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HoloDust on 14 December 2023
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Jaicee said:
HoloDust said:

Journey's protagonist could be interpreted however you like (male, female, hermaphrodite like in Left Hand of Darkness, no-sex...) - though I'm not sure why it matters in the first place that no games using female-only lead characters won in either community vote for any of those nine years.

UnderwaterFunktown said:

Interestingly the 2020s is the opposite so far. Last of Us Part II and Dread in 2020-2021, then a custom avatar lead in Elden Ring with the biggest side characters being Melina and Ranni, Link will likely win this year though.

HoloDust said:

Including custom avatar leads makes Skyrim, Dark Souls and Mass Effect 2 female lead as well (ME especially, since FemShep is, more or less, cannon at this point).

Again, not sure why that matters...

The_Liquid_Laser said:

In Dark Souls you can play as a male decaying corpse or a female decaying corpse.  It's very equal opportunity in that way.

Must've really struck a nerve with that point. It was just an observation.

Anyway, obviously I know these things already, as I listed those games (well, excluding Mass Effect 2; I listed the original for '07) among my own favorites for the corresponding years of release on these threads. There is no need to educate me. I worded the line in question the way I did for a reason.

Why does it matter if games tell stories about girls, women, female characters ("or hermaphrodites" ) rather than just stories about customizable blank slate characters wherein it doesn't matter? First of all, if the shoe were on the other foot, you would never say that. None of you would. But to answer the question more directly, it's because there is inherent value in specificity. Specificity is a door to relatability and empathy. There are experiences in life that only the females or our species have, just are there are those that only guys have. Everyone's stories should be told through this medium as far as I'm concerned because they all matter.

Anyway, to UnderwaterFunktown's point, this is true! And I thought it was interesting that that happened back-to-back here, especially in view of how few GOTY awards Metroid Dread won elsewhere. I remember remarking about that at the time.

Honestly, still not sure where you're going with this, but personally, who plays the lead in the game is by far the least important thing to me and always was.
I.e., at one point at the time, one of my favourite genres, P&C adventure games, started featuring almost exclusively female leads - I think it started with The Longest Journey as being a smash hit, and then carried on to Syberia, Still Life, Secret Files...again, personally, zero fucks given, and all of those IPs are very dear to me.

In games, I always look at gameplay, then setting, then story. Who I move on the screen is of infinitely small importance for me.

P.S. The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula Le Guin has actual sentient hermaphrodite species (actually they are neutral, and then once a month become either male or female - I read the book some 35+ years ago, so it's a bit fuzzy).