You know, what I would REALLY love to see is for Bioware to come out of the protective shell they erected after the whole "Fox News scandal", to stop apologizing, to stop treating this subject so delicately as if affraid any step forward will cause the whole thing to blow up in their faces. It's getting rather tiring to have to experience this aspect of the game with the child-proof protective rubber gloves... with the end result being rather awkward, especially when trying to form bonds with your companions (or LI in this case).
IMO, Mass Effect handled this perfectly; the scene was beautiful, sensual, magical, you really got to experience that connection with your LI in a sincere and intense way (of course with the "night before the final showdown" aspect only adding to the intense focus on that one moment, the here and now and thus experiencing it even more powerfully). The camera angles, the lighting, the music, the atmosphere all came together splendidly to create a rather intense and magical moment in the game... and it wasn't merely about showing a side of a boob, because merely showing that without all those other elements could not possibly evoke those kinds of feelings in me, the player. But I absolutely loved how the developers weren't affraid to tackle that particular can of worms in a mature manner, with no apologies and uninhibited creative vision were able to create something trully superb. All those elements came together to create a beautifully poignant symphony and I truly believe and hope that Bioware will be allowed to strive towards that once again.
You know, the scenes in DA:O were actually closer to what I experienced in Mass Effect; the camera angles, the camp atmosphere and of course that brilliant and touching music. And there was something about the camp atmosphere, the fire, being on the road or in the woods or wherever we found ourselves... I guess out there surrounded by nature in the middle of the night with the moon riding the night sky. Again, the atmosphere was wonderful and the experience was beautiful, although it was already tempered by the inhibitions imposed by Bioware's past experience.
As for DA2... well, I didn't really get much of that beautiful, magical bonding. It was more along the lines of awkward or feeling not much of anything. Heck, my dialogue with Fenris just before the final confrontation and his possessive kiss did way more to curl my toes than my nocturnal activites with him as presented. Even the camera movements came across as more stiff in capturing the whole make out scene just before fading to black. I could really sense the infelxible boundaries imposed on this aspect in DA2.
As for all those age old arguments against dealing with sexuality in an open and mature mannger in a game... *sigh* I am really tired of the perception that games are for children ONLY and so we cannot go anywhere near the subject in an open and mature mannger. I play M rated games because I am an adult and expect a certain level of maturity from those M rated gamed, and I do not simply refer to the level of gore or violence. I am fully prepared for those elements to be prevalent in wartime games like the Call of Duty series (just an example folks, not bashing CoD here), but if I'm playing an immersive and mature RPG game, I fully expect for sexuality to be present and treated in a mature manner, just like violence.
And while I can appreciate that some may view the way The Witcher 2 approached and handled that subject as too much... well, actually, I'm trying but am not fully comprehending it. At every opportunity that the subject came up you were given a choice to either pursue it further or not (well, I suppose aside from the very opening scene at camp and that never went anywhere and was rather brief). So the aspect is there and available for those who wish to pursue the matter and experience another mature aspect of the game, but it's not in your face either. And I found the elven ruins bath scene to be SO beautiful and very well done, in that mature and no apologies manner... Man, whenever I think about it, I always feel that little heart tug. *tears* And the way the subject was approached and presented in The Witcher 2 added yet another level of realism to the whole game experience, because it was merely another aspect which was suitable for that time period - I mean the game developers dealt with so many aspects in the game and presented them to us in that insensitive way (murder, rape, tyranny, opression, racism, etc.), but it only added to the experience as a whole, to the immersion, it made playing the game realistic and believable and ultimately made for a fantastic ride.
Look, I am not advocating callous porn be inserted in the game, especially not merely for porn's sake. After all, if I want to experience porn, I have other, more explicit options available to me. What I am saying is that video game companies (especially the North American ones) should not be affraid to approach the matter of sexuality, should quit handling it delicately through rubber gloves and, in a mature game should approach it in the same open and mature manner as some of the other aspects of the game. After all, DA:O dealt with some rather dark and pretty grim elements (being a Grey Warden and everything that entails, darkspawn and how they reproduce, etc.), so I really don't understand why the child-proof restriction still remains on this one aspect, the last pillar standing in the way for video games to be taken in a serious manner, to be perceived and experienced as another medium capable of presenting and conveying a whole range of themes, from comical to serious and mature and everything in between.
I'm sorry if some may not agree. I suppose my European upbringing is shining through in my perceptions.
Perhaps the answer would be to have an option in the actual game options where we could set whether the game faded to black during those sexual encounters or actually presented the scene in a mature and beautiful manner akin to that in Mass Effect for those that wish for that kind of an experience?
Edit: Because I apparently can't spell had to fix some typos.
Modifié par AloraKast, 10 août 2011 - 01:52 .
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