I understand this is a long thread, so I'm happy to re-address any specific examples where people think the game is pushing an ideology, and not being what it claims to be:
- an immersive and innovative
- text-based
- choice-making
- dice-rolling
- role-playing game
- about two siblings
- set in a fictional world
- inspired by ancient Caledonia, specifically the border wars between the Roman Empire and the people that lived beyond the Hadrian's Wall
The fact you can select an ethnicity when creating your character is in line with the game's goal to be immersive - it increases the variety for the player to be able to create a character they like to look at. Explained with the back-story of one of your parents being an escaped slave, who found freedom by joining the resisting people living in the no man's land at the fringes of the Empire. I even cited a study showing that a mixed race couple can produce an offspring resembling exactly one of them for those who didn't like how ethnic the ethnicity looks. This was introduced before the Early Access launch, so people buying the game as a product were buying into that experience.
If that's too woke for you, you have your reasons. This planet is a big rock, and different places have different histories of strife and conflict. I'm from Central Europe, from a now small country, that survived a millennium in a kingdom ruled by bigger nations (Kingdom of Hungary, then Austria-Hungary), until it won it's independence, only to be occupied for half of its existence by other Empires (The Third Reich, and then USSR). White men did horrible things to white men in our history. That's why for me race or gender is not the only issue out there. Ideology, tribalism, stupidity, rivalry, envy, addiction to the rush of battle? Sure. All explored in the game.
In fact people praise the fact that the choices and consequences are neutral, and the game is not pushing an ideology or morality onto you and the cast of characters reacts differently (see Steam discussion below), it's only up to you what takeaways you make. Mine would be that hanging on to past conflicts and letting your children inherit them might not be the best idea. You might be perfectly happy to go down that road and the game will not berate you for it, you will just create a different legacy.
That's why I think the game is not a woke pile of anything. But who knows? Maybe it'll trigger your alarm bells, how should I know? And that's why I think the best way to find out is, if you like the genre,
try the free demo and decide for yourself.
Here is another take on this on the Steam forums:
https://steamcommunity.com/app/900400/discussions/0/5221353200095540668/
Alkpaz2 16 Oct, 2021 @ 3:49pm
This game is not woke enough for me. No sale.
#1
Summer Laverdure 16 Oct, 2021 @ 5:00pm
Originally posted by
Alkpaz Busy Vapin:
This game is not woke enough for me. No sale.
Your sarcasm is noted, but you might be misinterpreting this game. This game is not "psychological" like Life is Strange, this game is psychological in that it puts you in the characters head. If this game is supposed to reflect and teach IRL psychology well then I guess I'm not doing so hot because some dude tried to steal the deer I killed in the woods, I intimidated him enough to scare him off but I changed my mind, backstabbed him when he ran, twisted the knife while he was dying and then laughed while I hacked his body to pieces in the woods, and got off scot free. All due to player choice too, with no guilt tripping from the game like some games would do. It's an easy mistake to make in this day and age but trust me, the game and gameplay serves itself with nothing to take away from it except "damn, that game's cool".
Of course if you weren't being sarcastic yeah, you're right maybe not for you XD
Last edited by
Summer Laverdure; 16 Oct, 2021 @ 5:01pm —
See post history
#2
VenomB 16 Oct, 2021 @ 9:50pm
Yeah, you get it Summer. The game, as far as the demo goes at least, doesn't punish you for being a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥. It doesn't put any moral standard to anything you do... the characters around you do. And that's what I'm excited about. Chances are, there are going to be more people like the "bully" in the demo.
And the fact that the game isn't a hardcore game that will eat your face for one mistake makes it even better. I usually like those punishing games, but something about the simple aspect of experiencing everything through the consciousness of the character is new to me. I just wanna play over the weekend and not wait until Tuesday damnit.
[discord.com]
