3. Oversexualized Character Designs
This point is anything but startling considering we all saw the female sniper Quiet during the E3 reveal trailer whom erotically traverses a battlefield in a revealing bra with nice cleavage. Its Kojimas recent statements of ordering Artistic Designer Yoji Shinkawa to sexualize both the male and female characters that has stirred strong media reactions on both sides of the fence. Personally, this doesnt really bother me as Kojimas characters have always been quirkily designed with completely ridiculous outfits serving no tactical advantage whatsoever, outside of Snakes usual attire. Its strictly an aesthetic choice and if Kojima says theres reasoning behind Quiet's erotic attire then Ill reserve my judgment. What I find hypocritical though are Western designers such as Halos David Ellis calling out the decision as tasteless when Cortana gets a cybernetic boob job with each new Halo game. Realistically, Western franchises including Dragon Age, Fallout, Dead Space, God of War, and more are just as guilty but you dont see their developers whining. MGS is a franchise that occasionally tastefully and humorously portrays homoeroticism and gay characters too. In a now iconic sequence during MGS 2, Raiden finds himself completely naked cupping his balls while sneaking around doing cartwheels to locate stolen gear. This is just Kojima being Kojima and nothing more. The only ones shaming the industry are those that feel obligated to white knight anything that can possibly be perceived as sexist because we live in an age where equal rights has had its meaning blown out of proportion into a weapon for personal gain.