Hello everyone,
i recently came back to overwatch after stopping shortly after Sombra got released, and as it goes i did a it of research about what people say about the game nowadays. I’m not very interested in competitve play so many concerns don’t affect me and i’m having a blast playing my fav heroes.
Before you read on please note that i think everyone can like and play whatever they want, and that’s how it should be. This critique post is aimed at the Character Designers at Blizzard, not at the players.
However there’s something that’s a little weird i noticed in Overwatch character designs, namely the fact that there’s a number of some extraordinarily to quite manly female chars (extreme being Zarya who not only looks and acts like a man, but even is openly into women on top of that, Brigitte being a bulky heavy armor shield and morningstar wearing hulk of a woman based on the viking Shieldmaiden myth (yes it’s a myth) which appeases those who like the idea of a woman being a capable front line soldier who protects her fellow men and women with her physical strength, Tracer on the verge of looking like a boy and again is into women just like a man generally speaking is. Pharah’s design is also quite manly yet compared to the other ones more passable.
BUT! There are female characters which are well done and i can relate to a lot, namely Mercy, Ana, Sombra, Mei, basically all but the ones i first brought up. They don’t seem grotesque at all and their abilites, personality, outfit and fighting style are much more believable and immersive, and just feel more authentic overall. They are lovely and cool characters, and i wish that they would set the example of how to design a female hero.
The reason i bring this up, is because on the other hand (and i’m happy it is this way), is that there’s no overly feminine male character heroes in this game. All of them, even the hamster genius, are very authentically delivered and designed, and overall seem especially well fitted for male players.
In fact i think all of them are badass in their own way, and empathize on the best aspects of their personality and traits, which is great and the best case scenario i’d like to think. Even an extremely obese guy like Roadhog is very likeable and a fun character to play and fight against, because the design overall is high quality and makes sense.
Which leaves me with the question: Why does Blizzard make these overly manly female characters, which are as a girl, to put it as nicely as i can, so unrelatable and off looking to the point where i don’t even wanna play them even though their playstyle itself isn’t bad?
I mean sure, maybe there’s guys who like that sort of character, and i suppose most are men that play this game, but personally i like to play female characters every now and again for immersion aside from my mains like D.Va, Widow and Mercy, and seeing this weird character design trend for female characters from Blizzard makes me worried enough about future new characters that i’m writing this post to have a chance they hear what i’d like to play as a girl and why. Obviously it’s not a huge deal, and overall i care most about having fun with the game, but it’s an issue that impacts my overall enjoyment of the game enough to make this big post.
TL; DR: If characters like the very masculine Zarya are not supposed to be appealing for the female audience of the game, so be it, but if they are, i say thanks but no thanks. I’d much rather have characters along the lines of Ana, Mercy, Sombra and Mei for a more overall enjoyable, immersive game experience, because they are much more relatable, immersive and authentically delivered in their design.
Thanks for reading, see ya in game.