Dishonored 2 and the Reveal of Emily Kaldwin

I’m not sure why I call myself such an unapologetic fan of Bethesda Softworks and all their related arms; I played Skyrim a while, but found it mostly boring, I won’t touch Elder Scrolls Online, and if you mention The Evil Within, I will set off on an hour-long rant about stealth mechanics and shock value. But mention Fallout (really, any Fallout) or Oblivion, and I get starry-eyed; I played those games for huge swaths of time, ignoring problems and issues that might have made me stop with other games, because they were just fun.

Dishonored, though, is a whole different deal, one that marked the moment when I put Bethesda (maybe mostly Arkane Studios) on a special pedestal in my heart; that game was, for me, a spectacular experience in rightness, with all the tools necessary for fluid gameplay well-mapped to the controller, a dynamic, changeable world, and a setting I wanted to be a part of even when it was ugly or tragic. I know Dishonored isn’t a perfect game (is there such a thing?), but I would probably fistfight over it in the right moment. What I’m saying here is I’m serious about Dishonored, and I say that because I want my position regarding these games to be very clear. I’m excited. I’m thrilled, even, to see Fallout 4 (with male and female character options, both voiced) and Dishonored 2 shown at E3 yesterday. E3 could not get much better for me at this point. I say all this, too, because when I dreamed, in my secret heart of hearts, for a sequel to Dishonored, I would always think: wouldn’t it be cool if Emily was the lead? It made sense in terms of story, for her to carry on the ol’ family tradition, but I never thought I would actually see Emily as the lead.

emily-dishonoredAnd lo, she is. Sorta. Players can choose to play as Emily, featured in the trailer, or Corvo, as the creatives from Arkane Studios pointed out in the Bethesda conference. The focus is on Emily in the trailer, though, and that’s amazing. It looks wonderful. Emily appears just as strong and capable as Corvo. She’s pretty, but also hard; this Emily looks like she can take on very dark job of reclaiming the empire. She’s fully dressed and doesn’t seem to be overtly sexualized in the trailer. This is exactly the kind of thing I want. So why does it also feel kind of disheartening?

I keep watching and rewatching the trailer, noting the careful editing. There are many moments from player perspective, moments reminiscent of roof-scrabbling gameplay, in which we really only saw Corvo’s hands in action. But here there are also distance shots of a dark figure, a coat whipping dramatically in the end, booted feet running nimbly toward destruction. Only when Emily’s name is revealed do we see her. Why? To me, it was obvious from moment one; I gasped, because I knew then: that figure was feminine, and so very quickly, the avoidance of her face and identity felt tiresome. Show me, I thought. Show me what I already know.

 

I keep coming back to three ways to read this approach, the first being simple drama, and if that’s the case, it fell flat for me. Game looks great, trailer, meh. But it could have also been a wow moment, designed to be a big reveal, a gotcha! over the idea that a woman was out there kicking ass and shadow-taking names. I keep wondering, though, if it wasn’t a little more pragmatic and insidious than that. Look how cool this game is, the trailer says; it looks even better than the first one. Look at these walls and obstacles. Look at the art style and the badass combat. Are you hooked yet? Interested? Oh, by the way, you did all that as a woman and since you already got excited, that means it’s okay. You don’t lose any dude cred for liking it. (And if you’re worried, well, don’t be; you can still play as Corvo).

I’m torn here, I really am. I’m more excited about this game than I’ve been for any title in a long time, but these nagging thoughts won’t go away. I saw so many people celebrating Bethesda on social media, particularly men, lauding the company for having the courage to put a woman at the forefront of the announcement (it was announced, of course, by men). Other men were saying it shouldn’t be a big deal, but it is, and either way, Bethesda’s great and so’s Emily. Huzzah!  And each new tweet served as a reminder that this is fucking revolutionary. A woman, fully dressed and kicking ass, and with short hair? The risk! The drama! Shut up, sexists, people were saying, let’s all enjoy this moment, this great step forward!

And there’s the source of my bitterness: that this is a step forward, and a big one. That it has to be. That we hadn’t moved here already. That we’re still mentioning the same handful of games when we talk about representation and diversity. That this game will now just be part of that list.

We can’t get to a future in which diversity of protagonists (which requires more than just the occasional woman) is so common that it doesn’t seem like a thrilling shock without going through the moment in which it is. That’s the hard moment we’re in, and I’m grateful things are changing, grateful for myself and grateful for my children, who will maybe grow up gaming in an era of greater representation. Maybe we’ll get something really surprising, like a black woman helming a major release, or an ass-kicking mom. Maybe next year, we’ll move even further forward. Maybe someday, a character like Emily Kaldwin won’t be a big deal at all. There are more female-led games being discussed during this year’s show, with games like Mirror’s Edge Catalyst and Rise of the Tomb Raider, so maybe over the next few days, some of this will subside, but with such a desperate need for greater representation across genders, races, sexuality, and more, it’s not likely this particular Rome will be built in the space of a few days.

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