Asmongold TV - Attractive Characters Are BACK | Asmongold TV

Episode Date: September 24, 2025

Attractive Characters Are BACK Asmongold show for all of his stream highlights, competitions, reactions & more. --------------------------------- --------- Keywords: mmo gaming, online gaming, gaming hot takes, gaming commentary, streaming moments, gaming reactions, gaming podcast, esports commentary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is the girl that I had originally watched when she had 300 subscribers. Now she has 122,000 subscribers. And this has been, I think, a pretty popular topic with a lot of people. And I think that video games are starting to shift away from having like weird androgynous, weird-looking characters. But it's still ongoing a little bit, right? So we'll watch this. And all of this is why I just do not understand why some developers keep getting it wrong. It really feels so simple.

Yes, give us great gameplay, fun mechanics, a interesting and meaningful story. But then layer attractive, pretty characters on top of that to create hype around the game, grab our interest, and hold our attention. People want a roleplay as somebody they want to be. Nobody wants to be an androgynous bald weirdo. All of this just makes for a much more enjoyable experience. So this video is kind of related to my very first video about women in games, but Before we get into it, we have to acknowledge everybody that is subscribed to the channel. There's been a lot of people.

Wow. Honestly, I don't really even know what to say. This has been such a overwhelming week in the best way. But thank you. Thank you to every single one of you for all of the comments and messages and just all of the support. Now, let's talk about hot characters. I've always found it very interesting when I see some gamers say, I don't care what my character looks like.

I just want a good game. And while, sure, I believe. Some people probably do feel that way when you actually look around at what's successful and what. The logic for that is so stupid. So if you don't care the way the character looks, then you're not part of the conversation about this to begin with. But whenever you talk about the people that do care how the character looks, the overwhelming majority want the character to look good.

So if you are saying by definition, I don't care about this. I don't care is not an argument against one side it's you saying that you don't care about either side so either you're saying you don't care or you're trying to fight against the people that say that they do and again if you're trying to tell people what they can and can't like or what they shouldn't shouldn't like

I think you're in for an uphill battle what's not what resonates and what doesn't the idea that visuals don't matter it just it doesn't really hold up The second you start digging into this stuff, it's pretty clear. Visuals play a huge role in whether something hits or flops. And if they didn't, cosmetics probably wouldn't be one of the most profitable parts of the entire gaming industry. That's a great point.

And I've said this before myself. And this is true. Is that how do you say that people don't care how they look if cosmetics are so popular? Really? It doesn't make any sense. I think most of us do care, even if it's subconsciously. And this isn't just a... gaming thing. But for whatever reason, the gaming industry seems especially confused about it.

Because books, anime, movies, shows, we care about how the characters look. We always have. Well, movies have had this problem, too. We're like, they keep casting actresses that are not really, like, particularly very attractive in roles. And the movies don't do as well as whenever they cast a really attractive actress in the role. It's a very, very important thing. And I think this is true also for men as well. Like it's not just for guys. It's not just for girls. It's also for guys. Like a lot of movie star men are very attractive guys. To be clear, an attractive character cannot save bad writing or bad gameplay. A great design won't make a boring game fun and eye candy is totally pointless if there's zero substance to back it up. And on the opposite side,

it's not like a game is necessarily doomed if the characters are uninspired or unattractive. But let's be honest, we have been done dirty quite a few times at this point. But when it does work, when you combine great writing, solid- I think it's pattern recognition with a lot of people. Like, whenever they see a lot of these video games that come out with these weird androgynous characters and then the games are bad, I think people start to recognize a pattern where it's like, hmm, it seems like every single time one of these games comes out, it's always bad if it has these types of characters.

And that's really it. It's all the time. Yeah, it's almost a 100% ratio. Gameplay in a compelling visual design. That's really when the secret sauce hits. And that's when a character truly becomes iconic. So how important is beauty really? What can it actually be used for in storytelling?

And why does it matter at all? Yes, beauty is completely subjective. But let's try and figure it out together. Uh, yeah, beauty's subjective. Yes. Yes, this is true. To an extent, okay? To an extent.

When it comes to storytelling, beauty isn't just about looking good. It's about what that beauty communicates. It's a kind of visual shorthand for personality, purpose, or the emotional tone of a character. Take Cortana from Halo. She's sleek, luminous, and kind of untouchable. Her ethereal design isn't random. It reinforces her role as an AI. She's attractive, mysterious, highly advanced, but also just slightly out of reach.

or Eryth from Final Fantasy. She's beautiful in this really soft, gentle way. Her design radiates hope and warmth, and you feel that when she's on screen. There's something very delicate and endearing about her that sticks with you. Then there's Eve from Stellar Blake. And yeah, people definitely noticed her design pretty much immediately. She's bold, striking, and yes, super hot. But what's cool is that once the game launched, the gameplay actually backed it up.

And, okay, can we talk about verses? so from Claire Obscure for a second. Yeah, exactly. Like, I mean, this is a good looking dude, man. Like, I mean, it's so weird that, like, we're talking about this because, like, in a lot of these games, the male characters also look very attractive. Like, I don't want to play as an ugly looking, like, like, fat guy or something like that. Absolutely not.

Because he is undeniably very handsome. Yeah. Right hair. The posture, the sounder expression. He's restrained, haunted, and you immediately feel like there's something deeper going on. These characters aren't designed to just be pretty. They're designed with intention. Their looks are part of their emotional blueprint,

and the fact that they're attractive is what actually initially draws you in. Their looks tell you how to feel before a single line of dialogue. As humans, we are biologically wired to respond to beauty. And that's not a bad thing. So when a character's design feels off or it doesn't match the story we're being told, that disconnect can make it way harder to emotionally connect. I think there's also, like, whenever you, you see ugly characters or weird looking characters in video games now. Every time I see that,

it gives me like a, it reminds me that I'm playing a video game because I'm thinking, oh, I'm actually not playing a video game right now and I'm actually playing propaganda. I'm playing something that's been created for this intent to make people believe this worldview. It's like immersion breaking, basically. This kind of visual storytelling has been around for ages. Because you know it's not being done for a creative reason. It's not just in games. It's everywhere, especially in film.

Taking a look at Lord of the Rings, think about Aragorn. Rugged, attractive, weathered, and quietly noble. His entire look reflects the burden that he carries. And you can see the weight of his past just by looking at him. Then there's Aowin and Arwen, two beautiful women with totally different vibes. One is a warrior with conviction. the other is a very soft ethereal queen. And their looks reflect who they are at their core.

And that's what good design does. It supports the story. All right. Switching tones completely here, but I have to talk about my love for the Mummy series very quickly. Because Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weiss. Yeah. I mean, like, big surprise, movie stars are attractive.

Like, it's actually crazy that these people, it's literally like, it's like reteaching people that, like, it's like you will not accept the wheel. and they keep trying to do different things that aren't wheels. They're like, let's try a triangle. Well, how about a square? How about a hexagon? Well, no, no, stop it.

Just go with a fucking wheel. Drives me crazy. They weren't just very fun, flirty, iconic characters. They were extremely captivating. Their chemistry was off the charts, and they were both ridiculously attractive. But their beauty didn't just decorate the film. It amplified it.

The adventure they were on, the romance, the danger. I actually loved this series. so much. I used to work at the mummy roller coaster at Universal. And I may or may not have hearing loss in my one ear, thanks to Brendan Fraser screaming for his coffee at the end of the ride. Just a little bit of NPC lore for you. Yeah, I bet. So if we know that beauty helps tell the story, what about when it's entirely in the player's hands? Let's talk about character customization. And the literal billions. See, this is what I said before, right? It's like you look at a lot of people like there's two kinds of people that make characters right there are characters that people

make that are like the most fucking eldritch abominations that hp ludcraft could not even dream of and then you also have people that make attractive characters and if i look at a lot of girls characters what i notice is that all of their characters are attractive and in fact a lot of girls characters look like them but a fantasy version of them and in all the cases where it looks like them and it's a fantasy version of them, usually the fantasy version is more attractive. And there's better proportions, right? Or let's say larger proportions. Spent on it. Video game cosmetics are a multi-billion dollar industry. In fact, media research projects that purely cosmetic in-game purchases will reach

a hundred billion a year by 2020. That's insane. Let that sink in for a second. 100 billion dollars a year. Yeah, but hey guys, keep in mind, people don't care. care about how they look in video games. For making your character look nice. Listen, all right, I am not ashamed that I, myself, played a part in this pretty recently.

I hadn't touched Fortnite in like seven or eight years, but I randomly started playing duos again over the last few months. And pretty much right after I did, I saw none other than Spike's Beagle and Faye Valentine in the shop. Yeah, I was buying up those V-books pretty much immediately. It was just the idea of getting to play as some of the characters. I love so much. in a game that I've unironically been having a ton of fun with.

It was almost like I had no choice here. Quick side note, Faye Valentine definitely goes on our list of amazing female characters. Yeah, and guess what? She's hot. What a surprise. Wow. Wow.

Who could have possibly guessed? For sure. And I must confess, I also purchased the Sabrina Carpenter skin. Who is also hot? Her dress was just so pretty. Now on the flip side, the opposite is true to. When character design fails to resonate, players clock it immediately. This is very old news at this point, but I always think about Concord.

This was really the first time, at least for... Shit, bro, like, what were they thinking, man? Like, this is just sad. It really was. It's just sad. They never live it down, yeah. So much public backlash about character design. And for Concord, yeah, it kind of seems like this was one of the biggest reasons that it flopped. People did not like the characters.

They felt awkward, uninspired. off-putting, forced, in a market full of games where the character designs are intended to be inherently beautiful, bold, attractive. Concord's cast kind of looked like they were built by a committee just to check boxes. And then there's Starfield. This game was supposed to... Yeah, designed by, like character designed by HR. That's it.

The massive, story-rich, world-expanding. But on top of just so-so gameplay, the one thing I kept seeing over and over again was how unappealing, bland looking and emotionally empty the MPCs felt. They didn't draw you in or match the tone of the world. I'm going to be honest. I don't even think this is Bethesda's fault specifically with the, I don't think they even tried to do this. I just think the entire thing was half-assed.

And like this is just another example of the game being half-assed. Like it's not even this, this wasn't even like a conspiracy. It was just like bad game bad. Most part. They were just generic copy paste that you didn't really want to engage with. with. Another game that comes to mind that I've mentioned before is Star Wars Outlaws. Unfortunately, both good gameplay and good character design were a miss here. And there were even moments where KVAS didn't look quite human, which is very wild because

her actress is... I just remember, like, I remember whenever this game came out and people were like, no, Assassin's Creed is actually going to be really good. And I'm like, let me get this straight. So the company that's made five games in a row that are bad, the new one's going to be good? Uh-huh. So stunning. The blueprint was right there, but for some reason, I guess they couldn't make a character design that did her justice. And the disconnect across all of these examples is important to note because it's not just about realism, it's about relatability. Games are probably the biggest storytelling medium and a character's design should invite you into the story.

People want to feel something when they look at a character. Excitement, admiration, curiosity. And when what you're looking at feels flat, awkward, or overly ordinary, like someone you just pass by on the street, it breaks the fantasy. And that desire for your character to... Like, that's really it. It's just ugly. Like, I mean, I don't know what else to say. Like, nobody wants to look at that. It's literally that simple. Like, I... You just, you stop right there. I mean, like, you can get into psychology of it. And that's definitely it. But makes no sense. Yeah, exactly. Like, you're really going to say it. Yeah, they're just ugly.

And, like, I think it's also, like, the, I think it's whenever the characters are designed in a way that people feel like is politically motivated. Like, for example, whenever you have, like, masculine-looking feminine-looking, feminine-looking masculine characters and you don't have, like, actual, like, real, like, manly-man characters, I think that's what's very off-putting for people. And it's especially, like, yeah, overweight, et cetera. look attractive and appealing. It starts even before the actual game begins. Take Baldersgate 3, for example. According to Larian, players collectively spent over 8,000 years just in the character creator. But people don't care what their characters look like.

Yeah, they don't care at all. Like 16% of the game's total play type. That's insane. Before even starting the game. And yes, I... Wow, what a surprise. All of the images shown here are really attractive girls. who could have possibly guessed?

What a fucking shock. It did contribute to that. Because to me, character aesthetics are just part of the immersion. They're part of what makes an incredible game. They help me feel more emotionally anchored in the world and make for a way more enjoyable experience. And this goes for both male and female characters alike. Even in Red Dev Redemption, too,

I loved getting to change Arthur's hair, his beard and outfits. I'm going to be honest. This is a good looking dude, man. like this is the entire premise and also like they turn this into being like a misogyny thing like men hate women it's not

men also want to play as men that look like badasses absolutely like they don't want to play as some fucking fedora wearing cargo pants wearing socks with sandals having shirt that says you know the Bible is fake fat brony

with like you know zits on his face and shit no they don't want to play that No, they want to play as a guy like this. And I'm just so glad we got to do that because I really felt like I could reflect where he was at mentally and emotionally. That small touch made him feel a lot more real. Now, switching gears for a quick moment, bear with me here, okay? I'm just going to go ahead and out myself for a second. I love a good romanticcy book.

Yes, yes, yes, yes. I know, I know. But before you roll your eyes and you click off the video, please just hear me out. This genre includes some of the best selling books on the market. You maybe have heard of series like Throne of Glass or Akatar. And the characters in these stories are described with this enchanted, ethereal kind of beauty. It's dramatic. It's swoony.

Hey, at least the male is a human, right? I mean, that's got a, I mean, like, nowadays with romantic books, like, I feel like that's definitely like, that's, you're already doing pretty well. At least it's an actual person. It's meant to sweep you off your feet. And that's part of the fantasy. It's part of the immersion. There's even one fan-favored image of a certain Akitar character that went viral, and for many fans, that's basically canon now.

Godspeed to whatever casting director has to find that guy in the real world. They will come for you. The exact same thing happens in anime and animation, sometimes even more intensely. These characters are designed from the ground up to be visually appealing. Their looks are exaggerated, idealized, sometimes maybe a little too much, but we love them for it. And there's a reason that certain characters dominate cosplay every con season. Or why fans fight over whose best girl.

And big surprise, it's always the characters that are attractive that dominate. If you guys ever notice that, it's like pretty much like a one-to-one ratio. Or best boy with genuine passion. Even in the V-tuber space, visual design is everything. There's a reason- Exactly. V-tubers a great example. Like how many V-tubers are fat and ugly? Oh, that's right.

zero because nobody wants to look at that. V-tubers put so much effort into their appearance and people can completely fall in love with them before they ever even hear their voice. The look, the aesthetic, the vibe. Yeah. All is meant to draw people. The shy lily AI chatbot had 30 million chats. That's a lot. The design is the hook. All of this is so important because when a character looks the way they're supposed to feel,

that's when the magic happens. That's when people get press. protective, that's when a fandom really forms. Piggybacking off of all of that, I'd like to touch on something very quickly that gets brought up a lot in conversations like this. And that's the idea that it's just gamers that are the ones who care way too much about a character's appearance, that it's just gamers who have this problem. Well, if you're making video games, I feel like you should make something for gamers. Like, I mean, the thing is, like, I mean, what do you think about this, right?

Like, how does this argument even work? Well, it's just video gamers that like video game characters to be attractive. Well, yeah, but you're making video games. So shouldn't you make it for the... No, we're not. No, we're making it for a new audience. But they don't play video games. Yeah, no, we don't want gamers to play our games.

Okay, they don't. Well, now you're back to McDonald's. How does that even make sense? Like, the second someone doesn't like a design, it's suddenly, gamers are just toxic and you just need to get over it. Sure. But based on every... thing that I've said thus far, honestly,

I do not think that's fair because this is a thing across every genre, every media. The thing is that even if it is fair, it's still like, okay, you think gamers are sexist and they only want one design. All right, that's fine. If you're a vegan,

don't work in a steakhouse. Like, I mean, don't go there, right? Like, if you hate fucking, I don't know, if you hate candles, don't work at a candle shop. It's fucking obvious. Everybody wants well-designed, fun, good-looking, beautiful, charismatic characters.

It's how we're wired, and it's why certain characters instantly spark hype online or can aid in taking a release before it's even out of the oven. Yes, I'm looking at you intergalactic. Now, again, I am not saying every... Yeah, because people don't want to look like that. That's the reason why. All of these video games are fundamentally role-playing games. You are playing and taking on the role of that.

this character. Most people don't want to be that character. Just go outside. There's not a lot of people dressing and acting like life. Character in a game needs to look like a supermodel. But what I am so tired of seeing is characters intentionally designed to be less appealing. When the people making the decisions nerve a character's looks in a way that has nothing to do with their actual background or story, they just do it just because it really makes no sense.

It creates unnecessary dissonance, and it pulls people out of the fantasy instead of drawing them in. My last note on this here is just think about celebrities. Think about how people respond to celebrities, whether they're singers or actors. How they look, their appearance is always part of the conversation. And so many times you could easily say it even contributes to their success. It absolutely does. Of course, being attractive makes you more successful as a movie star. Like, I mean, and yeah, there's Danny DeVito.

for sure, but there's more Brad Pitts. I mean, obviously, right? Come on. Technically has nothing to do with what they're known for. It somehow still does. Because that's just how humans respond to other humans.

We're made that way. We notice, we connect, we feel, and what we see at the first glance is the very first step of that. So, of course, while beauty is not everything, and it's certainly not a substitute for good writing, game player mechanics, It's so often our very first impression, and usually it's the first thing that really captures our attention, lets us know what a character is about, and makes us care.

And this is something that has always mattered and will always matter, regardless of the medium being used to tell the story. And all of this is why I just do not understand why some developers keep getting it wrong. It really feels so simple. Yes, give us great gameplay. I think the reason why they get it wrong is because they're trying to get it wrong. They want it to get it wrong. That's the whole reason. Yeah, that's it. I mean, I don't know what else to say other than that.

Fun mechanics, a interesting and meaningful story. But then layer attractive, pretty characters on top of that to create hype around the game, grab our interest, and hold our attention. All of this just makes for a much more enjoyable experience. For developers who are passionate about the projects that they're making, and they're doing it for the right reasons, odds are, this is. probably already all included. Yeah, exactly.

And let me say they're trying to pander to an audience that doesn't exist. I'm going to be real. That's exactly it. They're trying to make videos. They're trying to make games and make this content for people that don't play it. And I feel like now like that's kind of that that's now kind of stopped. But that was the main operating function of these companies for a long time. It really is a guaranteed formula for success.

They're shooting themselves in the foot if the very first thing that we see is a bland, boring, or just unappealing protagonist or cast of characters. Sorry for the outfit jump scare. This is editor-NPC here. And I was watching this back through. I wanted to make sure. I just clarified this point really well at the end. All right, I'll see myself out.

Okay. Thank you so much to those who made it to the end of this video. I'm genuinely so glad that you were here. Like I said at the start, this past week has been... In spine weather, there were no hot robots and armored core 6 and it was still. successful well um i would say that there's a lot of games where you play as like an animal and i hope you didn't think any of them were attractive either i mean let's be real a bit of a whirlwind i just want to say i appreciate everyone in your support so much i still really can't wrap my head around

everything that's happening but i'm just gonna be here doing my thing like i was already planning to do So thank you again for being a part of this YouTube journey with me. No, I'm very glad to see you're doing well on these videos popping off as well. Like I'll link you guys to video again. I mean, this is, I totally agree with this, by the way. This isn't a male and female issue at all. This is actually just like a, it's an aesthetics issue. And it's something that transcends gender and it just applies to basically everything else.

And so, yeah, just make characters that are not actively disgusting. It's not hard. As I said, I think that if you can't, find out and you can't tell what gender a character is instantaneously, you have a problem. That's it. That's the big issue. And I feel like that's one of the things that I see link on kick too. No, they are linking it on kick. I can see it in the chat. Hudo linked it twice. And there it is. Yeah, we're trying to do as many as we can. But I'm trying to find a better way to link the chats. So obviously you guys can see each other and everything like that. What's your sub count out now?

122,000 subscribers. That's a lot. What about Femboys? Femboys are very popular. What do you mean? There's tons of Femboys in stories and people love them. Yeah, what do you mean? Absolutely. Yeah, she'll go 122K? Yeah. People are like, I mean, look at, like Final Fantasy has a lot of Femboy characters. I mean, I would say so at least, right, that look more feminine. But yeah, I mean, I think, yeah, just make something look good. Imagine that. Thank you.