@tehwatever
It releases on the 24th. Thank God I heard about this before release day, otherwise I would have made a day-one purchase.
@WyrmSpawN
Yeah, it is a bit weird considering their supposed push for “diversity and inclusion”. Perhaps, the Ethics Department deemed it a risk considering the controversial nature of the subject matter? It could potentially be seen as “insensitive” to portray the character in this light considering she’s basically branded as a freak or a mistake in the game’s canon. You’d think that showcasing the struggle of a character like this whilst sympathizing with their situation would be seen as a progressive step in the right direction, but I guess nuance in storytelling doesn’t matter. All that matters is she has a bulge and that is a no-no.
I vaguely remember another situation involving a hermaphrodite character who was misrepresented. I believe it was in the game Immortals: Phoenix Rising. There’s a scene where Zeus and some other God are discussing the actual titular goddess herself, Hermaphroditus. They made a quip about her being “gender-fluid” which is obviously an inaccurate portrayal of an intersex individual. The LGBT community tends to revolve around concepts of choice for the most part. Choosing to identify as one gender or both genders, or choosing who to pursue sexually. With a hermphrodite, there is no choice involved, however. They are literally born with two sets of equipment, so there is no need to identify as one gender or another since they technically are both simultaneously. Same thing with being gay or bisexual: they technically cannot be either due to their basic biological situation. As I’m sure you know, cisgendered heterosexual people aren’t considered a part of LGBT spectrum.
It’s a very complex topic, primarily due to how absurdly rare intersex people are in real life. But I’d imagine the Ethics Department’s cause for concern was due to the prevalence of discussion related to transgenderism in modern society. Basically, it’s a hot-topic, and they know it’ll definitely ruffle some feathers regardless of the character’s portrayal. So I guess they felt the need to give Kainé the old “snip-snip” treatment to fall in line with social conventions.