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PaperclipPerfector  3d ago (text post)   9297 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of May 4, 2026

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Bioshock, dishonored, last of us all have "badass male MC protects little girl" and they're some of the most praised games ever. This one was created by a Japanese dev and appeals, intentionally or not, to the vtuber-lolicon crowd. Mainstream reviews will shy away from this because it's off-putting, to say the least, but this is probably why the game is getting pushback.

This trope feels very gendered: I can't think of any comparable examples where the player ends up playing dad to a boy. I'm uncertain if that's a fundamental type difference (sons grow up and become protectors themselves, daughters narratively always need protectors -- not agreeing with the position, just observing the trope), or a difference in magnitude that protecting daughters has a stronger emotional valence and makes a better story.

God Of War 4/Dad of Boy

Death Stranding.........

The baby you carry in the game is actually a girl.

But the baby Madds is talking to in the 3-hour-cutscenes is his son, you, the Norman Reedus.

IIRC, the Death Stranding baby has its gender unspecified for most of the game, and at the end of the game is revealed to be female.

The multi award winning God of War (the newer one, not the original games) and its sequel Ragnarok are just that.

I haven't played that one, thanks for the example. I have played BioShock (and Infinite) and Dishonored, though. Maybe I just missed that one: I'm not a PS gamer, and missed the PC release and don't really play that many single player games anymore.

God of War 2018???

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