This thread might as well be called Pragmata community discussion. I don’t think I’ve even seen any discussion on the game mechanics or anything.
I saw Dunkey's vid and the game looks pretty competent. I guess the child helps you hack enemies that you're fighting? He didn't really go into how the mechanic works on a gameplay level so I only know what I could glean from watching him use it, but I can see how having that additional element in the core gameplay loop of shooting shit would be refreshing, and maybe even give you a pretty satisfying increase to the skill ceiling if you can get good enough at hacking while you move
and shoot. The movement itself also just looked good.
I'm not going to deny that they're jerking off pedophiles, but I think it's also possible for that to go over someone's head. It seems like the child droid's purpose is computer interfacing; she's essentially R2D2. Well, there
is an obvious benefit to giving a utility droid a compact, agile humanoid frame. Is there an obvious benefit to making it chase cats and almost fall off a cliff, or look like a little girl at all? I doubt there's a good, internally consistent one in universe.
What about in
our universe? What's the benefit of making a character like this. Well, obviously one benefit is jerking off pedophiles, but I'm more interested in how this works for normal people playing the game. They've created this somewhat inconsistent character that is both competent and purpose-built, and also mimics childlike innocence and, well, stupidity. As Null points out, this creates a simulacrum of parenthood with all the difficulties sanded off. If she's always perfectly competent and obeys all instructions instantly during gameplay, then a cutscene where she gets distracted and gets herself into trouble is like a little play the characters put on before moving on with the actual story.
That being said, games where you "realistically" have to interface with an AI modeled to have its own ideas and goals are notoriously frustrating; those have intense, but niche appeal. And even if it has a more realistic depiction of a child, the ultimate message of TLOU is that the wages of parenthood is getting murdered by trannies. I can grant that there are reasons that this popcorn entertainment doesn't have to be a realistic parenthood simulator, even if it's using cheap tricks to make you care through your innate parent instincts. There's even some wiggle room for people to just like the doll-like and unrealistic design without playing with one hand.
I guess my take is that you don't necessarily have to feel bad about liking the game, although you should try to recognize how the child is a mentally unhealthy superstimulus even if you're not jerking off to her; it's using cheap tricks to fool you into caring, but
that's all modern media anyway. Capcom should still feel bad about making it, at the very least their marketing decisions. I can see how if you just enjoyed the game and then you see people talking about how it's for pedos, that would make you upset because it's like they're saying
you're a pedo. Sure, you could easily enjoy the game and not be a pedo, but if you felt like the game was meaningful to you or touching, it's probably worth interrogating the fact that you're engaging so deeply with something that doesn't fundamentally make sense; if, you know, you are capable of introspection and imagining not having eaten breakfast. If you're the kind of guy who just likes shooting the robots and thinks that looking at the fake child's crayon drawings is gay, you probably don't have to worry too much.
I don't play
any of these games btw, and you guys are all cucks for doing so. I'm glad Kingdumb Cum rammed a black cock up your asses.
