Blue hair and pronouns in I Was A Teenage Exocolonist, out August 25– Play Station.Blog
Speculative fiction frequently turns the lens back on the reader, making the formerly unidentified ended up being knowable by turning it into story.
It’s long been utilized as an automobile for representation, from Star Trek checking out brand-new frontiers of love, to Octavia Butler placing a Black female at the leading edge of humankind’s escape to area in Parable of the Sower, to dystopian YA like The Hunger Games using every girl’s desire to alter the world by burning it down.
I’m Lindsay Ishihiro, and as the narrative designer of I Was a Teenage Exocolonist, I want to inform you about the methods our video game follows in this custom, breaking brand-new ground in how gamers represent themselves and their gender, sexuality, and relationships in a computer game.
I Was a Teenage Exocolonist is a genre-spanning video game about maturing on an extrasolar nest: part life simulator, deck home builder, roleplaying video game, and dating simulator. You play Sol, a kid whose moms and dads– dissatisfied with their life on a passing away Earth– flung themselves into area planning to develop a brand-new human culture from the ground up on earth Vertumna IV.
Given outright liberty, what do a group of idealists protect from human cultures, and what do they turn down? And what do they mistakenly bring with them, regardless of their finest intents?
Exocolonist’s easy character development system strikes far above its weight class. There are just 2 concerns: what are Sol’s pronouns, and will they grow to appear manly, androgynous, or womanly?
Even the UI to choose Sol’s look is a slider rather of 3 buttons, providing the gamer an opportunity to state their Sol is ‘just a little’ womanly or manly.
They/ them is consisted of in the basic pronoun choice, however gamers who choose a more bespoke experience can teach it to utilize their proper pronouns and other gendered terms. In area, anybody can be fae/faeself.
You can even alter their pronouns and look at any time, no cursed springs or gender-changing products needed.
Sol’s anatomy is set later on, throughout the age of puberty– however there’s even an alternative for Sol having no reproductive anatomy at all, thanks to futuristic medical innovation. Anatomy being different from look and pronouns enables a big spectrum of possible genders, incorporating cis bodies, non-binary and binary trans bodies, and gender-nonconforming bodies of numerous kinds.
Even teenage exocolonists need to endure cringe-inducing lectures in school. Sorry, area teenagers!
Sol wasn’t the only kid born in area; 9 other kids mature along with Sol, all of whom (plus another) are prospective relationships and enjoy interests.
Let’s get what I think about the bare minimums out of the method: I Was a Teenage Exocolonist is happy to include nonbinary and transgender characters and consists of same-sex, nonsexual, aromantic, and even polyamorous relationships.
With a varied group, we understood that in order to narrate about the richness of the human experience we required to be drastically inclusive in our characters and the method they communicate with the gamer and each other.
And they do communicate with each other! Sol’s pals fall in love, injure each other, undergo their own catastrophes, and even pass away. Sol belongs of their stories; you select how crucial a part you play.
Sol ends up being closer to their pals by providing presents and stating the best things, obviously, however likewise by being the sort of individual they ‘d wish to be pals with. Working along with them, sharing their political viewpoints, and getting associated with their stories will bring them better, much like in reality.
Also like in reality, relationships can bloom into something various.
I Was A Teenage Exocolonist has distinct triggers for all relationships. Yes, some still require 10 hearts prior to they’ll provide you a kiss, however others enjoy to make the area monster with 2 (and in some cases 3) backs while you’re still being familiar with each other. Some characters require you to step up at a vital time in their life to feel comfy opening to you. Some require to complete their life’s work initially. Some naturally choose to date other individuals, so getting them thinking about Sol needs additional effort.
Thanks to the weirdness of the wormhole, Sol will relive their teenage years over and over, gaining from their errors and assisting humankind discover its location in the stars. You’ll be numerous Sols, over numerous life times.
Accurately representing the gamer in I Was A Teenage Exocolonist is important to the experience of being Sol, providing the sense that their distinct self is essential to humankind as a whole.
It was crucial to narrating about discovering oneself, actually, at the really leading edge of humankind’s most cumulative action.
I Was a Teenage Exocolonist is coming out on PS4 and PS5 on August 25, 2022. Wishlist it today!
