Gotta appreciate on some level that, to this day, Vagrant Story is the only piece of media—and I mean the only one—that has the male character doing the Strong Female Character Pose. Totally unironically.
In general the men are less clothed than the women in this game, too. Which is saying something.
You get designs like this.
And this:
(yes for those of you just joining us he is wrapped in wire)
With loving shots like this:
And sultry over the shoulder shots like this:
And this:
and btw yes, that line is what you think it is. Sadly this is the only readily available back-shot of Hardin I could find on short notice but YES. That is his ass. That is his ass hanging out of his costume. That’s right, Yoshida gave a male character a design similar to Sakuya in Okami, and those who have played Okami know precisely what I am talking about.
To say nothing of how often our brave hero goes to battle:
What actually isn’t clear from these screenshots is the fact that Sydney? That fellow up there who’s somewhat shirt-impaired? His pants are extremely low slung. They are so low slung that the developers must have taken pains. Great, great pains to be sure that you could see his visible happy trail even in the limited PS1 graphics of the day.
This is the one example I can think of a game that is this equal opportunity with how the camera chooses to follow the male and female body. Yes, Merlose’ outfit is skin tight and bares her thighs, and yes, her first intro is a shot of her behind, but considering the whole game is literally an extended shot of Ashley, the male MC’s, finely sculpted bum I would say we’re not dealing with a strictly male-gaze.
Hell, even in that cover shot, Ashley’s the one really rocking the Strong Female Character pose.
In conclusion, Vagrant Story is available for $6 bucks on the PSN and everyone should buy it.
But.
Use a walkthrough when you get to the Snowfly Forest.
For the love of all that is good, use a walkthrough.
(via chirart)
Source: chirart