5. You Can Find Anything Sexy
There's no questioning that Lara Croft is the premiere feminist icon of video game lore; even if she began her life as an absurdly-proportioned character who catered more to male fantasy than presenting a strong female role model, she was still an able, kick-ass, strong-willed character who probably helped more than a few women get into gaming. However, you need only remember back to the mid-to-late nineties, when every boy and their brother was trying to find out how to activate the nude cheat for Tomb Raider, proof that, yes, blocky slabs of skin-like texture are, apparently, sexy. While it might be a tad more understandable these days, given the huge advancement in technology providing developers with the opportunity to make a physically convincing human, it still doesn't make us look all that good, does it? Some might argue it's no different from finding a model appealing - in that they're not a "real" person, just an idealised version of that - but given the absurd, arguably sexist attributes video game females so often uphold - look no further than the prevailing physical characteristics in the Dead or Alive and Soul Calibur games - it makes games still seem like an "art" form pandering to horny young teens. Hopefully the impending Tomb Raider reboot, which seems to tone down Lara's flagrant sexuality in favour of a more authentic, gritty approach, should provide her with a little more human agency and less status as simply something to ogle.