#Joey seems sweet and all but we could have had a shield maiden instead and that is a trade I would make in a heart beat

[leftistfanenboii]

So I have been playing Children of Morta and there are a lot of things I really enjoy about. I haven't quite finished the story mode

LET ME REPEAT THAT: I LIKE A LOT OF THINGS ABOUT CHILDREN OF MORTA! I LOVE A LOT OF THE GAME PLAY AND CONCEPTS GOING ON IN THIS GAME! ITS A BEAUTIFUL GAME AS WELL!

However... (do not pass this point if you are not up for dealing with criticism of the game, especially with a feminist lens)

The writing for the women and girls in the game is kind of awful. At least that I have seen so far

Mary is so chronically ill that she had to leave Lucy in the care of Margeret for years, and yet she is still having another kid. In fact, her whole character boils down to the sickly wife and the occasionally nay saying mother. Narratively, there isn't anything else to her, and in game mechanics, there is nothing to do with her. In a game about family, somehow, the mother is sidelined.

Sheila, the only woman mentioned so far at all to be a physical close combat fighter, never makes even an appearance and is, in fact, dead. Her death and the introduction of her son are used as a reason for character growth for Uncle Ben.

Margeret is supposed to be the matriarch to the family, and at least narratively and mechanically, there is a decent amount to actually back this up. Her upgrades from the book of Rhea are an important mechanic to progress. Her cutscenes consistently show her as knowledgeable and an authority in the family. She is still somewhat static, but she is shown to be consistently impacted by the revelations that have been made about the Corruption. However, she still has limited impact to the storyline for the family members compared to Ben, and her role as a magical herbalist and religious scholar are also overdone roles for older women characters.

All the playable girls (unless the final character I haven't unlocked yet goes against this trend. I am betting money that is not the case) are ranged fighters only. Lucy as a mage and Linda as an archer, which are some of the most common roles that women in media are put into. We rarely see, if ever, a woman in media that is allowed to be physically strong on par with her masculine counterparts, especially not in some way where she isn't damseled, killed, violated, or made palatable to male audiences. In fact, even Lucy and Linda both are made chickified by things such as their hobbies being music and art.

Lucy had to go through a whole trial to show she was ready to join the fight, while Kevin simply snuck out to prove himself with very little consequence for terrifying the family. Linda also sneaks out but only to join her father on his investigation at the start of the game and immediately return home.

All of these things separately, I could write off, but with these elements combined, it really comes off like the game has an issue devaluing the women in the Bergson family. It likely wasn't a conscious decision on the part of the writers. That is the insidious thing about patriarchal culture or any other cultural absorption of prejudice, you can unconsciously perpetuate it. However, it has been something grating at me while playing the game.