Among the pain points it tackles are racism, communicating with immigrant parents, the acceptance of one’s self and origins, and more - all packed in a game that fully wraps in just a few hours. Asian-American representation is a big aspect of Butterfly Soup 2, possibly even more than in the first game, and creator Brianna Lei tried to produce a story that tackles heavy topics while retaining the overall positivity of its first chapter. Lei talked to Game Rant about what it means to grow up as an Asian-American child both in-game and in the real world, and how this perfectly ties in with the MCU series Ms. Marvel.
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How Butterfly Soup 2 and Ms. Marvel Offer Accurate Asian-American Representation
Much like in Butterfly Soup and Butterfly Soup 2, a key aspect of Ms. Marvel is exploring how the protagonist has to reconcile being an American native at school while handling the difficulties of coming from an immigrant family. This is not just characterized by an accent or smaller cultural differences between Kamala Khan’s origins and her American identity; instead, it’s made apparent in clever ways that make the series more nuanced.
For example, Kamala’s parents and grandparents are not accustomed to technology in the same way, and there are nods to the daily life of South Asian peoples with religion, family arguments, or traditions. What Lei found to be extremely accurate in terms of her own experiences is how Ms. Marvel depicts Kamala and her mother arguing, which to her feels like genuine Asian-American representation that also finds its way into Butterfly Soup 2.
While indie games are often a better placeto tackle social and personal struggles than AAA titles, Lei also wishes more developers and other media did try to have more varied and accurate representation. Butterfly Soup 2 does something similar with Diya having difficult conversations with her mother, or with Akarsha’s father mispronouncing English words due to being a first-generation immigrant.
These small details are not only great for providing more context behind Butterfly Soup games, they also make something familiar and intimate an important aspect of growth, especially when Asian-American teenagers have to clash with their parents.
Butterfly Soup 2 offers LGBTQIA+ representation on top of its depiction of Asian-American characters, and this helps create a more diverse environment where shades of deep-rooted issues like bullying, racism, and homophobia come together. This is one of the reasons Lei wants to see more Asian-American and queer characters in the video game industry, considering indie games have limited reach compared to big releases. Ultimately, Butterfly Soup 2 and Ms. Marvel do share common ground, and they both make for strong depictions of Asian-American people and their struggles - albeit in different mediums.
Butterfly Soup 2 is available now on PC.
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