The announcement of the successor to Stellar Blade was quite a surprise. However, there is significant disgust among some.
At the Summer Game Fest, there were a lot of new games. Among them is the successor to Stellar Blade, which many expected to be released in a few years. The second part is titled “Stellar Blade: Blood Rain” and takes place in the same universe as its predecessor.
Just like the first game in the series by the Korean developer SHIFT UP, there is once again a controversy regarding the female protagonist. This time, the new heroine “Evie” seems not just “simply” sexualized – in the eyes of many, she looks as if she has the face of a child.
Childlike face on the body of a sexualized woman
What is being criticized? Besides some allegations of AI usage, it mainly revolves around the depiction of the protagonist Evie.
While the highly sexualized body in tight clothing clearly belongs to an adult woman, the face appears youthful, almost childlike. The facial features correspond to the typical “baby schema,” where the eyes are depicted as particularly large, and the nose is quite small while the cheeks are rather round.
The sexualization also comes with the “usual” characteristics known from Stellar Blade 1, such as noticeable jiggle physics, this time not just on the chest, but also on the butt.
This immediately causes discomfort for many viewers and raises the suspicion: There seems to be an intention to appeal to the preferences of individuals with pedophilic or hebephilic inclinations.
However, it must be noted fairly that Evie is portrayed differently throughout the trailer. While her childlike representation is especially noticeable in the initial scenes, her facial features appear much more adult-like in the gameplay. This reinforces critics’ suspicion that a lot of AI was used in creating the trailer, as even the protagonist does not look consistent.
What the community voices: In various gaming subreddits, Evie’s representation is being heavily discussed. The accusation is quite clear. A protagonist is being created who is intentionally meant to appear childlike to appeal to a very specific target audience. Some excerpts of opinions:
- “Is anyone else just getting an ICK and finding that wrong? She has the face of a child, the voice of an adult, you understand. They really disgusted me with this, you can’t deny that the character looks like a little girl. What do you think about it?” – Skylander1987 in the GirlGamers subreddit
- “At first glance, I thought it was a child. Come on. You can’t tell me that’s an adult’s face.” – Hereitisguys9888 in the Gaming subreddit
- “Honestly, I felt sick watching it. It’s so disgusting. But you just know that there will be a lot of ‘gamers’ who will celebrate these and other mediocre games like Stellar Blade so they can continue to fetishize characters that look like they’re 11.” – AloneElk999 in the GirlGamers subreddit
Cortyn states: Honestly, I was initially looking forward to Stellar Blade 2. Despite the controversial discussions surrounding the first part, the gameplay of Stellar Blade was a lot of fun. Even if the story was quite thin, the gameplay reminded me of wild action from Bayonetta and Nier: Automata, and it just flowed well and stylishly.
That the presentation of part 2 begins with an even larger controversy is quite sad. Because while one can overlook the representation of a clearly sexualized Eve from the first part when one is bothered by the depiction, it becomes much harder with Blood Rain.
That they have opted for a childlike design here cannot be denied. That they are developing content for a very specific target audience, which is rightfully looked upon with disdain in most of the world, should have been clear to the developers.
I can only hope that they are still working on the design of the protagonist. But even then, the disgusting aftertaste will remain of what the original vision for the game was. And honestly: That alone is already a reason to remove Stellar Blade: Blood Rain from the list of games I would have liked to play.
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