Soulcalibur II is a fighting game released by Namco, and is similar to games like Mortal Kombat and Tekken. In the game, female characters such as Ivy, Taki, and Talim are all clad in very objectifying clothing, as well as their dialogue in the game being flirtatious and suggestive in tone and nature. In this way, the game suggests that men who play the game are only interested in women who can serve some sort of sexual desire or appetite. Also the female characters’ fighting techniques all tend to focus on distance attacks or defensive attacks, which would imply that the game argues that women either attack from a distance or they tend to hide behind something while they attack. An example of this in the game is the character Ivy, who wears very revealing body armor and whose weapon is a sword that can extend across the field of play to do things like choke her opponent from behind. She also has attacks where she crushes the opponent’s head between her legs and tells them to “stay down”. These attacks and aspects of play all suggest rampant misogyny on the part of the game designers.
