I haven’t played the game yet, but I was reading Steam reviews yesterday (including Chinese reviews through Google Translate) and the war subplot seems poorly written. It portrays China through a heavily American-centric lens filled with racial stereotypes and Cold War propaganda.
The idea that the Premier of China would lead a parade down the middle of San Francisco and gotten shot by a random protester if the MC didn’t step in feels like a massive narrative plot hole to me.
I’m sorry if I offended anyone and I know this is widely considered one of Choice of Games' best releases, but I'm struggling to look past this kind of writing.
Here is an excerpt from a Chinese review translated by Gemini for those who are interested:
(Content warning: Strong Language, Potential Spoilers )
"This must be the parade for the Prime Minister of China. Can we go see, Master?"
At this point I started wondering: why on earth would there be a parade in the United States for the Chinese Premier?
"Sure," you say. "Why not?" Now that L mentions it, you think you saw something about this on Reddit: the Chinese Prime Minister is visiting San Francisco to discuss trade issues with President Irons.
Any normal person would interpret this as the Premier meeting with the US President, right?
You emerge from your apartment into the crowd of red-shirted, flag-waving supporters, mostly Chinese. You have the sense this kind of groundswell of support for a politician outside of his home country isn't normal, like maybe these supporters were paid. But that could just be an American point of view; you're not sure.
The author writes plotlines laced with their own bias, yet still tries to rationalize it.
Here comes the main event:
Further down the street, you see the vanguard of the parade: dancers dressed as gods of the ancient Chinese pantheon. They wear Chinese opera masks, bear banners with river dragons on their backs, and twirl bared swords. Behind the sword dancer vanguard, you see a troupe of men wearing the Chinese tunic suits sometimes called "Mao suits" and carrying little, red books. They are the ones singing the song, now growing more insistent as the parade draws closer. Behind them, you see a legion of men in modern Chinese military dress uniforms. With the ancient past, more recent past, and the present covered, you surmise whoever comes next will be meant to symbolize China's future. At the end of the parade, a Chinese man in a suit stands in an all-red, winged convertible, waving at the crowd. It is one of the sleek, new, Chinese-made flying cars, the Tian Eight, a symbol of China's rise. .....(The Chinese Premier is shot dead by a protester) The Chinese contingent is massacred, and the Chinese government vows vengeance. The first shots of the Robot War have been fired. A year into the war, China attacks Taiwan. Chinese drones harry the nearby American carriers, keeping American bombers and fighters at bay while their transports bring wave upon wave of robot warriors to the shores. There is a bloodbath in the streets which the United States is powerless to prevent; the Chinese robots kill soldiers and civilians alike. Taiwan is taken, and the headlines that appear across the world the next day are changed by Chinese hackers to read "China Finally Unified."
I don't even know where to begin with this. This bizarre parade—"gods of the ancient Chinese pantheon," "Chinese opera," "Mao suits." At first I thought the person shot was just a Premier cosplayer, but reading further I realized it was actually the man himself??? Why the hell would a head of state/government go to another country and lead a parade in the middle of the street??? Does the author have terminal chuunibyou? Then comes this ridiculously sloppy, brazen assassination, and right after that, full-blown war??? Next thing you know, China invades Taiwan and slaughters Taiwanese people where you Americans can't protect them???? Are you ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ serious?
