Support NeoGAF

[Dibils2k]

This is one of those things where I wouldn’t have thought twice about it if no one brought it up. Does it matter? There are blue dwarves, monsters, fairies, elves…. Omg! An attractive black woman!!? That’s not reality!!

attractive black woman? that looks like a 14 year old kid... wtf

 

[OmegaSupreme]

I find it silly and obvious pandering but it won't make a difference to the gameplay. I also find it silly that the people who champion this are the same ones who complain about Project EVE having an attractive female protagonist. I don't get young people these days.

 

[MMaRsu]

Would that upset you?

I dont have a ps4/5 or god of war so nah

 

[HerjansEagleFeeder]

This idiot should begin by learning that "by-the-eddas" is NOT "authentic norse mythology", lol.

This particular decision is as transparent as water as to the intensions of the designers. If it was really "random", "creative free roaming" or whatever, why isn't Angrboda a green alien? Or a kobold? Or a meerkat? Or japanese? I wonder why.

Edit: I think she looks good and I'm totally fine with the design. I just don't like assholes trying to bullshit us by telling this nonsensical "creative freedom" story. There's obviously an agenda behind it.

 

[Shmunter]

Guys twisting himself into a pretzel trying to explain away forced diversity.

No one would have an issue if the game was geographically set in southern lands, but it’s the opposite. Mythical or not, a level of grounding is expected in any fantasy to make it relatable - this nonsense just acts to subvert it.

It’s the lack of logic and being told 2 + 2 = 5 that is frustrating.

 

[Orta]

My eyebrow shall remain distinctly unraised until the moment Kratos outs himself as a non binary person of colour.

Who loves teh cock.

 

[Hugare]

She is a giant, so whatever

Its not like they made Thor black. In fact, they made probably the most accurate representation of Thor in overral media yet.

Angrboda is not from Midgard, so she could be black, asian, whatever

I know that they made her black for representation, but what Im trying to say is that its not gonna pull me out of the experience. Since she never suposed to be from those lands anyway.

 

[HotPocket69]

“Wasnt a political decision”

 

[ParaSeoul]

I don't think that would have been as blatant as it is if they didn't have her as the big end of the trailer moment. If that isn't tokenism I don't know what is.

 

[CurtBizzy]

uh oh

Forced diversity at it again

 

[Kokoloko85]

Saying Forspoken is woke because of the main character is retarded.

But having Angrbooa not looking like a typical Scandinavian is kinda weird and out of place.

She should look like the rest of the norse gods/giants etc. And non of them look anything outside of Scandinavian skin tone looking lol or they are monsterish etc.

But heck, its there game. And its not that important it just feels out of place. Its not the biggest thing but looks a bit forced.
At first when I saw her I thought cool, they’ve met up with some Asian /Cambodian like characters. Maybe Kratos is going to Asia by the end of this lol. But i guess not haha.

Im still gonna play it and probably love it

 

[BabyfaceRe]

Shit like this shouldn't be a problem in fantasy games so no issue for me.

When they make games that are influenced by REAL events and people and then make changes to fit their narrative is where I'm not a big fan.

Agreed that people shouldn't really care about this stuff but it's understandable though, considering how many creative decisions prioritise diversity for the sake of diversity.

My first question when seeing her was "is she hinting at another pantheon of gods like Egyptians or is she there for the PC crowd" it's sad that thought even crosses our minds tbh.

But his messaging is pretty clear and pretty damn disingenuous tbf. They did 4 games in greek mythology, doing there 'own take' yet everyone managed to be racially appropriate to the region and the mythology. It's not a coincidence for them to make this kind of move in 2021.

Personally it has zero impact for my anticipation for the game as the first was a masterpiece.

 

[buenoblue]

Yeah I'm out of gaf I think. Thinly veild racism is disgusting me. Era is too much in the opposite direction too..I guess I've just outgrown 'Gaming' forums.

 

[FingerBang]

Is it tokenism? Probably
Is that going to make it a shitty character? Not necessarily

I'm as anti-woke as the next cisgender straight white man who believes in biological sex, but the previous game was anything but woke and having a "diverse" character doesn't automatically make it an ideological disaster.
As long as the purpose of this character is not to tell us how bad it is to be black and how oppressed she is by whiteness, I'm okay with it.
I hope it's not another Lev (TLOU2, though I liked "him" overall).

 

[dotnotbot]

attractive black woman? that looks like a 14 year old kid... wtf

Nice to meet you, granny enjoyer

 

[rickybooby87]

WHO CARES. It's a game. I honestly didn't even think anything of it until others started shouting "Yay, diversity" and "boo, pandering".

 

[48086]

Make Kratos trans you cowards.

 

[HotPocket69]

Make Kratos trans you cowards.

 

[CurtBizzy]

Yeah I'm out of gaf I think. Thinly veild racism is disgusting me. Era is too much in the opposite direction too..I guess I've just outgrown 'Gaming' forums.

Same thoughts! The butthurt over ONE black fictional character. Blacks=LBQT now ?

 

[Magnific0giganticus]

The great problems of the world...

 

[SkeletonQuays]

More "pandering"?

That guys fkn rules.

 

[Guilty_AI]

The god of war reboot was basically an amalgamation of trends built upon a famous IP. It was peak hollywood debauchery. Why people are surprised the sequel would keep doing exactly that?

 

[sloppyjoe_gamer]

"Our own Spin"

 

[Shmunter]

Agreed that people shouldn't really care about this stuff but it's understandable though, considering how many creative decisions prioritise diversity for the sake of diversity.

My first question when seeing her was "is she hinting at another pantheon of gods like Egyptians or is she there for the PC crowd" it's sad that thought even crosses our minds tbh.

But his messaging is pretty clear and pretty damn disingenuous tbf. They did 4 games in greek mythology, doing there 'own take' yet everyone managed to be racially appropriate to the region and the mythology. It's not a coincidence for them to make this kind of move in 2021.

Personally it has zero impact for my anticipation for the game as the first was a masterpiece.

We as people have a reasonable perception of what belongs where. Fantasy or not, once we start seeing things that are true to life out of place things start breaking.

We can easily replace the incongruity of human geography ‘race’ with architecture or traditional garbs for the same result. In this game we see wooden huts, forest, snowy mountains, wolves - it’s cohesion. It is unlikely sandstone pyramids or sombreros thrown in at random would bolster the setting, even if it’s the ‘creators own vision’.

 

[Heisenberg007]

What a stupid headline, implying that they are doing/saying something wrong.

Of course, it is their own interpretation. Let them do what they want to do.

 

[Dr. Suchong]

Everyone in this thread: Making note worthy points.
Me: I read Angrboda as Angrybirds...

 

[HotPocket69]

Everyone in this thread: Making note worthy points.
Me: I read Angrboda as Angrybirds...

Angrybirda

 

[Bryank75]

What's the issue?

It's mythology, it's not like gospel or anything....



(People should give the creators a break and the little girl...she is seeing this bullshit online, that's not right)

 

[Faithless83]

People are more focused on "not having a boner for fatty Thor".
We have to pretend this is normal and not pandering at all.

They are slowly painting Kratos as traumatized and doubting his decisions, with Atreus trying to push things forward.
Did we had another father/son duo going through the same thing on a sequel?

As much as I loved the series so far, I'll wait on this one. "Our interpretation", dismissing fans questions about the direction, new director... I'm having too much TLOU2 vibes about it.

EDIT: Wakanda isn't real, is it? Why the outrage?

 

[LordCBH]

I don’t really have a problem with this? Like I didn’t sit there and go huh this character feels out of place.

There’s plenty of bullshit in gaming worth getting upset over and this ain’t it.

 

[Tripolygon]

"Our own Spin"

What else is it if not their own spin?

A greek demigod crossed realms into norse mythos. Had a child with a norse giantess and gave birth to Atreus aka Loki. Like what in the actual fuck is that if not their spin of norse mythology. Some of you are grasping at straws.

I don’t really have a problem with this? Like I didn’t sit there and go huh this character feels out of place.

There’s plenty of bullshit in gaming worth getting upset over and this ain’t it.

Unfortunately some people do as evidenced by some in this very thread which sucks. Mare representation of black people is an affront to their sensibilities.

 

[EverydayBeast]

God of wars writing isn’t the gold standard play the first three games it’s an assortment of big giants fighting, Super Mario world years ago didn’t have gold standard writing and it’s the all time best game if I can have good combat and the write characters I might just have a AAA games

 

[captainnapalm]

The trailer just screamed "Look we have black people now! Please shower us with praise, Twitter and games media." But whatever. They seem like good enough devs not to let this bit of virtue signaling and woke pandering derail the project.

A lot of projects do get ruined by this stuff though. It really has nothing to do with having a black person/strong women/lgbt person in the game. It's all about what the intentions are with the character. A lot of times these days, it means what should just be a cool sci-fi or fantasy story is going to spend too much of its run time concerned with race, gender and sexuality issues. And it's going to have one-dimensional characters. And a narrative that beats you over the head with shitty identity politics.

Writing good stories is hard and your only priority should be making it as good as possible. Injecting thinly-veiled propaganda and shallow politics into the game doesn't make your job any easier. But people are so insanely consumed by politics these days they genuinely think having this kind of stuff in the game is more important than having complex themes, an original plot or well-rounded characters. And that's where the problem lies. It's a question of priorities.

At the same time, people have to avoid kneejerk reactions and give creators a chance to show they can use these elements without totally ruining things. I was skeptical of Psychonauts 2, for example, and while the "diverse" group of kids in the game is by far the worst thing about it, bringing all the fun and humor to a crashing halt, it still didn't stop the game from being great.

 

[Liamario]

I've no problem with a character being black, but rather why the character is black. I think we all know why.

 

[WitchHunter]

When a blue dwarf is put in a game it is not politically motivated.
When a monster is put in a game it is not politically motivated.
When a fairy is put in a game it is not politically motivated.

When a strong black female is put in a game ........

Are there blue dwarves in real life? Nop.
Are there monsters in real life? Nop.
Are there fairies? Nop.

Were there blacks amongst the northern germanic tribes? There were darker skinned people amongst them, but African blacks were slaves if I'm not mistaken. Perhaps someone should ask an expert.

So? They want the positive response from blacks, while the character essentially is a slave? Who is fucked up in the head?

 

[sloppyjoe_gamer]

What else is it if not their own spin?

A greek demigod crossed realms into norse mythos. Had a child with a norse giantess and gave birth to Atreus aka Loki. Like what in the actual fuck is that if not their spin of norse mythology. Some of you are grasping at straws.


Unfortunately some people do as evidenced by some in this very thread which sucks. Mare representation of black people is an affront to their sensibilities.

Not grasping at anything....dont sit there and assume i have a problem with a black person being in this game as that wasn't even what i was referring to. GTFOH

 

[WitchHunter]

The trailer just screamed "Look we have black people now! Please shower us with praise, Twitter and games media." But whatever. They seem like good enough devs not to let this bit of virtue signaling and woke pandering derail the project.

A lot of projects do get ruined by this stuff though. It really has nothing to do with having a black person/strong women/lgbt person in the game. It's all about what the intentions are with the character. A lot of times these days, it means what should just be a cool sci-fi or fantasy story is going to spend too much of its run time concerned with race, gender and sexuality issues. And it's going to have one-dimensional characters. And a narrative that beats you over the head with shitty identity politics.

Writing good stories is hard and your only priority should be making it as good as possible. Injecting thinly-veiled propaganda and shallow politics into the game doesn't make your job any easier. But people are so insanely consumed by politics these days they genuinely think having this kind of stuff in the game is more important than having complex themes, an original plot or well-rounded characters. And that's where the problem lies. It's a question of priorities.

At the same time, people have to avoid kneejerk reactions and give creators a chance to show they can use these elements without totally ruining things. I was skeptical of Psychonauts 2, for example, and while the "diverse" group of kids in the game is by far the worst thing about it, bringing all the fun and humor to a crashing halt, it still didn't stop the game from being great.

It's quite easy if you don't wanna play with people and their beliefs. Create a world for yourself and don't include real life parallels into it. And then you can safely do whatever you want. That's all it's so easy. If you use elements from other cultures, well, then don't be "surprised" that people will freak out.

 

[Oddvintagechap]

Why even explain yourself to the pussies. They are going to bitch regardless.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Hey, remember when Matt Damon was at a chinese movie? That was dumb. Same thing there, bruh

How about Tom Cruise being a samurai? Hilarious.

If writers want to take liberties and rewrite norms, thats fine. But be ready for backlash. It would be like God of War medusa/gorgons arent ugly women who turn you to stone but instead are rewritten as dudes. I'm sure they can figure out a narrative to make it men, but it gets stretched into being different for sake of it or due to politics or some other weird reason.

Just like BF game rewriting WWII events to be a mother and daughter team on a mission to kill Nazis. I never played it but by what people said on forums it sounds pretty dumb.

 

[Fahdis]

why is she so happy tho? GOW is about revenge and violence

She's happy that most of you will be paying $70 on day one!

 

[Matsuchezz]

I wonder how is the life of those people that just talk trash anything that goes against their stupid beliefs. Nah I really don’t care. yeeesh their life must be sad.

 

[Jaysen]

If they made her purple, none of the whiners would have said a thing.

 

[Jaysen]

why is she so happy tho? GOW is about revenge and violence

She’s a lover of salt.

 

[WitchHunter]

I find it silly and obvious pandering but it won't make a difference to the gameplay. I also find it silly that the people who champion this are the same ones who complain about Project EVE having an attractive female protagonist. I don't get young people these days.

It's the same with music. Lots of people don't really digest the lyrics, just like the overall sound of it.S ome people play a game and do not really digest what is really happening while others consume and interpret it.

 

[Tripolygon]

Not grasping at anything....dont sit there and assume i have a problem with a black person being in this game as that wasn't even what i was referring to. GTFOH

Nawl you GTFOH. I addressed your comment separately in regards to "their own spin". Never implied you had any issue with Angrboda being black. So yea you are grasping at straws if you think GOW is anything but their own interpretation of greek and norse mythos.

 

[SlimySnake]

The only thing i know is that she has by far the most detailed\realistic human face in the whole trailer, little shit and freya looks pretty gamey compared to her, freya had like zero facial upgrades compared to the first game.

lol haha. Thats exactly what I was thinking. She is by far the best looking character model in the game and we are trashing it.

 

[mansoor1980]

She’s a lover of salt.

i think she likes violence , makes her happy ,

 

[Ass of Can Whooping]

She looks like she's from Egypt tbh

 

[betrayal]

I think what most people get upset about is that something is done for a very specific reason that everyone knows and at the same time the developer says that is not the reason.

It doesn't really matter what it's about. Nobody likes to be lied to or fooled, even if it's about something trivial.

 

[Liamario]

She looks like she's from Egypt tbh

I would say that's a strong possibility and if so any issues with her being black (including my own) are rendered void.