Control: What Makes Jesse Such A Great Role Model For Girl Gamers?
I have had so many gamers recommend to me that I should play the action-adventure game Control. Almost everyone who recommended the game mentioned that they thought I would really like the main protagonist, Jesse Faden. They all told me that she’s super cool and is pretty badass to boot! This got me curious as I really do enjoy video games with strong female leads, after all, I think there is always more room to be made for strong female heroes in the games we play!
Growing up watching and playing a lot of games with my dad, I noticed that I really wanted video games to include more female leads since it was something young girl gamers could look up to. So, with a lot of players praising Control, I decided to give the game a try!
It all started really confusing and really rocky, like trying to bake a cake without reading the recipe. It felt wrong, and in the beginning, I really had to push hard to get into the game. However, there was something about the game that kept me going. Like a puzzle that needed to be solved.
It kicks into gear when Jesse makes her way to the Federal Bureau of Control, thankfully not alone as her trusty sidekick is a spirit. For me, it all got really confusing really quickly and I had to take in so much information! Like the fact that she is meant to be the assistant to the janitor (who was both funny and creepy) but instead gets immediately promoted as the new head of the FBC!! Like can I please walk into a building and get a job as head of the company on the spot!! (if you know of any companies that do this please let me know!!)
Although the game started off rather confusing because I felt everything happened so fast, it slowly began to make sense to me in a way… I think it was meant to give us the same feeling that Jesse would have had from the moment she first set foot into the Bureau. She was new to the environment, and she most certainly wouldn’t have had a complete grasp of what was happening around her!
I think this is why she did so well throughout the game’s storyline. Without her, the FBC was falling apart. It was being run by an older group with a different mindset, and that is why it felt so chaotic in the beginning. Jesse steps in and starts piecing it all back together slowly. She was perfect for the job as director of the Federal Bureau of Control.
I can see why everyone liked her so much and why people recommended I play the game because of her character. But what exactly is it about Jesse Faden that makes her such a good role model for all of us girl gamers?
Well, much like other video games we see the heroes don’t always have a choice in actually becoming the heroes. Instead, we see each and every one of them step up and try and do what they can to help change the outcome of their circumstances or surroundings. Jesse was completely the same. At first she refused to be the director and all she wanted was to find her brother. She had just been thrown into the strangest situation of her whole life and was just expected to immediately run everything like clockwork. She felt way in over her head and was unsure if she could actually fulfil her role because of deep-seated insecurities over what happened in her past.
Over the course of the game we get glimpses into her backstory and we begin to understand what she has gone through, how it has affected her, and why she feels like it is up to her to fix it all. Without giving away any spoilers, we watch her overcome her insecurities and come to terms with the tragedy that happened in her past. In coming to terms with this we watch her develop and grow right in front of our eyes. Throughout the game we watch as she takes on her new responsibilities and crazy abilities, and we get excited as she triumphs over the obstacles in her way!
This kind of characterisation is so so soooo important to see in a game like this as it totally transforms Jesse from just being another badass lady with cool abilities into someone who feels so much more fleshed out as a character and a personality. She takes what she has learned from her past to try and better the future through her unique way of looking at things where others might not see things the way she sees them.
By the end of the game Jesse Faden is a strong and reliable main character that we have come to trust in and fall in love with. Her past mistakes are what makes her human and she learns from it, the wrong and guilt she feels is something she tries to better about herself and honestly, we need more of this from our heroes because, in turn, it shows us how to learn and develop from our own past. Seeing such a flawed and genuinely human character learn how to stand up for what she believes in helps us see how to grow within ourselves. Characters like Jesse Faden helped me take Control of my own chaotic life (pun intended :P)
Currently between jobs, and dealing with the uncertainty about what I want from my future can be rather frustrating. So when I get to play video games like this with a strong female lead it gives me hope and gets me excited for my future because, much like Jesse, I hold my own future in my hands and I decide my own destiny.
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Love the review you go girl