These days the discussion about the ‘progressive’ in the video gamesWhile some titles are mercilessly attacked for having many elements of this ideology, others are celebrated for supposedly having none of it and being ‘anti-progressive’.
However, we believe that they give much more importance to this last point, to such an extent that they consider that the success of these depends entirely on this lack of policy. That’s why we’re here to tell you that just because a game is anti-progressive doesn’t automatically make it the best thing the industry has given us.
Why the label of progressive or anti-progressive doesn’t mean as much as you think
Black Myth: Wukong is the image of the anti-progressive movement but they forget his other achievements
Right now, Black Myth: Wukong is the poster child for the anti-progressive movement in video games, so to speak. This is because it simply presents us with an action game that doesn’t get into ideologies at all. In addition to this, it achieved the impressive number of 10 million copies sold just a few days after its release.There is certainly interest in the game.
A visit to social media lets you see all the memes that have already been released about this situation. They even make comparisons with Concord or show the protagonist on the grave of Sweet Baby Inc. This and quite a few comments on the web let us see a worrying point of view on the part of some players. They attribute the entire success of Black Myth: Wukong to its being anti-progressive.
The bad thing about thinking like this is that it leaves aside all the achievements that the Monkey King game achieved on its own. How to give us impressive combats, very good graphics and a title that feels fresh in an era full of remakes, remasters and sequels.
Of course, it is not without its flaws either, as it has several programming errors and a huge number of invisible walls that affect its exploration. It’s good but not good enough to already have GOTY guaranteed. Much less just for being considered anti-progressive.
This discussion had already happened and just this year
The most curious thing about the situation is that this is not the first time we have seen it this year. In fact, there was a very similar discussion when Stellar Blade was released in 2024. Long before its release, players were already hailing it as the best of the year simply for having an ‘anti-progressive’ protagonist, very feminine and with a good body.
However, his departure proved the opposite, both financially and in terms of public and critical reception. As anti-progressive as he was, certain things could not be hidden. Those who have already played it agree that it has an entertaining combat system and good graphics, but an average story. Plus it doesn’t really introduce anything new to the hack n slash genre.
Also in terms of units sold, The latest thing their studio revealed was that they reached a million copies in two months. So it was not that successful despite the lack of policy. Stellar Blade It’s far from being a bad game, but it’s not the great savior of the industry that many called it simply for having an anti-progressive protagonist.
They put so much importance on whether a game is very anti-progressive or progressive that they forget the most important thing
Of course we also have multiple examples both for and against. For example Elden Ring won game of the year in 2022 when it would fall into the anti-progressive category. In 2020, The Last of Us Part II, a game that is still controversial to this day for how progressive it is, was also a highly awarded title and considered among the best of the decade.
Concord It immediately received the repudiation of gamers for the design of its ‘progressive’ characters and we already saw that it turned out to be one of the worst failures and disappointments of 2024. Of course, the fact that it was a game as a service, costly, and also in a genre that is very exploited at the moment could have influenced it.
The bottom line is that progressive and anti-progressive labels are not enough to determine the success of a game, nor should they be. Of course, you are free to support or not support games that include this ideology. After all, it’s not like someone is going to point a gun at you and make you buy them. But we invite you not to let it be the only yardstick by which you measure your interest in certain experiences.
Because you really fall into a paradox, Because by giving so much weight to the anti-progressive, you show that you are excessively interested and that you only focus on that instead of other more important elements such as the story or the gameplay. Aren’t video games supposed to be about gaming? Since when are they about the sexual preferences and ethnicities of fictional characters?
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