me and the males were all dorks. People took that as them pushing females and sidelining males.
Again, really dead just now because of the flu and medication.
