Telltale Games

      "Telltale Games" is a video game company that makes story based games. They take an intellectual property that already exists and turn it into a game. Some of their best known games are based off of things like "Batman," "Guardians of the Galaxy," and "The Walking Dead."

       This company is a little harder to categorize since it does adaptations. That being said these games are amazing. The general concept is that every decision you make shapes the outcome of the game. This becomes very interesting when you have the chance to play characters the way the are written in their original properties or have them create a path they normally would never take.

       Overall, this is a company that makes enjoyable games regardless of gender. The properties they generally decide to cover feature strong female leads, and have personalities fitting their characters. While there is some sexual content, especially in games like "Wolf Among Us," it never comes off as sexist to me. I think what is important with this company is that the characters stay true to who they are. They don't seem to try to make female characters different than how they are portrayed in other properties. The game play style for this company is unique, and while not everyone likes it, I think they are one of the best video game companies currently.
      Here is the location of the company:

Nintendo

Hello everyone! I’m back and ready to tackle the video game giant that is “Nintendo.” First, I want to say that I LOVE “Nintendo.” It has been a personal favorite of mine since I started playing video games. And I am happy to say for the most part their modern games do an amazing job with female characters, with a few exceptions. For this post I am only going to focus on games that are owned by “Nintendo.” This includes games like “Pokemon” which “Nintendo” owns part of.           
            The “Mario” games are the best known “Nintendo” games. They are generally a lot of fun and have featured several female characters over the years such as Pauline, Peach, Daisy, Rosalina, and Toadette. These characters are generally in the spin-off games such as “Mario Party” and the various sports games. None of them are dressed particularly badly except for Pauline. So overall, these characters have good representation. Sure, Peach is always saved, but at least these characters are good in the spin-offs.

 My one complaint about this franchise is “Super Princess Peach.” This game attempted to make Peach the hero for once but suffered obnoxious flaw: Peach’s powers were emotions. That’s right, the player picked what emotion she had to unlock powers. It is honestly offensive that those are the powers they decided to give her.

I don’t want to spend too much time talking about “Metroid” because I talked about it in my first post. But I will say, that Samus is an amazing protagonist. She is strong and a lot of fun to play as. The concept of not showing her gender until the end of the game, was great. But it does lose points since you could unlock a bikini outfit for her.
   Another classic “Nintendo” game with a female character is “The Legend of Zelda.” In the series Link’s general goal is to save Princess Zelda and Hyrule. Nothing about Zelda really stands out in the original games until they introduced Sheik. Sheik is a mysterious warrior who is actually Princess Zelda in disguise. This secret identity adds both personality and makes her a pretty awesome character. Add strong female characters like Impa and this game ends up being great game.

  Not all the games by “Nintendo” are redeemable when it comes to female characters. The “Xenoblade Chronicles” specifically “Xenoblade Chronicles 2” is awful! This game was what inspired me to make this blog. The gameplay of the second game is amazing. The animation is styling, and this game should be great. But the female designs are so awful. They go beyond normal over sexualization. Most of the female characters are large breasted in skimpy outfits. It makes the girls of “Mortal Kombat” look like nuns. When this game first came out I couldn’t decide whether to get it, because the thought of supporting the misogynistic view on characters made me feel sick. But the gameplay did win me over eventually.  It is shocking to see something so awful when compared to the rest of the “Nintendo” line up.

The “Fire Emblem” franchise also struggles with their female character design. These games are seriously fun to play, but many of the female characters are in skimpy outfits for no good reason. The two “Fire Emblem: Fates” games are the worst about it. For some reason they think that girls do not need any armor like the guys do. The series has some strong and amazing characters of both genders. In many of the modern games the character gets to pick their gender, and the character has the same story either way. The only difference is what the support conversations look like. Overall, the well written characters and solid game play make it one of “Nintendo’s” best franchises, and worth playing.

On the flip side I want to talk about “Kirby” and “Animal Crossing.” These games are great! I have so many fond memories of playing them both as a child and an adult. There is nothing in them that has ever made me feel uncomfortable about being a girl playing games. I honestly don’t know anyone who has played either of these games and not fallen in love with them.             

“Pokemon,” which is by far my favorite franchise ever, also does a great job with its female characters. Starting with “Pokemon Crystal” every game has had the option to be a girl or a boy. Except for minor dialogue differences this has no impact in the games, which is refreshing. Even with the changed dialogue, there is no impact on the story based on gender.

Overall, “Nintendo” does an amazing job with their characters! While there are some games that don’t do great when it comes to the outfits that their females wear, the characters tend to be well written. The company does such a good job of making games that cater to everyone. Even if they aren’t always perfect, they are probably the best when it comes to female characters. "Nintendo" games are a lot of fun to play as person regardless of gender.