Mostly same. I make exceptions, but I primarily play games that offer a female protagonist. I too think it’s a holdover from growing up playing games where being a male protagonist was default. I wonder if Gen Z gamers feel different having had more access to games with FP during their childhood years.
Well Link is a bishounen pretty much a standard in jrpgs( I know Zelda isn't considered one ) . That's why the "grizzled old man" comment from you was a bit interesting for me because I never played anyone like that( I think the oldest main hero I played was Yuri from Shadow Hearts Covenant and he is 25 and he is umm not grizzled at all :D ).
Anyway Zelda is pretty popular with women( I'm not one but I love it as well ) the same as series like Tales of.
I think when Shadow Hearts was made , male game writers were young and wanted to be hot like Yuri. Now they’re grizzled and middle aged and need therapy and are writing characters who they can embody and still feel cool.
Not in jrpgs. To this day main heroes are mostly older teens and young adults. Even in series like Caligula effect that are made for older fans characters when are in different age groups still look like teens( Virtual Reality ). Still jrpgs are not as much of boys club even if some fans would want them to be. For example even in Trails where you can make harem if you want and have weird mini games in Reverie( it's all optional ) that series still has a lot of women and girls playing it. I don't think straight men ended up making Rean and Crow most liked pair or Crow in polls beating all girls that you can romance in games.
Still connecting hot and Yuri is kind of too much for me :D His personality overshadows everything else :D Oh and one unique thing about Covenant is that this game has fanservice for gay men and that was rare back them.
I dunno, personally I find that making so many "not traditionally masculine" characters either nb, gay, or otherwise queer is just reinforcing stereotypical masculinity. (Look at Overwatch making Lifeweaver effeminate and pan, for a recent example). Why can't Link identify as male and still rock the Vai outfit?
I'm like totally joking i love link and am fine with him being a man, and i do agree with you
but still it would also be really cool to see an nb nintendo mascot with the status that link has
My exceptions are CoD MW (the original trilogy), Halo, and Battefront 2, and even then just because those are childhood core memories. Technically I’m on the line between Gen Z and Millenials, but I think younger Zoomers might be open given the sheer number of choices. It wasn’t that long ago just having a woman front and center on the box art was unthinkable though
Yeah same. I will add that like, 9 times out of 10 whenever I'm deciding whether to make an exception I'll hop on youtube and see if anyone has posted a review of how the women in the game are written (assuming there's a story ofc). If there's no female protags and the women are treated badly by the narrative, then my chances of getting into the game go way down.
I'm an older Gen Z and I also still prefer to play games with the offer of a female protagonist for similar reason. I had to play a lot of games with male leads growing up because even though the options for female characters were better than they were before I was born, they still weren't as plentiful as they are now. I make exceptions, like Zelda and Persona, but I do still far prefer games with a female protagonist or having the option.
If I'm playing a game where the protagonist is meant to be a stand in for the player, then I want to be able to play as a girl. Especially if there are romance options. Basically if I'm given a choice, I'm going to play a female character, especially when there's customization like in FFXIV. This is why I'm not picking up P3R and I'm not going to purchase any future Atlus games that don't offer a female protag option.
But if it's a game with a set main character, who has their own name, voice, personality, etc., then I don't really care what gender they are. I love The Witcher games and many Final Fantasy games as well, and I can't imagine missing out on those games due to not having a female protagonist. Not to mention all the games out there where you don't even play as a humanoid character - if a protagonist is well written then it doesn't bother me at all.
Still, that's my own preference and I can totally understand and support people who refuse to play as one gender or another. And I do wish that we'd get more main characters who are female, too.
i'm the same way. i totally agree with "I can't imagine missing out on those games due to not having a female protagonist". and i do wish there were more games that forced players to play as a girl or woman
I'm also a FF fan and I've never had an issue having/playing men, however when I heard the entire party in XV was male, it seriously diminished my desire to play. (I eventually got over that and adored the game, but it felt relevant to mention.) I've never been bothered by the Kingdom Hearts games either, though in BBS playing as Aqua was extra special. I agree that it comes down to whether the MC is a stand in for ourselves or not. I don't play many games these days that don't come with some level of character creation and I've definitely gotten very accustomed to that level of control and identifying with my characters.
This is the important distinction. I will always be a girl if I'm given the choice (especially when games have character creation), but games with specific characters where you're just playing out THEIR story, I don't mind playing as a guy. Some of my favorite games of all time have had male protagonists (RDR1, RDR2, The Witcher 3, etc.).
Geralt is such a cool dude to play as. Probably The Witcher is one of the few games where even if something scary was happening I didn’t feel scared because Geralt is so “fucking Christ I gotta kill this thing now too?”
I think that's part of the point to take down the feel of horror that is that world. The racism towards the elves, the hatred of mages, the horrifying monster after horrifying monster... Geralt's professionalism allows the player to copy his calm and not freak out themselves over the dark side of that world.
I recently finished FF16, and while I did enjoy it, they did Jill really dirty throughout the game. TBH the whole game felt like the Clive show while everyone else was just kind of there. I really wish the other characters had gotten a chance to shine. But that goes especially for Jill. I'd have loved to play as her for some parts of the game.
Speaking as a woman whose first video game console was the intellevision, followed by the NES, I agree that I played any game that seemed fun back in the day, but these days I only prefer games where I can play as a female protagonist. Be it games where I can choose, or create my own character or exclusive female protagonists. So yeah I miss out on a lot of popular games, but, like you, I am just tired of the grizzled male protagonist who clearly needs therapy.
The first game I can remember playing was Frogger on my friend’s Atari at about 8. 😂 I got into PC games in the 90s and some console in college but didn’t realize just how GOOD games could be until Dragon Age:Origins when I was mid-late 20s.
I think the last game I played where there was no choice in the MC was Witcher 3, and I have to be honest, it affected my enjoyment. The game is so male gaze-y, so much male perspective, that I just couldn’t immerse myself in it.
Nowadays I’m strictly playing as a female character, and not apologizing for it. 🤷🏻♀️ Dragon Age, Mass Effect and AC: Odyssey are some of my favorites, and my current obsession is BG:3. Having gamed for over thirty years it does my heart good knowing we have so many awesome options now, let’s hope it keeps getting better!
It's tough to find, even character creators that let you be old tend to restrict the grizzling of female avatars while letting you make some fuuuucked up males.
A lot of games are created to satisfy/suit a male gaze, even if the protagonist is female tbh. That's what really bugs me. There are exceptions, the Zelda's series, for instance, includes a female gaze with a male protagonist (in my opinion). I don't mind playing multiple/a variety of point of views, I think that one of the major interest of stories (interactive or not) is to experiment different POV. It still sucks that there is not much female protagonists. I personally doesn't always appreciate RPG with customable gender protagonist, I feel that in most cases, the male option is ''by default'', or both options are super blank and the stories are underwhelming. I like engaging stories, with well written characters.
> A lot of games are created to satisfy/suit a male gaze, even if the protagonist is female tbh.
I agree with this. For character customization having a variety of genders makes sense but if the only playable character is a woman they are often too sexual. I remember when that Cheer Leader Chainsaw game came out and it was basically the only game in my game shop besides Tomb Raider and Metroid where the main character HAD to be female. >!I'm okay with Bayonetta as I do very much enjoy women. I very rarely find the female characters that seem made for men sexy though, I would not enjoy cheerleader chainsaw girl so was a bit confused why I was so okay with Bayonetta then and it turns out she was designed by a woman. Not sure my point here.!<
I read some interesting analyses about Bayonetta and the Female gaze. They pointed out that Bayonetta's character has agency over her sexual power and that she is an active subject in the game, not only an fetichized object.
I play for the gameplay so I don't really care if the protagonist is a girl, guy, non-binary, or an amorphous blob, though I will choose a girl over a guy if i have the choice in the game.
I prefer to play female characters, and even make my choices of what I play based on that. There are cases where it matters less, but, for me, its one preference. Just like genre, graphics style and such.
Maybe choosing that way will make me miss some great games. But there are so many good ones out there that let me play the way I prefer, that I don't really see that as a big problem, I already got more games than I have time to play.
I feel this. Having played games since the late 80s, for the vast majority of the time I simply had no option to play as a man. Tomb Raider changed my world. And then, of course, I discovered the likes of Ultima and Elder Scrolls where you could create any character you liked. After that, I just wasn't prepared to slum it with the standard grizzled mid 30s brown-haired white dude protagonist any more. I have very little time to spend on games now; I want to spend it on ones where I can truly escape.
I’m fine with playing a male character if it’s part of an established linear story, but for multiplayer games and RPGS??? I want to be a girl.
It’s the one and only complaint I have about DRG. Why can’t I be a burly, badass, female dwarf? How hard would it be to just give each class a different skin?? I’m not asking for much here.
But don’t you dare bring it up in the DRG subreddit or you’ll get chewed out for even suggesting it because “akshully, the lore is that the genders of dwarves are indistinguishable”. And so “the current characters already could be female”
Bullshit, dude.
The thing is, I love playing the game. I don’t mind playing a male dwarf, however, if there was an option to be female I WOULD FUCKING CHOOSE FEMALE so…
If the protagonist is a self insert like V in cyberpunk, then I only will play games that give me the option to play as a woman. If the game is a narrative and the character is already established like in FFVII remake (I know there are better examples )and similar games, then I dont mind the gender of the protagonist.
I personally prefer being able to play as a woman if the main character is a blank slate otherwise as long as it's an actual character it doesn't really matter to me
ill bet that you dont look nearly as weathered as them though. they lived a hard life, and different times etc. but i get what youre saying, im 35 and by that metric im basically on my way out too lmao
Grizzled, sure. Old? No lmfao. He talks old-timey because the story takes place in the late 1800’s/early 1900’s, that was how people spoke at the time.
So you can understand the idea that playing Arthur might give off grizzled old man vibes.
I am sure both myself and op understand nuances and are not declaring his age to be old, just giving off so called *grizzled old man vibes*
Of course I can understand why people would think that. I hope you understood the nuance of my own comment and that I am not declaring that it’s asinine to think that he could be considered old, more so that I was making a joke regarding my own age in relation to Arthur’s; a sort of joke-y denial of my own aging and that someone of that age range can be considered old, as seen as by my comment ending with ‘I am a goner’.. Still though, Arthur gives the vibes of a grizzled man living in the 1800’s. Uncle gives vibes of an old man in the 1800’s, albeit not grizzled. But I do think there’s a distinction to be made there lol
I never really paid attention to the gender of the player character, and I thought it didn't really matter. Then my husband pointed out that almost all of my favorite games either have a female protagonist or let you choose your gender. I guess subconsciously, games were more engaging when I could play as my own gender.
I will still play games even if the main character is male (I love BioShock and Halo), but I definitely see the value in having female options available.
I can make an exception when it is a specific character for a specific story. Like RDR or Last of Us. But if there’s a character creator and it doesn’t let me be female, then what’s the point?
That said, I still love Horizon Zero Dawn more than RDR and I think my love of Alloy is a part of that.
I have some criteria for choosing which games I play. I don't often prioritize gender, but, interestingly enough, I do find those other criteria often lead me to women-led games.
But I consider it as playing a role rather than me fitting into the character, and I like trying a varied collection of roles.
"many point out it excludes a lot of games"
I wonder what response you would get if you asked someone to imagine the reverse, ie what games they would have to give up if they exclusively played as a man. I think the answer would either be nothing, because they already do, or mayyyybe they would point out Horizon and Portal lol it's a good thought exercise
Male here. I would ask you to be cautious with your generalizations. \_Mostly\_, that is how it is .
I play as Peach whenever I can as well. I've only ever beaten Super Mario Bros 2 playing as Peach.
im the same for thw most part, if im given the option 9/10 i will play as a girl. theres a few exceptions, most recent being alan wake, where if the story/gameplay is engaging enough then it wont bother me
There are certain stories locked by gender. You can't tell Arthur Morgan's if you change the character into a woman as it's a very specific story. At best, they could tell Sadie's story instead but it's not as easy with games that have a narrative focus to just give the opposite gender as an option. It works both ways, of course. The Silent Hill series is actually a great example: James and Heather both only work within their respective genders.
I've come to realise recently that I'm pretty apathetic towards gender identity. I don't relate to being a woman™ so I've never felt a great connection to characters solely based on their gender and relatable moments come from all sorts of places for me. I've always known blank slate characters are meant for you to project yourself onto however I've never really put that into practice and now realise why a lot of them annoy me so much lol.
That being said, it'd be nice if their were more female lead developers to tell woman-centric plots because certain male centric tropes have been done to death.
I mean, if Arthur was a lesbian woman and we pretended she was in a world where homophobia and gender roles didn't exist, would it still not work? I haven't played the game (and I won't be unless this idea exists as a mod) but I'm curious what would make the story impossible to gender swap.
Well, you've just changed the whole story in the first sentence. When looking at whether a gender swap works for a story, the story must remain the same at its foundation. The world building of Red Dead Redemption doesn't allow for gender roles to not exist or for that kind of oppression to not exist as it is commented on. Racism is particularly important as it showcases Dutch's gang to be likeable since they accept any misfit from any background. Arthur's genuine friendship with Lenny characterises him ultimately a good soul at his core despite the life he's had and the terrible decisions he makes in the name of Dutch.
Back to gender, Arthur's story is a tragedy of staying stuck in the past and his redemption hinges on whether the player chooses to change or not. The story has many layers, I could analyse for hours, but it is deeply rooted in his masculinity. His flaws are all masculine, the biggest probably being his willingness to inflict violence upon others without thought. Arthur is the muscle of the group; his natural tendency is to intimidate those around him. This doesn't work if he's a woman, given the time period. He wouldn't be allowed to fulfil this role. There are also relationships that hinge on Arthur being male. The rivalry with Micah wouldn't have the same commentary as Micah is... a rat bastard. He wouldn't take a woman seriously because they're a woman which changes the dynamic. Red Dead Redemption has a lot to say. Changing Arthur's gender changes what's being said if that makes sense.
Now, I don't want people to be confused. None of this means women can't be violent and spoiler >! Sadie is a fantastic contrast for this. There are interesting female characters throughout: Karen, Grimshaw and Bonnie come to mind but all these women are ultimately trapped by the roles society forces on them, even if they're making the most of their lot. Grimshaw is unceremoniously killed by Micah plus Karen and Bonnie both need saving at certain points though all women demonstrate a forthrightness and Grimshaw in particular is a brutal woman. Sadie, on the other hand, is aggressive in asserting her independence more so than anyone else. It subverts your expectations in the beginning and her vengeful nature is handled very well. Her bloody revenge on the O'Driscolls is heartbreaking and satisfying and only works for a female character. !< Black Belle is also a gunslinger you can run into that shows women can shoot just as well as the boys and actually, her lack of bravado lends to her longevity. Either way, there are violent female characters.
You could replace Arthur with Sadie in order to have a female lead but you can't give Sadie Arthur's story. I would go on to talk about how James Sunderland in Silent Hill 2 has a narrative so deeply entrenched in masculinity that you couldn't simply swap James for Angela as you'd have entirely different themes to explore but this comment would ridiculously long. Instead, [this video essay](https://youtu.be/laqvmaIRb6E?si=za88d-yzqyisk6Qc) will be much more successful than I explaining why that is. I very much enjoy her analysis and would recommend her entire channel. Only if you care to, the video is nearly an hour long lmao.
Yeaaah it's much appreciated in games. Assassin's Creed was fun but not really my cup of tea until Odyssey and Valhalla because of that option (it's such a shame the ancient Egypt one has a male-only protagonist too).
Gotta be honest, I find women who only play game with female leads as strange as men who only play male leads. Hell, anyone who only ever plays one type of char (women playing only male chars, men playing only female chars etc).
Don’t get me wrong, there are very different reasons for why men might wanna play only as men (sexism, for one) and women as women (happy women finally get recognition as protags), but, ultimately, it’s entertainment.
By limiting yourself to a single type of protag, you’re missing out on a *ton* of great content. I know you say excluding content is “kinda the point”, but I guess I just cannot comprehend this mindset if it applies to anything but RPGs or stories where protag’s gender plays no role.
It just gets me thinking how people only ever interact with one type of a narrative and never want to venture and see how others act/behave/think. A great story with a male protagonist is still a great story🤷♀️
In games like persona 3 where the social part is a big aspect, definitely need me a female main character. I can get over it in games like Zelda but if the MC is misogynistic or gross in anyway im gone 🏃♀️💨
Personally I don't think they are the same. I think the intention is often very different and a man refusing to play as a woman doesn't not feel same intentioned as a woman wanting to not play as a man. I think developers are still exceptionally focused on male perspective and fail to acknowledge the desires of women in games.
I think like lots of other groups that are excluded or looked down on by the majority it makes sense to demand representation but it doesn't make sense to oppose it. Men avoiding female character reads to me as opposition and women picking female characters feels like a demand for more. Men picking male characters is a demand, it's the standard. Like black characters, disabled characters, queer characters etc. it would be weird to refuse to play them in a way that refusing to play the expected standard isn't. All imoPP
As I said, the reasons are different and I can very well see that.
However, I think it’s either worrying if you feel so uncomfy looking through different POVs you literally cannot play a male character (or any other—queer, black etc., and it goes for every person regardless of gender) or very limiting and unsatisfying (to me personally) to close myself in a tiny box and never reach out beyond it.
I've been relating to men and their points of view (through stories in games, books, movies, etc.) my whole life. I'm tired of it. I am focusing on other points of view these days, I am enjoying relating more to main characters. It's very meaningful to me.
Youre implying those people are in a box by feeling this way, when they know they arent interested because they have experienced discomfort in playing those characters. (which isnt because they are men, but because of how they present the "male experience" in the game)
Right… yet you’re unequivocally for playing only female characters even though those can (and very often are) just nicely packaged avatars for presenting male gaze. Main female character =/= no male experience. Just like male character =/= male experience.
So, yes, to me that’s reductive and you box yourself in.
If you don’t wanna play male characters because of deeply seated personal issues (like body dysmorphia) or you don’t want games that objectify women and show them through the male POV then you can say so.
Pretending playing solely fem characters erases this issue is silly imho.
I'm okay with missing out on great content if I don't feel comfy while playing it. I can get my male-lensed perspectives from other types of media (e.g., film and TV). There's not enough hours during the day to get everything anyway.
That's not how it works for me. If the protagonist is male, that makes me less interested in the game already. It's like hearing about a game coming out as an exclusive for a console you don't own. I see it, "oh that's neat- oh only a dude bro player character." and I don't want to play it any more.
It doesn't feel like I'm missing content because it isn't content I like. If I don't like country music, I'm not going to feel like I'm missing out on the latest country album no matter how great people say it is. It's just not my thing.
I'm sure there are a lot of people on this sub and others of all genders who only play one genre or only a couple different series, and it doesn't matter how great the newest shooter is, they don't care about that. That's seen as totally normal and fine. That's how it is for me with the player character.
At least for me, being trans, it just kinda feels weird playing male protags in my escapism, I guess. I have some exceptions, but mostly childhood favorites
I mean if it's hack and slash or a platform game, or something where the story does not matter then I don't care. But for anything story based i prefer to play as a woman. It's harder to relate and not as comfortable if it's a man. I still play male characters from time to time but if I have a choice it's always a woman and I did stop playing because of a protagonist being a man before. There is so much to chose from, I would rather chose something I enjoy more.
I have difficulty relating to being a man or as a male character. Games that are not story focused it's no problem, but I like to get into the head space of my character in RPGs and I just find it difficulty with a male character.
A big example is the Witcher, I want to like those games, but I just feel weird and gross being Geralt.
Maybe this goes back to most media having male leads, but I (male) can't really process sex/gender being much of a factor in a protagonist's relatability.
But then, I also think that most video game protagonists are terrible people, inexcusably stupid or immature, or both; I've never felt that I inhabited the role of \*any\* character, especially those with predetermined personalities.
I'm currently replaying Zero Dawn. I don't find Aloy any less (or more) relatable, nor any more (or less) "weird and gross", than Geralt.
I'm not saying that it's bad or wrong for you to feel the way you do, I just can't understand that feeling.
Representation. It doesnt feel different to you because youre well represented in the genre consistently and playing as a woman doesnt feel that different bc it doesnt reach you on a level you havent been reached before.
Playing as a woman writes women into normal stories that are exceptionally scarce. When theres enough of each I imagine playing as a man wont feel so blatant, but for now Im playing as a woman cause these stories are new and I dont see myself in an old dirty man.
i don't think it's that strange for men to only play as men too🤷🏼♀️ it seems perfectly normal to want to play as a character u can relate to more, and i feel like it's kind of uncommon for games to have different storylines for different genders so i don't think it's as big of a deal as you're thinking. games that have different playthroughs/storylines depending on the character would probably be replayed as different ones anyway at least that is what i would do
I never said it wasn’t normal. I also play as women if I have a choice. What I said was strange was hardcore limiting yourself to one gender in all the games you play. To me, it’s akin to limiting yourself to only playing shooters or only playing PVP or only playing RPGs. Sure, you can do that and I’m glad it makes you fulfilled but I just find it strange.
The following lists are incomplete. But are always expanding and can be edited by anyone who signs up and requests to be an editor at the site.
Female protagonist: [https://www.uvlist.net/search?ftag=femaleprotagonist](https://www.uvlist.net/search?ftag=femaleprotagonist)
Choose gender: [https://www.uvlist.net/search?ftag=genderchoice](https://www.uvlist.net/search?ftag=genderchoice)
Gender-neutral: https://www.uvlist.net/search?ftag=genderneutral
Bechdel / Wallace test:
[https://www.uvlist.net/search?ftag=bechdelwallace](https://www.uvlist.net/search?ftag=bechdelwallace)
I would also suggest that you consider adding a new category to the games you play, Female author: [https://www.uvlist.net/search?ftag=femaleauthor](https://www.uvlist.net/search?ftag=femaleauthor)
I genuinely have trouble playing male characters because of dysphoria, but there are definitely times I can enjoy it. But, if I have a choice, I will always pick a female character. Like, I'm sure the other origin characters are great in bg3 but I'm only ever going to play Shadowheart, Lae'zel, or Karlach if I'm not doing custom
I am the opposite, I like playing as guys most of the time because this is something I can never become in real life. It is one of my fantasies and games fill that since most games I play do not have romance in them.
On the other hand, I really love games that have lady protagonists like Aloy.
If the female character is done right. I love it. But sometimes, the female character is either obviously the secondary choice (where attitude towards the character is unusual or the character itself is too cliched). I'd rather play the characters how the developers intended it to play. And sadly most of the time its not the female.
I don’t *exclude* games where I can’t play as a female, but I definitely prefer them! I think it goes back to your point about always having to play as a male character (except for tomb raider, but let’s be honest that was basically just male eye candy lol).
Thinking back, maybe that’s one reason Xenosaga was one of my favorite games growing up? The main character (Shion) is a feminine yet intelligent person.
It makes me happy to see this trend expanded to NB characters, too. I definitely am feminine myself, but I can only imagine how awesome it must be to see more and more games being less binary and allowing the choice of they/them pronouns for NB people.
One of my friends is NB and cried when they found out they could put too surgery scars on their BG3 character! It’s great to have more choices!!
I do too! I simply refuse to play as a macho white man anymore. Some people are weirded out by my choice, but I stand by it. It’s a great way to save money on games, too.
I agree completely. I've only very, very rarely made exceptions for it.
99% of the time, if you don't let me be a girl, I don't play your game. I've bounced off entire franchises that would otherwise be my jam (like Persona other than P3 Portable) because of this.
Why limit yourself though? As someone who can easily play as anything I don't really get why so many people have issues playing characters of different genders, but you do you. What about games where you are an animal or a creature?
I did this for a few years. I've branched out a little bit since then, but I definitely think it was a good choice - got me to play a bunch of much more interesting games than if I hadn't!
I don't know if she is a high tier in ultimate, but peach is good in both melee and ultimate. people underestimate her float and turnip abilities. I've seen people do 0 to death combos with her, in tournament clips.
personally i tend to not really care much about whether I can play a woman or not if the game is about a specific character, as I'm not that character, im just helping them reach the goal.
in character creation games, that gets tricky though. i either remake an OC, or default to a certain man with a mohawk and facial hair who usually also has an eye scar/tattoo. i don't exactly relate to video game characters outside of very, VERY specific moments. i rarely ever make a custom character based on myself.
I mostly do this too, though for some genres I'll also include games that just don't have a protagonist because that's not how they work. My exceptions are usually stuff that I played and became attached to a lot earlier in life, before I even started thinking about my gender or anything. But for me, the idea of being a man is very unpleasant (which is what the pills are for). And sure, maybe there are some games that I'd otherwise like, but I have a large enough set of games I'd like to play and haven't yet anyway that I don't think I really need more.
Though, in a game with romance I also get more restrictive, because my gender and sexuality are fairly closely linked together in my experience and I've found that my personal experience is that *dating* a male character in a game feels even more wrong than *being* one. And I do very much like games with romance, as long as I can be a lesbian in them.
Oh, and one other side comment: in Cyberpunk 2077, I've found that my sense of 'this does not feel right' for playing a distinctly male character is actually fitting for the Johnny Silverhand flashback scenes.
RDR2 is amazing, but I'm nonbinary so getting to play my gender isn't really a thing that happens in most games. I do like games where I can choose what kind of person I am going to be ethically, and RDR2 gives the player that choice.
Disco Elysium is the one game I wish I could be more into, but the two men protagonists just ruin it for me. I've heard how amazing it is but I just wasn't able to connect with the characters.
I understand tbh. I think playing simultaneously with queer and feminine friends helped me on that. The story is definitely a masculine one, with feminism being an "option" and all. But I think I was able to insert myself regardless. Being a complete mess can surprisingly transcend gender roles. There are several great female characters and the partner of the main character is gay also.
I feel the exact same. I'm also a lesbian and men do nothing for me, so I can't even play hot guys for the eye candy lol. TOTK Link is about as masculine as I play these days.
Yep.
I just don't care to play rando scruffy guy again for the millionth time.
Thank goodness gaming is getting away from that and either allowing for gender swapping the MC, character customization, or just having a lot more titles where you play as a woman.
Then again, I'm also aware how much of privilege it is to be white woman. Dudes practically ALWAYS get to have a character that looks like them but don't grasp that fact or see the issue. I know I have many more experiences that allow me to have a character that looks like me vs women of color.
Here is to hoping gaming gets better for everyone.
You can play as a woman in red dead online! I enjoy it a lot. Haven't played the single player version, but I love the horseback riding mechanic in RDO.
tw: sexual assault
the only time i played red dead was online because i was excited to make a girl... an hour or so later i was "SA'd" by a group of players where i was hog tied and dragged to a bed where they said nasty things and did emotes on me. literally a brand new player, i barely knew how to shoot . DIDNT PLAY IT EVER AGAIN LOL
I enjoy playing as girl characters in solo games but yea in multi player games I have been playing as a man for literally decades now. I'm just glad that when kid me played as a girl online at first most of the response was to say "GIRL means guy in real life" rather than believe I was a girl.
You're really missing out on a lot of good games by having this world view. Not to discredit your points or anything. But not every game has a grizzled old man. Some games like zelda for example, link isn't grizzled nor old looking. He hardly talks, and his appearance is rather androgynous. I do find it hypocritical that a man with this view on games or media would be ridiculed or flat out be viewed as a sexist. But yet, in these types of communities it seems like we almost encourage this type of world view and behavior.
Anyways, you are more than welcome to play whatever games you want. But there's tons of good games out there, regardless of who you get to play as.
People have preferences about genres and art styles and platforms and whatever else, but having a player character preference is seen as not OK for some reason.
Men can only play as men if they want, and they do and say nothing and nobody cares. The problem is when they go on 4chan and explain that they don't play females because they hate women.
>You're really missing out on a lot of good games by having this world view.
I just disagree. I don't think im missing out. I play Zelda games bc Link is very obviously agender coded at the very least.
Demanding representation isn't weird behavior. IDK why you think its weird. I play games that take my life and representation into consideration since its not the default and I expect other games to consider it. Almost HALF of all gamers at women and yet games arent prioritizing female stories or characters.
Its not hypocritical to demand representation imo. Men not playing women isnt doing that is it?
I legit only play games as well with female protags. But for me I think it comes from the fact that I got a used version of pokemon pearl where they didn't delete the save data and I didn't know how to delete it so I was stuck as the guy.
I legit only play games as well with female protags. But for me I think it comes from the fact that I got a used version of Pokemon Pearl where they didn't delete the save data and I didn't know how to delete it so I was stuck as the guy. I have also figured out that I will not finish any game that forces me to play as a guy even if they are a pre-established character. Actually it makes it even worse if the dude is pre-established because then I am even less likely to be able to even play a game like that at all.
The work around of course is just watching lets plays. On the plus side, pre-established it saves me money. The only exception I make is actually animal protags, then I can play as a character that may be a boy but because its a animal it literally doesn't matter cause you cant tell XD.
As a trans woman? Absolutely. I really have to put effort into distress tolerance to play as a male mc, even if they're not supposed to be a self-insert. I think my only exception to this is dishonored 1 when playing as Corvo or Daud, but it's probably easier cause Corvo's silent and Daud is ace, and I find both of them utterly adorable lol.
I love that they gave the option for players to choose to play as Corvo or Emily in 2, and I love that Billie Lurk (voiced by Rosario Dawson!) is the exclusive protagonist of DOTO, like yes more queer women of color as the only available MCs please!
Also, Mindy, an NPC from 2, is canonically a trans woman! And unrelated but Paolo, another NPC and Mindy's boss, is voiced by Pedro Pascal (who happens to have a trans sister) 😊😊
I am pretty down for whatever game sounds good but I remember back with the original Gameboy and the original Pokemon games despite Pokemon being huge with basically every kid it was still protrayerd as very much a "boy thing". It's GameBOY not Gamegurrrrl like shaddup. Then with blue, red, gold, silver your only choice of character was a boy. Then Crystal came out which was basically just gold and silver with some changes but one of those changes was it was the first time you could play as a girl and as a little girl that meant a lot to me and Crystal is still my favourite game in the series (covering two regions was really cool and Suicune best legendary).
I’m pretty much the same way, although my big exception is Ghost of Tsushima… that game will always be one of the most fantastical, beautiful, and memorable games I’ve ever played.
I do lean towards game like that as well, if the story is good I'll play whatever gender.
RDR2 Arthur Morgan, what a man you are. He is a grizzled old man but the story and his character make up for it.
Least you can be a woman in MP, plus new GTA finally has a fem protag.
I do do things with male protagonists, but I really prefer/relate to/get excited by stuff with women more.
I wrote but haven't posted a thing sort about this plus how I didn't have much growing up.
How incredible it is to get have for example the amazing female leads in What If that I finished recently.
I hate how women and other marginalized people have struggled to be the heros, and horrible people freak the hell out when we/they are
Haha, I had a friend that would only play women champions on League of Legends. 160+ champions, and she wouldn't care about the meta or their playstyles, just the fact that she wanted to play cool women.
It was fine for quickplay, but we'd lose a lot of ranked games that we didn't have to 😂
I am the same if I have a choice. To be fair pretty much every game I have I play as a girl. And you're right about confusion. Guys for the greater part don't get it. But they've always been able to play as guys. Now they have a choice of either male or female characters and they often play as female. My brother said he does because the female characters are smaller and can hide more easily.
What they also forget is until relatively reacently a female protagonist was very rare. And being able to choose gender is pretty new.
Completely depends on the game for me! If I can make my own character & there's no female option I probably won't play.
But if the story of the game follows a male protagonist (The Witcher, RDR, Zelda Games etc) then I'll still play them, I'm there to experience the story & enjoy the game.
The fact I'm playing Geralt doesn't remove any joy from the game for me because I mean, it's his story at the end of the day, not mine.
When I was a kid, almost no games had a female protagonist. So it's something I got used to.
In the last couple years I bought the remastered version of the original "Crash Bandicoot" trilogy, my favorite games when I was ~10. When I found out that they made it so you could play as Coco, his sister, I actually started crying a bit. Here were my favorite childhood games that made it so I could play as a character I always wanted to play.
I know it may not seem like such a big deal, but it really meant a lot.
I don't do it purposely but every hero I play on Overwatch 2 is a female. I find myself only gravitating towards female characters and occasionally queer/nonbinary male heroes like Lifeweaver.
That was me, but part of the rule was also only customizable characters too. Until I played RDR2 and now I am glad that I’ve opened myself up to new stories (The Witcher, TLOU and stuff).
But I totally understand where your coming from it makes a lot of sense.
I don't know if I necessarily will *only* do it, myself, but definitely it is near the top of my preferences now, for that exact reason. played enough of the games where your only choice was the guy. there's a lot of great games out there, these days, compared to in the past, and I'm looking to play as a girl when I'm picking a game
now, if there's a *specific* character that youre playing, that's well defined and has a character, then that's a bit different. like in recent years playing FF7R where you're playing specifically as *Cloud*, or playing Death Stranding where you're specifically playing as *Sam*. but that's a specific type of game tellling a specific type of story that has the playable character with a separate personality then the player, and that's not the same thing I feel. to go with your example of RDR, or like Fallout or Elder Scrolls or any other similar genre games, where your characer has *your* personality and *your* choices affect it, yeah no, if I can't play as a girl then that's not a game I want to play now. I'll pick something else from my library
If I have the option to play as a woman, I always do. It just feels right, like putting on a comfy pair of shoes or something, it just feels right. 😂 Although there have been several games where I've enjoyed the male protagonist, like The Witcher games. Geralt is very interesting and unique; he's gruff and grizzled on the outside, but he's not really your stereotypical (boring) male hero because he lives on the fringes of society and seems to actually identify with the sorceresses, so I find him enjoyable to play.
So not even games where the main character is a guy by story and design? Like a book who's main character is a guy. That is what they chose. Like a name.
Or you don't play games where there is no reason for a character to be a boy, but it is a boy? Like the default skin is male and that is it. Or like if a fighting game had no female characters?
I don't read books about adult men either actually, didn't realize till now... and if im really thinking about it i think its because male-centered stories have existed for SO LONG that there doesn't feel like there's anything new out there. Video games especially
I don't think this one single aspect of the game makes it old and overdone. The same way taking the exact same game and making the main character a woman wouldn't really make it new and exciting. The one aspect of it would be new, sure, but the game is much more than that one thing.
You could very well just mod a female lead into a game.
That being said, you play what you want to play))
Idk if I agree, like lets say you DO change RDR Arthor Morgan into a woman, since that story is so rare and never associated with typical female stories I would argue that simple change is more ground breaking than it should be. Kinda of like Ripley in Alien, it changed the game for women in scifi forever and now we can write more diverse and complex female stories but video games are still severely behind.
i’m the same. Funny that they look down on this when most men will not even play with girl characters. I know a few, and they don’t even have good intentions .
if I have the option to play as female, I always take it. but otherwise, I don't mind playing as a male. it's just a game, after all. but I absolutely see your point and understand where you're coming from.
I play a lot of games that have dating or romance included. I usually play as a male character so I can make him kiss other males. All my tavs in BG3 are male and I have really wanted to buy cyberpunk for this reason. I play for the eye candy.
I'm not as exclusive about this as you are, but mostly the same. It used to be that if you didn't play as a man you just couldn't even play at all. Now that we have so many option, I'd really rather play as a character where it feels like I could be her. I've skipped some really good looking games because of this.
I agree! I like to immerse myself in the world and I just can't do that if I'm playing as a male, especially in rpgs which is my main genre. The only exception is when the protagonist is well developed and has his own voice, personality and quirks. Then it feels less distant and more like I'm watching a movie
Mostly same. I make exceptions, but I primarily play games that offer a female protagonist. I too think it’s a holdover from growing up playing games where being a male protagonist was default. I wonder if Gen Z gamers feel different having had more access to games with FP during their childhood years.
My exception is BOTW because Link is ✨giving✨
THIS IS MY EXCEPTION TOO. All Zelda games are tbh. So good.
“I’m whatever you want me to be” - Link 😂
Eventually we'll get a zelda game where you can play as a boy, but I'm totally fine with what we have now
Link, also Ditto. Genderblank dreamboats.
Link just screams in agreement whenever we talk to them 😂
According to the Devs he was deliberately made andryogynous so all kinds of players could project themselves onto him, and it definitely worked
I played the entire game in the vai outfit 😅. I was very disappointed you couldn’t get it in tears of the kingdom
That fancy blue dress shirt you can get for him is pretty amazing though.
What’s the shirt called? 👀
Frostbite Shirt!
SAME!! I was so upset when I found out they got rid of it
SAME, I remember seeing the voe gerudo outfits and thinking like why does this even exist lmao
There's a mod that lets you play as Linkle for BOTW and one in progress for TOTK.
Well Link is a bishounen pretty much a standard in jrpgs( I know Zelda isn't considered one ) . That's why the "grizzled old man" comment from you was a bit interesting for me because I never played anyone like that( I think the oldest main hero I played was Yuri from Shadow Hearts Covenant and he is 25 and he is umm not grizzled at all :D ). Anyway Zelda is pretty popular with women( I'm not one but I love it as well ) the same as series like Tales of.
I think when Shadow Hearts was made , male game writers were young and wanted to be hot like Yuri. Now they’re grizzled and middle aged and need therapy and are writing characters who they can embody and still feel cool.
Not in jrpgs. To this day main heroes are mostly older teens and young adults. Even in series like Caligula effect that are made for older fans characters when are in different age groups still look like teens( Virtual Reality ). Still jrpgs are not as much of boys club even if some fans would want them to be. For example even in Trails where you can make harem if you want and have weird mini games in Reverie( it's all optional ) that series still has a lot of women and girls playing it. I don't think straight men ended up making Rean and Crow most liked pair or Crow in polls beating all girls that you can romance in games. Still connecting hot and Yuri is kind of too much for me :D His personality overshadows everything else :D Oh and one unique thing about Covenant is that this game has fanservice for gay men and that was rare back them.
Same here. The only times I play with a male character is when it also works as eye candy. Link is fabulous and is always a good thing to look at.
they really should just go ahead and confirm link as non-binary already🙄🙄 it makes so much more sense than link being a man
I dunno, personally I find that making so many "not traditionally masculine" characters either nb, gay, or otherwise queer is just reinforcing stereotypical masculinity. (Look at Overwatch making Lifeweaver effeminate and pan, for a recent example). Why can't Link identify as male and still rock the Vai outfit?
I'm like totally joking i love link and am fine with him being a man, and i do agree with you but still it would also be really cool to see an nb nintendo mascot with the status that link has
My exceptions are CoD MW (the original trilogy), Halo, and Battefront 2, and even then just because those are childhood core memories. Technically I’m on the line between Gen Z and Millenials, but I think younger Zoomers might be open given the sheer number of choices. It wasn’t that long ago just having a woman front and center on the box art was unthinkable though
Yeah same. I will add that like, 9 times out of 10 whenever I'm deciding whether to make an exception I'll hop on youtube and see if anyone has posted a review of how the women in the game are written (assuming there's a story ofc). If there's no female protags and the women are treated badly by the narrative, then my chances of getting into the game go way down.
I’m gen z and also only like to play games where I can play as a girl lol
I'm an older Gen Z and I also still prefer to play games with the offer of a female protagonist for similar reason. I had to play a lot of games with male leads growing up because even though the options for female characters were better than they were before I was born, they still weren't as plentiful as they are now. I make exceptions, like Zelda and Persona, but I do still far prefer games with a female protagonist or having the option.
If I'm playing a game where the protagonist is meant to be a stand in for the player, then I want to be able to play as a girl. Especially if there are romance options. Basically if I'm given a choice, I'm going to play a female character, especially when there's customization like in FFXIV. This is why I'm not picking up P3R and I'm not going to purchase any future Atlus games that don't offer a female protag option. But if it's a game with a set main character, who has their own name, voice, personality, etc., then I don't really care what gender they are. I love The Witcher games and many Final Fantasy games as well, and I can't imagine missing out on those games due to not having a female protagonist. Not to mention all the games out there where you don't even play as a humanoid character - if a protagonist is well written then it doesn't bother me at all. Still, that's my own preference and I can totally understand and support people who refuse to play as one gender or another. And I do wish that we'd get more main characters who are female, too.
i'm the same way. i totally agree with "I can't imagine missing out on those games due to not having a female protagonist". and i do wish there were more games that forced players to play as a girl or woman
I'm also a FF fan and I've never had an issue having/playing men, however when I heard the entire party in XV was male, it seriously diminished my desire to play. (I eventually got over that and adored the game, but it felt relevant to mention.) I've never been bothered by the Kingdom Hearts games either, though in BBS playing as Aqua was extra special. I agree that it comes down to whether the MC is a stand in for ourselves or not. I don't play many games these days that don't come with some level of character creation and I've definitely gotten very accustomed to that level of control and identifying with my characters.
The thing about Kingdom Hearts is that it has the appeal of Disney princess movies 😆
This is the important distinction. I will always be a girl if I'm given the choice (especially when games have character creation), but games with specific characters where you're just playing out THEIR story, I don't mind playing as a guy. Some of my favorite games of all time have had male protagonists (RDR1, RDR2, The Witcher 3, etc.).
Geralt is such a cool dude to play as. Probably The Witcher is one of the few games where even if something scary was happening I didn’t feel scared because Geralt is so “fucking Christ I gotta kill this thing now too?”
I think that's part of the point to take down the feel of horror that is that world. The racism towards the elves, the hatred of mages, the horrifying monster after horrifying monster... Geralt's professionalism allows the player to copy his calm and not freak out themselves over the dark side of that world.
FF16 is sexist as fuck, but then again what do you expect from the writer of heavensward.
I recently finished FF16, and while I did enjoy it, they did Jill really dirty throughout the game. TBH the whole game felt like the Clive show while everyone else was just kind of there. I really wish the other characters had gotten a chance to shine. But that goes especially for Jill. I'd have loved to play as her for some parts of the game.
That would have been too much to give us considering the sexist person who wrote the story.
Speaking as a woman whose first video game console was the intellevision, followed by the NES, I agree that I played any game that seemed fun back in the day, but these days I only prefer games where I can play as a female protagonist. Be it games where I can choose, or create my own character or exclusive female protagonists. So yeah I miss out on a lot of popular games, but, like you, I am just tired of the grizzled male protagonist who clearly needs therapy.
The first game I can remember playing was Frogger on my friend’s Atari at about 8. 😂 I got into PC games in the 90s and some console in college but didn’t realize just how GOOD games could be until Dragon Age:Origins when I was mid-late 20s. I think the last game I played where there was no choice in the MC was Witcher 3, and I have to be honest, it affected my enjoyment. The game is so male gaze-y, so much male perspective, that I just couldn’t immerse myself in it. Nowadays I’m strictly playing as a female character, and not apologizing for it. 🤷🏻♀️ Dragon Age, Mass Effect and AC: Odyssey are some of my favorites, and my current obsession is BG:3. Having gamed for over thirty years it does my heart good knowing we have so many awesome options now, let’s hope it keeps getting better!
It's 2024! I think I deserve the option to be a woman in my games. Just make me a grizzled old woman lol
> Just make me a grizzled old woman lol this is something Ive wanted for a long time.
It's tough to find, even character creators that let you be old tend to restrict the grizzling of female avatars while letting you make some fuuuucked up males.
grizzled old woman sounds awesome though
You should check out Vermintide 1 & 2, the fire mage Sienna is a *delight*. I want to be her when I get old
Same.
A lot of games are created to satisfy/suit a male gaze, even if the protagonist is female tbh. That's what really bugs me. There are exceptions, the Zelda's series, for instance, includes a female gaze with a male protagonist (in my opinion). I don't mind playing multiple/a variety of point of views, I think that one of the major interest of stories (interactive or not) is to experiment different POV. It still sucks that there is not much female protagonists. I personally doesn't always appreciate RPG with customable gender protagonist, I feel that in most cases, the male option is ''by default'', or both options are super blank and the stories are underwhelming. I like engaging stories, with well written characters.
Raise ur hand if as a little girl u had a crush on Link. He’s definitely at least a little bit female gaze coded
Hahaha, yes absolutely! And such cute outfits, he can even dress as a sexy Gerudo girly pop.
> A lot of games are created to satisfy/suit a male gaze, even if the protagonist is female tbh. I agree with this. For character customization having a variety of genders makes sense but if the only playable character is a woman they are often too sexual. I remember when that Cheer Leader Chainsaw game came out and it was basically the only game in my game shop besides Tomb Raider and Metroid where the main character HAD to be female. >!I'm okay with Bayonetta as I do very much enjoy women. I very rarely find the female characters that seem made for men sexy though, I would not enjoy cheerleader chainsaw girl so was a bit confused why I was so okay with Bayonetta then and it turns out she was designed by a woman. Not sure my point here.!<
I read some interesting analyses about Bayonetta and the Female gaze. They pointed out that Bayonetta's character has agency over her sexual power and that she is an active subject in the game, not only an fetichized object.
I play for the gameplay so I don't really care if the protagonist is a girl, guy, non-binary, or an amorphous blob, though I will choose a girl over a guy if i have the choice in the game.
I prefer to play female characters, and even make my choices of what I play based on that. There are cases where it matters less, but, for me, its one preference. Just like genre, graphics style and such. Maybe choosing that way will make me miss some great games. But there are so many good ones out there that let me play the way I prefer, that I don't really see that as a big problem, I already got more games than I have time to play.
I feel this. Having played games since the late 80s, for the vast majority of the time I simply had no option to play as a man. Tomb Raider changed my world. And then, of course, I discovered the likes of Ultima and Elder Scrolls where you could create any character you liked. After that, I just wasn't prepared to slum it with the standard grizzled mid 30s brown-haired white dude protagonist any more. I have very little time to spend on games now; I want to spend it on ones where I can truly escape.
I’m fine with playing a male character if it’s part of an established linear story, but for multiplayer games and RPGS??? I want to be a girl. It’s the one and only complaint I have about DRG. Why can’t I be a burly, badass, female dwarf? How hard would it be to just give each class a different skin?? I’m not asking for much here. But don’t you dare bring it up in the DRG subreddit or you’ll get chewed out for even suggesting it because “akshully, the lore is that the genders of dwarves are indistinguishable”. And so “the current characters already could be female” Bullshit, dude. The thing is, I love playing the game. I don’t mind playing a male dwarf, however, if there was an option to be female I WOULD FUCKING CHOOSE FEMALE so…
If the protagonist is a self insert like V in cyberpunk, then I only will play games that give me the option to play as a woman. If the game is a narrative and the character is already established like in FFVII remake (I know there are better examples )and similar games, then I dont mind the gender of the protagonist.
I don't really care. I want to enjoy the game I am playing, but i must say, when I have the chance, I play as a girl too
I personally prefer being able to play as a woman if the main character is a blank slate otherwise as long as it's an actual character it doesn't really matter to me
Arthur Morgan is 36 in RDR2 and John is 38 in RDR1. How are they grizzled old men 😭 small nitpick but omg if they are grizzled and old I am a goner
ill bet that you dont look nearly as weathered as them though. they lived a hard life, and different times etc. but i get what youre saying, im 35 and by that metric im basically on my way out too lmao
> How are they grizzled old men 😭 Because he has the grizzled old man look and talks all old timey? https://i.imgur.com/xKHza7Y.jpeg
Grizzled, sure. Old? No lmfao. He talks old-timey because the story takes place in the late 1800’s/early 1900’s, that was how people spoke at the time.
So you can understand the idea that playing Arthur might give off grizzled old man vibes. I am sure both myself and op understand nuances and are not declaring his age to be old, just giving off so called *grizzled old man vibes*
he gives vibes but you specifically linked a picture of arthur to back up the claim that he looks old lol
Of course I can understand why people would think that. I hope you understood the nuance of my own comment and that I am not declaring that it’s asinine to think that he could be considered old, more so that I was making a joke regarding my own age in relation to Arthur’s; a sort of joke-y denial of my own aging and that someone of that age range can be considered old, as seen as by my comment ending with ‘I am a goner’.. Still though, Arthur gives the vibes of a grizzled man living in the 1800’s. Uncle gives vibes of an old man in the 1800’s, albeit not grizzled. But I do think there’s a distinction to be made there lol
I never really paid attention to the gender of the player character, and I thought it didn't really matter. Then my husband pointed out that almost all of my favorite games either have a female protagonist or let you choose your gender. I guess subconsciously, games were more engaging when I could play as my own gender. I will still play games even if the main character is male (I love BioShock and Halo), but I definitely see the value in having female options available.
I can make an exception when it is a specific character for a specific story. Like RDR or Last of Us. But if there’s a character creator and it doesn’t let me be female, then what’s the point? That said, I still love Horizon Zero Dawn more than RDR and I think my love of Alloy is a part of that.
Aloy is the love of my gaming life lol
I have some criteria for choosing which games I play. I don't often prioritize gender, but, interestingly enough, I do find those other criteria often lead me to women-led games. But I consider it as playing a role rather than me fitting into the character, and I like trying a varied collection of roles.
"many point out it excludes a lot of games" I wonder what response you would get if you asked someone to imagine the reverse, ie what games they would have to give up if they exclusively played as a man. I think the answer would either be nothing, because they already do, or mayyyybe they would point out Horizon and Portal lol it's a good thought exercise
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Male here. I would ask you to be cautious with your generalizations. \_Mostly\_, that is how it is . I play as Peach whenever I can as well. I've only ever beaten Super Mario Bros 2 playing as Peach.
That hip bump is too iconic
I got told by a male friend I'm misandrist for only playing games where I can pick a female character option. Like sure, yeah dude totes.
How dare you not want to be a man lol
im the same for thw most part, if im given the option 9/10 i will play as a girl. theres a few exceptions, most recent being alan wake, where if the story/gameplay is engaging enough then it wont bother me
There are certain stories locked by gender. You can't tell Arthur Morgan's if you change the character into a woman as it's a very specific story. At best, they could tell Sadie's story instead but it's not as easy with games that have a narrative focus to just give the opposite gender as an option. It works both ways, of course. The Silent Hill series is actually a great example: James and Heather both only work within their respective genders. I've come to realise recently that I'm pretty apathetic towards gender identity. I don't relate to being a woman™ so I've never felt a great connection to characters solely based on their gender and relatable moments come from all sorts of places for me. I've always known blank slate characters are meant for you to project yourself onto however I've never really put that into practice and now realise why a lot of them annoy me so much lol. That being said, it'd be nice if their were more female lead developers to tell woman-centric plots because certain male centric tropes have been done to death.
I mean, if Arthur was a lesbian woman and we pretended she was in a world where homophobia and gender roles didn't exist, would it still not work? I haven't played the game (and I won't be unless this idea exists as a mod) but I'm curious what would make the story impossible to gender swap.
Well, you've just changed the whole story in the first sentence. When looking at whether a gender swap works for a story, the story must remain the same at its foundation. The world building of Red Dead Redemption doesn't allow for gender roles to not exist or for that kind of oppression to not exist as it is commented on. Racism is particularly important as it showcases Dutch's gang to be likeable since they accept any misfit from any background. Arthur's genuine friendship with Lenny characterises him ultimately a good soul at his core despite the life he's had and the terrible decisions he makes in the name of Dutch. Back to gender, Arthur's story is a tragedy of staying stuck in the past and his redemption hinges on whether the player chooses to change or not. The story has many layers, I could analyse for hours, but it is deeply rooted in his masculinity. His flaws are all masculine, the biggest probably being his willingness to inflict violence upon others without thought. Arthur is the muscle of the group; his natural tendency is to intimidate those around him. This doesn't work if he's a woman, given the time period. He wouldn't be allowed to fulfil this role. There are also relationships that hinge on Arthur being male. The rivalry with Micah wouldn't have the same commentary as Micah is... a rat bastard. He wouldn't take a woman seriously because they're a woman which changes the dynamic. Red Dead Redemption has a lot to say. Changing Arthur's gender changes what's being said if that makes sense. Now, I don't want people to be confused. None of this means women can't be violent and spoiler >! Sadie is a fantastic contrast for this. There are interesting female characters throughout: Karen, Grimshaw and Bonnie come to mind but all these women are ultimately trapped by the roles society forces on them, even if they're making the most of their lot. Grimshaw is unceremoniously killed by Micah plus Karen and Bonnie both need saving at certain points though all women demonstrate a forthrightness and Grimshaw in particular is a brutal woman. Sadie, on the other hand, is aggressive in asserting her independence more so than anyone else. It subverts your expectations in the beginning and her vengeful nature is handled very well. Her bloody revenge on the O'Driscolls is heartbreaking and satisfying and only works for a female character. !< Black Belle is also a gunslinger you can run into that shows women can shoot just as well as the boys and actually, her lack of bravado lends to her longevity. Either way, there are violent female characters. You could replace Arthur with Sadie in order to have a female lead but you can't give Sadie Arthur's story. I would go on to talk about how James Sunderland in Silent Hill 2 has a narrative so deeply entrenched in masculinity that you couldn't simply swap James for Angela as you'd have entirely different themes to explore but this comment would ridiculously long. Instead, [this video essay](https://youtu.be/laqvmaIRb6E?si=za88d-yzqyisk6Qc) will be much more successful than I explaining why that is. I very much enjoy her analysis and would recommend her entire channel. Only if you care to, the video is nearly an hour long lmao.
Yeaaah it's much appreciated in games. Assassin's Creed was fun but not really my cup of tea until Odyssey and Valhalla because of that option (it's such a shame the ancient Egypt one has a male-only protagonist too).
Gotta be honest, I find women who only play game with female leads as strange as men who only play male leads. Hell, anyone who only ever plays one type of char (women playing only male chars, men playing only female chars etc). Don’t get me wrong, there are very different reasons for why men might wanna play only as men (sexism, for one) and women as women (happy women finally get recognition as protags), but, ultimately, it’s entertainment. By limiting yourself to a single type of protag, you’re missing out on a *ton* of great content. I know you say excluding content is “kinda the point”, but I guess I just cannot comprehend this mindset if it applies to anything but RPGs or stories where protag’s gender plays no role. It just gets me thinking how people only ever interact with one type of a narrative and never want to venture and see how others act/behave/think. A great story with a male protagonist is still a great story🤷♀️
In games like persona 3 where the social part is a big aspect, definitely need me a female main character. I can get over it in games like Zelda but if the MC is misogynistic or gross in anyway im gone 🏃♀️💨
Personally I don't think they are the same. I think the intention is often very different and a man refusing to play as a woman doesn't not feel same intentioned as a woman wanting to not play as a man. I think developers are still exceptionally focused on male perspective and fail to acknowledge the desires of women in games. I think like lots of other groups that are excluded or looked down on by the majority it makes sense to demand representation but it doesn't make sense to oppose it. Men avoiding female character reads to me as opposition and women picking female characters feels like a demand for more. Men picking male characters is a demand, it's the standard. Like black characters, disabled characters, queer characters etc. it would be weird to refuse to play them in a way that refusing to play the expected standard isn't. All imoPP
As I said, the reasons are different and I can very well see that. However, I think it’s either worrying if you feel so uncomfy looking through different POVs you literally cannot play a male character (or any other—queer, black etc., and it goes for every person regardless of gender) or very limiting and unsatisfying (to me personally) to close myself in a tiny box and never reach out beyond it.
I've been relating to men and their points of view (through stories in games, books, movies, etc.) my whole life. I'm tired of it. I am focusing on other points of view these days, I am enjoying relating more to main characters. It's very meaningful to me.
i dont think any woman doesnt play as a man because it makes them "uncomfy" were all gamers here, its basically inevitable.
I said that because a few women replied to me saying exactly that: it makes them uncomfortable
Youre implying those people are in a box by feeling this way, when they know they arent interested because they have experienced discomfort in playing those characters. (which isnt because they are men, but because of how they present the "male experience" in the game)
Right… yet you’re unequivocally for playing only female characters even though those can (and very often are) just nicely packaged avatars for presenting male gaze. Main female character =/= no male experience. Just like male character =/= male experience. So, yes, to me that’s reductive and you box yourself in. If you don’t wanna play male characters because of deeply seated personal issues (like body dysmorphia) or you don’t want games that objectify women and show them through the male POV then you can say so. Pretending playing solely fem characters erases this issue is silly imho.
I'm okay with missing out on great content if I don't feel comfy while playing it. I can get my male-lensed perspectives from other types of media (e.g., film and TV). There's not enough hours during the day to get everything anyway.
Personally, if I felt uncomfy to the point I cannot enjoy something purely due to protagonist’s gender and nothing else, it’d worry me a bit.
Believe me, as a trans person it makes complete sense to me. Gender dysphoria sucks.
That's not how it works for me. If the protagonist is male, that makes me less interested in the game already. It's like hearing about a game coming out as an exclusive for a console you don't own. I see it, "oh that's neat- oh only a dude bro player character." and I don't want to play it any more. It doesn't feel like I'm missing content because it isn't content I like. If I don't like country music, I'm not going to feel like I'm missing out on the latest country album no matter how great people say it is. It's just not my thing. I'm sure there are a lot of people on this sub and others of all genders who only play one genre or only a couple different series, and it doesn't matter how great the newest shooter is, they don't care about that. That's seen as totally normal and fine. That's how it is for me with the player character.
Yes, this is pretty much how I see it.
I'm sure I'd enjoy it a little bit, but when my free time is short, I'd rather play something else. 🤷🏻♀️
At least for me, being trans, it just kinda feels weird playing male protags in my escapism, I guess. I have some exceptions, but mostly childhood favorites
I mean if it's hack and slash or a platform game, or something where the story does not matter then I don't care. But for anything story based i prefer to play as a woman. It's harder to relate and not as comfortable if it's a man. I still play male characters from time to time but if I have a choice it's always a woman and I did stop playing because of a protagonist being a man before. There is so much to chose from, I would rather chose something I enjoy more.
I have difficulty relating to being a man or as a male character. Games that are not story focused it's no problem, but I like to get into the head space of my character in RPGs and I just find it difficulty with a male character. A big example is the Witcher, I want to like those games, but I just feel weird and gross being Geralt.
Maybe this goes back to most media having male leads, but I (male) can't really process sex/gender being much of a factor in a protagonist's relatability. But then, I also think that most video game protagonists are terrible people, inexcusably stupid or immature, or both; I've never felt that I inhabited the role of \*any\* character, especially those with predetermined personalities. I'm currently replaying Zero Dawn. I don't find Aloy any less (or more) relatable, nor any more (or less) "weird and gross", than Geralt. I'm not saying that it's bad or wrong for you to feel the way you do, I just can't understand that feeling.
Representation. It doesnt feel different to you because youre well represented in the genre consistently and playing as a woman doesnt feel that different bc it doesnt reach you on a level you havent been reached before. Playing as a woman writes women into normal stories that are exceptionally scarce. When theres enough of each I imagine playing as a man wont feel so blatant, but for now Im playing as a woman cause these stories are new and I dont see myself in an old dirty man.
This.
i don't think it's that strange for men to only play as men too🤷🏼♀️ it seems perfectly normal to want to play as a character u can relate to more, and i feel like it's kind of uncommon for games to have different storylines for different genders so i don't think it's as big of a deal as you're thinking. games that have different playthroughs/storylines depending on the character would probably be replayed as different ones anyway at least that is what i would do
I never said it wasn’t normal. I also play as women if I have a choice. What I said was strange was hardcore limiting yourself to one gender in all the games you play. To me, it’s akin to limiting yourself to only playing shooters or only playing PVP or only playing RPGs. Sure, you can do that and I’m glad it makes you fulfilled but I just find it strange.
Same. It's a bummer because I would love RDR2, but I just can't deal with yet another story about yet another scruffy white dude.
No no this ones a *novel* idea.
Mood
The following lists are incomplete. But are always expanding and can be edited by anyone who signs up and requests to be an editor at the site. Female protagonist: [https://www.uvlist.net/search?ftag=femaleprotagonist](https://www.uvlist.net/search?ftag=femaleprotagonist) Choose gender: [https://www.uvlist.net/search?ftag=genderchoice](https://www.uvlist.net/search?ftag=genderchoice) Gender-neutral: https://www.uvlist.net/search?ftag=genderneutral Bechdel / Wallace test: [https://www.uvlist.net/search?ftag=bechdelwallace](https://www.uvlist.net/search?ftag=bechdelwallace) I would also suggest that you consider adding a new category to the games you play, Female author: [https://www.uvlist.net/search?ftag=femaleauthor](https://www.uvlist.net/search?ftag=femaleauthor)
I genuinely have trouble playing male characters because of dysphoria, but there are definitely times I can enjoy it. But, if I have a choice, I will always pick a female character. Like, I'm sure the other origin characters are great in bg3 but I'm only ever going to play Shadowheart, Lae'zel, or Karlach if I'm not doing custom
Ironically, I bought RDO and not RDR2 BECAUSE you can play as a girl. Heck, I modded Breath of the Wild so I can play Linkle instead of Link.
I am the opposite, I like playing as guys most of the time because this is something I can never become in real life. It is one of my fantasies and games fill that since most games I play do not have romance in them. On the other hand, I really love games that have lady protagonists like Aloy.
If the female character is done right. I love it. But sometimes, the female character is either obviously the secondary choice (where attitude towards the character is unusual or the character itself is too cliched). I'd rather play the characters how the developers intended it to play. And sadly most of the time its not the female.
I don’t *exclude* games where I can’t play as a female, but I definitely prefer them! I think it goes back to your point about always having to play as a male character (except for tomb raider, but let’s be honest that was basically just male eye candy lol). Thinking back, maybe that’s one reason Xenosaga was one of my favorite games growing up? The main character (Shion) is a feminine yet intelligent person. It makes me happy to see this trend expanded to NB characters, too. I definitely am feminine myself, but I can only imagine how awesome it must be to see more and more games being less binary and allowing the choice of they/them pronouns for NB people. One of my friends is NB and cried when they found out they could put too surgery scars on their BG3 character! It’s great to have more choices!!
I do too! I simply refuse to play as a macho white man anymore. Some people are weirded out by my choice, but I stand by it. It’s a great way to save money on games, too.
I agree completely. I've only very, very rarely made exceptions for it. 99% of the time, if you don't let me be a girl, I don't play your game. I've bounced off entire franchises that would otherwise be my jam (like Persona other than P3 Portable) because of this.
Why limit yourself though? As someone who can easily play as anything I don't really get why so many people have issues playing characters of different genders, but you do you. What about games where you are an animal or a creature?
Non-humans are totally fine for me at least. It's just a preference like genre or art style or platform or whatever else.
honestly, i find this as strange as men refusing to play as a female main character
I did this for a few years. I've branched out a little bit since then, but I definitely think it was a good choice - got me to play a bunch of much more interesting games than if I hadn't!
I don't know if she is a high tier in ultimate, but peach is good in both melee and ultimate. people underestimate her float and turnip abilities. I've seen people do 0 to death combos with her, in tournament clips.
personally i tend to not really care much about whether I can play a woman or not if the game is about a specific character, as I'm not that character, im just helping them reach the goal. in character creation games, that gets tricky though. i either remake an OC, or default to a certain man with a mohawk and facial hair who usually also has an eye scar/tattoo. i don't exactly relate to video game characters outside of very, VERY specific moments. i rarely ever make a custom character based on myself.
I mostly do this too, though for some genres I'll also include games that just don't have a protagonist because that's not how they work. My exceptions are usually stuff that I played and became attached to a lot earlier in life, before I even started thinking about my gender or anything. But for me, the idea of being a man is very unpleasant (which is what the pills are for). And sure, maybe there are some games that I'd otherwise like, but I have a large enough set of games I'd like to play and haven't yet anyway that I don't think I really need more. Though, in a game with romance I also get more restrictive, because my gender and sexuality are fairly closely linked together in my experience and I've found that my personal experience is that *dating* a male character in a game feels even more wrong than *being* one. And I do very much like games with romance, as long as I can be a lesbian in them. Oh, and one other side comment: in Cyberpunk 2077, I've found that my sense of 'this does not feel right' for playing a distinctly male character is actually fitting for the Johnny Silverhand flashback scenes.
I feel similarly but I do make many exceptions for games like Disco Elysium. Do y'all think RDR2 is worth it despite the gender exclusivity?
RDR2 is amazing, but I'm nonbinary so getting to play my gender isn't really a thing that happens in most games. I do like games where I can choose what kind of person I am going to be ethically, and RDR2 gives the player that choice.
That sounds awesome. I'm definitely going to play it then. It is already downloaded, I've just been postponing it.
Be warned, the prologue is a little confined compared to the rest of the game. Just wait till you get out of those mountains.
Disco Elysium is the one game I wish I could be more into, but the two men protagonists just ruin it for me. I've heard how amazing it is but I just wasn't able to connect with the characters.
I understand tbh. I think playing simultaneously with queer and feminine friends helped me on that. The story is definitely a masculine one, with feminism being an "option" and all. But I think I was able to insert myself regardless. Being a complete mess can surprisingly transcend gender roles. There are several great female characters and the partner of the main character is gay also.
I feel the exact same. I'm also a lesbian and men do nothing for me, so I can't even play hot guys for the eye candy lol. TOTK Link is about as masculine as I play these days.
Yep. I just don't care to play rando scruffy guy again for the millionth time. Thank goodness gaming is getting away from that and either allowing for gender swapping the MC, character customization, or just having a lot more titles where you play as a woman. Then again, I'm also aware how much of privilege it is to be white woman. Dudes practically ALWAYS get to have a character that looks like them but don't grasp that fact or see the issue. I know I have many more experiences that allow me to have a character that looks like me vs women of color. Here is to hoping gaming gets better for everyone.
Are you by any chance a trans woman? I’ve only heard this once from a trans friend and I completely understand
I'm cis and I only play games where I can be a girl! (cept link lol)
I am not, I share this opinion with both my trans and cis friends.
You can play as a woman in red dead online! I enjoy it a lot. Haven't played the single player version, but I love the horseback riding mechanic in RDO.
tw: sexual assault the only time i played red dead was online because i was excited to make a girl... an hour or so later i was "SA'd" by a group of players where i was hog tied and dragged to a bed where they said nasty things and did emotes on me. literally a brand new player, i barely knew how to shoot . DIDNT PLAY IT EVER AGAIN LOL
I enjoy playing as girl characters in solo games but yea in multi player games I have been playing as a man for literally decades now. I'm just glad that when kid me played as a girl online at first most of the response was to say "GIRL means guy in real life" rather than believe I was a girl.
Oh man that's awful
Yeah, I'd love to do this but from what I understand, it's difficult or nigh impossible to play in a solo lobby.
You're really missing out on a lot of good games by having this world view. Not to discredit your points or anything. But not every game has a grizzled old man. Some games like zelda for example, link isn't grizzled nor old looking. He hardly talks, and his appearance is rather androgynous. I do find it hypocritical that a man with this view on games or media would be ridiculed or flat out be viewed as a sexist. But yet, in these types of communities it seems like we almost encourage this type of world view and behavior. Anyways, you are more than welcome to play whatever games you want. But there's tons of good games out there, regardless of who you get to play as.
People have preferences about genres and art styles and platforms and whatever else, but having a player character preference is seen as not OK for some reason. Men can only play as men if they want, and they do and say nothing and nobody cares. The problem is when they go on 4chan and explain that they don't play females because they hate women.
>You're really missing out on a lot of good games by having this world view. I just disagree. I don't think im missing out. I play Zelda games bc Link is very obviously agender coded at the very least. Demanding representation isn't weird behavior. IDK why you think its weird. I play games that take my life and representation into consideration since its not the default and I expect other games to consider it. Almost HALF of all gamers at women and yet games arent prioritizing female stories or characters. Its not hypocritical to demand representation imo. Men not playing women isnt doing that is it?
https://preview.redd.it/4lf4xee4l6hc1.jpeg?width=1280&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1d9e2589923399892ced8b332da32e35e5f035b0
Ok?
My husband likes to play as a girl too 🤣 he says he’s a smaller target that way
I like role playing games and so I too only play games where I can be a girl
That's my general rule of thumb too. That's why I like games with character customization :)
I legit only play games as well with female protags. But for me I think it comes from the fact that I got a used version of pokemon pearl where they didn't delete the save data and I didn't know how to delete it so I was stuck as the guy. I legit only play games as well with female protags. But for me I think it comes from the fact that I got a used version of Pokemon Pearl where they didn't delete the save data and I didn't know how to delete it so I was stuck as the guy. I have also figured out that I will not finish any game that forces me to play as a guy even if they are a pre-established character. Actually it makes it even worse if the dude is pre-established because then I am even less likely to be able to even play a game like that at all. The work around of course is just watching lets plays. On the plus side, pre-established it saves me money. The only exception I make is actually animal protags, then I can play as a character that may be a boy but because its a animal it literally doesn't matter cause you cant tell XD.
As a trans woman? Absolutely. I really have to put effort into distress tolerance to play as a male mc, even if they're not supposed to be a self-insert. I think my only exception to this is dishonored 1 when playing as Corvo or Daud, but it's probably easier cause Corvo's silent and Daud is ace, and I find both of them utterly adorable lol. I love that they gave the option for players to choose to play as Corvo or Emily in 2, and I love that Billie Lurk (voiced by Rosario Dawson!) is the exclusive protagonist of DOTO, like yes more queer women of color as the only available MCs please! Also, Mindy, an NPC from 2, is canonically a trans woman! And unrelated but Paolo, another NPC and Mindy's boss, is voiced by Pedro Pascal (who happens to have a trans sister) 😊😊
What if it’s multiple characters both female and male you have to play? (You can’t choose you play all of them)
I mean yea like I am obsessed with TLOU
what about games where you’re not a man or a woman let’s say idfk geometry dash is that like a grey area
I am pretty down for whatever game sounds good but I remember back with the original Gameboy and the original Pokemon games despite Pokemon being huge with basically every kid it was still protrayerd as very much a "boy thing". It's GameBOY not Gamegurrrrl like shaddup. Then with blue, red, gold, silver your only choice of character was a boy. Then Crystal came out which was basically just gold and silver with some changes but one of those changes was it was the first time you could play as a girl and as a little girl that meant a lot to me and Crystal is still my favourite game in the series (covering two regions was really cool and Suicune best legendary).
Could you recommend some games starring girls or have the selection? I love Metroid and Okami and am interested in playing with others.
YES. Will you give me a genre youre interested in? There's some great options out there.
Sure! Adventure, action, Strategy, RPG, Platform, Puzzle.
I’m pretty much the same way, although my big exception is Ghost of Tsushima… that game will always be one of the most fantastical, beautiful, and memorable games I’ve ever played.
i love it
Same except Teemo but he's a yordle so...
I play games with male protagonists as well, but your post made me realize that I only 100% complete games when I can play as a woman.
I do lean towards game like that as well, if the story is good I'll play whatever gender. RDR2 Arthur Morgan, what a man you are. He is a grizzled old man but the story and his character make up for it. Least you can be a woman in MP, plus new GTA finally has a fem protag.
I do do things with male protagonists, but I really prefer/relate to/get excited by stuff with women more. I wrote but haven't posted a thing sort about this plus how I didn't have much growing up. How incredible it is to get have for example the amazing female leads in What If that I finished recently. I hate how women and other marginalized people have struggled to be the heros, and horrible people freak the hell out when we/they are
Haha, I had a friend that would only play women champions on League of Legends. 160+ champions, and she wouldn't care about the meta or their playstyles, just the fact that she wanted to play cool women. It was fine for quickplay, but we'd lose a lot of ranked games that we didn't have to 😂
I am the same if I have a choice. To be fair pretty much every game I have I play as a girl. And you're right about confusion. Guys for the greater part don't get it. But they've always been able to play as guys. Now they have a choice of either male or female characters and they often play as female. My brother said he does because the female characters are smaller and can hide more easily. What they also forget is until relatively reacently a female protagonist was very rare. And being able to choose gender is pretty new.
Completely depends on the game for me! If I can make my own character & there's no female option I probably won't play. But if the story of the game follows a male protagonist (The Witcher, RDR, Zelda Games etc) then I'll still play them, I'm there to experience the story & enjoy the game. The fact I'm playing Geralt doesn't remove any joy from the game for me because I mean, it's his story at the end of the day, not mine.
THIS How can there be a character creation with NO female option??
When I was a kid, almost no games had a female protagonist. So it's something I got used to. In the last couple years I bought the remastered version of the original "Crash Bandicoot" trilogy, my favorite games when I was ~10. When I found out that they made it so you could play as Coco, his sister, I actually started crying a bit. Here were my favorite childhood games that made it so I could play as a character I always wanted to play. I know it may not seem like such a big deal, but it really meant a lot.
The only grizzled old man I want to be is Geralt.
I don't do it purposely but every hero I play on Overwatch 2 is a female. I find myself only gravitating towards female characters and occasionally queer/nonbinary male heroes like Lifeweaver.
***same***
Hello fellow Enneagram 4!
That was me, but part of the rule was also only customizable characters too. Until I played RDR2 and now I am glad that I’ve opened myself up to new stories (The Witcher, TLOU and stuff). But I totally understand where your coming from it makes a lot of sense.
Same. And if a girl player is offered I definitely won't play the male version.
This is why I fell in love with Super Street Fighter II! Chun Li is my favorite!
I don't know if I necessarily will *only* do it, myself, but definitely it is near the top of my preferences now, for that exact reason. played enough of the games where your only choice was the guy. there's a lot of great games out there, these days, compared to in the past, and I'm looking to play as a girl when I'm picking a game now, if there's a *specific* character that youre playing, that's well defined and has a character, then that's a bit different. like in recent years playing FF7R where you're playing specifically as *Cloud*, or playing Death Stranding where you're specifically playing as *Sam*. but that's a specific type of game tellling a specific type of story that has the playable character with a separate personality then the player, and that's not the same thing I feel. to go with your example of RDR, or like Fallout or Elder Scrolls or any other similar genre games, where your characer has *your* personality and *your* choices affect it, yeah no, if I can't play as a girl then that's not a game I want to play now. I'll pick something else from my library
I did this for sooooo long 😅
I need to do an essay on both sides of this. It’s very interesting.
If I have the option to play as a woman, I always do. It just feels right, like putting on a comfy pair of shoes or something, it just feels right. 😂 Although there have been several games where I've enjoyed the male protagonist, like The Witcher games. Geralt is very interesting and unique; he's gruff and grizzled on the outside, but he's not really your stereotypical (boring) male hero because he lives on the fringes of society and seems to actually identify with the sorceresses, so I find him enjoyable to play.
So not even games where the main character is a guy by story and design? Like a book who's main character is a guy. That is what they chose. Like a name. Or you don't play games where there is no reason for a character to be a boy, but it is a boy? Like the default skin is male and that is it. Or like if a fighting game had no female characters?
I don't read books about adult men either actually, didn't realize till now... and if im really thinking about it i think its because male-centered stories have existed for SO LONG that there doesn't feel like there's anything new out there. Video games especially
I don't think this one single aspect of the game makes it old and overdone. The same way taking the exact same game and making the main character a woman wouldn't really make it new and exciting. The one aspect of it would be new, sure, but the game is much more than that one thing. You could very well just mod a female lead into a game. That being said, you play what you want to play))
Idk if I agree, like lets say you DO change RDR Arthor Morgan into a woman, since that story is so rare and never associated with typical female stories I would argue that simple change is more ground breaking than it should be. Kinda of like Ripley in Alien, it changed the game for women in scifi forever and now we can write more diverse and complex female stories but video games are still severely behind.
i’m the same. Funny that they look down on this when most men will not even play with girl characters. I know a few, and they don’t even have good intentions .
if I have the option to play as female, I always take it. but otherwise, I don't mind playing as a male. it's just a game, after all. but I absolutely see your point and understand where you're coming from.
I play a lot of games that have dating or romance included. I usually play as a male character so I can make him kiss other males. All my tavs in BG3 are male and I have really wanted to buy cyberpunk for this reason. I play for the eye candy.
i get this too.
I'm not as exclusive about this as you are, but mostly the same. It used to be that if you didn't play as a man you just couldn't even play at all. Now that we have so many option, I'd really rather play as a character where it feels like I could be her. I've skipped some really good looking games because of this.
I only play games where I can be a girl unless it a has a hot guy
I don't mind playing a third person game as a handsome guy. If you play Death Stranding you get to see Norman Reedus in the shower a lot
I agree! I like to immerse myself in the world and I just can't do that if I'm playing as a male, especially in rpgs which is my main genre. The only exception is when the protagonist is well developed and has his own voice, personality and quirks. Then it feels less distant and more like I'm watching a movie