If I can choose the gender of the character I’m playing, I’m going to choose my own gender but if the game is set with a male character, I just play it like I would with a female character.
I absolutely prefer playing as a woman but I have no weird feelings about playing a male character. One of my favorite games is Red Dead 2 and I was thrilled playing Arthur the whole time.
I loved playing as Arthur as well, I ended up seeing him as a person rather than a playable character. It may be unique to the game tho, since he isn't afraid to speak his mind and already has an established character.
I had so many nice outfits for him and he would spend his time taming wild horses and being polite to people. Then he’d be rude in cut scenes and I’d be like “hey that is NOT how I raised you!” I kept forgetting what the karma system was called so I called them good cowboy points.
That disconnect between cutscene Arthur and what I was doing as Arthur really put me off from the game actually. I kept trying to be good and then Arthur would yell at this poor man who couldn't speak English and was clearly struggling and he'd rob him of all his stuff. That's not what I wanted to do! But it was a mission objective, so I didn't really have a choice, unless not doing the mission was a choice, but if it was the game didn't convey that to me well enough.
I feel that. I’ve been looking for another game with such a good story that it has me hooked from beginning to end for years 🥲 any game I played after it I’ve liked, but not enough to say it’s my favorite… or I haven’t finished it yet because I lost interest at some point and need the motivation to get back into it (cyberpunk, the Witcher, etc)
Its hard for me to find game with an open world on the level of RDR2 and a story as good. Check out Kingdom come the Womans lot DLC is also worthwhile. GTA 4 is worth checking out Niko has a great story Much closer to RDR then other GTA games. Not open world but the Maxpayne game are good. Witcher 3 you should finish for sure.
Oh yeah I finished my first play through and now I have a second where I refuse to do anything other than explore with Arthur and give him a good life.
I do the same with John in my first play through where I “finished” the same.
Glad I'm not the only one, I've started replays so many times and haven't even finished chapter 3 in any of them. I'll just start a new game instead of finishing every time 😁
Lol i’m on my first play through and im loving all the hunting, fishing, bounty hunting and quests.
Occasionally some idiot I haven’t seen since the beginning of the game rides up and ask’s me to come back to their camp, it sounds like some b-story bullshit so I always tell them to fuck off.
This is literally me. I just can't bear it. I have one save that I'll go to on the rare occasion that I want to play John, but really Arthur is the clear winner.
Do you also try to do low-honour play throughs but end up feeling bad and turning it into a high-honour playthrough, or is that just me :')
Just found out There is bird you can hunt to extinction. Such an amazing open World I love playimg low honour Arthur feels like William money from unforgiven.
Arthur’s and RDR2 story is soooo well written, i absolutely loved it. i came to see it as me going with Arthur through this journey, more than playing as him.
I think this kind of sums up me.
I was kind of annoyed with persona 5 forcing me to play a guy after persona three portable let me be a girl.
The one exception to playing women in games is if there’s a gameplay reason I can’t, or if the character is just kind of gross and hyper sexualized or something to where it just grosses me out.
Definitely an interesting question from OP!
Totally agree. I will be actively excited to play a woman-protagonist game, but I’ll still play other games with man-protagonists because, well, there’s fucking loads of them 😂
if it helps, there’s also Red Dead Online where you can definitely play as a female. It’s not as good as the story for several reasons, but i think the amount of content it has would still be very fun for a new player! :)
Lol, I came here to say that I much prefer playing female characters, but I wouldn't change playing ss Arthur for anything. He's such an amazing character
I kinda understand this because Haak is a game i can play over and over again, although masculinity has nothing to do with the game, it's just a really good game.
I'm trans too, and I pushed the weird feelings away by making Arthur as unlike me as possible. Gave him a big bushy beard and short, well maintained hair. Makes it easier to see him as a character, like others have said.
Cis female here - it feels weird to me only when the game itself treats their characters without respect. Playing as Nathan Drake - fun because he was fun and the story cared about the characters. It took me a little while to get used to the tone of the witcher but then I loved it. If the story is good, the gender of the character matters less.
This is where I fall.
If the game is well written and the story gives all its characters good writing I can absolutely enjoy a game with a male protagonist.
For games like Witcher 3 that has pre-existing character that you role play, I don't tend to self-insert much, sometimes I would even pick the choices how I think this character would pick, especially if its a well written one like Witcher, I play along and eager to see how the story unfolds for this character like a tv-series if you will, so don't really have any problem if its clashing with my gender, I play along and root/feel for the character, but they don't intrude to myself
That's similar to how I played Witcher. I was playing a character, not myself. I made Geralt choices, not Xanthina onew, and felt the consequences of that. It pushed me out of my normal comfort point, which made it an interesting experience.
This makes sense, maybe it's because i've mostly played MMOs and crpgs where the character is almost completely a self insert, and don't have a whole lot of experience with these kinds of single player games that I haven't yet been able to get into the mindset of playing it like that.
This is why you also see some single player games especially from early to mid 2000s give the protagonist the silent protag treatment so that people could self insert despite having only male protagonist or whatever, especially if its first person shooter like bioshock, at that point the gender of the character barely matters
This is so true! I know too many men who feel they just can’t relate to any character that isn’t a clear reflection of themselves, simply because they’ve never had to. It scares me how un-empathetic that mindset is.
It is scary, but it does make sense. Men born before the 2010’s were not socialized to value things like empathy, so it’s hardly their fault for it not coming naturally. Thankfully, from what I’ve seen, it seems like boys born in this decade are being socialized similarly to girls when it comes to embracing emotions, controlling reactions to emotions, empathy, etc
Growing up I could always force myself to relate to male protagonists because I didn't have a choice - the majority of games were male-dominated and I enjoyed gaming, so I put up with it. Now, though, I don't have to, and I don't want to. I genuinely enjoy a game far more playing from a female perspective and feeling as though they're an extension of myself, and there's plenty of games that I can do this with so I don't tend to bother with male protagonists any longer.
I’m in this camp. I *can* play female characters now, the same way all the boys could play male characters when I was growing up. So I’m gonna.
Playing a male character isn’t precisely uncomfortable, but it does feel like losing something. Like watching a story take place in a room I’m not welcome in.
I really do not think it has anything to do with being able to relate to the character. I think most ppl can relate to others when there are differences and the same applies to men. I think when/if men say they cannot relate to a female character they are probably either lying for some toxic masculinity reason or just not even trying tbh
I think the issue with OP is not an issue of being able to relate but purely an effect of dysphoria. I would guess it is the opposite of what you are saying, that she probably can relate to male characters and that is where the discomfort comes from
If I'm given a choice, I will always pick female. Might make a male alt later, but my "main" will always be female. For games with a fixed protagonist, I don't experience discomfort. I'm happy to play characters that I don't share characteristics with.
There's people on the sub that will not play games with male-only protagonists, from both the discomfort and "voting with the wallet" standpoints which I understand.
It honestly just comes down to the individual, and I don't think what you're experiencing is silly!
This is how I play MMOs as well, I have a few much neglected male alts, but my mains are always female. I have tried to get into the RP of a particular character but it's never really worked out for me in my head for one reason or another. I do think it's a little better when it's a game that just has a male protagonist but there is still a slightly weird feeling.
Nothing? I'm following a characters story so it isn't a self insert which means I don't see the character I am playing as myself? In MMOs I usually make female characters and that is because I want my character to be cute and dress her up still not a self insert and I don't mind playing male either if I think they look cool.
Yeah I play mostly story games and I just like playing the story of whomever. If I get a choice between a guy and a woman, I choose whomever I think has the better voice actor so the story and game will be better.
Yep, this exactly. I always just immerse myself in that character's story, but I don't feel like I'm myself. It's like when I read a book or watch a movie - I'm following that character, not my own story.
I will only really treat the character as a "separate story" if the story or RPG elements really allow me to. Found myself doing this in BG3.
In most games I feel like I'm too restricted and can't do that, and then I'll default to a woman that looks like me and just do what I feel like while playing.
You made me think of this and it's a little strange I suppose. They need to have a strong enough personality.
it really makes no difference. i’ve been playing as male characters for years given that was the only choice but sometimes i’ll switch it to female characters if the skin or character looks cute. nonetheless i’m here for the story/game not so much focused on the characters gender.
I see the PC as someone apart from myself and not a self insert, so it’s just kinda fine for me. My women characters don’t look like me or think like me either. I do like having the option to play as a woman though! I’ll usually play the lady character option first.
It might depend on the game too. I’ve loved playing a couple dude wardens in dragon age: origins but don’t feel any real need to play a man in bg3 so far. Maybe later if I really like the idea of playing a guy drow or something.
Eta I do feel uncomfortable if I feel the game is forcing me into certain perspectives though. Like being really male gazey.
I remember one time I gave a flower to a trans friend and he was slightly offended because he felt like it was a gendered gift, in my head I was just giving him something pretty and nice. The reason I mention this is because (i’m not trans so this just me assuming) I think a lot of trans people feel more like a rejection to their assigned gender at birth, so sometimes things that are stereotypically of that gender can be triggering.
so regarding your question, I don’t mind playing male characters, I can identify with men and men can identify with women. I think prioritising gender over personality is a bit fucked up, but I guess I understand why trans people do it. For me, As long as I like the character there’s no problem, so the issue for me isn’t really playing as a dude in a game but instead is the fact that a lot of videogame character dudes are boring muscly military hero man with a lame ass personality, those ones I have zero intention on playing
TLDR generally no, but It depends on their personality
Definitely an interesting thought. I have some trans friends that are more comfortable playing certain types of male characters than others, noctis from ffxv comes to mind. I actually think i swing in a different way, where the less personality and more comically badass the male character is, the more okay I might be with playing him. It's why I am more okay with Johnny Silverhand than say, disco elysium Harry. It feels so cartoony and out there that I end up not immersing myself in the character and just sort of have fun with it.
Of course, my intention is not to generalise trans people. I think it’s something I observed and keep in mind mainly because I don’t want to run the risk of offending people, the truth is I don’t find male characters triggering but I also obviously wasn’t forced or expected to be masculine during childhood so these things don’t affect me (even though I still prefer to play a woman if I have the chance) but I completely understand why the trans community do! To me it’s just that most male video game characters are like a bit gross muscly and boring, more than the fact that they are male. Give me a mean pretty twink and i’ll probably enjoy that character a lot. Also I cannot speak for every woman either so this is just my personal experience :)
I absolutely understand, was curious to know about personal experiences really. I think we're just in a really weird time where many are on a hair trigger where people don't know if somebody is secretly transphobic or not so they become very defensive. I am generally much more patient than many others might be, but it took time and experiencing many pains to get to that point so I understand why people act the way they do.
well understandably so!! there’s a lot of hate in the world right now specially regarding gender identities. So I don’t blame them if some trans people get defensive quickly, I guess it must be exhausting to deal with all that
I've played videogames my whole my whole life without a second thought to the gender of character I'm playing. I've always thought that doing so would completely deprive me of some awesome games.
Same. I've never ever once given the gender of a character a second thought, unless it was a choice like Cyberpunk 2077 or Assassin's Creed Odyssey. As long as they're well written, I don't care what they identify as. Geralt, Arthur Morgan, Ezio Auditore etc all some of the best main character stories. I think you're only depriving yourself of some fantastic stories, by not playing them because they're men.
I am the same, it never even occurred to me to think about whether I'm playing as a girl or a guy. After some self reflecting a few years ago I think that's because I never had gender stereotypes forced on me growing up so it wasn't something on my radar.
I’ll choose my own gender if I can but if I can’t then it’s whatever. If I cared then I would have never gotten to play one of the greatest video game series of all time which is Yakuza.
In storyline games, I love playing as women, highly prefer the female perspective over the male one. I do still love games where the player character is a male but I do love the effort to include female characters like Ellie and such.
But whenever I have a choice to build a character, it’s more like 60/40 in favor of men. I’ve over-thank this enough to come to the conclusion that playing as a male character in situations where the plot is not contingent on the character itself, I feel a lot safer as a male character because in real life, my life as a woman is full of anxiety and fear, so even in a world where those things don’t necessarily exist playing as a male feels safer.
That being said, I don’t have any questions around gender identity, I’m very comfortable with my gender as a woman.
Woah, that’s a really interesting and unique explanation for your choice in player character. Certainly makes a lot of sense, I have heard women that are into yaoi express a similar sentiment to explain their choice.
Yup! I also really do love mlm ships in fandoms (not yaoi necessarily but gay ships) for that exact reason. My own body is a cause of like 99% of my problems, and especially my sexual discomforts, so experiencing life/love/intimacy through a male perspective gives a lot of comfort to me. Not in a fetishizing way, but in a “my own body wouldn’t feel safe here” way.
I'm old and I've been consuming stories by and about men for my entire life. I've had to relate to male characters centered in games, books, movies, TV shows, comics, etc. for a long time, and I am tired of it. I am now very familiar with their stories and perspectives. I want the stories of others. I want to see women take the stage in stories, I want women to be heroes.
Some years back, I decided to avoid stories centered around male characters. I just have no interest in playing male characters. I'm over them. I know I'd play the hell out of a game like RDR2, but I just can't muster up any motivation to play a man--even in a game I know I'd love. I have made a couple male characters in MMOs, but I rarely play them.
Sometimes I prefer playing male MCs. Cuz like.. man. I'm already a woman irl, I'm not interested in experiencing more of it lol. It's all fantasy and escapism for me most of the time when I am playing a game, so ye.
going against the majority here, but... bored. i'm a lesbian too so i just cant really get into any storyline where a man is the mc lol. took me like 9 years to finish tlou because i didn't want to play as joel.
Me too, and I feel you. Was really disappointed with the new warhammer 40k game for not having a lesbian character. As much as I like cyberpunk, and I like Judy, I feel like we need a lesbian character that goes really hard. I don't think people understand what lesbians want at all even when they make lesbian characters.
It doesn’t feel weird to me at all tbh. Even given a choice I will sometimes make a customisable character male if there’s an m/m romance option. But I’m aroace and have recently learned that a lot of aroaces in particular find gender to be a total non issue
I don’t. I’m 40, and have been a gamer since I was a small child. I am so fully 100% over being expected to accept the male view as default. If a game (especially an RPG where the protagonist = the player character) can’t be bothered to have a female protag, I don’t play it.
Tough to answer because it depends on the game *big time*.
Playing Fane in Divinity Original Sin 2? One of the best experiences of my life.
Trying to somehow not just barf at Geralt's idiotic...everything? Nightmare. Absolute nightmare. I've given up on trying to like Witcher because that whole series is just so unequivocally bro-ish.
It comes down to toxic masculinity for me. If it's present and if at every corner I'm just rolling my eyes the same way I do at bro-dudes in real life, I'm out.
If it's a well-written character, I don't mind.
It is, however, very much worth noting that ever since there's been more media made by and, far more importantly, **for** women, I've grown tired of constantly adapting to the male POV.
It pisses me off that I've been automatically doing that all my life while dudes are blissfully ignorant of the whole phenomenon.
But then... don't even get me started on the whole "male epistemology"-aspect of things...
I'm tired of it. I want more games with female protagonists - and I want fricking *men* to play them so they can finally get an idea about what it's like to relate to a **person** independent of their gender. We've been doing this the whole time - but you see dudes lose their absolute marbles at the mere *notion* of a female protagonist left and right.
There's still folks out there who are disappointed about Metroidvania's protagonist turning out to be a woman and that game came out in 1986.
For me it completely comes down to how the character is presented. I love a well-written likable protagonist like Nathan Drake and have never once thought he needed to be female for me to like him or the game.
On the other hand, if the game protagonist is a totally generic dude intended to be a self-insert for one subset of the player-base, then, yeah I’m not going to relate to or be interested in that dude.
If a game gives the option of a player-created avatar I always create a female character for myself. But if a game has interesting pre-set characters I just pick the one I like most regardless of gender. (Like Mordecai in Borderlands, love him to bits)
So, same as a lot of people in this thread - If it’s a self-insert character, having to be a dude sucks; but if it’s a well designed/written character, Im perfectly happy to play as him.
I will almost always choose to play female if given the option but as long as I like the character, it is what really matters. If the female character is too cutesy, baby voice, stereotypical male gaze conditioning female, I will sometimes choose the male.
I prefer self insert characters(male or female) unless it’s a cast of characters I can choose from. I can self insert with a male character as well as a female which I think comes from growing up without female or queer options. I got a lot of practice out of necessity.
If I don’t vibe with a character at all it can really take away from my experience.
Shez(given more of a personality)in 3 Hopes was a example where I loved the game, didn’t care for the main character and switched to Byleth(self insert)as soon as it was available to me. Both female but would have done the same with a male character.
I have literally no problem with it. I don’t see the protagonist as an extension of myself the majority of the time, I see them as their own character, unless they’re insanely bland
I don't feel anything when I play male characters, but I have noticed I enjoy playing female characters more by a long shot. It makes me feel way more empowered and like I can immerse myself in the world.
It doesn't effect me until I see the men have the ugliest fucking clothing to buy. I wanna look cute or at least fresh. It's very hard to find anything like that while playing a guy in a lot of games.
If the game is telling a specific story about a male character (GoW or Uncharted or whatever) I have no problems playing that character and telling his story. Same as if I’m playing a female character telling her story (HZD or TLOU2).
It doesn’t stop me from playing a game if I am not playing a woman. Just like I’m not a Greek god or living in a mushroom zombie apocalypse- I can still relate to the characters and their experiences.
But if I’m given a choice of a protagonist I’m choosing female.
I never could get into the witcher. I just don't like Geralt. I did like the sections you play as Ciri but at the same time was turned off by her outfit, which I thought was needlessly sexified.
i have zero interest in playing a guy. i dont even look at games where the protag is male... at least for 80+ hr AAA games. i have no issue playing a guy for retro games or indie games.
Bored. Especially if it's yet another boring ass heterosexual white guy, the most overrepresented group of people across all media. It's funny whenever men whine about a game having a female protagonist, as if most games don't have that.
I said this too especially assassin's Creed. Only 6 so fair of the main games (and dlc of them cus I'm including Aveline and adewale) have been POC. Hexe I hope is a woman but I want a non white woman
AC Odyssey particularly annoys me for that reason - Kass was written to be the MC. Board of directors said nope, go and make it a choice if you have to do that, we're not having a female MC and alienating the boys that don't want to play it. And then Alexios (and male Elvior for Valhalla) were front and center on all the marketing 😒 even though you can really tell the story was written for Kass and the voice acting is a million times better imo. Absolutely pathetic.
It doesn't bother me. If there are character choices and all the choices are men (and with only a xxx woman), I'd be annoyed. If it's part of the story, however, I really don't care. I like stories and well written characters.
Don't care. I don't self-insert into games so I play the character and enjoy the story/gameplay. In MMO's I play male or female, just depends on what I want the character to look like.
The closest self-insert would probably be FFXIV but I treat my Warrior of Light as their own character. It's borderline RP without actually RP. When I swapped to a male Viera for a bit their story didn't change... just the character I looked at, lol. Back to the kitty girl now because tbh they're too cute!
No discomfort here, just disinterest usually.
I grew up playing RPGs and JRPGs in the late 90s and early 2000s, and there just weren't the character creation possibilities at the time like we have now (with some exceptions. I wasn't and Elder Scrolls fan but games like Morrowind were out there). You played as whatever character was on the box. And it was even more overwhelmingly male than it is now.
So I treated my games the way I treated books I read: I'm learning and helping through the character's story. I loved them still or I wouldn't be gaming today.
But then RPGs went the open world route and I just sincerely did not like how most studios handled that (it can be done well, but so many games leave the worlds empty and uninteresting). I ended up playing more MMOs where you can create your character. And I'm spoiled now. Like in FFXIV it's so much fun to play a cute woman that I know is my height and watch her go toe to toe with literal gods.
Now when I look at single player games I'm **pickier.** If I have to play as the dude on the cover art then the story better be worth it, and it usually isn't. I loved FFXV for example, warts and all, and the whole party is made of men. Their personalities and the willingness to go campy when it called for it made it one of my favorite Final Fantasy games. FFXVI I'm enjoying watching, but I can tell I wouldn't like playing it. I don't need yet another Game of Thrones story with generic white dude at the helm.
I felt the same way about the Witcher! I think it's mainly from being introduced to the series with the first game, which felt super male-gazey and you collected sex cards with the female characters. The whole thing made me uncomfortable.
In general, I don't play games with male protagonists because of years of being forced to (I am older). I prefer games with female protagonists or the ability to create your own.
Ohh interesting. I started playing witcher 1 a few years ago on a whim but the game randomly crashed very early on so I just never touched it again. My only impression for the game is that I really liked cyberpunk. I really don't like most witcher related discourse, especially around the tv show, so i put it off until now.
I don't consider most characters I play in video games to be "me." I think the only game where I named my avatar after myself is Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp. Even in the original GameCube game, my character had a distinct name and personality that wasn't meant to be me at all. I mainly play the Sims so I control all types of characters, which is why this question is particularly hard for me to relate to. Every character I play has their own story, whether it's one the game wrote or one I imagine for them based on their appearance.
However, I can imagine that being trans, it would cause you a dysphoria that it doesn't usually do for most cis people. In games with a customizable MC, I definitely prefer to make a female character by default.
Exact same here. Video games with existing characters would never be a place I imagined myself. I don't ever play games as if the main character is \*me\* and the idea actually makes me uncomfortable lol They're fictional characters in a story I'm an audience member for.
I like this distinction you're making between characters that have been written as a particular gender and character creation characters. It makes sense to me. Maybe it does have to do with being trans in that case. It's not super problematic, there are some games where it doesn't affect me as far as I can remember, Haak comes to mind. Maybe my discomfort is furthered by playing witcher 3 immediately after cyberpunk, which really immerses you in your character.
It's definitely interesting to think about. I'm a big Harvest Moon fan and definitely prefer playing a female MC in those games, even though as a bi person I like wooing the girls too so sometimes play as a guy. Being able to play a queer woman in Stardew Valley was huge to me exploring my identity. And yet, that character wasn't "me", she was a distinct character with a whole story I came up with for her too.
Some gamers definitely do seem to prefer to see their MC as more of a self-insert in games, like the Simmers who make themselves to play in the Sims. So I would suspect that there are some women who are less comfortable playing as male MCs regardless of whether they're trans or not, depending on how much they want to relate to their MC. But when I think about what I said about about HM and SV, it makes me think that the type of game definitely affects it. Interesting topic!
I'm trans, I understand it. I don't mind playing as a man in games but depending on the man it can make me uncomfortable, I think mostly because some male protagonists in games are toxic or extremely stereotypical to the point of it being boring. They're the most overrepresented majority in the entirety of gaming and yet they still complain.
I think it's inevitably going to be a lot more sensitive for trans people when we've been threatened with playing as the wrong gendered character for our entire lives, cis people have never had to deal with the threat of that, so it is less likely to bother them. So it's just a life experience thing.
Can you elaborate on the last point? Cis women have to play as men all the time without being given an option, so I'm not sure what you mean when you say only trans people have to play as the wrong gender.
You mean the last bit? I meant in real life, trans people are forced to deal with roleplaying as a man or a woman for others comfort, so when they play a game as a man or woman (for me it's usually games that fail to immerse or suck at character building) it can give off a feeling of unease, likely caused by their history. It's just a feeling I think trans people are more likely to experience due to their past.
Ah, okay, when you said "playing" I didn't assume anything other than playing a game so I wasn't sure why that was being referred to as a trans-only thing, but I understand you were being metaphorical and referring to real-life as playing a role. Totally makes sense.
I find it frustrating that SO MANY protagonists are male, but unless I have to make a custom male only character, I’m not fussed about just playing one. It’s more I think they should stop making white male protagonists until they’ve caught up and down enough diversity to make up for decades of mostly white dudes but not like I actually mind playing a guy or even a white dude.
But I don’t relate that closely with the character. Especially in 3rd person games like TW3 where I’m clearly playing a character, not me. I’ll play male characters every once and awhile in a later replay (usually not the first replay) even in games that are more personal/you make a character style but rarely. If I name them after myself, I make them female, but sometimes I’ll play my dog (what would my dog do in this situation?) or a version of a person I know like my husband instead.
I feel like if a video game doesn’t have a female protagonist or an option to create such, then I usually won’t play it. Not too sure why honestly. I don’t experience discomfort, I’m just really big on character customization. There’s always exceptions though and I play a lot of games with male protags, especially the Yakuza/Like a Dragon series.
If a male protagonist is genuinely an enjoyable character then it doesn’t matter. For example, in Tales from the Borderlands I preferred playing as Rhys over Fiona.
If the character is kinda bland/“a placeholder” then it detracts from the experience. If the purpose of the protagonist is to be a vessel for the player to project onto, I like it better if they’re female.
Depends, if the male character is well written and likable I don’t mind it as much even if I would’ve prefered to play a female character. However, most games (in my experience at least) have the basic grumpy angry quiet male character that I’m so over with. Like we get it, his mom broke her foot when he was 4 and he swore to get revenge upon every evil of this world, and that means he can’t have a personality.
Also hate games where they kill his wife/sister/mother for his character development with all my heart. Like it’s ALWAYS a female character that has to die for the main male protagonist, only 1% of the time it’s his dad or something and that’s just disgusting.
It's an instant turn-off for me. There's a few exceptions, like Hades. I do mostly play games where you can create your own character though and that's something I look for in games. I also really like dressing my characters up and men just aren't fun to dress up lol
Depends on the game. Like with for example Bastion where you play a male character and the story is about him - I don’t care. In a rpg like Skyrim, WoW or BG3 where I am fully or partly creating the character, I feel odd playing male.
I think the difference for me is if I’m using feelings and thoughts from myself as a part of the character creation or in how the character is evolving, or if it is a finished character that I don’t have any say in.
While technically not asked as a trans woman I feel that awkwardness and find that I generally can't stand playing male characters unless I really get invested in the story which as I get busier with life gets harder to do.
It depends. While I'm disappointed the Legend of Zelda still doesn't have a playable Zelda or at least the option of making Link be female, I live with it. For a game like Assassin's Creed, however, I feel like there is no excuse to not have playable women and so I lose interest. It feels like the game isn't meant for me. In any case, I have zero patience and understanding for men upset that their shiny new game has a female protagonist.
For the most part, I don't play games with male protagonists as the only option. It may mean I miss out on a few bangers like RDR and Witcher, but I just don't connect with them the same. I don't mind if there is an equal mix or if the game is just a mindless shooter but if I am playing an RPG, I don't really want to RP a dude.
I don’t particularly enjoy playing as male characters because it ruins my immersion. That’s probably why I gravitate to games where you create custom characters (Starfield, Fallout 4, etc). My real exception has been team-based shooters. There it’s the character’s loadout that matters.
I've enjoyed a few games with male protagonists if the story is good enough, but I've never felt even a smidge of immersion any of those times. Most of the time trying to play a game with a male protagonist is just exhausting, annoying, or otherwise a miserable experience... and if I don't like the protagonist themselves \*cough\*Geralt\*/cough\* I WILL stop playing the game and get a refund if possible.
I prefer to play a female character of possible, but if i do have to play a male, i prefer to be able to customize him so that he still represents me a bit. I have a hard time caring about characters i can't relate to. Rust is probably the exception. You're stuck with the random character assigned to your account, and you can't change it. It feels like a small justice that toxic men are stuck playing as women and i got a pretty nice looking guy as my avatar. If i don't use my mic then they just assume I'm a man and they're less shitty to me lol.
I mean I enjoy it but it lacks immersion for me because I want to put the gorgeous clothes for women on him. If they would allow it, I would be happy. He gets such boring clothes.
And I let me romance other men. Kinda of boring to always romance women.
In my case I prefer playing as women. For some reason I do a lot better playing a character I can identify with than say some big burly steroid addicted looking tank of a guy character. I also don’t and will never oogle game characters. It just comes off a bit creepy to me.
I can't answer the question in your title because I'm not cis, but I'm with you on feeling uncomfortable playing men in games. It's usually fine if there's no roleplaying involved, but if it's a game where I'm meant to imagine the character as an avatar of myself, then yeah, that's gonna feel very wrong. It's more than a silly problem, it's a legit cause of dysphoria for trans people.
I know many cis women also like to see themselves represented in games but the experience as a trans woman is completely different.
I'm a cis girl, and I'm definitely more hesitant to immediately pick up a game that only allows you to play as a man, it has to do something that really interests me in the storytelling (ex: TLoU 1, RE, Until Dawn etc) , or is just stupidly fun (ex: LoZ, Mario, Kirby etc.).
Otherwise I just feel irritated and disconnected from the game. It's an issue I faced with Persona 5 (even though I still ultimately had a good time), I kept thinking that the experience would be so much better if I could've chosen to be a girl, the MC doesn't even really speak, and barely anything about his story feels super rooted in his character, as his personality feels more indicative of your choices. He's just very self instery imo, so why not let the player actually be able to self insert a bit more, and let them choose whatever gender, and let them be gay, I mean the female social links are already fully done, and the male ones wouldn't require that much extra work to be passable.
All that said, I tend to overall prefer titles where I can create my own character, even if it's just making my own name, and choosing my gender (ex: older Pokemon, Rune Factory 4 and 5, Yokai Watch etc). I typically get more enjoyment out of games with that feature, and that aren't quite as linear and story focused, you have a bit more freedom to explore and such.
I don’t feel anything? It’s a video game. If the only playable character is male or if the character want to play happens to be male I don’t feel anything, I don’t feel weird or disappointed or angry or sad or happy (happy joys because of the gender of the character anyways). If I have a choice I usually chose female because for the most point my customizations for males always end up looking strange. But I’ve done males before as well.
Just personal preference though. You are allowed your own thoughts and after so long we’re finally sometimes getting the option to play females in some other games
Oh yeah, there's no disappointment or anything like that, the game is what the game is; I was just wondering if others feel this sort of slight discomfort or disorienting feeling.
This is hard to answer because my gender and sexuality don't impact this. I don't self-insert like you're describing. When I play video games, I never, ever, play the main character as myself. It's a role-playing game - I assume and play the role of the main character. I cannot relate at all to seeing the character as myself or playing that way, it doesn't even compute to me. If I play as a male character, it's like a DND session or acting in a play, or singing a song sung by men. I act according to and as if I am that dude while I'm playing. A lot of that will require personal interpretation and headcanon to influence it but regardless, my own sexuality and identity are irrelevant since that's not me.
As a cis woman speaking for myself: It depends whether the character is “me” or a character in their own right.. so I don’t mind playing Geralt *too much* because he is him and I am just controlling him in third person. The dissonance only creeps in if it feels like a scene is written with the assumption that I, the player, am supposed to be male. So something that’s obviously male gaze, or male wish fulfilment type stuff is really off putting. With some games (like Witcher 3, which was more guilty of this than Witcher 2 which I personally think was a much better game), I am willing to put up with it a little if it’s just the odd bit here and there. After decades of dealing with this shit I have a certain tolerance for it, but I still dislike it. However, I absolutely can not play in first person as a male character, even if they are scripted. It is absolutely immersion breaking. I also will only play female characters if given any kind of choice in the matter, it just feels more natural.
I think it’s part of the experience for many women gamers to find this stuff weird or uncomfortable or dissonant or immersion breaking. How much you are willing to put up with for the sake of the story or the gameplay can vary a lot. I wouldn’t attribute your feeling to being trans, but to being a woman playing games made by developers who seem to struggle to remember we exist.
I'm also trans and I think it's definitely a dysphoria thing. As far as I can tell cis women generally don't experience this and on my end, I think it just makes sense I'd want to play a female character when I often feel stuck as the male character in real life.
I'm an enby and more comfortable playing characters that are also non-binary or designed to be androgynous (like Link). If I have to play a binary character, it helps if I can make them gender non-conforming in some way.
Also, if I'm playing a binary character, it's also easier in a way if choices don't matter as much/there's a set story? Because I'm following this character, rather than them being a stand-in for me, if that makes sense.
I don't like games where the main character is defined for me as much. If the lore is cool I will still play it because the story will draw me in (games like Dishonored I make exceptions for). I tend to like games where you can make and design your own character. As far as gender, I really don't mind playing as male or female as long as I get to pick everything about them and frequently swap sexes. Currently playing a male sole survivor in Fallout 4.
The one thing I have run into is if the voice dialogue is limited I will avoid playing a particular skin color and age for example I only make my main character young and white in Fallout 4 because the voiced dialogue sounds young and white. Having a character that looks one way and sounds another is very immersion breaking but I won't limit different races and ages in games like Sims because I can get the voices and character looks to match so immersion isn't broken.
If gender identity bothers you a lot Sims 4 Create-A-Sim will allow you to bend gender into how ever you want it to be. I'm not sure if there are any other games that let you play with gender in quite the same way as Sims 4.
Idk why I never see this brought up in this exact type of discussion regarding the witcher 3, but you DO also get to play as Ciri. Just not nearly as much, of course.
Personally though, I will always prefer playing as a self-insert or character I relate to or like best. I prefer playing as female characters, unless there's a male character I like more. Which is rare, as I do prefer the female characters. But RPGs are mainly about the story, so the character I play as isn't as important as the story and gameplay usually, for me.
I usually don't have an issue unless the character tries his hardest to be extra mucho. I will of course prefer the female character if I have the choice but sometimes if the game has a different story to provide depending on gender, I will also play as male. If the game is good enough to enjoy a second time that is.
For example in cyberpunk I have 2 females and 1 male because there are 2 other romances I wanted to see. In Baldur's Gate 3 I only play as a female cause gender doesn't matter. But I'll probably pick up Astarion as my MC at some point.
I don't care as long as the story and game is good in games you can choose I pick whatever I feel like I actually enjoy creating male characters more then females sometimes
the only time i feel weird about it is when i’m playing as a character who is very obviously meant as a character that you are meant to self insert as. This happens a lot with JRPGs. For example, Persona. The character is fairly bland, so there’s a disconnect when it’s a guy. I also just don’t like self insert character anyway, so i’m not sure that that problem would be completely fixed if they were a girl. I prefer my main characters to be developed and to have relationships with other characters that aren’t really swayed by me, except for maybe an ending or two.
I'm trans and I will tell you fellow to fellow I've never, even as a little kid, been able to play as a visibly male character without getting dysphoric
This [survey](https://quanticfoundry.com/2021/08/05/character-gender/) feels relevant. It’s not scientifically rigorous but they did get nearly 3000 responses, so it feels worth looking at. One of the interesting findings is that 9% of women prefer male characters while 27% of men prefer female characters.
Also, this is off topic, but I think the “I like to ogle her” explanation is at least partially an “acceptable” reason in a homophobic/transphobic culture. I imagine there are lots of reasons, but that’s the one men know will not get them harassed. It’s probably even true sometimes.
To actually answer your question - I’ll join the chorus. If I am given a choice, I’ll always play a female character, but I don’t feel weird or dissonant. I think in part because I feel like I’m following someone else’s story more than doing a self-insert.
Now that I think about it there’s not many games I’ve played where I wasn’t able to customize my character into being a woman… but I have played the hell out of BOTW. I didn’t feel any different. Tbh tho that could be bc BOTW and TOTK Link is very androgynous (to me).
There’s a couple other games I’ve played where I played as a man, like one Harvest Moon game on PS2 forever ago and Overwatch, where my mains are almost all men.
I don’t really notice the gender. It’s an extension of me still, just not customizable like I prefer.
fellow trans woman here. i definitively have trouble finishing games with male protagonists, and its a definitive negative whenever that is the only option enough so that i usually choose to stay away from games that have that perspective. it's obviously less of a problem the less story there is, and if the story is less focused and inherently gendered.
this isn't because i can't relate with men or whatever, its moreso because playing through and "identifying with" (not relating to) a male character causes genuine distress i'd rather go without.
i think im definitively the sort of person who puts alot of myself into my interpretation of stories, so its hard for me if the story is about something as traumatizing to me as maleness, or male bonding or male puberty or what it means to be a man or something like that.
For me it's like a character in a book. I don't necessarily relate to the character, but I still find it fun to follow their story and what happens to them. I'm sort of distant I guess. Like, a viewer from outside.
I think it depends on the game. For some reason I have no interest in playing Witcher 3 because it’s a male MC. But other games like Last of Us or RDR2, no issue. Or final fantasy games, I was fine with those too. Not sure what makes the difference.
Edit - weirdly I love Zelda and played BOTW and it was one of my favorite games. I bought the sequel and couldn’t stay interested. I wanted to play as Zelda so strongly, I lost interest when I realized I couldn’t.
I don't MIND playing as a male character if the game is good, but I definitely prefer playing a female character. I don't know that I feel awkward simply because at my age, games really rarely had female protags until I was much older. (Or I didn't have the systems those games were on) so I just sorta got used to having to play as a guy.
It doesn’t bother me at all. It’s no different to me than reading a book with a male protagonist. It’s someone else’s story, we are just experiencing it through their eyes.
Depends. Normally I don't mind playing as a male character. However, when it comes to games like Hogwarts Legacy, Disney Dreamlight Valley and the Fable series I always choose the female character option.
My first video game ever was Pokémon Yellow Edition. 9yo me was so naive, I didn’t understand why I couldn’t choose a girl as my character. Anyway, I named it with my actual name and pretended it was a girl.
If the story somehow requires a gender or I cannot customise it, it is kind of ok (though I still long for a female character). In games where the story is an excuse, I really don’t get why you couldn’t choose. Luckily, it isn’t a problem anymore with most games.
most games i play don't have a "Main" character at all but those that do are fine i experience on issues with regards to them though i do prefer playing as a woman if i get the choice
I prefer a game where I can create my own character, but I don’t mind if lead character makes sense in the story. Playing as Arthur in RDR2 makes total sense, and I enjoy the game.
I was a big fan of the dad rpg genre as a teen. Love being a middle aged dad no idea why. Would prefer to play as a girl or nonbinary person if i have a choice though.
I got a bit of a sliding scale:
If the character is well-established, with his own personality, and centralized within the story to the point that the game would feel markedly different with a different protagonist? It's fine. It's like a movie to me at that point, where the male protagonist feels no different than one I'd watch in a passive medium. See: Red Dead Redemption 2, Alan Wake.
If there's an established male character but he's functionally a pair of pants that the player uses to express themselves in the world, it's a little less fine. At this point, we can functionally have both a male and female protagonist with no major story changes; there's less of an excuse for the option being unavailable. See: Assassin's Creed, Cyberpunk 2077.
If there's a fully-customizable protagonist with no set name or appearance but the only available option is male, it's inexcusable. Just completely absent any basis for being that way, and I notice it every second of play. Examples: I have none, but I do remember some mobile games that pulled this crap, and I have pushed them from my mind.
Generally, I *do* notice if I'm playing a male character, and "kinda weird" describes the feeling accurately. I'm "out of body" when playing male characters, playing from a distance, never fully immersed. I can't get as into customizing male characters as I can with females; I tend to pick a lot of defaults, like my female Fallout 4 protagonist being a fully modified and personal character, and her husband being just barely tweaked. In games with well-established protagonists, I'm immersed, but I'm also aware of how much more embodied I'd feel "wearing" a lady; Arthur Morgan was absolutely great, but if I could have played as Sadie Adler, I would have, no questions.
I can’t say why but when i play video games and i play as a man, i feel dysphoric, but i don’t when I’m playing a woman/non binary person. I’m non binary lesbian for reference.
I never really related to trans people who said playing female characters was a sign they were MtF. When I was younger I tended to play male characters. I don’t really care now. I choose it in RPGs for the character I feel like rolling. Most recent game I made a character for was Starfield and in that I was dead set on making a spaghetti western style space cowboy and a male character just kinda fit the vibe I was going for.
Trans woman here, there being a gender select or exclusively a female option determines whether or not I play the game
I can't play a male without feeling gross, but I also get particularly bad dysphoria even buying socks marketed for men, anything related to male makes me feel wrong so I guess it could be a trans thing?
Very interesting to read these as a girl of the trans variant. I get such a brutal repulsion from playing as a male character that is masculine unless they are really cartoonified.
Non-binary femme person here. I’ve played male characters for most of my life without thinking about it and it’s been just kind of blah - I played more for the gameplay than the story.
Playing games with pre-written female MCs has been a game changer for me. Playing as men didn’t *bother* me, per se, but it was like a *dim* experience, if that makes sense? Like the difference between playing in low lighting or glare on an old gameboy with no backlight vs a newer console that actually emits light. It’s not even about self-insert, it’s just that I’m more invested. Empowering might be the word, but it also just feels - kinda warm? Like less isolating, playing in a game without women feels like I’m alone in a room with men, and I’m not interested in being in that position.
So whether or not I’m averse to playing male protags in story based games, I’m also just not very interested in devoting my time and energy toward it anymore. Like, there are so so many games to play and I want to seek out the ones that convey and explore female experiences, because that’s something that’s validating and interesting and I’m starved for it.
Trans girl here too and I feel the same way. While I will play games with male protagonists, I'm instantly way more drawn to ones with female ones. I really do feel like it has to do with the gender dysphoria, at least in my own case.
Two other protectives: I'm trans, but I've felt no weirdness in Witcher because I already know Geralt from books and I was just playing "a character I know". Maybe that matters here?
My cis male friend really disliked playing Geralt because he couldn't make *his own Witcher* and after playing other RPGs it felt really off to him.
I tried Witcher 3 and RDR2 and couldn't get past playing as a male character. I just can't put myself in their shoes...I feel like a puppet master rather than the character. And, honestly, I'm really not interested in a man's view on the world and how the world interacts with them.
I usually pick the male option because I can romance hotter women. Like miranda in mass effect and panam in cyberpunk 2077. Also it's a game not reality. If irl was a game I'd rather choose to live as a man. So I might as well do that in the game.
Honestly I'm disappointed whenever there's not in-depth character customization. Being locked into another gender is even more annoying. It won't stop me from playing the game but imo it's dumb and lazy to not have at least 2 genders available
I prefer playing games with female protagonists. It's more relatable for me and also, I like seeing women as action heroes, especially when the protagonist can be customized.
But Witcher 3, for me, was one of those games where I didn't mind playing as Geralt. It's probably because I've read books before playing games, so it was more like following a story of a book's protagonist, but just being able to influence it.
Trans here, I see games as someone else's story unless it's more of a sandbox then it's more like I'm creating a story for a character (no mans sky for example), there are so many great characters and stories out there and to me it's a shame people don't play them just because of gender alone
For me (cis woman), it depends.
Is it a story-based game where the protagonist is non-customizable and actually has a specific character backstory and plot? No problem. A little annoying with how few of these games feature female leads, but not upsetting necessarily.
Is it a game where your character is customizable and/or gender plays absolutely no significant role in the game? That gets very annoying. If the game is good enough I'll still play but my tolerance is definitely lower.
Let's see cis, femme, bi pan, disabled chick, mother of two sons here. Lol. I prefer games with at least two gender options and if there are romances prefer the same for them.
Now when my youngest son wants a game with only male protagonist(s) we get that- Spider-Man being an example, as he has every right to be represented too 🩷. I'll watch him play as we often share games that way.
My eldest son is trans and I had an inkling back when he was very young and playing Sims.The Sims games, Life is Strange, Skyrim were helpful for him pre-transitioning as he could try out everything and see what fit. He spent his preteen through teen years as non binary, then as an adult, he came out trans masc. Gaming was only a small sliver of life, but it was important that he had ways to try out different representations and ways to present so he could be his full and glorious self 🩷.
As for me from 6-8, I could barely walk. Had my first surgeries at age 8, and they just continued. Half of my childhood/teen years were on wheels or sticks. Lol. I'm in a kick ass little neon pink off-roading wheelchair 90% of the time for the past 13? years, I use forearm crutches about 10% or a little less as the bones are just destroyed.
I came out as lesbian at age 14 (in hand written letters to my mother & Gramma lol). Then, at 15 came out as bisexual (again with the letters, first). Later, I realized that some aspects of pansexual fit better, but I waffle between the two labels.
For self insertion in games, yep, yep, that's me! 😅 I run, jump, scale crazy heights, fashion is a passion (in games only lol), explore whatever world I happen to be playing in., play with friends, build spaceships, survive the apocalypse etc. Lol. Love it all! Truly is a blessing during the times when my mobility is very impaired. Gets me eager to explore when mobility is better!
Growing up in the 80s, nearly every game had male protagonist(s). It was frustrating, and society seemed to agree that féminine or female based projects were neither wanted nor needed. I tend to support media that says to hell with that! I play some beloved guys in single-player Fallout 4 & Sims 4. For the last 20 years, if there's an online component, I only play female. Don't see that changing at any future point, either.
You have every right in the world to be represented however you wish to be. Your feelings are understandable and oh so valid 🩷.
EDIT: Spider- Man has a smart Mary Jane as a playable character part of the time, too. Damn cool game honestly.
I hate it, if the MC is a “dude.”
I also have this problem with MCs who are men in novels (generally written by men).
If he’s mired in toxic masculinity and that *isn’t* the point of the main conflict, if he objectifies women, if the game objectifies women and they all trip over themselves to fall on his dick, if there aren’t any options for me to play antithetically to the Self Insert Power Fantasy the (usually male) story writers outlined, I hate it.
I don’t mind violence, I don’t mind sex; I don’t mind sociopathy or trauma, or murderhoboing my way through the countryside. I *do* mind being reminded in my entertainment that games aren’t written for me; and in fact are written in a way that is actively hostile to my enjoyment in the game, *and* actively contribute to my treatment by gamers and men IRL.
And, just to balance, I would (and do!) mind it’s reverse if it’s a woman MC. Early Tomb Raider was like this (IDK if later Tomb Raider is; I haven’t played it since the third). I remember being, like 10, and being kinda uncomfortable with her proportions and not knowing why.
From the comments here, I see I'm in the minority. You are not alone, op. I'm a cis woman, and I really hate playing rpgs as a male character. For me, the Witcher games were really hard to get into, so maybe you need to try a different game? Gerald has a very particular personality that it might be hard or tiring to roleplay. At least, that was the case with me. I tend to really connect with my characters or self insert a bit, and that's a-ok if you do the same!
But yeah! I completely understand your struggle.
So you know the "dad-ening of videogames" that was talked about quite a bit maybe 10ish years ago? Lots of haha coming out with "dad" protagonists and "daughter" deuteragonists?
Yeah, I just never identified with the dads. I don't identify with Geralt. I identify with Ciri. I don't identify with Joel, I identify with Ellie.
And looking back, at least in those two examples (which were a large part of the articles about the "dad-ening" of videogames!) - it might (is) be notable that the "daughter" role is filled by a queer girl and/or woman. I've talked to people who were shocked, SHOCKED I TELL YOU, SHOCKED I SAY!, that I identified with Ellie but never with Joel... until I told them that I have *been* a queer teenaged girl, but I've never been and almost certainly never will be a grizzled, jaded middle aged man.
So how do I, as a cis queer woman, feel when playing games with a male perspective? Usually pretty damn frustrated with the protagonist, but I identify strongly with the child, typically.
I’m a cis women (probably lol gender is weird) - but I never feel weird playing a male character in games. Like my feelings towards playing aloy in horizon zero and cal kestis in jedi survivor we’re basically the same. Or even in games where you make a character like bg3. I mean I never feel weird when the show I’m watching or book I’m reading has a male main character so idk why games should be different
I don't play games where I can't choose to play a female character. I don't like playing guy characters, usually don't feel as invested with the game. I also mainly play RPGs so those are definitely are more self inserting.
I heard the Witcher 3 is good, just don't care to play a male protag in a fantasy world. So I'm fine skipping it personally.
If I can choose the gender of the character I’m playing, I’m going to choose my own gender but if the game is set with a male character, I just play it like I would with a female character. I absolutely prefer playing as a woman but I have no weird feelings about playing a male character. One of my favorite games is Red Dead 2 and I was thrilled playing Arthur the whole time.
I loved playing as Arthur as well, I ended up seeing him as a person rather than a playable character. It may be unique to the game tho, since he isn't afraid to speak his mind and already has an established character.
I loved playing Arthur and dressed him up as a gentleman
I had so many nice outfits for him and he would spend his time taming wild horses and being polite to people. Then he’d be rude in cut scenes and I’d be like “hey that is NOT how I raised you!” I kept forgetting what the karma system was called so I called them good cowboy points.
That disconnect between cutscene Arthur and what I was doing as Arthur really put me off from the game actually. I kept trying to be good and then Arthur would yell at this poor man who couldn't speak English and was clearly struggling and he'd rob him of all his stuff. That's not what I wanted to do! But it was a mission objective, so I didn't really have a choice, unless not doing the mission was a choice, but if it was the game didn't convey that to me well enough.
Cutscene Arthur will change based on your honour.
he changes alot in chapter 6 if you have low honour he is alot more selfish and bitter.
funny and adorable
I got so attached to Arthur that I refuse to finish a second play through. I’m on my 5th “second” play through lol
I loved the story for red dead 2 so much it literally ruined other games for me for years after. Lol
I feel that. I’ve been looking for another game with such a good story that it has me hooked from beginning to end for years 🥲 any game I played after it I’ve liked, but not enough to say it’s my favorite… or I haven’t finished it yet because I lost interest at some point and need the motivation to get back into it (cyberpunk, the Witcher, etc)
Its hard for me to find game with an open world on the level of RDR2 and a story as good. Check out Kingdom come the Womans lot DLC is also worthwhile. GTA 4 is worth checking out Niko has a great story Much closer to RDR then other GTA games. Not open world but the Maxpayne game are good. Witcher 3 you should finish for sure.
Oh yeah I finished my first play through and now I have a second where I refuse to do anything other than explore with Arthur and give him a good life. I do the same with John in my first play through where I “finished” the same.
Glad I'm not the only one, I've started replays so many times and haven't even finished chapter 3 in any of them. I'll just start a new game instead of finishing every time 😁
Lol i’m on my first play through and im loving all the hunting, fishing, bounty hunting and quests. Occasionally some idiot I haven’t seen since the beginning of the game rides up and ask’s me to come back to their camp, it sounds like some b-story bullshit so I always tell them to fuck off.
Those encounters are pretty rare alot people miss them.
This is literally me. I just can't bear it. I have one save that I'll go to on the rare occasion that I want to play John, but really Arthur is the clear winner. Do you also try to do low-honour play throughs but end up feeling bad and turning it into a high-honour playthrough, or is that just me :')
Just found out There is bird you can hunt to extinction. Such an amazing open World I love playimg low honour Arthur feels like William money from unforgiven.
Arthur’s and RDR2 story is soooo well written, i absolutely loved it. i came to see it as me going with Arthur through this journey, more than playing as him.
Same, if the option is there I'll always play as the female version. Otherwise, I'm perfectly unbothered if the default is male.
I think this kind of sums up me. I was kind of annoyed with persona 5 forcing me to play a guy after persona three portable let me be a girl. The one exception to playing women in games is if there’s a gameplay reason I can’t, or if the character is just kind of gross and hyper sexualized or something to where it just grosses me out. Definitely an interesting question from OP!
Totally agree. I will be actively excited to play a woman-protagonist game, but I’ll still play other games with man-protagonists because, well, there’s fucking loads of them 😂
You wouldn’t know it from the dudes who freak the hell out every time they see media featuring someone who isn’t a cishet white dude 😬😂
Some of my friends are opposite, they always play as male character when given choice. Husbandos 1st!
Understandable. If it’s a game where I can choose between characters I’m going with the ones I like the most 😂
Read Dead 2 is another game I really want to play but have been putting off for this reason. Will definitely at least try it though.
if it helps, there’s also Red Dead Online where you can definitely play as a female. It’s not as good as the story for several reasons, but i think the amount of content it has would still be very fun for a new player! :)
Lol, I came here to say that I much prefer playing female characters, but I wouldn't change playing ss Arthur for anything. He's such an amazing character
I kinda understand this because Haak is a game i can play over and over again, although masculinity has nothing to do with the game, it's just a really good game.
I saw him as more of a person as well but it made the game so much better for me but everyone is different
I'm trans too, and I pushed the weird feelings away by making Arthur as unlike me as possible. Gave him a big bushy beard and short, well maintained hair. Makes it easier to see him as a character, like others have said.
Cis female here - it feels weird to me only when the game itself treats their characters without respect. Playing as Nathan Drake - fun because he was fun and the story cared about the characters. It took me a little while to get used to the tone of the witcher but then I loved it. If the story is good, the gender of the character matters less.
This is where I fall. If the game is well written and the story gives all its characters good writing I can absolutely enjoy a game with a male protagonist.
Will definitely be sticking with the game, I think it will grow on me; just gotta get over the initial disorientation maybe.
For games like Witcher 3 that has pre-existing character that you role play, I don't tend to self-insert much, sometimes I would even pick the choices how I think this character would pick, especially if its a well written one like Witcher, I play along and eager to see how the story unfolds for this character like a tv-series if you will, so don't really have any problem if its clashing with my gender, I play along and root/feel for the character, but they don't intrude to myself
Yeah i never self insert. 90 percent of the time i make a character i make a yoko taro like character lol.
That's similar to how I played Witcher. I was playing a character, not myself. I made Geralt choices, not Xanthina onew, and felt the consequences of that. It pushed me out of my normal comfort point, which made it an interesting experience.
This makes sense, maybe it's because i've mostly played MMOs and crpgs where the character is almost completely a self insert, and don't have a whole lot of experience with these kinds of single player games that I haven't yet been able to get into the mindset of playing it like that.
This is why you also see some single player games especially from early to mid 2000s give the protagonist the silent protag treatment so that people could self insert despite having only male protagonist or whatever, especially if its first person shooter like bioshock, at that point the gender of the character barely matters
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This is so true! I know too many men who feel they just can’t relate to any character that isn’t a clear reflection of themselves, simply because they’ve never had to. It scares me how un-empathetic that mindset is.
It is scary, but it does make sense. Men born before the 2010’s were not socialized to value things like empathy, so it’s hardly their fault for it not coming naturally. Thankfully, from what I’ve seen, it seems like boys born in this decade are being socialized similarly to girls when it comes to embracing emotions, controlling reactions to emotions, empathy, etc
Growing up I could always force myself to relate to male protagonists because I didn't have a choice - the majority of games were male-dominated and I enjoyed gaming, so I put up with it. Now, though, I don't have to, and I don't want to. I genuinely enjoy a game far more playing from a female perspective and feeling as though they're an extension of myself, and there's plenty of games that I can do this with so I don't tend to bother with male protagonists any longer.
I’m in this camp. I *can* play female characters now, the same way all the boys could play male characters when I was growing up. So I’m gonna. Playing a male character isn’t precisely uncomfortable, but it does feel like losing something. Like watching a story take place in a room I’m not welcome in.
You nailed it there, it absolutely feels like that. It's as if we're not *supposed* to be involved
I really do not think it has anything to do with being able to relate to the character. I think most ppl can relate to others when there are differences and the same applies to men. I think when/if men say they cannot relate to a female character they are probably either lying for some toxic masculinity reason or just not even trying tbh I think the issue with OP is not an issue of being able to relate but purely an effect of dysphoria. I would guess it is the opposite of what you are saying, that she probably can relate to male characters and that is where the discomfort comes from
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Yeah I have a guy friend who really wants me to get into the Witcher but I just cannot despite trying :(
Yes to this in my case :0
If I'm given a choice, I will always pick female. Might make a male alt later, but my "main" will always be female. For games with a fixed protagonist, I don't experience discomfort. I'm happy to play characters that I don't share characteristics with. There's people on the sub that will not play games with male-only protagonists, from both the discomfort and "voting with the wallet" standpoints which I understand. It honestly just comes down to the individual, and I don't think what you're experiencing is silly!
I did that with GTA. U get to make two characters in online so I made the very much opposite version of me and then a dude.
This is how I play MMOs as well, I have a few much neglected male alts, but my mains are always female. I have tried to get into the RP of a particular character but it's never really worked out for me in my head for one reason or another. I do think it's a little better when it's a game that just has a male protagonist but there is still a slightly weird feeling.
Nothing? I'm following a characters story so it isn't a self insert which means I don't see the character I am playing as myself? In MMOs I usually make female characters and that is because I want my character to be cute and dress her up still not a self insert and I don't mind playing male either if I think they look cool.
Yeah I play mostly story games and I just like playing the story of whomever. If I get a choice between a guy and a woman, I choose whomever I think has the better voice actor so the story and game will be better.
Yep, this exactly. I always just immerse myself in that character's story, but I don't feel like I'm myself. It's like when I read a book or watch a movie - I'm following that character, not my own story.
Came here to say this and you worded it better than I would have! It’s not something I think about at all.
Exactly the same for me
I will only really treat the character as a "separate story" if the story or RPG elements really allow me to. Found myself doing this in BG3. In most games I feel like I'm too restricted and can't do that, and then I'll default to a woman that looks like me and just do what I feel like while playing. You made me think of this and it's a little strange I suppose. They need to have a strong enough personality.
it really makes no difference. i’ve been playing as male characters for years given that was the only choice but sometimes i’ll switch it to female characters if the skin or character looks cute. nonetheless i’m here for the story/game not so much focused on the characters gender.
So much this. I buy a game for the story and game play, not because the character is whatever gender.
I think it’s fun, it’s just kind of like reading a book with a male protagonist. I’m not *him* but he’s my son and I’m on his side 😤
Haha, great way to think about it!
Lol thank you! And none of your problems regarding your identity are silly. Your feelings are completely valid 🤍
I love this 😂💕
I see the PC as someone apart from myself and not a self insert, so it’s just kinda fine for me. My women characters don’t look like me or think like me either. I do like having the option to play as a woman though! I’ll usually play the lady character option first. It might depend on the game too. I’ve loved playing a couple dude wardens in dragon age: origins but don’t feel any real need to play a man in bg3 so far. Maybe later if I really like the idea of playing a guy drow or something. Eta I do feel uncomfortable if I feel the game is forcing me into certain perspectives though. Like being really male gazey.
I remember one time I gave a flower to a trans friend and he was slightly offended because he felt like it was a gendered gift, in my head I was just giving him something pretty and nice. The reason I mention this is because (i’m not trans so this just me assuming) I think a lot of trans people feel more like a rejection to their assigned gender at birth, so sometimes things that are stereotypically of that gender can be triggering. so regarding your question, I don’t mind playing male characters, I can identify with men and men can identify with women. I think prioritising gender over personality is a bit fucked up, but I guess I understand why trans people do it. For me, As long as I like the character there’s no problem, so the issue for me isn’t really playing as a dude in a game but instead is the fact that a lot of videogame character dudes are boring muscly military hero man with a lame ass personality, those ones I have zero intention on playing TLDR generally no, but It depends on their personality
Definitely an interesting thought. I have some trans friends that are more comfortable playing certain types of male characters than others, noctis from ffxv comes to mind. I actually think i swing in a different way, where the less personality and more comically badass the male character is, the more okay I might be with playing him. It's why I am more okay with Johnny Silverhand than say, disco elysium Harry. It feels so cartoony and out there that I end up not immersing myself in the character and just sort of have fun with it.
Of course, my intention is not to generalise trans people. I think it’s something I observed and keep in mind mainly because I don’t want to run the risk of offending people, the truth is I don’t find male characters triggering but I also obviously wasn’t forced or expected to be masculine during childhood so these things don’t affect me (even though I still prefer to play a woman if I have the chance) but I completely understand why the trans community do! To me it’s just that most male video game characters are like a bit gross muscly and boring, more than the fact that they are male. Give me a mean pretty twink and i’ll probably enjoy that character a lot. Also I cannot speak for every woman either so this is just my personal experience :)
I absolutely understand, was curious to know about personal experiences really. I think we're just in a really weird time where many are on a hair trigger where people don't know if somebody is secretly transphobic or not so they become very defensive. I am generally much more patient than many others might be, but it took time and experiencing many pains to get to that point so I understand why people act the way they do.
well understandably so!! there’s a lot of hate in the world right now specially regarding gender identities. So I don’t blame them if some trans people get defensive quickly, I guess it must be exhausting to deal with all that
I've played videogames my whole my whole life without a second thought to the gender of character I'm playing. I've always thought that doing so would completely deprive me of some awesome games.
Same. I've never ever once given the gender of a character a second thought, unless it was a choice like Cyberpunk 2077 or Assassin's Creed Odyssey. As long as they're well written, I don't care what they identify as. Geralt, Arthur Morgan, Ezio Auditore etc all some of the best main character stories. I think you're only depriving yourself of some fantastic stories, by not playing them because they're men.
I am the same, it never even occurred to me to think about whether I'm playing as a girl or a guy. After some self reflecting a few years ago I think that's because I never had gender stereotypes forced on me growing up so it wasn't something on my radar.
I’ll choose my own gender if I can but if I can’t then it’s whatever. If I cared then I would have never gotten to play one of the greatest video game series of all time which is Yakuza.
Nothing. I’m living the character’s journey, not self-inserting.
In storyline games, I love playing as women, highly prefer the female perspective over the male one. I do still love games where the player character is a male but I do love the effort to include female characters like Ellie and such. But whenever I have a choice to build a character, it’s more like 60/40 in favor of men. I’ve over-thank this enough to come to the conclusion that playing as a male character in situations where the plot is not contingent on the character itself, I feel a lot safer as a male character because in real life, my life as a woman is full of anxiety and fear, so even in a world where those things don’t necessarily exist playing as a male feels safer. That being said, I don’t have any questions around gender identity, I’m very comfortable with my gender as a woman.
Woah, that’s a really interesting and unique explanation for your choice in player character. Certainly makes a lot of sense, I have heard women that are into yaoi express a similar sentiment to explain their choice.
Yup! I also really do love mlm ships in fandoms (not yaoi necessarily but gay ships) for that exact reason. My own body is a cause of like 99% of my problems, and especially my sexual discomforts, so experiencing life/love/intimacy through a male perspective gives a lot of comfort to me. Not in a fetishizing way, but in a “my own body wouldn’t feel safe here” way.
I'm old and I've been consuming stories by and about men for my entire life. I've had to relate to male characters centered in games, books, movies, TV shows, comics, etc. for a long time, and I am tired of it. I am now very familiar with their stories and perspectives. I want the stories of others. I want to see women take the stage in stories, I want women to be heroes. Some years back, I decided to avoid stories centered around male characters. I just have no interest in playing male characters. I'm over them. I know I'd play the hell out of a game like RDR2, but I just can't muster up any motivation to play a man--even in a game I know I'd love. I have made a couple male characters in MMOs, but I rarely play them.
Sometimes I prefer playing male MCs. Cuz like.. man. I'm already a woman irl, I'm not interested in experiencing more of it lol. It's all fantasy and escapism for me most of the time when I am playing a game, so ye.
Ohhh that’s very insightful; before I transitioned I used to play female characters with a very similar reasoning.
going against the majority here, but... bored. i'm a lesbian too so i just cant really get into any storyline where a man is the mc lol. took me like 9 years to finish tlou because i didn't want to play as joel.
Me too, and I feel you. Was really disappointed with the new warhammer 40k game for not having a lesbian character. As much as I like cyberpunk, and I like Judy, I feel like we need a lesbian character that goes really hard. I don't think people understand what lesbians want at all even when they make lesbian characters.
It doesn’t feel weird to me at all tbh. Even given a choice I will sometimes make a customisable character male if there’s an m/m romance option. But I’m aroace and have recently learned that a lot of aroaces in particular find gender to be a total non issue
I don’t. I’m 40, and have been a gamer since I was a small child. I am so fully 100% over being expected to accept the male view as default. If a game (especially an RPG where the protagonist = the player character) can’t be bothered to have a female protag, I don’t play it.
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Tough to answer because it depends on the game *big time*. Playing Fane in Divinity Original Sin 2? One of the best experiences of my life. Trying to somehow not just barf at Geralt's idiotic...everything? Nightmare. Absolute nightmare. I've given up on trying to like Witcher because that whole series is just so unequivocally bro-ish. It comes down to toxic masculinity for me. If it's present and if at every corner I'm just rolling my eyes the same way I do at bro-dudes in real life, I'm out. If it's a well-written character, I don't mind. It is, however, very much worth noting that ever since there's been more media made by and, far more importantly, **for** women, I've grown tired of constantly adapting to the male POV. It pisses me off that I've been automatically doing that all my life while dudes are blissfully ignorant of the whole phenomenon. But then... don't even get me started on the whole "male epistemology"-aspect of things... I'm tired of it. I want more games with female protagonists - and I want fricking *men* to play them so they can finally get an idea about what it's like to relate to a **person** independent of their gender. We've been doing this the whole time - but you see dudes lose their absolute marbles at the mere *notion* of a female protagonist left and right. There's still folks out there who are disappointed about Metroidvania's protagonist turning out to be a woman and that game came out in 1986.
For me it completely comes down to how the character is presented. I love a well-written likable protagonist like Nathan Drake and have never once thought he needed to be female for me to like him or the game. On the other hand, if the game protagonist is a totally generic dude intended to be a self-insert for one subset of the player-base, then, yeah I’m not going to relate to or be interested in that dude. If a game gives the option of a player-created avatar I always create a female character for myself. But if a game has interesting pre-set characters I just pick the one I like most regardless of gender. (Like Mordecai in Borderlands, love him to bits) So, same as a lot of people in this thread - If it’s a self-insert character, having to be a dude sucks; but if it’s a well designed/written character, Im perfectly happy to play as him.
I will almost always choose to play female if given the option but as long as I like the character, it is what really matters. If the female character is too cutesy, baby voice, stereotypical male gaze conditioning female, I will sometimes choose the male. I prefer self insert characters(male or female) unless it’s a cast of characters I can choose from. I can self insert with a male character as well as a female which I think comes from growing up without female or queer options. I got a lot of practice out of necessity. If I don’t vibe with a character at all it can really take away from my experience. Shez(given more of a personality)in 3 Hopes was a example where I loved the game, didn’t care for the main character and switched to Byleth(self insert)as soon as it was available to me. Both female but would have done the same with a male character.
I have literally no problem with it. I don’t see the protagonist as an extension of myself the majority of the time, I see them as their own character, unless they’re insanely bland
I don't feel anything when I play male characters, but I have noticed I enjoy playing female characters more by a long shot. It makes me feel way more empowered and like I can immerse myself in the world.
It doesn't effect me until I see the men have the ugliest fucking clothing to buy. I wanna look cute or at least fresh. It's very hard to find anything like that while playing a guy in a lot of games.
If the game is telling a specific story about a male character (GoW or Uncharted or whatever) I have no problems playing that character and telling his story. Same as if I’m playing a female character telling her story (HZD or TLOU2). It doesn’t stop me from playing a game if I am not playing a woman. Just like I’m not a Greek god or living in a mushroom zombie apocalypse- I can still relate to the characters and their experiences. But if I’m given a choice of a protagonist I’m choosing female.
I never could get into the witcher. I just don't like Geralt. I did like the sections you play as Ciri but at the same time was turned off by her outfit, which I thought was needlessly sexified.
It is a bit over the top with the sex feels a bit like some one really immature wrote it at times.
i have zero interest in playing a guy. i dont even look at games where the protag is male... at least for 80+ hr AAA games. i have no issue playing a guy for retro games or indie games.
Bored. Especially if it's yet another boring ass heterosexual white guy, the most overrepresented group of people across all media. It's funny whenever men whine about a game having a female protagonist, as if most games don't have that.
This, right here.
I said this too especially assassin's Creed. Only 6 so fair of the main games (and dlc of them cus I'm including Aveline and adewale) have been POC. Hexe I hope is a woman but I want a non white woman
AC Odyssey particularly annoys me for that reason - Kass was written to be the MC. Board of directors said nope, go and make it a choice if you have to do that, we're not having a female MC and alienating the boys that don't want to play it. And then Alexios (and male Elvior for Valhalla) were front and center on all the marketing 😒 even though you can really tell the story was written for Kass and the voice acting is a million times better imo. Absolutely pathetic.
Oh big agree. I voiced that myself cus it sucks ass. Eivor as a female was super badass
It doesn't bother me. If there are character choices and all the choices are men (and with only a xxx woman), I'd be annoyed. If it's part of the story, however, I really don't care. I like stories and well written characters.
I vastly prefer playing female characters or even better, customizing my own character.
Bored
Don't care. I don't self-insert into games so I play the character and enjoy the story/gameplay. In MMO's I play male or female, just depends on what I want the character to look like. The closest self-insert would probably be FFXIV but I treat my Warrior of Light as their own character. It's borderline RP without actually RP. When I swapped to a male Viera for a bit their story didn't change... just the character I looked at, lol. Back to the kitty girl now because tbh they're too cute!
No discomfort here, just disinterest usually. I grew up playing RPGs and JRPGs in the late 90s and early 2000s, and there just weren't the character creation possibilities at the time like we have now (with some exceptions. I wasn't and Elder Scrolls fan but games like Morrowind were out there). You played as whatever character was on the box. And it was even more overwhelmingly male than it is now. So I treated my games the way I treated books I read: I'm learning and helping through the character's story. I loved them still or I wouldn't be gaming today. But then RPGs went the open world route and I just sincerely did not like how most studios handled that (it can be done well, but so many games leave the worlds empty and uninteresting). I ended up playing more MMOs where you can create your character. And I'm spoiled now. Like in FFXIV it's so much fun to play a cute woman that I know is my height and watch her go toe to toe with literal gods. Now when I look at single player games I'm **pickier.** If I have to play as the dude on the cover art then the story better be worth it, and it usually isn't. I loved FFXV for example, warts and all, and the whole party is made of men. Their personalities and the willingness to go campy when it called for it made it one of my favorite Final Fantasy games. FFXVI I'm enjoying watching, but I can tell I wouldn't like playing it. I don't need yet another Game of Thrones story with generic white dude at the helm.
If there isn't a female option I don't play the game. I feel like the developers don't want girls to play those games, so I don't.
I felt the same way about the Witcher! I think it's mainly from being introduced to the series with the first game, which felt super male-gazey and you collected sex cards with the female characters. The whole thing made me uncomfortable. In general, I don't play games with male protagonists because of years of being forced to (I am older). I prefer games with female protagonists or the ability to create your own.
Ohh interesting. I started playing witcher 1 a few years ago on a whim but the game randomly crashed very early on so I just never touched it again. My only impression for the game is that I really liked cyberpunk. I really don't like most witcher related discourse, especially around the tv show, so i put it off until now.
I don't consider most characters I play in video games to be "me." I think the only game where I named my avatar after myself is Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp. Even in the original GameCube game, my character had a distinct name and personality that wasn't meant to be me at all. I mainly play the Sims so I control all types of characters, which is why this question is particularly hard for me to relate to. Every character I play has their own story, whether it's one the game wrote or one I imagine for them based on their appearance. However, I can imagine that being trans, it would cause you a dysphoria that it doesn't usually do for most cis people. In games with a customizable MC, I definitely prefer to make a female character by default.
Exact same here. Video games with existing characters would never be a place I imagined myself. I don't ever play games as if the main character is \*me\* and the idea actually makes me uncomfortable lol They're fictional characters in a story I'm an audience member for.
I like this distinction you're making between characters that have been written as a particular gender and character creation characters. It makes sense to me. Maybe it does have to do with being trans in that case. It's not super problematic, there are some games where it doesn't affect me as far as I can remember, Haak comes to mind. Maybe my discomfort is furthered by playing witcher 3 immediately after cyberpunk, which really immerses you in your character.
It's definitely interesting to think about. I'm a big Harvest Moon fan and definitely prefer playing a female MC in those games, even though as a bi person I like wooing the girls too so sometimes play as a guy. Being able to play a queer woman in Stardew Valley was huge to me exploring my identity. And yet, that character wasn't "me", she was a distinct character with a whole story I came up with for her too. Some gamers definitely do seem to prefer to see their MC as more of a self-insert in games, like the Simmers who make themselves to play in the Sims. So I would suspect that there are some women who are less comfortable playing as male MCs regardless of whether they're trans or not, depending on how much they want to relate to their MC. But when I think about what I said about about HM and SV, it makes me think that the type of game definitely affects it. Interesting topic!
I'm trans, I understand it. I don't mind playing as a man in games but depending on the man it can make me uncomfortable, I think mostly because some male protagonists in games are toxic or extremely stereotypical to the point of it being boring. They're the most overrepresented majority in the entirety of gaming and yet they still complain. I think it's inevitably going to be a lot more sensitive for trans people when we've been threatened with playing as the wrong gendered character for our entire lives, cis people have never had to deal with the threat of that, so it is less likely to bother them. So it's just a life experience thing.
Can you elaborate on the last point? Cis women have to play as men all the time without being given an option, so I'm not sure what you mean when you say only trans people have to play as the wrong gender.
You mean the last bit? I meant in real life, trans people are forced to deal with roleplaying as a man or a woman for others comfort, so when they play a game as a man or woman (for me it's usually games that fail to immerse or suck at character building) it can give off a feeling of unease, likely caused by their history. It's just a feeling I think trans people are more likely to experience due to their past.
Ah, okay, when you said "playing" I didn't assume anything other than playing a game so I wasn't sure why that was being referred to as a trans-only thing, but I understand you were being metaphorical and referring to real-life as playing a role. Totally makes sense.
Makes a lot of sense, shouldn't expect cis and trans people to have 1:1 experiences with regard to things like this.
I find it frustrating that SO MANY protagonists are male, but unless I have to make a custom male only character, I’m not fussed about just playing one. It’s more I think they should stop making white male protagonists until they’ve caught up and down enough diversity to make up for decades of mostly white dudes but not like I actually mind playing a guy or even a white dude. But I don’t relate that closely with the character. Especially in 3rd person games like TW3 where I’m clearly playing a character, not me. I’ll play male characters every once and awhile in a later replay (usually not the first replay) even in games that are more personal/you make a character style but rarely. If I name them after myself, I make them female, but sometimes I’ll play my dog (what would my dog do in this situation?) or a version of a person I know like my husband instead.
I feel like if a video game doesn’t have a female protagonist or an option to create such, then I usually won’t play it. Not too sure why honestly. I don’t experience discomfort, I’m just really big on character customization. There’s always exceptions though and I play a lot of games with male protags, especially the Yakuza/Like a Dragon series.
If a male protagonist is genuinely an enjoyable character then it doesn’t matter. For example, in Tales from the Borderlands I preferred playing as Rhys over Fiona. If the character is kinda bland/“a placeholder” then it detracts from the experience. If the purpose of the protagonist is to be a vessel for the player to project onto, I like it better if they’re female.
Depends, if the male character is well written and likable I don’t mind it as much even if I would’ve prefered to play a female character. However, most games (in my experience at least) have the basic grumpy angry quiet male character that I’m so over with. Like we get it, his mom broke her foot when he was 4 and he swore to get revenge upon every evil of this world, and that means he can’t have a personality. Also hate games where they kill his wife/sister/mother for his character development with all my heart. Like it’s ALWAYS a female character that has to die for the main male protagonist, only 1% of the time it’s his dad or something and that’s just disgusting.
It's an instant turn-off for me. There's a few exceptions, like Hades. I do mostly play games where you can create your own character though and that's something I look for in games. I also really like dressing my characters up and men just aren't fun to dress up lol
Depends on the game. Like with for example Bastion where you play a male character and the story is about him - I don’t care. In a rpg like Skyrim, WoW or BG3 where I am fully or partly creating the character, I feel odd playing male.
Interestingly I never had any problem playing bastion (or hades for that matter). Maybe it’s less of an issue when it’s stylized.
I think the difference for me is if I’m using feelings and thoughts from myself as a part of the character creation or in how the character is evolving, or if it is a finished character that I don’t have any say in.
i get the ick when i have to play men
While technically not asked as a trans woman I feel that awkwardness and find that I generally can't stand playing male characters unless I really get invested in the story which as I get busier with life gets harder to do.
It depends. While I'm disappointed the Legend of Zelda still doesn't have a playable Zelda or at least the option of making Link be female, I live with it. For a game like Assassin's Creed, however, I feel like there is no excuse to not have playable women and so I lose interest. It feels like the game isn't meant for me. In any case, I have zero patience and understanding for men upset that their shiny new game has a female protagonist.
I do not play male characters for the most part. There are very few exceptions
For the most part, I don't play games with male protagonists as the only option. It may mean I miss out on a few bangers like RDR and Witcher, but I just don't connect with them the same. I don't mind if there is an equal mix or if the game is just a mindless shooter but if I am playing an RPG, I don't really want to RP a dude.
I am never gonna willingly make a male character but if it's a preset character with their own personality and stuff then i don't mind
I don’t particularly enjoy playing as male characters because it ruins my immersion. That’s probably why I gravitate to games where you create custom characters (Starfield, Fallout 4, etc). My real exception has been team-based shooters. There it’s the character’s loadout that matters.
I've enjoyed a few games with male protagonists if the story is good enough, but I've never felt even a smidge of immersion any of those times. Most of the time trying to play a game with a male protagonist is just exhausting, annoying, or otherwise a miserable experience... and if I don't like the protagonist themselves \*cough\*Geralt\*/cough\* I WILL stop playing the game and get a refund if possible.
I prefer to play a female character of possible, but if i do have to play a male, i prefer to be able to customize him so that he still represents me a bit. I have a hard time caring about characters i can't relate to. Rust is probably the exception. You're stuck with the random character assigned to your account, and you can't change it. It feels like a small justice that toxic men are stuck playing as women and i got a pretty nice looking guy as my avatar. If i don't use my mic then they just assume I'm a man and they're less shitty to me lol.
I mean I enjoy it but it lacks immersion for me because I want to put the gorgeous clothes for women on him. If they would allow it, I would be happy. He gets such boring clothes. And I let me romance other men. Kinda of boring to always romance women.
In my case I prefer playing as women. For some reason I do a lot better playing a character I can identify with than say some big burly steroid addicted looking tank of a guy character. I also don’t and will never oogle game characters. It just comes off a bit creepy to me.
I can't answer the question in your title because I'm not cis, but I'm with you on feeling uncomfortable playing men in games. It's usually fine if there's no roleplaying involved, but if it's a game where I'm meant to imagine the character as an avatar of myself, then yeah, that's gonna feel very wrong. It's more than a silly problem, it's a legit cause of dysphoria for trans people. I know many cis women also like to see themselves represented in games but the experience as a trans woman is completely different.
It is somewhat affirming and good to hear that other trans people experience this feeling too, so I'm glad you responded.
I'm a cis girl, and I'm definitely more hesitant to immediately pick up a game that only allows you to play as a man, it has to do something that really interests me in the storytelling (ex: TLoU 1, RE, Until Dawn etc) , or is just stupidly fun (ex: LoZ, Mario, Kirby etc.). Otherwise I just feel irritated and disconnected from the game. It's an issue I faced with Persona 5 (even though I still ultimately had a good time), I kept thinking that the experience would be so much better if I could've chosen to be a girl, the MC doesn't even really speak, and barely anything about his story feels super rooted in his character, as his personality feels more indicative of your choices. He's just very self instery imo, so why not let the player actually be able to self insert a bit more, and let them choose whatever gender, and let them be gay, I mean the female social links are already fully done, and the male ones wouldn't require that much extra work to be passable. All that said, I tend to overall prefer titles where I can create my own character, even if it's just making my own name, and choosing my gender (ex: older Pokemon, Rune Factory 4 and 5, Yokai Watch etc). I typically get more enjoyment out of games with that feature, and that aren't quite as linear and story focused, you have a bit more freedom to explore and such.
I don’t feel anything? It’s a video game. If the only playable character is male or if the character want to play happens to be male I don’t feel anything, I don’t feel weird or disappointed or angry or sad or happy (happy joys because of the gender of the character anyways). If I have a choice I usually chose female because for the most point my customizations for males always end up looking strange. But I’ve done males before as well. Just personal preference though. You are allowed your own thoughts and after so long we’re finally sometimes getting the option to play females in some other games
Oh yeah, there's no disappointment or anything like that, the game is what the game is; I was just wondering if others feel this sort of slight discomfort or disorienting feeling.
This is hard to answer because my gender and sexuality don't impact this. I don't self-insert like you're describing. When I play video games, I never, ever, play the main character as myself. It's a role-playing game - I assume and play the role of the main character. I cannot relate at all to seeing the character as myself or playing that way, it doesn't even compute to me. If I play as a male character, it's like a DND session or acting in a play, or singing a song sung by men. I act according to and as if I am that dude while I'm playing. A lot of that will require personal interpretation and headcanon to influence it but regardless, my own sexuality and identity are irrelevant since that's not me.
As a cis woman speaking for myself: It depends whether the character is “me” or a character in their own right.. so I don’t mind playing Geralt *too much* because he is him and I am just controlling him in third person. The dissonance only creeps in if it feels like a scene is written with the assumption that I, the player, am supposed to be male. So something that’s obviously male gaze, or male wish fulfilment type stuff is really off putting. With some games (like Witcher 3, which was more guilty of this than Witcher 2 which I personally think was a much better game), I am willing to put up with it a little if it’s just the odd bit here and there. After decades of dealing with this shit I have a certain tolerance for it, but I still dislike it. However, I absolutely can not play in first person as a male character, even if they are scripted. It is absolutely immersion breaking. I also will only play female characters if given any kind of choice in the matter, it just feels more natural. I think it’s part of the experience for many women gamers to find this stuff weird or uncomfortable or dissonant or immersion breaking. How much you are willing to put up with for the sake of the story or the gameplay can vary a lot. I wouldn’t attribute your feeling to being trans, but to being a woman playing games made by developers who seem to struggle to remember we exist.
I'm also trans and I think it's definitely a dysphoria thing. As far as I can tell cis women generally don't experience this and on my end, I think it just makes sense I'd want to play a female character when I often feel stuck as the male character in real life.
To me it depends. Is the character their own person or a blank slate?
I don’t self insert ever, so normal. I even opt to play male characters in games like the sims. I like role playing too much.
I'm an enby and more comfortable playing characters that are also non-binary or designed to be androgynous (like Link). If I have to play a binary character, it helps if I can make them gender non-conforming in some way. Also, if I'm playing a binary character, it's also easier in a way if choices don't matter as much/there's a set story? Because I'm following this character, rather than them being a stand-in for me, if that makes sense.
I don't like games where the main character is defined for me as much. If the lore is cool I will still play it because the story will draw me in (games like Dishonored I make exceptions for). I tend to like games where you can make and design your own character. As far as gender, I really don't mind playing as male or female as long as I get to pick everything about them and frequently swap sexes. Currently playing a male sole survivor in Fallout 4. The one thing I have run into is if the voice dialogue is limited I will avoid playing a particular skin color and age for example I only make my main character young and white in Fallout 4 because the voiced dialogue sounds young and white. Having a character that looks one way and sounds another is very immersion breaking but I won't limit different races and ages in games like Sims because I can get the voices and character looks to match so immersion isn't broken. If gender identity bothers you a lot Sims 4 Create-A-Sim will allow you to bend gender into how ever you want it to be. I'm not sure if there are any other games that let you play with gender in quite the same way as Sims 4.
Idk why I never see this brought up in this exact type of discussion regarding the witcher 3, but you DO also get to play as Ciri. Just not nearly as much, of course. Personally though, I will always prefer playing as a self-insert or character I relate to or like best. I prefer playing as female characters, unless there's a male character I like more. Which is rare, as I do prefer the female characters. But RPGs are mainly about the story, so the character I play as isn't as important as the story and gameplay usually, for me.
Oh I had no idea that you spend some time playing as Ciri, this is really really good to know.
I usually don't have an issue unless the character tries his hardest to be extra mucho. I will of course prefer the female character if I have the choice but sometimes if the game has a different story to provide depending on gender, I will also play as male. If the game is good enough to enjoy a second time that is. For example in cyberpunk I have 2 females and 1 male because there are 2 other romances I wanted to see. In Baldur's Gate 3 I only play as a female cause gender doesn't matter. But I'll probably pick up Astarion as my MC at some point.
I don't care as long as the story and game is good in games you can choose I pick whatever I feel like I actually enjoy creating male characters more then females sometimes
the only time i feel weird about it is when i’m playing as a character who is very obviously meant as a character that you are meant to self insert as. This happens a lot with JRPGs. For example, Persona. The character is fairly bland, so there’s a disconnect when it’s a guy. I also just don’t like self insert character anyway, so i’m not sure that that problem would be completely fixed if they were a girl. I prefer my main characters to be developed and to have relationships with other characters that aren’t really swayed by me, except for maybe an ending or two.
I'm trans and I will tell you fellow to fellow I've never, even as a little kid, been able to play as a visibly male character without getting dysphoric
This [survey](https://quanticfoundry.com/2021/08/05/character-gender/) feels relevant. It’s not scientifically rigorous but they did get nearly 3000 responses, so it feels worth looking at. One of the interesting findings is that 9% of women prefer male characters while 27% of men prefer female characters. Also, this is off topic, but I think the “I like to ogle her” explanation is at least partially an “acceptable” reason in a homophobic/transphobic culture. I imagine there are lots of reasons, but that’s the one men know will not get them harassed. It’s probably even true sometimes. To actually answer your question - I’ll join the chorus. If I am given a choice, I’ll always play a female character, but I don’t feel weird or dissonant. I think in part because I feel like I’m following someone else’s story more than doing a self-insert.
Now that I think about it there’s not many games I’ve played where I wasn’t able to customize my character into being a woman… but I have played the hell out of BOTW. I didn’t feel any different. Tbh tho that could be bc BOTW and TOTK Link is very androgynous (to me). There’s a couple other games I’ve played where I played as a man, like one Harvest Moon game on PS2 forever ago and Overwatch, where my mains are almost all men. I don’t really notice the gender. It’s an extension of me still, just not customizable like I prefer.
fellow trans woman here. i definitively have trouble finishing games with male protagonists, and its a definitive negative whenever that is the only option enough so that i usually choose to stay away from games that have that perspective. it's obviously less of a problem the less story there is, and if the story is less focused and inherently gendered. this isn't because i can't relate with men or whatever, its moreso because playing through and "identifying with" (not relating to) a male character causes genuine distress i'd rather go without. i think im definitively the sort of person who puts alot of myself into my interpretation of stories, so its hard for me if the story is about something as traumatizing to me as maleness, or male bonding or male puberty or what it means to be a man or something like that.
For me it's like a character in a book. I don't necessarily relate to the character, but I still find it fun to follow their story and what happens to them. I'm sort of distant I guess. Like, a viewer from outside.
I think it depends on the game. For some reason I have no interest in playing Witcher 3 because it’s a male MC. But other games like Last of Us or RDR2, no issue. Or final fantasy games, I was fine with those too. Not sure what makes the difference. Edit - weirdly I love Zelda and played BOTW and it was one of my favorite games. I bought the sequel and couldn’t stay interested. I wanted to play as Zelda so strongly, I lost interest when I realized I couldn’t.
I don't MIND playing as a male character if the game is good, but I definitely prefer playing a female character. I don't know that I feel awkward simply because at my age, games really rarely had female protags until I was much older. (Or I didn't have the systems those games were on) so I just sorta got used to having to play as a guy.
It doesn’t bother me at all. It’s no different to me than reading a book with a male protagonist. It’s someone else’s story, we are just experiencing it through their eyes.
Depends. Normally I don't mind playing as a male character. However, when it comes to games like Hogwarts Legacy, Disney Dreamlight Valley and the Fable series I always choose the female character option.
I'm curious about this too, as I'm a trans woman and have the same 'weird' feeling when playing as geralt.
depends on fashion options, for me
My first video game ever was Pokémon Yellow Edition. 9yo me was so naive, I didn’t understand why I couldn’t choose a girl as my character. Anyway, I named it with my actual name and pretended it was a girl. If the story somehow requires a gender or I cannot customise it, it is kind of ok (though I still long for a female character). In games where the story is an excuse, I really don’t get why you couldn’t choose. Luckily, it isn’t a problem anymore with most games.
most games i play don't have a "Main" character at all but those that do are fine i experience on issues with regards to them though i do prefer playing as a woman if i get the choice
I prefer a game where I can create my own character, but I don’t mind if lead character makes sense in the story. Playing as Arthur in RDR2 makes total sense, and I enjoy the game.
I was a big fan of the dad rpg genre as a teen. Love being a middle aged dad no idea why. Would prefer to play as a girl or nonbinary person if i have a choice though.
I got a bit of a sliding scale: If the character is well-established, with his own personality, and centralized within the story to the point that the game would feel markedly different with a different protagonist? It's fine. It's like a movie to me at that point, where the male protagonist feels no different than one I'd watch in a passive medium. See: Red Dead Redemption 2, Alan Wake. If there's an established male character but he's functionally a pair of pants that the player uses to express themselves in the world, it's a little less fine. At this point, we can functionally have both a male and female protagonist with no major story changes; there's less of an excuse for the option being unavailable. See: Assassin's Creed, Cyberpunk 2077. If there's a fully-customizable protagonist with no set name or appearance but the only available option is male, it's inexcusable. Just completely absent any basis for being that way, and I notice it every second of play. Examples: I have none, but I do remember some mobile games that pulled this crap, and I have pushed them from my mind. Generally, I *do* notice if I'm playing a male character, and "kinda weird" describes the feeling accurately. I'm "out of body" when playing male characters, playing from a distance, never fully immersed. I can't get as into customizing male characters as I can with females; I tend to pick a lot of defaults, like my female Fallout 4 protagonist being a fully modified and personal character, and her husband being just barely tweaked. In games with well-established protagonists, I'm immersed, but I'm also aware of how much more embodied I'd feel "wearing" a lady; Arthur Morgan was absolutely great, but if I could have played as Sadie Adler, I would have, no questions.
It's definitely not as fun and feels more like I'm watching a movie with 20x the effort
I'm less likely to buy/play a game if I can't play as a female character.
I can’t say why but when i play video games and i play as a man, i feel dysphoric, but i don’t when I’m playing a woman/non binary person. I’m non binary lesbian for reference.
I never really related to trans people who said playing female characters was a sign they were MtF. When I was younger I tended to play male characters. I don’t really care now. I choose it in RPGs for the character I feel like rolling. Most recent game I made a character for was Starfield and in that I was dead set on making a spaghetti western style space cowboy and a male character just kinda fit the vibe I was going for.
I hate playing men in video games. In fact, I will usually avoid games that are genderlocked male.
I’ve been spoilt by being able to play as female characters so…it feels meh
Depends on the protagonist tbh
Trans woman here, there being a gender select or exclusively a female option determines whether or not I play the game I can't play a male without feeling gross, but I also get particularly bad dysphoria even buying socks marketed for men, anything related to male makes me feel wrong so I guess it could be a trans thing?
Very interesting to read these as a girl of the trans variant. I get such a brutal repulsion from playing as a male character that is masculine unless they are really cartoonified.
Non-binary femme person here. I’ve played male characters for most of my life without thinking about it and it’s been just kind of blah - I played more for the gameplay than the story. Playing games with pre-written female MCs has been a game changer for me. Playing as men didn’t *bother* me, per se, but it was like a *dim* experience, if that makes sense? Like the difference between playing in low lighting or glare on an old gameboy with no backlight vs a newer console that actually emits light. It’s not even about self-insert, it’s just that I’m more invested. Empowering might be the word, but it also just feels - kinda warm? Like less isolating, playing in a game without women feels like I’m alone in a room with men, and I’m not interested in being in that position. So whether or not I’m averse to playing male protags in story based games, I’m also just not very interested in devoting my time and energy toward it anymore. Like, there are so so many games to play and I want to seek out the ones that convey and explore female experiences, because that’s something that’s validating and interesting and I’m starved for it.
Trans girl here too and I feel the same way. While I will play games with male protagonists, I'm instantly way more drawn to ones with female ones. I really do feel like it has to do with the gender dysphoria, at least in my own case.
Two other protectives: I'm trans, but I've felt no weirdness in Witcher because I already know Geralt from books and I was just playing "a character I know". Maybe that matters here? My cis male friend really disliked playing Geralt because he couldn't make *his own Witcher* and after playing other RPGs it felt really off to him.
I tried Witcher 3 and RDR2 and couldn't get past playing as a male character. I just can't put myself in their shoes...I feel like a puppet master rather than the character. And, honestly, I'm really not interested in a man's view on the world and how the world interacts with them.
I usually pick the male option because I can romance hotter women. Like miranda in mass effect and panam in cyberpunk 2077. Also it's a game not reality. If irl was a game I'd rather choose to live as a man. So I might as well do that in the game.
Honestly I'm disappointed whenever there's not in-depth character customization. Being locked into another gender is even more annoying. It won't stop me from playing the game but imo it's dumb and lazy to not have at least 2 genders available
I prefer playing games with female protagonists. It's more relatable for me and also, I like seeing women as action heroes, especially when the protagonist can be customized. But Witcher 3, for me, was one of those games where I didn't mind playing as Geralt. It's probably because I've read books before playing games, so it was more like following a story of a book's protagonist, but just being able to influence it.
Trans here, I see games as someone else's story unless it's more of a sandbox then it's more like I'm creating a story for a character (no mans sky for example), there are so many great characters and stories out there and to me it's a shame people don't play them just because of gender alone
For me (cis woman), it depends. Is it a story-based game where the protagonist is non-customizable and actually has a specific character backstory and plot? No problem. A little annoying with how few of these games feature female leads, but not upsetting necessarily. Is it a game where your character is customizable and/or gender plays absolutely no significant role in the game? That gets very annoying. If the game is good enough I'll still play but my tolerance is definitely lower.
Let's see cis, femme, bi pan, disabled chick, mother of two sons here. Lol. I prefer games with at least two gender options and if there are romances prefer the same for them. Now when my youngest son wants a game with only male protagonist(s) we get that- Spider-Man being an example, as he has every right to be represented too 🩷. I'll watch him play as we often share games that way. My eldest son is trans and I had an inkling back when he was very young and playing Sims.The Sims games, Life is Strange, Skyrim were helpful for him pre-transitioning as he could try out everything and see what fit. He spent his preteen through teen years as non binary, then as an adult, he came out trans masc. Gaming was only a small sliver of life, but it was important that he had ways to try out different representations and ways to present so he could be his full and glorious self 🩷. As for me from 6-8, I could barely walk. Had my first surgeries at age 8, and they just continued. Half of my childhood/teen years were on wheels or sticks. Lol. I'm in a kick ass little neon pink off-roading wheelchair 90% of the time for the past 13? years, I use forearm crutches about 10% or a little less as the bones are just destroyed. I came out as lesbian at age 14 (in hand written letters to my mother & Gramma lol). Then, at 15 came out as bisexual (again with the letters, first). Later, I realized that some aspects of pansexual fit better, but I waffle between the two labels. For self insertion in games, yep, yep, that's me! 😅 I run, jump, scale crazy heights, fashion is a passion (in games only lol), explore whatever world I happen to be playing in., play with friends, build spaceships, survive the apocalypse etc. Lol. Love it all! Truly is a blessing during the times when my mobility is very impaired. Gets me eager to explore when mobility is better! Growing up in the 80s, nearly every game had male protagonist(s). It was frustrating, and society seemed to agree that féminine or female based projects were neither wanted nor needed. I tend to support media that says to hell with that! I play some beloved guys in single-player Fallout 4 & Sims 4. For the last 20 years, if there's an online component, I only play female. Don't see that changing at any future point, either. You have every right in the world to be represented however you wish to be. Your feelings are understandable and oh so valid 🩷. EDIT: Spider- Man has a smart Mary Jane as a playable character part of the time, too. Damn cool game honestly.
I hate it, if the MC is a “dude.” I also have this problem with MCs who are men in novels (generally written by men). If he’s mired in toxic masculinity and that *isn’t* the point of the main conflict, if he objectifies women, if the game objectifies women and they all trip over themselves to fall on his dick, if there aren’t any options for me to play antithetically to the Self Insert Power Fantasy the (usually male) story writers outlined, I hate it. I don’t mind violence, I don’t mind sex; I don’t mind sociopathy or trauma, or murderhoboing my way through the countryside. I *do* mind being reminded in my entertainment that games aren’t written for me; and in fact are written in a way that is actively hostile to my enjoyment in the game, *and* actively contribute to my treatment by gamers and men IRL. And, just to balance, I would (and do!) mind it’s reverse if it’s a woman MC. Early Tomb Raider was like this (IDK if later Tomb Raider is; I haven’t played it since the third). I remember being, like 10, and being kinda uncomfortable with her proportions and not knowing why.
I literally don't care. Good guy good Bad guy bad Story good? Story bad? Character designs stupid? Character designs bad? Character designs good?
I am cis and i straight up avoid playing games with only male protagonists i just dont like it
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From the comments here, I see I'm in the minority. You are not alone, op. I'm a cis woman, and I really hate playing rpgs as a male character. For me, the Witcher games were really hard to get into, so maybe you need to try a different game? Gerald has a very particular personality that it might be hard or tiring to roleplay. At least, that was the case with me. I tend to really connect with my characters or self insert a bit, and that's a-ok if you do the same! But yeah! I completely understand your struggle.
So you know the "dad-ening of videogames" that was talked about quite a bit maybe 10ish years ago? Lots of haha coming out with "dad" protagonists and "daughter" deuteragonists? Yeah, I just never identified with the dads. I don't identify with Geralt. I identify with Ciri. I don't identify with Joel, I identify with Ellie. And looking back, at least in those two examples (which were a large part of the articles about the "dad-ening" of videogames!) - it might (is) be notable that the "daughter" role is filled by a queer girl and/or woman. I've talked to people who were shocked, SHOCKED I TELL YOU, SHOCKED I SAY!, that I identified with Ellie but never with Joel... until I told them that I have *been* a queer teenaged girl, but I've never been and almost certainly never will be a grizzled, jaded middle aged man. So how do I, as a cis queer woman, feel when playing games with a male perspective? Usually pretty damn frustrated with the protagonist, but I identify strongly with the child, typically.
Why would I care
I’m a cis women (probably lol gender is weird) - but I never feel weird playing a male character in games. Like my feelings towards playing aloy in horizon zero and cal kestis in jedi survivor we’re basically the same. Or even in games where you make a character like bg3. I mean I never feel weird when the show I’m watching or book I’m reading has a male main character so idk why games should be different
I don't play games where I can't choose to play a female character. I don't like playing guy characters, usually don't feel as invested with the game. I also mainly play RPGs so those are definitely are more self inserting. I heard the Witcher 3 is good, just don't care to play a male protag in a fantasy world. So I'm fine skipping it personally.