J. Bongo

Here to discuss Video Game Design, Game Design Philosophy, and the cultural impact of video games.
Streams run weekdays from 4:45-6am on X, YT, and Kick.

[J. Bongo @JBongoGamer]

Hey @everyone ! the new shorts channel is up and running. If you could subscribe there as well that would help me out a lot!
https://t.co/NtcvG4Zw51

It's pretty empty right now, but all future shorts will be uploaded there, and the current shorts library on my main channel will slowly be moved over.

[J. Bongo @JBongoGamer]

@RetroGamerKong I too have kicked that bee hive. It's been fun but I think it's dying down :)

[J. Bongo @JBongoGamer]

@humorMEplzz If my narrative was that Echoes Of Wisdom sold well... but it's not.
It's that hardly anyone was complaining that Zelda was the playable protagonist.

[J. Bongo @JBongoGamer]

getting blocked for trying to have a reasonable discussion... it vexes me... I am terribly vexed.

1. In these types of situations where a main character is switched out for another, narrative consistency is not as important as character popularity. Hardly anyone batted an eye when you could play as Zelda in Echoes of Wisdom because Zelda is a massive cultural gaming icon.

2. A LOT of projecting here. No where in my original post did I even hint at any kind of mysoginy or intolerance. My whole argument is that people like playing as popular characters, and popular characters are very marketable.

original post: https://t.co/oPz6m8FRyB

[J. Bongo @JBongoGamer]

@GameLifeCrisis ya that's a good point. When you started gaming and when you started jumping in on a series matters with how characters are percieved.

[J. Bongo @JBongoGamer]

I didn't write it off as bad. I said switching out a beloved main character for another character that is less popular can be offputting for many fans of the game.
I agree that it makes sense from a story perspective, but Frey just doesn't have the same cultural draw that Zelda has. If she did, then I believe there would be less people complaining about the switch.
But you are right to complain about those writing off the game simply because of a female protagonist. We still don't know much about the gameplay or story. I hope both are great.

[J. Bongo @JBongoGamer]

Could Video Games Save Humanity From Brain Atrophy Caused By AI? #pragmata #capcom

[J. Bongo @JBongoGamer]

(Sorry, I realize I have the advantage of longer posts. I'll a bit after you respond just to make sure you've addressed everything you want to)

hang on, it's not ONLY when it's female characters, Mass Effect, Prototype, Gears of War, and yes, even AC had some poor reception of MC swaps and players were really upset at not being able to play as Solid Snake in MGS2. Also while considered good games, Ethan Winters of RE7 and 8 is generally not liked by the fan base. I'm not saying that games should be considered bad because of an MC swap, I'm just saying it makes fan reception of the game harder than it should be because you don't have the draw of a beloved character.

HOWEVER, in this particular case of GoW, I will concede that the MC swap being man to woman is a big part of the conversation. A lot of what I've seen of the discourse online has to do with the perceived trend of male MCs being swapped out for female MCs.

That being said, I think it's foolish for some (not you) to claim that it's only because "they" hate female protagonists. There's plenty of beloved games out there that feature female protagonists that don't have any controversy tied to them.

I also don't think it is always the case that a male to female swap is met with contention. Hardly anyone batted an eye at Zelda being the playable protagonist in EoW. Zelda is an incredibly popular character with decades of gaming history. Fey doesn't really have that and is much less of a cultural gaming icon. If Fey had as much cultural icon weight behind her as Zelda had, I'd be willing to bet you wouldn't see as much of a backlash.

This is why I'm saying it has more to do with the popularity of the characters involved over the gender of the characters invloved. In more recent cases gender is something discussed A LOT, I will admit that. But I think EoW proves that character popularity can override any gender issues.

[J. Bongo @JBongoGamer]

Re3 has Jill, Re4 Leon, Re5 Chris, Re7 I'll give you, But Re8 has Chris in a more prominent role. Also people really didn't like Ethan Winters. Partly because he was a non character, and partly because he was new.
Re7 and Re8 were great games, but people really didn't like Ethan

also you conveniently left out the Re Revelation games

[J. Bongo @JBongoGamer]

The Blade of Evil's Bane https://t.co/isXWLs4SIG

[J. Bongo @JBongoGamer]

@silver_ninja729 Haha true. Tecmo also made that one too right?

[J. Bongo @JBongoGamer]

Nintendo's Risque Character Designs #legendofzelda #twilightprincess

[J. Bongo @JBongoGamer]

Nintendo's Risque Character Designs #legendofzelda #twilightprincess

[J. Bongo @JBongoGamer]

Twilit Bloat Fight #legendofzelda #twilightprincess

[J. Bongo @JBongoGamer]

Not sure why, I just always liked this location from MM

[J. Bongo @JBongoGamer]

Will There Be A Premium On Non-AI Art In The Future #pragmata #capcom

[J. Bongo @JBongoGamer]

@Andrevotto @1GamewithDave1 The feeling is mutual :)
I'm not here to make enemies haha

[J. Bongo @JBongoGamer]

if they are two non characters and just stand in for the player, then male. But if they are two established characters like Chris and Jill in Resident Evil, then both equally.
From my experience when games have established characters there is generally a better story. But of course there are exceptions, like KotoR.

[J. Bongo @JBongoGamer]

@RinoTheBouncer I agree. If Capcom didn't try new things wouldn't have Resident Evil 4. One of my favorite games of all time

[J. Bongo @JBongoGamer]

@RpgCrow @1GamewithDave1 I have, and yes I agree. It makes sense with the story. People just really like Geralt. And his story ending means a lot of players will be sad and possibly less interested in the series.

[J. Bongo @JBongoGamer]

@nerdadampunx @Mokonoise haha. Seriously I'm not trying to be antagonistic. Maybe I'm just bad at communicating

[J. Bongo @JBongoGamer]

That's a good question. But that kind of assumes that being a fan of a series means you like every character as much as everyone else.
And ya, in some cases it can be very smart especially when things have gotten creatively stale. It's still a risk I think, but in some cases it's worth taking.