Girls in Gaming

Game #2: Dreamfall: The Longest Journey

In between the first person shooters and role-playing games, there is a serious shortage of adventure games these days.  Dreamfall: The Longest Journey is the first adventure game in years to break free of this stranglehold on the industry — it goes without saying that it is, bar none, one of the best games of 2006 — and I’m not the only one to say so.

You play Zoe Castillo, a free-spirited twenty-something who lives in Casablanca in the year 2199. After experiencing some seriously creepy nightmares — of which there is no explanation given for until near the end of the game — she quickly falls into a web of mystery that is sparked by an errand that her boyfriend asks her to do.  What follows is a dimension-hopping adventure where she has to solve two world’s problems at the same time.

You also play other, minor characters throughout the game, though not for long periods; however, their impact on the story is significant.

While the game stands out for its brilliant narrative, which plays like a well-written novel, Zoe is portrayed in an extremely positive light — an independent, strong-willed woman who, over the course of the game, discovers inner strength and the will to fight against a corrupt organization bent on world domination.

Dreamfall: The Longest Journey is available in stores and on Steam for the PC, and is rated “T” for Teen by the ESRB.

Dreamfall (Official Site)

In an industry that has a significant base of female participants (as noted by an earlier story), it’s surprising that there aren’t more great games that are targeted towards women. It is important in our day and age to promote gender neutrality in video games in order to attract the largest possible audience — and thus, the largest possible return on investment.

Game #1: Beyond Good & Evil

Beyond Good & Evil follows the adventure of Jade, who is a rebellious photographer that consequently runs an orphanage. After an alien attack and necessity to earn some money to turn the power on, she dives head-first into a situation that has the government chumming with aliens to become all-powerful.The game is great for anybody. The storytelling is superb, the voice-acting just as much so, and the cartoon-like style of the animation is fantastic. All the characters have a likable personality, which is rare in any form of media, and the game’s pacing is such that the player does not feel frustrated with it. The only gripe is that it’s a little short.

Additionally, and what I feel makes this game “work” so well, is that Jade is portrayed in a non-stereotypical fashion. She singlehandedly proves that girls and women can do whatever they want to do when they set their mind on it, which offers an extremely positive role-model for young girls.

Beyond Good & Evil was part of Ubisoft’s 2003 holiday lineup, which also included other top-notch titles like Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time and Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell. Not to mention that Beyond Good & Evil scored consistently high reviews in all major publications following its release. Unfortunately, due to strong competition from Ubisoft’s other games at the time, Beyond Good & Evil did not sell as strongly as hoped.

The game was released on all major platforms at the time — PC, Xbox, PlayStation 2, and Gamecube. However, lackluster sales create difficulty in finding this game on the used games shelf. The PlayStation 2 version appears to be the easiest to find, but the PC version provides the most visually engaging experience from its high-resolution graphics. The Gamecube version is extremely difficult to locate. Your best bet is to try to find it on something like eBay.

Beyond Good & Evil was rated “T” for Teen by the ESRB and is appropriate for those 13 and up.

Beyond Good & Evil (official site, Ubisoft)
eBay search for “Beyond Good & Evil”
Ubisoft Home Page