Aloy’s Awkward Romance In Burning Shores Is Just What She Needed

Aloy's fumbling awkwardness around romance is a nice change from her heroic day job.

[H9]

I mean every news outlet celebrated Guerrilla saying that Aloy have no time for romance before the first game and now they celebrate her having romance, it's not like she finished saving the world completely or anything she is still in her journey

[Sonic1881]

Ain't this a spolier? And what if you decided not to kiss her. There's a different cutscene if you don't choose to kiss her

[H9]

The developer already said themselves that it isn't done so not really a spoiler, and I am talking about how journalists did a 180 about Aloy not needing romance just because it's a lesbian one

[closed_account]

Yea, I'd say for those up in arms about this, you have the option to not move forward with the romance. Not much different from Dragon Age or Mass Effect 15 years ago. You don't have to make it part of the story if you don't want.

[Lexreborn2]

Well the notion it's optional that doesn't seem to be put into perspective is probably more alarming. I personally don't care what direction Aloy is taken in as long as it make's sense, I actually see subtle signs of her being possibly interested in women in the second one where the first showed no signs.

laying the bread crumbs is more important to the characters overall growth if that's the intention then shock value moment to just happen. Weird though that in a game that's purely about making conversational choices even if it doesn't impact the flow of the game.

Overall, who cares Aloy is a fictional character fighting robot dinosaurs in a future that is just ridiculous in nature. Why is there a hang up on her sexuality?

[Traecy]

Well said. A "make sense" comment.

[Mr Pumblechook]

I respect all people being included in games. But there should be proper labelling of games because some parents don't want their children to play games with LGBTQ+ focus. My cousin and his wife (a strict religious couple) let their daughter 11 years old play Tchia. Only to find the lead character who is TWELVE YEARS OLD have a lesbian romance and show her dad and his ex-boyfriend. I have no problem with it but don't hide LGBTQ+ content from parents - allow them to make an informed choice.

[Ashunderfire86]

Everyone forgot about Tilda relationship with Elizabeth Sobec Aloy’s original. That was a hint and everyone is calling this SJW or woke out of nowhere smh 🤦‍♂️ and it’s optional like it is optional for her to meet up with the Sun King 🤴 too. She is Bisexual then.

[Lexreborn2]

@mr pumblechook I have a 12 and 9 year old, it’s my job as a parent to get the games they play. If a game has a t for teen or pegi 12 then it’s labeled appropriately and isn’t meant for their kid. That’s on them

[VivaLaManual]

I mean, she literally had one kiss, one hug, and bolted saying she didn't know when she's see her again. She still clearly doesn't have time.

[H9]

Any kind of romance was out of the question when they were talking about how she shouldn't have time for romance, nobody gone and said it could be a tiny scene and subtle, but now it's alright, at least keep the complaining consistent

[jambola]

And a slider to lessen her repetitive dialogue/ forced puzzle hints

[SurgicalMenace]

Agreed...🤣🤣

[antikbaka]

she needed better writers

[CrimsonWing69]

I don’t see why it matters. I don’t see articles about straight relationships being “just what they needed.”

Just treat it like any relationship in a game. I don’t get why people need to get all up in arms over it nor do I get why people need to praise it like this fixed world hunger.

If you’re uncomfortable with two people kissing because they’re the same sex that’s a “you” problem. Do we need to give out awards when it happens? No, we don’t.

I get the whole being forced to view something, but how much of the game feels “agenda pushing?” If it’s just the one kiss that’s not agenda pushing. Is the kiss optional? Unless the game repeatedly pushes homosexuality and deems heterosexuality some moral sin and goes out of its way to persecute those who are straight, I don’t see the agenda pushing.

[Traecy]

Well said. Most people saying it's being pushed down their throats including saying bigoted comments have issues within themselves including being immature. It is not the 20th century in the 50s, it's 2023 get over it & move on. Don't like it don't buy it.

[Rebel_Scum]

tbf who didn't see it coming. She wears her focus on the right hand side lol.

[Abear21]

If the Games are Art then they imitate life and this most always includes romance or at least a love interest. Look at movies, there is a love interest 99.9% of the time. This isn’t social programming (Sony doesn’t make the game people, Guerrilla does so stop blaming Sony for Naughty Dog and Guerrilla’s stories) this is just the stories in games finally taking themselves seriously which is a good thing! This also means they are taking us the consumer serious too, we should demand better stories in our games. If you don’t like the story, vote with your wallet and shut up about it.

[EvertonFC]

Well said

[gold_drake]

i mean, if it was a natural connection or chemistry sure.

but it does indeed feel awkward haha

[babadivad]

No it isn't...

[poppatron]

You can argue about the merits of different types of relationships no end, I don’t really think that’s the problem. My question is why shoehorn ANY relationship in here full stop. Is it necessary?

[Elda]

Exactly. Just play a video game for its objective & keep all relationships out of it. But that's not how things are in some games that have a narrative/story, just like movies & tv series. People are people & today this world has all kinds of people so why not tell a person's story no matter what they may be. Society is always growing with people that are or will be straight, Bi or Gay. It is what it is...it's the way of the world.

[frostypants]

Nailed it.

[Doge]

Y’all here throwing a fit can just say you’re homophobic. Don’t gotta write paragraphs and playing semantics to hide it. 🤷🏻‍♂️

[Traecy]

Pretty much.

[rippermcrip]

Anyone offended by this, it was optional. You could just decline it.

[46player]

Good to know!

[Sciurus_vulgaris]

Aloy being a attracted to women shouldn’t be shocking. Aloy’s is a clone of Elizabeth Sobeck, who was clearly established as lesbian in Forbidden West .

[CantThinkOfAUsername]

Unsurprising. Anyone who paid attention to the first game would know, especially with Aloy's constant 'Ugh... Men' attitude.

Same as Jedi: Fallen Order where Merrin was hinting that she likes women. Then she kisses Cal in Survivor. While the novel already made it clear that she's a Cooking Utensil Lover.

I think people don't care about narrative-driven romances, in general. At least not as much as RPGs in which they create their own characters like Skyrim, for example. Serana, anyone?

[Elda]

I see a lot of negative comments are gone now..lol. Good for N4G taking down most of the hateful bigoted rhetoric. It's embarrassing to see most of the commenters here on this article about a fictional game with a fictional character say some disturbing & disgusting things & this is part of today's gaming community....Smh. I'm glad I don't know any of theses people personally.

[Popsicle]

Are you in favor of censorship when someone formulates an opinion that is different from your own?

[Christopher]

There's a difference between opinion and denying or ridiculing others for a difference of opinion or just in a general speech that is against those who live in a specific way. You can have an opinion. You can also not be hateful, bigoted, or ridiculing others for believing otherwise.

[Popsicle]

@Christopher while I don’t disagree with what you are saying in theory, my concern comes from questioning who is qualified to determine what the right or wrong opinions are?

Historically speaking, regimes/people that have ruled through censorship have generally been proven to land on the wrong side of history. I.E. book burnings, dehumanizing others to justify harm, etc. Regulating the thoughts of others has proven to be a dangerous game.

[Elda]

I have no problem with people having different opinions then mine. There's a difference of having different opinions & saying negative nasty bigoted rhetoric towards someone's lifestyle or who someone is attracted to because it doesn't coincides with how they live their life. Let alone saying nasty things about a fictional character & one doesn't even have to choose the kiss makes it more absurd. I've noticed several racist, misogynistic & bigoted comments on this site in certain articles especially when it touches a subject matter like in this article. One would figure people in the 21st century are much more acceptable & mature when it comes to things like this in this article but it's still a thing no matter what media outlet you get news from & that's sad. If we could all respect one another this world would be a better place.

[Duke19]

Platforms should proactively support tolerance for all groups of people. Its too easy for online forums like this to quickly devolve into a echo-chamber of hate speech with "opinions" rooted in nothing by sexism, misogyny, homophobia or just general hatred for other types of people.

Free Speech should not give people a free pass to directly promote intolerance. I'm willing to bet most if not all of the removed comments above were doing exactly that.

[PhillyDillyDee]

You mention censorship when thats the main thing people are complaining about w the relationship being portrayed in game. They dont want to see it. Meaning, theyd like it to be removed. Censoring the comments wishing the game was censored and so on and so fourth. See what im getting at?

Point is, a lot of people on here, and in the gaming community, like to get all riled up when a marginalized group gets some sort of representation in a game this popular. Crazy thing is, a lot of the people complaining are part of a group that are or were recently considered marginalized. Funny how quickly people forget what it feels like to be on the receiving end of things.

[Christopher]

***my concern comes from questioning who is qualified to determine what the right or wrong opinions are?***

Opinions are subjective. Otherwise, we'd call them facts.

***Historically speaking, regimes/people that have ruled through censorship have generally been proven to land on the wrong side of history.***

Again, no one is regulating thought. We're regulating offensive behavior.

And, this statement of yours I just quoted? Not really what's happening here. Who is ruling the gaming industry? Do we have a shadow dictator industry or is someone allowed to make a game w/o anything being discussed here? Does some games wanting to reach a broader audience mean they're controlling some sort of narrative and that others have to follow along? Let alone this is about an optional element in the game, not even required.

When you make those arguments against the multitude of games that are out there and prove it's not "a regime", it seems quite silly to have a debate with you.

[Popsicle]

@PhillyDillyDee I certainly never said that the relationship in the game should be censored. I believe that Guerrilla Games should be able to depict any type of relationship they feel is appropriate to the character in the game they are making. Likewise, I am not seeing post stating that Aloy’s lesbian relationship should be censored.

The general tone I am reading is that people are getting a tired of a specific lifestyle that is shared by a small percentage of people being over represented throughout all types of media. Maybe all the “phobic” and “bigoted” posts I keep hearing about were deleted because I am not seeing them. The phobic and bigotry words get thrown around so loosely that they start to lose their meaning.

I simply asked the OP a question pertaining to their stance on censorship (which I never got a straight answer on) because I agree with you that censorship cuts both ways. Not just in a singular direction.

[Popsicle]

@Christopher
“Opinions are subjective.” Otherwise we’d call them facts.”

This is precisely why I have concerns on regulating speech and thought. Since said regulation is subjective and therefore cannot be based in fact. It is difficult to regulate said things without bias.

To your second point:

I never even hinted at a shadow dictator or anything of the like. Though respectfully I can understand how you may have projected those thoughts onto me given I used the word regime and that several posts that I have read are discussing a broader agenda.

Knowing that depending on circumstance censorship can run both ways I was merely trying to get a better grasp on the OPs thought process on censorship overall. I felt my original post was respectful and instead of debating, I was genuinely trying to gain an understanding of the OPs thoughts.

That said, since you deem my thoughts or “debate” as you call it silly, I will spare you of any further discussion on this topic moving forward.

[masterfox]

I will just respond with my wallet, thank you Guerrilla.

[Eidolon]

I honestly didn't see it coming. Her writing was done in a way where you could basically put anyone in her role with a few tiny changes to the script(like any game with character creation/choice). Didn't read the whole thing, but AFAICT, this whole DLC isn't a lovey dovey romance story and the kiss is achieved through a heart option, right?

[moomoo319]

I was surprised cuz I played this character for 120+ hours over two games and ddnt notice her interest in women. In fact she always deftly handled male attention, like from Jarl, and even hinted that she liked the sun king. So now I am a bit confused, that was one of my favorite parts of her character.