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leedlelee said:
Megiddo said:

Gotcha, so there not being any men present makes it a feminist game. Appreciate the insight.

I honestly can't think of many video games where a female protagonist is dominated by their struggle with their father/husband/children.  I would think the more tropey thing to do would be that women only exist to get rescued by the male protagonist, like Zelda or the various Mario princesses as that's something that seems far more common to me.

Now I'm wondering if the various Japanese "yuri" erotic games would be considered feminist because they do not have any men present.

It's not that men are not present, it's that they are not there to create a dynamic where the focus is on the woman's sexuality or fertility...

The damsel in distress is most certainly THE trope of all tropes; I bring up the other tropes not because thy are super prevalent in video games, but because you will commonly see them in books, movies, and TV...

A good feminist character who interacts with men would be Bayonetta...

Yes, she's extremely sexual, and male gamers may find it appealing, but she is in control of her sexuality; she is not sexual in order to get gratification or validation from men, she's constantly "feeling her oats" as a drag queen would say...

She loves her body and her sexuality but it's not central to the story or driving the story forward in a manner that makes the plot unrelatable; basically, she's more than her sexuality...

i would say the overconfident woman that for some strange reason manages to look extremely sensual but still overpowering all the men around her is quite a common trope in media. 

these tropes exist for a reason, usually as a form of escapism to a common, relatable fantasy that portions of the population share.

the ones you mentioned previously in which somehow a woman's sexuality (i would say affection) is a driving plot point would come from men's innate desire to be protective of their partner or desired partner.

all these and many other are plot devices, tried and true, that work for a reason. enough people review themselves in them to make them meaningful for the collective subconscience of the population.

these are especially prevalent in story heavy games where hopefully the point is to generate some emotional response from the target audience. 

 

to sum it up, i see these tropes mentioned with a certain air of desdain, like for some reason a work of art will be better for not using them. while I would agree a too heavy reliance on them can sometimes be a cover for lazy writing, when used effectively they are probably the best mean to convey an idea to another human being that may then more easily "put on the shoes" of whatever character being portrayed.