Damsel in Distress (Done Right)- Lunar Silver Star Story

Last entry, I talked about how the Damsel in Distress can be used wrong in gaming by showing how Joe and Mack used the trope as their back story. I argued that they used the trope wrong because they turned their female characters into precisely what feminists claim is wrong with the trope: objects to move the story along, trophies to be collected. This is wrong because the Damsel in Distress is part of a Heroic Narrative, of the hero risking life and limb for someone else. But as I said before, the trope is a tool for story telling, and just as it can be used wrong, it can also be used right. Today, we look at a game that made great use of the Damsel in Distress trope: Lunar.

The third of five different versions, and in the eyes of many, the best.

Damsel in Distress (Done Wrong)- Joe and Mack

If you've been paying attention to Feminist Frequency, or if you've at least been visiting websites that have any focus at all on video games, you'd know that Anita S. has released a trilogy of videos which can be summed up in two sentences: Damsels in Distress are common in games. And that's bad. Now, am I here to argue against Anita? Nope, I fully acknowledge that the Damsel in Distress is an all too common trope used in video games. Am I here to agree with her and turn this blog into yet another echo chamber for her thesis? Not at all. Although today's blog entry COULD be seen as me agreeing with her, it is just the first of a duo that aims to show that the Damsel in Distress trope is exactly that: a tool for story telling, that can be done wrong, and be done right. Today I explore a video game that shows just how badly this trope can be used: Joe and Mack.

Dinosaurs were HUGE back in the early 90's.