Crystal Dynamics and the Embracer Group give consumers an ultimatum, you can have your “problematic” pointy boobs so long as you acknowledge and accept that you’ve lost the culture war.
It has only taken but a couple of years after fleecing Crystal Dynamics, alongside the Tomb Raider franchise from Square Enix for the Embracer Group to finally make use of their acquisition with a remastered rendition of the original Tomb Raider trilogy.
The remake boasts significantly enhanced textures and visuals, yet it deviates from the original’s aesthetic in my personal opinion. While some may still favor the originals, others will lean towards the less colorful albeit less blocky example set by the remake.
However, the most striking disparity undoubtedly lies in the superior quality of the 3D model portraying Lara Croft.
Though the character may have faded from memory, Lara Croft was once the epitome of video gaming as a whole. She was representation that women in games could be both powerful yet feminine. These tropes have since been surpassed by more progressive and ESG-friendly character designs, because of course beauty is a sin while these same “gamers” praise Baldur’s Gate 3 which contains sex scenes with an actual bear.
Certainly, in today’s era, the original Lara Croft titles would likely face criticism from SJWs and feminist invaders. However, one might anticipate these games to undergo censorship to cater to the “wider audience” that does not actually exist.
Thankfully not, however as is commonplace with gutless re-releases of games from a bygone and diverse-free era, the developers are still doing all that they can to generate a positive ESG scoring for products that can be perceived as problematic.
Which is why companies such as Capcom and Konami have been shoehorning warning disclaimers inside of re-releases of older games that acknowledges aspects such as “insensitive cultural depictions” or “outdated content.”
It’s the publishers way of understanding that games made during a time where modern society wasn’t forced to cater exclusively to man-hating feminists or pronouns, can be deemed insensitive as games were designed for the enjoyment of players rather than to tick as many progressive checkboxes as possible.
So it comes as no surprise that Embracer, the owners of the Tomb Raider franchise have deemed it necessary to do something similar when it comes to Lara Croft, a character loathed by feminist for having the audacity to have boobs and be attractive.
The remastered version of Tomb Raider 1-3 begins with a content warning, acknowledging that the trilogy contains “offensive depictions of people and cultures rooted in racial and ethnic prejudices.“
Because of course, the players are too stupid and ill-mannered to make important decisions for themselves, necessitating being told by corporations on what is deemed right and wrong.
This critique extends to the entire series, suggesting that the core elements of puzzle-solving, exploring ancient ruins, and tombs are inherently racist and constructed upon ethnic stereotypes.
While Crystal Dynamics did not explicitly outline which aspects of the games prompted the content warning, it is possible that it pertains to the portrayal of South Pacific islanders in Tomb Raider 3.
These tribal characters, depicted as potentially cannibalistic, are armed with pointed axes and blowguns that shoot poison darts. They engage in battle with Lara Croft, emitting animalistic death cries when defeated.
The message emphasizes that these depictions are deemed “inexcusable” but have been retained to recognize their “deeply harmful” nature.
However, I believe that the corporate bastards responsible for enforcing such a stringent and inaccurate disclaimer should take the time to familiarize themselves with the North Sentinel Island tribesmen. If they disagree then it becomes evident that they were the true racists all along.
The disclaimer further mentions, “Rather than removing this content, we have chosen to present it here in its original form, unaltered, in the hopes that we may acknowledge its harmful impact and learn from it.“
I am certain that among these so-called past mistakes lies the necessity to engage in combat with a T-Rex in Peru. I can fully grasp how this action could be viewed as offensive, racist, and stereotypical.
Essentially, this can be interpreted as corporate PR language indicating no censorship on the surface. However, it subtly implies that the entire game is inherently problematic and suggests that purchasing the game makes you complicit in perpetuating bigotry.
I’ve decided to pass on this game. If I were to revisit the original trilogy, I’d prefer experiencing them in their original format on PC or, if necessary, through PlayStation 1 emulation. I refuse to support what I perceive as senseless catering to social media trends.
This entire situation revolves around Crystal Dynamics and their collaborators attempting to profit from nostalgia while simultaneously labeling these older games as problematic and offensive.
They face a dilemma: censor the game and risk failure, or leave it unchanged, which requires virtue signaling about its alleged offensiveness, racism, or other buzzwords.
This allows them to save face and maintain their ESG score while releasing a product that supposedly embodies all these negative traits.
Certainly, while censorship and cutting content is absolutely worse, it’s still valid to criticize this racial disclaimers for what they really are, cringeworthy bullshit.
The message comes across as a company feigning shame for the content they’re desperate to profit from, displaying remorse while continuing to exploit it for financial gain, I for one will not be giving them my money.
