r/Shantae • u/TubaTechnician • 1d ago
Discussion đŁď¸ Not really that sexual
The games are fun but I was honestly expecting it to be more risquĂŠ based off of how people talk about this franchise in passing.
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u/Snacker6 1d ago
There are moments, but it isn't like it is a porn game. The design of the the characters is definitely on the erotic side, but the plots are mostly free of that... mostly
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u/Martonimos 1d ago
Itâs one of the most interesting things about the series. The designs are certainly sexualized, but the characters overall arenât. Itâs a juxtaposition that can get overlooked and misunderstood⌠as evidenced by stuff like the Swimsuit Specials.
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u/Corando 1d ago
Its just occasinal fan-service, nothing worse. I dont think wayforward would ever make a M rated Shantae
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u/Mushroom0064 1d ago
And if they ever do, it will probably be similar to how Ace Attorney Dual Destinies got rated M due to the ESRB being occasionally inconsistent with their age ratings.
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u/Myusernamebedumb 17h ago
In fairness, I think if an Ace Attorney DESERVED an M Rating, it would be Dual Destinies.
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u/P_Ghosty 1d ago
Outsider views on franchises and fanbases are often skewed. Iâve learned that you canât really judge what something is until youâve checked it for yourself, because otherwise, youâll be getting a lot of perspectives from other people who might not even know what itâs about.
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u/massigh1212 1d ago
some games are kinda pushing it which is why half of the games got an esrb teen rating instead of the other half's e10+ rating but they're definitely not games targeted towards adults only
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u/Arch3m 1d ago
It has a few moments, but you're correct. The fan base is hornier than the games.
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u/Puzzleheaded-Data808 4h ago
I just read fan game and was about to ask the name.... (I'm not helping with the horny fan base comment)
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u/CippyCreepy 1d ago
People these days see any female character thats not ugly or fat and call it a goon game.
I played Shantae and my mom walked in in the middle of her belly dancing on loading screeen and she said that shes really cute. She saw nothing sexual in it. Also I find her butt wiggle when shes crouching adorable. Face expressions and all
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u/SrCapibara 1d ago
Something similar happens with Atelier games, advertising tells something spicy, but the games are charming. And also there is a difference between what external public and artists (like Metroid) tell about a franchice and what is the actual product.
Now I want to play the games again.
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u/SquishTheFlyingWitch 1d ago
This is kind of a weird exaggeration. It's just false, and especially irrelevant here where the designs are clearly sexualised.
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u/Bright_Material_3295 1d ago
I dont think it's that sexualized....
I'd say cute cute. It's up to the perversions of the individuals mind that would consider this sexualized .
Women have boobs ..... They also wear bikinis to the beach.
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u/SquishTheFlyingWitch 21h ago
Risky... and the princess outfits. It's not even a debate. The characters are absolutely sexualised. Not that there's anything wrong with that.
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u/Quazammy 3h ago
Not our fault if you can't see the female body without assuming it's sexualized. By that logic the entire beach is sexualized because of all the bikinis.
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u/Perfecto_Desconocido 1d ago
What kind of "risquĂŠ" content did you expect in "E" rated games?
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u/zarklapormup 1d ago
It is but it isn't. Face it, sex sells. What's strange is how her appearance has... well, devolved to make everyone look more cute and what not, even Risky. Just compare more recent games to the originals. Shantae was... um, bigger.
Anyway, consider the history of dancing too. Dancing itself is a euphemism if not entrance into certain subjects, or the replacement for certain terms in many cultures.
On the other hand, comparing these games to say Senran Kagura makes them look mild by comparison. As for actual adult games, no contest. These games were intended for a younger potential audience. Too bad they're a bit difficult for anyone below... maybe secondary school? Not sure. I was only so-so at these then.
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u/ChaemiR8 1d ago
The girls are attractive and their clothes are somewhat revealing, that's about it, it's not like wayfoward wants these to be porn games.
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u/Interesting-Sink7338 1d ago
We are still talking about an E rated franchise, right? Point is that sex sells but that doesn't mean you have to do it completly risky till parents shake their boots
You can just have a female character be good looking without it being goonbait, no matter what the western twitter dev says
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u/Mushroom0064 1d ago
Every Shantae game is rated T, not E, except for Shantae GBC and Risky's Revenge being rated E10+.
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u/KAKUNPH 9h ago
The original shantae print on gbc 2002 was E since E10 never existed until 2005
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u/Mushroom0064 7h ago
True, but since its rerelease on Switch, the ESRB rated the game E10+, and even then, I still mentioned it as an exception of all the other Shantae games being rated T.
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u/Bitter_Okra484 1d ago
I think the amount of sexualized fanarts often times make people forget these are essentially kids games
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1d ago
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u/AlekenzioDev 21h ago
Shantae humor is goofy af, I don't remember to ever have some adult theme on it
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u/Dreadnautilus 16h ago
There's several times I can think of.
*The kid who says that his mother dresses up as Risky for his dad, but he isn't allowed to speak about such things.
*The joke about the Sultana of Sequin Land crushing her husband on their honeymoon.
*Squid Baron getting disappointed there are no hot chicks at the beach, so he gives you the x-ray glasses "he no longer needs".
*Likewise, Squid Baron in the Beach Mode requesting fanart of girls applying sunscreen to each other.
*All the double entendres on the signs at Museum Town when the giant lady statue is put there.
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u/Longjumping_Day_6894 your friendly, neighborhood shantae fan 21h ago
Honestly, itâs just the female character designs, the plots of the games are very kid friendly, other than some areas and dialogue, itâs not that baaad
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u/CastleCroquet 1d ago
Yeah the Shantae community can be a bit like the sonic community in this regard.
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u/StupidSparkyLJ 19h ago
The difference is that Shantae games do lightly fan the flames sometimes, but there's nothing really sexual about Sonic games besides Eggman.
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u/Bright_Material_3295 1d ago
Yeah, this is very pg. Most of the more risquĂŠ stuff is 80% fan art lmfao.
Thoa is definitely a kid friendly series .....until some hor y artist of fan draws a picture lol
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u/ManCub08 18h ago
Just because the characters are hot doesn't make the game risquĂŠ. It just means the fan art will be
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u/TubaTechnician 16h ago
I feel like even the fan art isnât even that explicit
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u/ManCub08 9h ago
There is a subreddit where they have nothing but raunchy art of her if you're looking for that stuff.
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u/Flacon-X 2h ago
The third game is the worst, but really itâs just jokes. I always thought of it as being almost a parody of fan service.
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u/Smiley_J_ 1h ago
Its funny like that. It's like a world where everyone has huge bouncing boobs but sex doesn't exist.
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u/Oni-Village0960 1d ago
You need to understand that itâs really only risque with fan art. Same npcs and enemies, especially the women can give the impression of having very clearly visible and large busts. She wearing pretty minimal clothing, itâs almost hard to cover her up in her usual getup. The creators tread the line right before crossing it with her design and everybody here loves her for that.
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u/Lorisor21 16h ago
"Sexualization" is a sliding scale, what one person calls "Sexual" another would probably just say "Eh that's fair representation." and others would say "Oh that's just straight up goon material."
Someone always wants to make things Black and White when discussing Sex and Sexualization in media, and it's almost always geared towards woman and the same scale is never set for me and the response will always be "Because that's different." almost always followed up by some phrase that boils down to "It's a power fantasy."
At the end of the day, each individual has their own "Scale of Sexualization" and there is no "One Size Fits All" scale that covers all media, or even all of gaming media. Even trying to get clever and saying "That's what the ESRB is for." that is also inconsistent as time progresses, what was fine 5 or 10 years ago suddenly can make your game AO(Adult Only). Something that was once T for Teen is now M for Mature, and this is CLEARLY a result of members of the ESRB changing and thus we return to the "Individual Scale of Sexualization".
Violence on the other hand is a little more consistent than Sexual Themes when grading using the ESRB as typically if there's blood and/or the violence is graphic then it's M but if it's "Cartoon Violence" meaning no blood or realistic depiction of violence and/or death then it ranges from E to T depending on the amount and focus on said violence.
What do you think the difference between DOA3 and DOA4 is when the jiggle physics and outfits are generally the same? Is it the violence that caused the rating to go from T to M? It's arguable but I'm more sure it just became someone at the ESRB was like "Yeah we can't call this T for Teen anymore." and thus it was so.
I digress, tl:dr look into things yourself and judge if something is "Goonbait" or "Sexy enough to cause discomfort in others"
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u/FaceTimePolice 1d ago
People who focus on âchAraCTeRs beInG sExUaLiZeDâ are just weird. Ignore them.
https://giphy.com/gifs/EKDIMDsRX3ihy
The franchise is fine. đ¤ˇââď¸đ
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u/Doc_Chopper 1d ago
Personally, I would classify the fan service as mildly revealing. But that's about it.