A Dash of Bechdel Test?

Sounds like something that wouldn't be needed at all.

If characters are going to be around to talk be made and/or talk to each other it should be something that happens naturally, not something that happens because the need to fill a quota.  I'm really hating the current trend of people trying to shoehorn stuff like this into video games.

This doesn't mean that im opposed to more female characters, what I'm opposed to is people trying shove stuff specifically like this everywhere nowadays.

All this would do is limit what characters could and couldn't talk about as there are plot important male characters and it would make sense for them to be brought up in conversations due to whatever reason.

That is unless im completely misunderstanding what this is about.  Then by all means feel free to correct me.

I think IGA said he wanted to have at least six major characters over the course of the narrative. With Miriam, Gebel, Johannes and Zangetsu, we still have at least two slots left. Being set in England/Europe, I'm thinking a Witch character (Harry Potter, Little Witch Academia vibes) might be super cool. Or perhaps a true scientist to contrast Johannes and his alchemy. I recall IGA saying Zangetsu was originally a knight instead of a samurai so if he still wanted a knight character that could be a direction to go. There are a lot of ways to go about it.

The Bechdel Test doesn't say that two women can't ever talk about a man, just that they have to be able to do something, anything else. It's just a demonstration that the women are actual characters in themselves with their own goals and aren't just reflections of or satellites that orbit the male characters in question. It's not really a limitation because, honestly, if your narrative can't even pass the Bechdel Test, then you are barely even trying. Like it takes no effort at all to pass. So little effort in fact that many pieces of work that do pass the test, still have big problems with overt or subconscious sexism. Works that pass the Bechdel Test can still paint women in a bad light.

At the end of the day, all the OP is asking for is for more prominent female characters in the Bloodstained narrative.

I don't think folks are saying the game HAS to pass the Bechdel test, Dvv The OP said it might be cool, and other folks are saying it might be nice. Nobody's saying its a requirement or a dealbreaker. I agree that having characters to fill a quota wouldn't be good, but if they can add a couple more interesting female characters in an organic way, I think that's something to shoot towards. Like they mentioned in the PAX panel, everybody loves demon-butt-kicking heroines

I wanted to post my opinion, even if Gooby and Dvv already said everything that I would. While it was the first time that I hear about Bechdel Test, it already sound stupid and outdated IMO. Now before you start to stone me, let me explaiin why.

It says that there must be 2 women, without taking in account the size of the cast. If there is only one man and one woman it wouldn't pass the test automatically, even if she was the protagonist and never acted like a frail woman or some other stereotype. Now if there is like 100 men and 2 girls, it wouldn't be "fair", but could pass this test. This shows the fallacy on this, and while someone can come and say "But hey! You're taking it too directly, you could think of it as...", I say no, because this isn't my fault that people are choosing blindly a outdated source without renewing it, it is simply broken. Why it is broke? Quotas.

You see, I don't think that quotas are the solution, I'm all for equality in general, all areas, a equal world is what I want. But when people use things like quotas, it can affect the originality of the story and enforce even more stereotypes. Why? Because you aren't adding a character because you thought about something cool for him, you will be adding it because of a quota and then after you will try to think how to put it in the story, it is the wrong order.

Writers should've their freedom to make the best story possible, not be restrained because of a "test".

Now claryfing my opinion, yes, I would like if they added 1 or 2 more female characters. If possible a fight with her would be cool, since I expected to battle Celia in DoS and everyone knows why we didn't had this chance...

Exactly my point.  You said it a bit better then I did if I had to say so.

Just one bit of dialogue would do the trick; not an all-encompassing theme looming and dictating the direction of the game itself, of course. 


The point of being able to pass the Bechdel test wouldn't be to hinder the narrative and change the entire direction of the game. The only thing it needs to have in order to pass the Bechdel Test is one conversation. The new Mad Max, for example, passes the Bechdel Test with flying colors. 

The reason why this is important thing to include for many people is that women often aren't depicted in narratives as having any internal drives beyond that of a male character. Though "getting the girl" is often the motive for many a male's role, in narratives, men often concentrate on other things, have other friends of the same gender, and don't exclusively talk about women. True female representation in entertainment is thin. 

At present, it appears as though Miriam is the only female character. The fact that the game revolves around a female protagonist is pretty damn progressive and awesome in and of itself, so that's cool. Also, I am not saying that the game will automatically be a piece of garbage for not passing the Bechdel Test; I'm sure the game will be excellent regardless, but it would just be cool is all. I mean, this game, already, has broken ground in many different ways, so why not tick one more bit of progressive awesomeness to the list?

Oh, yes of course. A thing still has the potential to be rubbish even if it passes the Bechdel Test; it's no official seal of quality. I mean, the 50 Shades of Grey movie technically passes the Bechdel test, but that doesn't make it good. 

An academic witch character would be fantastic!!

And yes, thank you for elaborating on the general purpose of the Bechdel Test. 

It is totally natural for characters to talk about characters regardless of gender, but there TONS of narratives that, as simple as it may seem to include, don't pass the Bechdel Test; there aren't two female characters, both with names, whom talk about a subject that isn't a man. 

I've never had a real hard time with finding ways to empathize or identify with any given character in any video game, but women, although considerably statistically active in gaming, still feel polarized in an industry where, mainly, men get to make up stories without the courtesy of giving much though to the character development of the female characters. Sure, things are changing A LOT, and sure, even if Miriam ends up being the only girl, the game is sure to be completely awesome. It would just be nice is all. Like, literally all it would take is a female merchant and Miriam talking about business for a line or two. That wouldn't be too obvious or pushy, I feel. 

Hear, hear.