No, I don't think it's as simple as that. Politics are good in games when done right, but they can also be nothing more than a distraction when the narrative has huge errors or lacks and depth in general.
this post was submitted on 08 Nov 2024
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I mean, yeah, good writing is good and bad writing is bad.
I think the article is going against the idea that politics should be kept away from games.
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Yes politics are great in videogames, if the writers don't share just 1 braincell like with many current AAA(A) games.
You'd think it's common knowledge, yet they still churn out these depthless, one dimensional millenial writing slop.
Politics in video games used to be: metal gear solid.
Politics in video games now is: is that a grill protagonist in my vydia game?
Politics are irrelevant
Good writing is good and bad writing is bad
I understand that half of the world is currently healing psychological trauma from the US election results but Atlus has been commenting on politics in their games for much longer.
Politics is not actual politics, its not normative womans, gays and trans people. Metaphor its ok because don't have any of those (I'm only 20hs in)
I can't explain why no one talks about baldur 3. I suppose its too complex for those people.
its not normative womans, gays and trans people.
Not broad enough. When "gamers" say that something is political, what they mean is that it contains politics they disagree with. The ones you cited just happen to be the things they easily recognize because their favorite right wing grifter is raging about them 24/7.
As you also said, they usually don't have the media literacy required to recognize more subtle political messages, which can be pretty funny. I remember when Disco Elysium was first released and they were very confused because it contains some actual, pretty deep political reflections
Well, there's politics... and there's politics.
Games have a large male audience and many of those males are white. When new games focus on protagonists and issues that do not resonate with white males, this aggravates the audience and it only takes a few vocal few to whip the group into toxic online behavior.
Metaphor is set in a fantasy world populated by Japanese. The characters may seem to be of a multiracial society, but it’s understood that this is not a western game but an eastern one through a western lens. It could have the most radical political discourse but as players we quietly accept that this is a foreign story and not one that reflects on western issues and prejudices.
The opening moments of the story are about intense racism over the most minute differences.
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