#but yeahhhhhhhhh it was such a bad move to make shionne that off putting

[1eos]

Wanted to ask: how is Arise as a whole? I love the demo but when I started playing the actual game I thrown by the slavery plot (my fault for not researching). I want to give it another try but that pink is giving me a racist vibe. Does it let up?

oh no i get u 100% when i booted it up and it said 'slaves' i was like HUH? no way....like no way....but so far (im like 30 hrs in) its avoided every common pitfall of fantasy slave narratives. the slaves don't all look a certain way and the slavers don't all look a certain way which i was worried abt. and the enslaved ppl havent done anything to 'deserve' being enslaved which i was also worried abt. everyone reacts to the pink haired elite girl w a correct amount of suspicion and teammates are chastised not for not trusting her but moreso for arguing when theyre abt to be like bombed 😭😭😭😭and the game does a really good job hammering home that no matter how much the pink haired girl helps them the slavers are overall the enemy. and in the arc im in now i was surprised bc they made a 'good' lord and then revealed that his 'benevolence' at the time was purely selfish. its surprisingly nuanced. even in the realm where other enslaved ppl help turn in other slaves theyre painted as victims who deserve to be redeemed and only the slavers don't

as someone who has a LOT of complaints abt slave narratives in video games (see my beef w dragon age) i don't have much to complain abt w arise. which is shocking bc i was VERY wary. they even made sure to never look down on slaves who didnt fight back and a character tells the main guy that survival is all u can do sometimes and that's ok. its hella clunky at times but ppl who are racist fr get killed like w no exception

the only iffy thing is the pink haired girl. she is VERY off putting and i can tell she's just a tsundere for justifiable plot reasons but it does come off as her being racist which is uhhhh. but as u progress u realize she don't like anyone slaver or enslaved and i THINK the story is going to push her to address her implicit biases and open up so she doesn't come off as a cunt. bc she is the first one to swing on a slaver so its very clear that she's pro liberation even if she's a tsundere that makes it seem like she's only doing everything for herself and like i said other characters are quick to drag her. so that probably will be the main thing that bothers you but once u get past the first 1 and a half story beats that part of her personality takes a back seat for better parts of the narrative

im glad i went in blind bc if i had known i probably wouldnt have bought it bc of how wary i am abt slavery plots but so far? im not mad at it and ive been really pleasantly surprised at how well things have been handled???