GIRL GAMES MEGATHREAD <3

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xxlicious: Feb 19, 2013

I remember really enjoying Rockett's Secret Adventure as a little girl in the 90s (despite not being familiar with the kind of high school Rockett went to)! Probably not too surprising that I turned out to be a visual novel fan. I'd really love to see someone LP the rest of the series.

# ¿ Jan 18, 2014 04:16

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# ¿ May 14, 2024 01:59

xxlicious: Feb 19, 2013

JamieTheD posted:

Basically, it's a game specific version of our old buddy, the Skinner Box. Okay, this way is really grindy and painful and unfun... But wait, if I give up something of value for quicker progression, I can have fun!

...Oh, poo poo, wait, I just spent �30 on luxuries. drat YOU, SKINNER BOX!

To clarify a little bit, the punishment is the gameplay being boring. The action is spending money, and the reward is... poo poo you don't need (EDIT: Except for false self-esteem, yaaaay!). Marketing, folks!

The worst part is, I know that this is exactly what's going on (gently caress, I even used to run rats through actual Skinner boxes back in uni), but I can't stop myself from playing once I've gotten into them. (Swords and Potions 2, I'm looking at you.) Thankfully I still have enough self-control to stop myself from dropping monies into the thing.

# ¿ Jan 20, 2014 14:55

xxlicious: Feb 19, 2013

Rise Kujikawa says hello from Persona 4.

(Maybe it's because I watch anime, but Laura Bailey has always been one of the big voice acting names for me. Like I actually remember her name not tending to pay attention to voice acting casts and stuff.)

# ¿ Jan 22, 2014 06:17

xxlicious: Feb 19, 2013

What's ERP? I assume you're not talking about enterprise resource planning (yes I googled it).

# ¿ Jan 24, 2014 13:32

xxlicious: Feb 19, 2013

this fish flies posted:

Super Mega Action Girl! Look at how Action she is! Wow.

Scoff all you like, but whoops look at that she's got her necktie around your throat and your face against that shiny, shiny corporate floor.

# ¿ Feb 27, 2014 07:40

xxlicious: Feb 19, 2013

Devious Vacuum posted:

I don't know all of these games, but I'm not entirely convinced Long Live the Queen is actually a Girl Game, because, for example, Princess Maker is regarded as a game for male pedophiles... and basically I want to draw a line between games that have girls as protagonists and "girl games." There's definitely a gray area in what is for little girls and what CLAIMS to be for little girls but is actually for adults.

I think there's a misconception going on here that a game with a female protagonist that isn't interchangeable with a male protagonist (e.g. Tomb Raider, Portal 2) is a "girl game." But that's not true, and we've seen over and over that it isn't true. There are loads of games with female protagonists that are still clearly games for the conventional gaming community, which is presumed to be (straight) men.

There are many things these games have in common with Girl Games, like sexualization of the female body and male gaze, but Girl Games are TEACHING girls to objectify themselves, whereas these other games, let's call them "Games WITH Girls," merely REFLECT objectification or other bad attitudes toward women. Going back to Long Live the Queen, we (the player) are meant to protect the princess, not identify with her.

Please examine each game that you want to play and really be sure that the player is intended to be a girl. Not "anybody," but specifically a girl. The people who made the game, while they were making the game, they were thinking about the player as a girl. That's the key here.

Even though Long Live the Queen has obvious Princess Maker influences, it is not Princess Maker. One major difference is that in Princess Maker, you are playing the princess's guardian (it's even possible to end up in a romantic relationship with her), whereas in LLtQ there is no such protective figure for you to identify with. Joslyn, her dad, is the most hands-off regent you can imagine. You pretty much control Elodie directly from beginning till end.

Besides, Hanako Games is an explicitly girls-oriented studio. Just look at how it describes LLtQ on its official page:

quote:

Being a Princess is not an easy job. Being a Queen is even harder. Especially when you're only fourteen years old, and the reason you've inherited the throne is that your royal mother has just met an untimely end.

Now power is up for grabs. You may be the official heir, but much of the country's nobility would love to steal the throne for themselves. Aggressive neighbors will take advantage of any weakness to enlarge their borders at your expense. And that's not even mentioning the magical dangers which are lying in wait...

Can you survive long enough to reach your coronation?

Note how it's in second person, and how the player is put in the place of being the princess, not someone who's protecting her.

The game warns that it's for players 13 years and up, so obviously it's not for very young girls, but this just seems to me like the studio going "hey girls can enjoy incredibly fatal and tedious spreadsheet simulations too okay".

# ¿ Mar 25, 2014 04:22

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# ¿ May 14, 2024 01:59

xxlicious: Feb 19, 2013

Yes, and girls obviously don't enjoy dressing up as magical girls or whatever. I wonder who all these dress-up games are targeted towards, then.

It's just a bit of a shame that when the creator's entire goal is to make games for girls that aren't just about dressing up and looking pretty and chasing boys, but then said game is immediately pigeonholed as "for men", as if girls can't enjoy that kind of gameplay. Perhaps the problem isn't that "good girl games" aren't being made, but the fact that the mainstream gaming community don't acknowledge those games as girl games specifically.

But the point is moot anyway since there's an LP of it currently on-going, so probably not a good idea to LP it again here.

# ¿ Mar 25, 2014 23:46

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