4 ms·

> little more than an admiration delivery device Actually if anything she was the primary driver of the plot. Freeman, being a passive mute, follows what Alyx

> little more than an admiration delivery device Actually if anything she was the primary driver of the plot. Freeman, being a passive mute, follows what Alyx and co are doing for the majority of the plot(s).

on_and_off 7y ago
What does she like ? Why does she fall in love with the mute player character at first sight ? Don't she already have relationships ? What exactly does she find attractive in that mute guy that appears and disappear ? She is here to as a reward/carrot for teenage boys, not as a full fledged character with her own wants and needs :/
- leetcrew 7y ago
  to be fair, I haven't actually played the game in a while, but I think you are reading a lot into alyx that isn't really there. I don't remember having the impression that alyx was in love with Gordon or really picking up on any sexual tension at all.
  - on_and_off 7y ago
    It must have been a while :-) , because it was there. one quote I do remember is her dad telling Gordon and Alyx to start working on giving him grandchildren now that the neuteuring field is off. here are 2 articles with more details on Alyx in case you are curious. https://electriccartilage.wordpress.com/2014/08/21/alyx-vance-is-not-a-strong-nor-well-written-female-character/ https://electriccartilage.wordpress.com/2014/08/21/alyx-vanc... https://onemorecontinue.com/alyx-vance-half-life-2/ https://onemorecontinue.com/alyx-vance-half-life-2/ (tbh I only skimmed them right now .. and I unhearthed them with the totally biased "alyx bad character" web search, although I remember reading the second link when it came out)
    - leetcrew 7y ago
      I read the first article you linked. I guess I was really oblivious as a teenager; I just thought of alyx as a more convincing friend than most video game sidekicks. as an aside, I don't think all the screenshots with 3rd party alyx models were necessary to make the point.
- 0xcde4c3db 7y ago
  > Why does she fall in love with the mute player character at first sight ? Don't she already have relationships ? To be fair, it's heavily implied that Gordon Freeman is literally legendary among the resistance by that point. It's not a stretch that she'd at least be a bit star-struck. But yeah, I'm always disappointed when I see Alyx near the top of "strong female character" rankings. Sure, she clears the bar for "character", which is better than ~95% of portrayals of women in video games, but that's not saying much.
  - on_and_off 7y ago
    >I see Alyx near the top of "strong female character" rankings That might be what makes me uncomfortable. badly written game characters are legion but this one that is often quoted as an example of great female character to replicate. Sure she is dressed realistically and does not have enormous breasts, and that puts her apart most of her counterparts of the time but strong character ? really ?
- retsibsi 7y ago
  Some of this might depend on expectations. Perhaps she was a surprisingly well-drawn character by the standards of FPS NPCs, without breaking the mould completely -- like any comparable character, she was player-focused and very two-dimensional compared with any major character in a decent book.

on_and_off 7y ago

What does she like ? Why does she fall in love with the mute player character at first sight ? Don't she already have relationships ? What exactly does she find attractive in that mute guy that appears and disappear ? She is here to as a reward/carrot for teenage boys, not as a full fledged character with her own wants and needs :/

leetcrew 7y ago
to be fair, I haven't actually played the game in a while, but I think you are reading a lot into alyx that isn't really there. I don't remember having the impression that alyx was in love with Gordon or really picking up on any sexual tension at all.
- on_and_off 7y ago
  It must have been a while :-) , because it was there. one quote I do remember is her dad telling Gordon and Alyx to start working on giving him grandchildren now that the neuteuring field is off. here are 2 articles with more details on Alyx in case you are curious. https://electriccartilage.wordpress.com/2014/08/21/alyx-vance-is-not-a-strong-nor-well-written-female-character/ https://electriccartilage.wordpress.com/2014/08/21/alyx-vanc... https://onemorecontinue.com/alyx-vance-half-life-2/ https://onemorecontinue.com/alyx-vance-half-life-2/ (tbh I only skimmed them right now .. and I unhearthed them with the totally biased "alyx bad character" web search, although I remember reading the second link when it came out)
  - leetcrew 7y ago
    I read the first article you linked. I guess I was really oblivious as a teenager; I just thought of alyx as a more convincing friend than most video game sidekicks. as an aside, I don't think all the screenshots with 3rd party alyx models were necessary to make the point.
0xcde4c3db 7y ago
> Why does she fall in love with the mute player character at first sight ? Don't she already have relationships ? To be fair, it's heavily implied that Gordon Freeman is literally legendary among the resistance by that point. It's not a stretch that she'd at least be a bit star-struck. But yeah, I'm always disappointed when I see Alyx near the top of "strong female character" rankings. Sure, she clears the bar for "character", which is better than ~95% of portrayals of women in video games, but that's not saying much.
- on_and_off 7y ago
  >I see Alyx near the top of "strong female character" rankings That might be what makes me uncomfortable. badly written game characters are legion but this one that is often quoted as an example of great female character to replicate. Sure she is dressed realistically and does not have enormous breasts, and that puts her apart most of her counterparts of the time but strong character ? really ?
retsibsi 7y ago
Some of this might depend on expectations. Perhaps she was a surprisingly well-drawn character by the standards of FPS NPCs, without breaking the mould completely -- like any comparable character, she was player-focused and very two-dimensional compared with any major character in a decent book.