Aloy Is A Strong Independent Woman Who Don’t Need No Man
Horizon Zero Dawn Provides One of the Best Female Protaganists In Triple A Gaming
Aloy is just a strong, clever, independent woman who has made a man cry in my game, and said the equivalent of “I ain’t got time for your problems but you can’t help yourself so I’ll do this because it’s right” to a couple of A type male characters, including a King.
I love it.
I’ve also literally knocked one dude out of the testosterzone with two lines of ball deflating dialogue.
Am I exaggerating?
Maybe a little bit.
But it’s refreshing to see this kind of strength in a female character in a big budget title.
It’s sad that I have to say that it’s refreshing.
It’s not just that we need more female characters in games. We need more awesome CHARACTERS, just like Aloy.
She’s nuanced, shows a wide range of emotion that is appropriate for the situations she encounters. She does things for a reason, and it’s almost always a GOOD reason.
Her facial animations are all really well done. She conveys her curiosity and sense of discovery really well through her expressions, which is helped along by the amazing voice work of Ashly Burch. Can I nominate her for some kind of award?
They also nailed her “are you telling me how to live my life”/”are you for real right now?” face. (This is the moment where I tell you to just go buy the game and experience how awesome Aloy is for yourself)
Aloy is a human who reacts, who plans, who hurts, and who fights through anything that stands in the way of her goals.
In the game she’s up against so much adversity (even though her tribe is led by women) and is up against tradition, her status as an outcast, and other male dominated tribes.
She proves herself through her merit, and drives the plot forward with her determination.
Playing as Aloy makes you feel powerful.
She crafts new arrows in the middle of battle, surrounded by machines that hunt her with animalistic hunger.
She lays traps, ready to ambush her enemies.
She helps her friends, strangers in trouble, and ultimately, saves the warring tribes of her lands from destruction.
How many games have come out in the last few years that can make you care so much about a character and feel as powerful while you play that character?
How many games have come out in the last few years that make you feel that way about a FEMALE character?
We need more games with fierce female protagonists like Aloy.
Kids need to see heroines like her, because she’s inspiring.
Men need to play as heroines like her, because the male power fantasy in video games is dumb when power and great gameplay can be found within a diverse range of characters.
With Horizon Zero Dawn having the best new IP release of any game for Sony, ever, I hope this leads to more diverse characters carrying franchises.
Because Aloy can carry a franchise.
Aloy can do anything.
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