On Dragon's Crown and Other Over-reactions

MMHMMM well looks like we've got another 'response' to a Kotaku article. I'm a bit late in talking about this one too but, well, I'm doin' it anyway. A little while back there was an article (I'm not going to link it because I think it was stupid) that was complaining about the art style of Dragon's Crown, a 2D brawler only for PS3 and Vita (damn you Atlus).

Well, he wasn't really complaining about the art style, mainly the art of one of the characters, the Sorceress. To paraphrase, he basically called it disgusting and juvenile, even going so far as to say that the artist must have been fourteen years old or something like that. That's kind of a mean thing to say about a professional artist, isn't it? Especially when you're saying it on a website viewed by thousands of people.

Anyway, let's take a look at what the 'journalist' was actually complaining about.

I don't see what the issue is, that skeleton's chest is completely covered.

Mkay, so we've got this sorceress here with rather large...features, sticking her butt at us. So yeah, I can see how this style or at least this particular image might not be everyone's favourite thing in the world. But beyond that, that's where you kind of lose me. If you don't like the art in the game...uh...don't buy it? Why do you have to go around complaining about it and bashing the artist? I really really don't understand this mindset that if you don't like something, you think that no one else should enjoy it either.

The craziest thing to me is when these people say 'I'm not trying to be a censor, but...' - the person that wrote the Kotaku article in question actually said that. And I'm just like...uh, are you delusional, or just ignorant? Do you know what that word actually means?

Personally, drawn characters with giant parts has never really been my...'thing', but I definitely find this guy's art style striking, so I actually like it - it's something different. So that's the main thing that bothers me about this, why can't we just let creators be creative? If artists and designers are going to be limited to creating things that are going to be safe for and acceptable to everyone in general, we're going to lose a out on a lot of cool creative things.

And if you're unfamiliar with this game, I just want to point out one of the other characters in the game, this one a male, on the left there:

Excuse me, only one person to a chair ple- JESUS CHRI-...ahem...so sorry, as you were, then.

That there ain't no normal looking guy. So that's really what the style of the game is, ALL the characters are ridiculously exaggerated. Actually I think it's worth taking a look at all the characters in the game if you've got the time to look them up, most of them are also awesomely ridiculous.

Really, the whole 'movement' of people complaining about 'sexualization' in games is kind of annoying to me. I feel like people use it as an excuse to blame their own insecurities on something else besides themselves. I mean let's think of it this way, maybe skimpy outfits are just what these female characters want to wear. Shouldn't they be allowed to do that? Isn't that what that whole Slut Walk thingy was about?

Hm..I feel like I'm moving into dangerous territory there, so I'm just going to move on to my last point for the day: all these over-reactions are becoming really tiresome. It's like, people will see just one little screenshot from a game, or hear a quote from some politician, and just be OUTRAGED at it. It's almost as if these people enjoy being angry, offended, and hateful. I just don't get that. If you don't like something or disagree with it, that's fine, and go ahead and state your opinion. But do you really have to be pissed at the fact that it exists? Don't you think that there might be some other people that might enjoy it or get something out of it?

I don't know, maybe I'm just weird. I've always kind of operated under the 'live and let live' way of being. Like, there are things that I like, and things that I don't like. But if someone else likes the things that I don't like, I just say 'well that's cool, to each their own'. I just feel like maybe if more people thought that way, the world might be a friendlier and happier place.