Snowflake gamer dragged after whining about Aloy’s ‘masculine’ appearance in Horizon Forbidden West

Jun 01 2021
Written by Ed Nightingale

Horizon Forbidden West. (Sony)

A gamer has been ridiculed on Twitter for having the audacity to moan about Aloy’s appearance in Horizon Forbidden West.

The original post, from an account called @ApexAlphaJ, complains that Sony is making “masculine as hell” female protagonists with “barely no curves or rough non feminine features”.

Apparently these “masculine” women are “unlike the average woman”. It’s possible that ApexAlphaJ has never seen a real-life woman.

The tweet includes an image of Aloy compared with a “fan made” version, which is supposedly more realistic.

Is it me or Sony be making their lead female protagonist look masculine as hell..barely no curves or rough non feminine features..Unlike the average woman. Like *cough cough..TLOU2’s Ellie…etc. Just saying #My2cents
Pic from the game on the left, fan made on right. Hire fans lol pic.twitter.com/S1tLnmO7l6

— ?????????? (@ApexAlphaJ) May 30, 2021

It’s abundantly clear that this poster has incredibly unrealistic expectations of women, not to mention the fact that make-up and glossy hair conditioner probably aren’t available post-apocalypse.

The tweet quickly went viral with many weighing in on how ridiculous the post was.

Women opening Twitter and reading “Alpha male” takes on what makes their dingle tingle. pic.twitter.com/u6UD3ow2yc— Lindsay Thompson (@Binzimation) May 30, 2021

Every guy who wants their female video game characters to have a full face of wedding makeup should be forced to have at least 2 hours of gameplay applying it at the beginning of each day. https://t.co/vCEvUBVwIt— Melanie Bracewell (@meladoodle) May 30, 2021

Let me get this straight. Muscular women in a hostile post apocalyptic world where strength, willpower, & survival are paramount isn't realistic or acceptable, but supermodel women wearing heavy makeup in such a setting is. Think with your head & not with your dick for 2 seconds. https://t.co/V4P2ju4xNd— YongYea (@YongYea) May 30, 2021

insider industry knowledge: tweets like this are one of the main reasons we don't hire fans https://t.co/B58n0Ez0US

— mob typo 100 (@failnaut) May 30, 2021

It also spawned a number of memes, further emphasising how bad this take is.

latest botw2 leak shows drastic zelda redesign pic.twitter.com/joITvVtU3e— Mattthew Graphics ???? (@MatttGFX) May 30, 2021

Is it me or Nickelodeon be making their lead female protagonist look masculine as hell..barely no curves or rough non feminine features..Unlike the average woman.
Pic from the game on the left, fan made on right. Hire fans lol pic.twitter.com/mIP4Y0igkS— Gio (@Voltaic117) May 30, 2021

This is just the latest bad take on a Sony exclusive franchise after last year’s unnecessary debate over the size of Abbie’s arms in The Last of Us Part II, as this tweet references.

Dear game devs, keep creating female protagonists like them, not only are they cool as hell, but they make gamers mad ☺️ pic.twitter.com/LYkxdgmCGk— David ミ☆ (@IconicNephilim) May 30, 2021

The Aloy tweet follows Sony’s State of Play video from 27 May that revealed the first gameplay footage of Horizon Forbidden West.

The sequel to the popular PS4 open world game Horizon Zero Dawn still doesn’t have a release date, but it’s hoped it will be released later this year on PlayStation 5 and PS4.

The story sees protagonist Aloy travelling to the West Coast of post-apocalyptic America to battle a dangerous blight, fighting against both dangerous tribes and dinosaur-like machines.

The game looks absolutely gorgeous, with a vibrant colour palette of jungles and tropical waters, plus beautifully detailed costumes and character models.

Aloy has a few new moves up her sleeves like improved melee combat, a Shieldwing to float through the air on, and the ability to explore underwater.

Who would have thought she’d be able to do all that with a full face of makeup?

Check out the gameplay footage of Horizon Forbidden West below.