The First Descendant Says No To ESG And Proves Korean Devs Have It Right

The First Descendant released an all-new trailer and fans cannot get enough. Now, if you watch the trailer, one thing will grab your attention almost immediately. I am, of course, referring to beautiful video game characters. I say characters instead of women because everyone in this game looks like supermodels. However, I will at least be honest in my assessment and state that the trailer did not garner this much attention because of the attractive men.

Gamers will always appreciate attractive video game women, and The First Descendant delivers on that. This reaction deserves a deeper dive, and I think it is worth exploring. On the surface, we already know the answer: Sex sells, and people love to look at other prettier people. However, for some reason, not everyone understands this. Thus, I think it is worth expanding on this thought. Pretty video game girls have always existed, so why has it become such a big deal these days?

That said, we cannot dive deeper into these questions without first understanding The First Descendant. While the game might sound new to you, it was released on 2 July. It is a free-to-play title from a Korean studio, Nexon. This means that they will be releasing content all the time, and what we received recently was the season 1 trailer. You can think of it in terms of Warzone or Destiny. However, I would rather say Genshin Impact, not because of the gameplay but rather because of the model of pretty video game girls. There is a lot more that I can say about this title, but I would rather talk about reactions.

The First Descendant Reaction

The fan reaction to the First Descendant went about as well as you would have expected. Both on YouTube and on Twitter, fans are really enjoying the game. Or at least I should say they really enjoy the characters. The reaction proves that attractive video game characters are and always will be a massive hit for fans. Twitter is filled with videos of players showing off their customizations. Now, obviously, this is a free-to-play game. That does open the door for some monetization issues.

However, if the pricing is fair and people are enjoying themselves, most will not mind paying for it. It is certainly better than other titles like Concord, where you must pay 40 dollars and buy in-game items. There, the characters also leave plenty to be desired. On a personal level, it is such a simple concept. You make desirable video game characters, and you will have a desirable game. Now, that is not all that there is to it, but it goes a long way. I will never know why there is so much resistance to this idea from certain individuals.

I can only assume that fighting back against the idea has become profitable. During the gamergate days, people like Anita Sarkeesian made millions crying about pretty video game girls. Now you have entire companies like Sweet Baby Inc being paid millions to consult on games and cry about pretty girls in video games. It is such a popular and profitable business model. However, you know what else is profitable? Not paying these DEI companies any money and instead going with what the customers want. I am willing to bet that The First Descendant will reach 1 Billion dollars within two years.

The Other Side

With all of that said, obviously, not every video game woman needs to be hot. Games are allowed to exist that highlight strong female characters with all of their clothes on. I have just never understood why unattractive and strong are so closely associated with each other. Whenever a DEI company talks about strong women characters, they tend also to look a particular way. Usually on the heavier side and usually extremely unappealing. Just to be clear, a person’s looks have nothing to do with how strong or brave they are.

But the people who push for stronger female characters who are more than just the way they look seem to think that in order for you to be strong, you also need to be unappealing. All the women in The First Descendant are complete badasses. However, those who push against it will argue that they are not simply because they are also attractive or because their focus is on their beauty as well. This is despite the fact that it is not only men who focus on women’s beauty but also women who focus on it.

The counterargument against that will, of course, be that when women do it, they are empowering themselves. However, when men do it, they are objectifying. I cannot say that this argument is completely incorrect. All that I can say is that these characters are completely customizable. If I want to play and dress my character in a sexy outfit because I think it is hot, then I should be free to do so. If you want to play and gear your character to the gills because you think it is more appropriate, then you are also free to do so.

Conclusion

In the end, I think it is important to note that not every game is going to be for everyone. There is a world that can exist for video games like this that play into desires, and there is a world that exists where you can focus more on the character instead of the appearance. Those games will just simply always be a harder sell because, at the end of the day, people will always want to play with the games that highlight the pretty people.