There's a reason why Alice Madness Returns was such a cult classic and a hit with the alt kids of 2011-2013. The fashion, The Narrative, Even the weapon designs and combat mechanics are all tailored to tell a story of overcoming misogyny, bigotry, ableism, child abuse/trafficking, and mental health abuse.
Most weapons in video games purely use the in-games weapons for combat, but Alice uses them for so much more. Puzzle solving, exploration, finding collectables, and so much more. The game rewards you for not just being strong, but be swift, and above all else, cleaver.
The fashion. I don't know a single alt girly from that era who DIDN'T want Alice's wardrobe back in the day. The stark contrast between her literally dream wardrobe and traditional Victorian England Fashion makes Alice an alt icon in that right alone!
Finally, the narrative basically looks at people with all sorts of mental health conditions, (depression, anxiety, cluster b, etc.), WOMEN ESPECIALLY, and says, "I see you. You're not broken. You're just trapped in a system that's trying to break you."
Plus, Alice is canonically asexual? The story doesn't make a big deal about this? No male love interest to take the spotlight off of Alice or distract from her journey. There are men in the story but they all either contribute to or benefit off of her suffering in some way!
Best of all, the ending. She wins. She avenges her family and herself. She realizes that the police won't do anything to help because they won't believe her, so she takes matters into her own hands, AND THE GAME PAINTS THIS AS A GOOD THING! Wonderland may be damaged, but it's been saved. Her family maybe lost but their memory lives on through her. She's still here. She can live for those that she's lost, and whatever she chooses to do with that life will be on her own terms.
She may end the story alone, but she ends it with closure, she ends it with her memories intact, she ends it free.
Alice Madness Returns was THE game for neurodivergent, alt kids screaming to be seen and their trauma to be heard and understood. It's a shame we'll never get another game because EA deserves to burn, but I'll always appreciate Alice Madness Returns for standing the test of time the way it has and being there for little baby bats when they needed it the most.
It's earned its place right next to Fatal Frame, Silent Hill and Earlier Resident Evil games. Thank you for being the cornerstone of an era.
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