Witcher 3: A mature game docked points for sexual content

Mike Miller writes - "In Polygon’s otherwise stunning review of one of the most anticipated games of 2015, the reviewer complains about violence towards women and over-sexualization of its female characters. My curiosity swelled and I looked up the character model of Ciri, whose “shirt is unbuttoned in the middle showing part of her bra.” When I saw the images, I was taken aback. Not by CD Projekt Red but by Polygon."

[Whirlwind_Fanfare_08]

*Laughes hysterically*
Polygon is stupid! this game gets points taken away because part of her bra is shown? it's her strap on her bra showing, that's it. Wow polygon, you put the 's' in stupidity. LMFAO

[thekhurg]

Polygon has a long standing history of scoring games in a controversial manner to generate web traffic for ad revenue.

[n1kki6]

They have also admitted the the writers of the reviews do not actually score the reviews, which is even more ridiculous.

[Myze]

Actually they have a long standing history of not just scoring games controversially for traffic, but basically everything they write is click-bait, ridiculous articles.

[Bimkoblerutso]

Vox Media in general is a wash of PC bullcrap. They're nothing but a front for hyper-liberal agenda pushing.

...and I honestly consider myself quite liberal.

[mabreu]

I totally agree with the author here.

I admit, I'm not a fan of "over-sexualized" characters in games, but this is stretching it.

I guess Polygon is desperate for views.

[Lord_Sloth]

This article is awesome! I love this site! I'm all for calling out PG on their bs.

[morganfell]

I do disagree with this article on one point:

"While I don’t agree that anyone’s opinion is trash..."

I'm sorry, but have you spent 2 minutes reading tweets by Gies?

If you will not honestly identify a problem then you cannot fix that problem. If Mike Miller does not wish to say it then I will. The opinions of Gies (and Crecente) are trash. The opinions of Polygon on the vast whole, are trash. They are a cancer, a foul icon symbolizing everything wrong with game journalism.

[BrandanT]

I remember polygon doing the same thing to Bayonetta 2. Taking points away because of sexuality - polygon you're the worst.

[gamer7804]

Agreed, it's a shame their review content doesn't have the same quality as their web design

[BrandanT]

They shouldn't take points away because of the design. They should judge how well design is done and how well it works with the game.

[OB1Biker]

lol I think more and more people get to know what this site is like and that maybe a good thing... (or bad thing for Polygon)

[StarLord_Who]

Depends if the nudity is gratuitous...

[Allsystemgamer]

Which in the witcher it isnt

[3-4-5]

Finally somebody calls them out.

Finally!

Thank you.

The Review was good...and then all of the sudden in the middle of it there is the feminist rant for no reason whatsoever.

It's like they search and fine for anything that could even somewhat be considered sexist and jump on it.

* In this case, they are just wrong.

Polygon you are wrong....your abusing your voice and now it's just you ( polygon) making things up and complaining about everything and anything.

When did we let the whiny complainers run the show ?

[RocketScienceLvlStuf]

Arthur Gies needs to get laid.

[bOObies]

I freaking can't stand polygon

[MasterCornholio]

-Looks at User name-

I can understand why.

;)

[n1kki6]

lol

[Sharingan_no_Kakashi]

Does seem over the top. I understand not wanting games to be over sexualized, but this?

[Haru]

This is cd project red so it doesn't count only if it's ubisoft or EA then it counts

[Anthotis]

Polygon may soon overtake Kotaku when it comes to SJW stupidity.

[Vegamyster]

The thing i didn't understand the most about their review was when they criticized basic RPG elements such as choice and completely ignores how men can be portrayed which isn't all that great either, it's a large world designed to have plenty of issues that affects everyone, not just one group. Excited to jump into it tomorrow.

[morganfell]

Brian Crecente has been working around the clock to create the same idiocy he oversaw at kotaku. Gies is doing more than his share as well.

[GzusKreist]

Polygon proving themselves to be SJW garbage yet again!

[KryptoniteTail]

We need to ban Polygon articles immediately. We cannot allow their rampant retardation any longer, the extreme SJW behavior ends now.

[00]

It got docked point because there wasn't enough suicide girls for the reviewer.

[Nyxus]

Anything more revealing than a burqa will cost points when reviewed by Polygon.

[n1kki6]

Oddly enough, the person who wrote the review has Archer as his twitter background. As if that show, also fake, doesn't objectify woman.

[FullmetalRoyale]

YUP!

[thisisfred]

That is a bit of a double standard. In one sense, it could be an excuse of it's comedy it's ok, in another it's making even less of the conversation.

[OCEANGROWNKUSH]

Guys this is how it works... women in "real life" can be as sexy as they want and walk around topless because its their right! if men can do it they should be able to as well!

But GOD FORBID any work of art whether it be a film, game or etc show any hint of female sexuality its a problem for them. or if you can harm any female character in the game its also a problem for them... They scream "equality" but in reality its supremecy they seek. They are simply starving for attention, SO DONT GIVE THEM ANY.

[Rachel_Alucard]

Polygon? More like Polygone

[_LarZen_]

Polygon should go * themselves. And no we do not need feminism.

[Tankbusta40]

How many agendas are out there now?I've lost count

[garypugh1960]

Just change your name from Polygon to [email protected]

[Omnisonne]

I usually try avoid commenting on topics such at these but damn, this is seriously some sad attention begging from Poly

Also, violence against women..? what? Meanwhile Geralt merrily decapitates, burns and chops hundreds of men/soldiers apart
I guess they overlooked that then?

[n1kki6]

We try to avoid being offended by the click bait and buying in. But when high traffic sites are deploying such juvenile tactics for driving traffic, and an even more juvenile approach to what is and isn't acceptable withing the context of a mature rated game, it becomes difficult to ignore.

[wraith4912]

Translation, not enough penis shots for Arthur Gies to salivate over.

[Neo_Zeed]

Polygon is just being Polygon. They obviously docked it for click bait reasons.

[jmac53]

Polygon needs to stop playing and rating video games and focus on watching and rating feminist documentaries.

[Solid_Penguin-64]

This guy is spreading feminist propaganda disguised as a "review" and a poor disguise at that as half of it is nothing more than SJW bullsh*t. For example, he claims that one major focus of the game is "explicit violence directed against women" yet conveniently fails to acknowledge the incredibly high male to female killed ratio (but men are just disposable meat sacks anyway right so who cares?). Not to mention that male characters are sexualised in their own right, such as characters in W2 like Haggard and Letho with huge arms (nutrition ain't that good back then) and even king ziggy with full on display man boobs (but if he's fat it's not sexual right?).

This goes for most games in general as well. How many men do you HAVE to kill to complete GTA 5 and how many prostitutes? Hundreds of men in comparison to just one prostitute in a side mission. For every Bayonetta there's a shirtless Dante. Quiet? Kratos. Lara Croft? Chris Redfield. Equality is a two way street after all.

In short, websites like metacritic which average review scores should stay well away from this mess of double standards.

[aLiEnViSiToR]

*read*... and its gone.

[kraenk12]

Polygon doesn't have respect for polish literature nor the medievil setting. They are culture- and dick-less hipster wannabes, nothing more.

[thisisfred]

So this guy gives his opinion of the game, and is now being taken to task for it even though an 8 is a great score. We don't know how much of the score was effected by the sexual content.

[Allsystemgamer]

Half the review is complaining about sexualized content and this apparent oppression against women even though I've gotten Alteast 10 men slaughtered who didn't deserve it. In fact they were poor people. I've yet to kill a woman in the game yet unless you count hags which are monsters.

[thisisfred]

I mean really, it's just a game score, and now a bunch of insecure guys are all offended over points on a score because some other guy thinks it's offensive and was asked to write his opinion?

[Veneno]

And now YOU sound offendend that some are offended by what polygon was offended by.

[MoB21]

Nice article

[Mr Marvel]

1 point should be added for each boob imo.

Seriously though, as long as everything fits within the context of the game, who cares?!

I've only read part of The Last Wish, played about 20-30 hours of The Witcher and only about an hour or two of The Witcher 2, but sex seems to be part of the Witcher lore.

[Takwin]

Polygon pisses me off. I DON'T WANT SOCIAL COMMENTARY IN MY REVIEWS.

I want:
1. Enjoyment
2. Story
3. Graphics
4. Innovation
5. Replayability
6. Co-op / online capability

[mydyingparadiselost]

Oh look, it's a midget on stilts and he just keeps falling over, again and again and again.... Oh, never mind, it's another Polygon article, my mistake.

[KryptoniteTail]

The only thing worse than a Polygon article is the type of idiot defending it.

[SunnyZ]

If polygon are such uptight pricks about sex and nudity they should have played the censored version...

[iTechHeads]

Its not about being uptight. It's about know when to not cross that line.

Game of Thrones for example is a show that I personally think completely overdoes the sex/nudity. I don't know why but they do. I guess they have some sort of reputation for being a software porn channel or something

[Solid_Penguin-64]

Humans have sex all the time so to expect people in times of war to not have it when they could very well die the next day is rather unrealistic.

[iTechHeads]

If the sexualization of characters is done in an unnecessary way that doesn't make sense for the game, then that's fine.

[JusticeSoulTuna]

I respect that the author was sex positive, so that's cool. Good article overall. The bar for 'sexualization' is set so low that even fully clothed women are too much if even a bit of skin is showing. So I'm glad this article called Polygon out on its bs

[TheHaloGuy]

Double standards. Violence = Sweet!
Sex = Eeeeew yuck!
People = Brainwashed morons

[hazelamy]

you didn't bother to read the review did you?

"The Witcher 3's expanded cast of characters doesn't preclude more screen time for just about everyone, and CD Projekt has done work to make for more interesting, influential women that feel just a bit more fleshed out than they've been previously. This includes a number of powerful women with complicated motivations and goals of their own.

That said, the world CD Projekt has created is oppressively misogynist. In some ways, the game deals directly with this — characters acknowledge again and again that it's hard to be a woman there, that it's a place of violence and terror and that women must work harder to be recognized and respected.

Then it kills them, over and over. There are several monster types devoted to murdered and wronged women whom Geralt is frequently asked to destroy, and other villainous characters are shown torturing or even butchering women to show just how evil they are. One sequence seemed specifically designed to see how long I could listen to a major female character have her fingernails pulled out before I ended the conversation to attack the individual in question. A later scene shows a villain literally surrounded by the bodies of murdered prostitutes.

In another, a character who admitted to beating his wife so badly she miscarried is given an opportunity to explain why she had it coming, complete with a sympathetic conversation response option to go with it. The performances all around in this scene are excellent, the presentation among the best, most reined in anywhere in the game, but the message I saw it conveying was abhorrent.

I get that the setting of The Witcher 3 is meant to be a dark, dirty fantasy. But in a world that so explicitly goes out of its way to build a believable, distinctive take on the genre, the inclusion of so much violence explicitly directed against women feels like a clear, disconcerting choice. It's not just present, it's frequently a focus."

[mikemill333]

They may have acknowledged that CD Projekt Red has created more interesting female characters with complicated motives, which is great. Their review should have focused more on that.

That is what this article is about. How Polygon has some decent points like the one about more influential female characters and then loses all its credibility by ripping on the game for including Ciri's bra strap and saying there is a problem with violence against women in the game but not violence against men or violence in general.

Yes, there is violence against women. CD wanted to portray a real, gritty medieval fantasy world filled with the problems those people faced. There is violence against men as well. Geralt is constantly hacking them apart. Or doesn't that matter because women are pure and precious and men are meatbags? I think there is even a scene where you get a child hung by the neck if you choose a certain dialogue option. I guess ripping off a woman's fingernails is worse than cutting off unlimited men's heads and hanging a child, according to Polygon.

The miscarriage thing? This game prides itself on moral ambiguity and often times there is no way out. Both choices will end in harm to characters in the game. The player is supposed to feel the loss and sorrow that this gritty world begets. It treats players like actual mature adults instead of just bearing the M rating on the back of the box and including a patronizing relationship sim.

Does the Polygon reviewer really get tat the setting of the Witcher 3 is meant to be a dark, dirty fantasy? I don't think he does.

And calling out the female nudity but not male nudity is crazy. Why is it sexualization for a woman to be naked but not when Geralt is naked in the tub. Why can a woman not have an appealing body when geralt has a six-pack?

No, Polygon could have had a mature discussion about the mature themes portrayed in this game but instead decided to grovel like children because they can't handle the female form.

[Drithe]

If you read ANYTHING by Polygon you should stick your head in the toilet and flush it, realizing how ignorant you really are.

[Dyldog69]

I'd like an order of sex please with a sleep and cuddling on the side, and can you hold the viloence on that please?

[Subaruwrx]

It seems that the reviewer doesn't know the difference between gratuitous sex, misogyny and violence and contextual sex, misogyny and violence. If the violence, sex etc in a game is believable because of the world it exists in, then it is not a misogynistic game.

[hazelamy]

yeah, picking out one little part of something to push your agenda?

like a whole article where you claim calling out the oversexualisation of women in the game is wrong and brushing over the review's comments about violence towards women.

take a look and see if the review is as focused on the sexualisation the way the writer of this article is.

this is a section of the review, which i doubt many here will have actually read before commenting.

"The Witcher 3's expanded cast of characters doesn't preclude more screen time for just about everyone, and CD Projekt has done work to make for more interesting, influential women that feel just a bit more fleshed out than they've been previously. This includes a number of powerful women with complicated motivations and goals of their own.

That said, the world CD Projekt has created is oppressively misogynist. In some ways, the game deals directly with this — characters acknowledge again and again that it's hard to be a woman there, that it's a place of violence and terror and that women must work harder to be recognized and respected.

Then it kills them, over and over. There are several monster types devoted to murdered and wronged women whom Geralt is frequently asked to destroy, and other villainous characters are shown torturing or even butchering women to show just how evil they are. One sequence seemed specifically designed to see how long I could listen to a major female character have her fingernails pulled out before I ended the conversation to attack the individual in question. A later scene shows a villain literally surrounded by the bodies of murdered prostitutes.

In another, a character who admitted to beating his wife so badly she miscarried is given an opportunity to explain why she had it coming, complete with a sympathetic conversation response option to go with it. The performances all around in this scene are excellent, the presentation among the best, most reined in anywhere in the game, but the message I saw it conveying was abhorrent.

I get that the setting of The Witcher 3 is meant to be a dark, dirty fantasy. But in a world that so explicitly goes out of its way to build a believable, distinctive take on the genre, the inclusion of so much violence explicitly directed against women feels like a clear, disconcerting choice. It's not just present, it's frequently a focus.
When they're not being murdered, women in The Witcher 3 are comically sexualized. Nudity is everywhere — think Game of Thrones on HBO — and even when they're dressed, female leads don't have it much better. One character, the subject of an extended series of side quests and whom plays a fairly important role in advancing the story wears a dress with a neckline so wide I was pretty sure I was seeing an areola every time she turned to the side (no, seriously).

Other moments are truly worthy of eye-rolling — as when one male character criticizes a woman for going into battle with her shirt hanging open, which is really the snake eating its own tail of video game sexism in a game where a significant portion of its speaking female characters are similarly and impractically exposed. Even Ciri, a daughter figure for Geralt and someone revealed to be incredibly powerful in her own right, walks around with her shirt unbuttoned in the middle, with a pretty clear view of a bra underneath — even when her attire changes to feature a fur-lined collar in colder climates."

i gotta admit though, complaining about Ciri showing a bit of bra is a weak point in the review.

[WizzroSupreme]

Since when did a site not have a right to writing its own reviews and since when did gamers spend more time fighting about it online and not playing the game it was about? Are people stuck on the Witcher 3 this early?