Why are people calling this game woke?

[asheski]

The topic of race in the fantasy genre is integral to the world building of it. I don't understand what the problem is. So unless people are just trolling, I genuinely have no clue why people would say that Metaphor is woke.

[Gengisgame]

Originally posted by Sire:

I'll take the bait:

Basically because "woke" is a shorthand of "identitarian left wing politics", and it's very easy for a story about racism and oppression to go into this territory. Not all stories about this are, but in recent years they have predominantly been monopolized by leftists.

Don't like to use the term left or right, makes it tribal when it doesn't need to be be. The issue can be summed up whether it's woke or not is are those elements in the story to improve it for the customer, make the world feel more real, or are those elements in as some sort of lecture or virtue signalling.

What makes it so toxic is typically as a customer you should be free to criticize any aspect of a product, you are the one paying for it after all, companies like using woke as an excuse to attack critics and fool the more impressionable consumers into believing that they should buy the product almost as some own the "bad guys"

[The Seraph of Tomorrow]

Originally posted by Sire:

...the amount of activists that work on games companies is making this too hard. How can we differentiate both levels when we have an entire consultation company whose sole purpose is to ensure the political element is inside the game. Or worse when we have members of the localization team who have in the past been proud of altering a product for their political views.

People forget that the pendulum swings both ways, so if "activists" want to try and capture cultural spaces and corporations for their ideology instead of allowing the spaces to remain neutral. Then the only result is going to be for the pendulum to end up swinging just as hard back at them, they are inviting cultural conflict.

It would be in everyone's best interest to just not push the pendulum at all.

[Siegnis]

Nowadays if a game has any sort of social comentary or tries to tackle relatively complex issues in a sensible manner, it's called woke. The word has lost all meaning and people just use it to describe things they don't like now. absolute brainrot

Also trolls like jester farming

[allknowingeel]

I don't think the game is woke. Games like Dustborn and Concord are woke. The main issue with this game is the localizer who likes to change the context and words because she doesn't like the subject matter, she has admitted to doing this for many things. She is also someone who does like woke things, and as such people are more worried about the translation and how it will not be what the author actually wanted to show and instead show a more woke message. This is the issue people have. We just want a game that shows the authors message in a language we understand, Not what the localizer wants to shove down our throats. And people are already saying this game has had massive liberties taken with the translation. How of much of this is paranoia and how much is true is not known yet. If it is true, then I hope we get a fan patch.

[Dagný]

The localization is perfectly fine. Don't like it? learn japanese.

[Poopybutthole69]

Anti wokes are at it again. CRINGE!

[allknowingeel]

Originally posted by Dagný:

The localization is perfectly fine. Don't like it? learn japanese.

I shouldn't have to learn Japanese, it is their job to translate it for people who don't know Japanese.

[Dagný]

Originally posted by allknowingeel:

Originally posted by Dagný:

The localization is perfectly fine. Don't like it? learn japanese.

I shouldn't have to learn Japanese, it is their job to translate it for people who don't know Japanese.

Again, the localization is fine. Get off the bandwagon.

[Siegnis]

Originally posted by Dagný:

Originally posted by allknowingeel:

I shouldn't have to learn Japanese, it is their job to translate it for people who don't know Japanese.

Again, the localization is fine. Get off the bandwagon.

I'm gonna be that guy. How can you know if the localization is fine if you yourself don't know japanese. Moreover, how can you know it's fine when you haven't played the full game. I dislike anti-woke as much as anyone, but let's not talk out of our asses here lol

[Dagný]

Originally posted by Siegnis:

Originally posted by Dagný:

Again, the localization is fine. Get off the bandwagon.

I'm gonna be that guy. How can you know if the localization is fine if you yourself don't know japanese. Moreover, how can you know it's fine when you haven't played the full game. I dislike anti-woke as much as anyone, but let's not talk out of our asses here lol

Because I've seen the images people post comparing raw translations with the localization and they're mostly the same for most new games people like to whine about.

I'll never forget the ,,what is true about the morning sun?" Unicorn Overlord guy on XTwitter. Pure comedy.

[Ruru]

Like the words "Nazi or Fascist" the word Woke has lost all meaning at present time. Ignore it and discern for yourself.

[allknowingeel]

Originally posted by Dagný:

Originally posted by Siegnis:

I'm gonna be that guy. How can you know if the localization is fine if you yourself don't know japanese. Moreover, how can you know it's fine when you haven't played the full game. I dislike anti-woke as much as anyone, but let's not talk out of our asses here lol

Because I've seen the images people post comparing raw translations with the localization and they're mostly the same for most new games people like to whine about.

I'll never forget the ,,what is true about the morning sun?" Unicorn Overlord guy on XTwitter. Pure comedy.

You'll note that I said I don't know if the translation is bad. I am simply saying this localizer has a history of changing things that they themselves don't like. You can find examples of this easily. Whether this is true of this game has yet to be seen.

[TREXINATUX]

People don't like to confront their manufactured worldview especially in what they consider entertainment that SHOULD be catered to THEM and their TASTES.

They of course have no concept of turning the other cheek or the ability to leave the room when confronted by anything that upsets their perceived normatives.

The inherent Primates desire to belong to a tribe supercedes all other evovled higher order functions in THIS particular regressed sub-set of humanity and they lash out against the other perceived tribe in an effort to destroy or bring over to their tribes way of modus operandi.

This is all of course even far more hilarious given the deeper message this game is trying to impart.

Todays word is: Schadenfreude

[OtakuBrony]

Originally posted by Dagný:

Originally posted by Siegnis:

I'm gonna be that guy. How can you know if the localization is fine if you yourself don't know japanese. Moreover, how can you know it's fine when you haven't played the full game. I dislike anti-woke as much as anyone, but let's not talk out of our asses here lol

Because I've seen the images people post comparing raw translations with the localization and they're mostly the same for most new games people like to whine about.

I'll never forget the ,,what is true about the morning sun?" Unicorn Overlord guy on XTwitter. Pure comedy.

So, as usual, people are overblowing this situation. LOL. Typical. If I haven't learned a lick of Japanese or how linguistic works, truth be told, I would be acting the same way.

Originally posted by Sire:

Originally posted by OtakuBrony:

Exactly how I feel. Don't get me wrong, I hate woke crap and woke slop but things have been getting overblown as if these people cannot enjoy fictional conflict anymore. There is an distinct difference between woke/propaganda and fictional themes, and I fear people are far gone to differentiate the two. Plus, this is ATLUS in a nutshell if you've ever played any of their other games.

Yea, we are dangerously close of going into a witch hunt at the sight a minimal element that could be seen as woke. We might be losing sight of the nuance of what is propaganda, and what is simply is an element devoid of woke intent.

But to be fair, the amount of activists that work on games companies is making this too hard. How can we differenciate both levels when we have an entire consultation company whose sole purpose is to ensure the political element is inside the game. Or worse when we have members of the localization team who have in the past been proud of altering a product for their political views.

The only thing we can do is to have an opened mind and be skeptical. Otherwise, we'd be acting like harpies with the slightest change in detail or specific themes. If I was like that, I would not be able to enjoy games like P3R and SMTVV. ATLUS haven't done anything of suspicious of their quality of work, so I trust that they will have the same level of tasteful translation and quality of gameplay as they did with their previous content. I have a full grasp of understanding that the political, and religious themes in their games are not real and does not impact real life and their translation decisions has not impact my love for their games.

[N/A]

Originally posted by Fast Pooper:

Well the translators are localizers so we all know what that means. And add in a primitive Japanime story about "discrimination" that denizens of a monoculture probably have to really stretch to come up with and it will likely be a nonsensical mess.

Japan is an incredibly insular country with a long history of xenophobia and an even longer history of tribal warfare, they absolutely know what discrimination is. The only thing primitive here is your understanding of things you speak on.

EDIT: I should probably actually address the post. They think it's "woke" because the game deals with politics and the politics in question seem to be trending at the moment, it's a shallow comparison probably not meant seriously but for conversational purposes.

It's silly though because a lot of the SMT Persona Megaten games deal with politics. P5 was all about Japanese politics.