You know, it seems like people in
the gaming community have been getting their knickers in a bunch over the
gender of the playable characters lately. I don’t know how many of you are in
the Mass Effect circle, but it was
revealed that Commander Shepherd, the ambiguously gendered main character, was
originally intended to be a woman.
Now, for those who don’t know,
Commander Shepherd’s gender is something the player can choose prior to the
game. There also an array of male/female character models you can choose from. Not
to mention the romance element of the game does not depend on your chosen
gender either.
For some
people, the fact that Shepherd was originally going to be just female is
upsetting. Gender has been a big topic in gaming lately, I’ve noticed. My
opinion on it is more of an observer than an active arguer. The gender of a character
never bothers me, personally. I’d play as Fem!Shep as readily as M!Shep. But,
do I like the idea of the main character being a blank slate on which the player
can project themself onto. A Game isn’t like a movie, it’s meant to be an experience.
Sometimes, an ambiguously gendered character is the way to accomplish that kind
of experience.
I love RPGs for this reason. I
think people tend to leave RPGs out of the equation when we talk about
emersion. Whether you are the character in the game or just an omnipresent observer,
the different ways the player is incorporated into RPGs are really inspiring.
Take OFF,
for example. The main character you are controlling is named The Batter,
but you the player are not The Batter. You are regarded as his controller or
puppeteer. Batter is aware of this and even introduces you to the other
characters in the game, and those characters can speak to you directly as well.
While you are along for the ride, you are still an active participant in the
game. However, this fact leads you to discover something sinister about Batter
that you cannot control. You are a neutral character and the fact that
character you are controlling is not you makes your role ambiguous and a blank
slate.
Another
example (and I’m sorry to my friends that I’m bringing this up because they’re
sick of hearing about it) is Undertale. In
this game, you are the fallen child you’re controlling, but you have an ambiguous
identity and gender. You’re supposed to become emotionally invested in the
world and care about the characters as they care about you. You also have the
option to be as heartless as possible and slaughter absolutely everyone.
Several times, you are regarded as the one deciding factor in the fate of
everyone in the game. Again, the fallen child is a purposeful blank slate the
player takes the role of.
Don’t
get me wrong, I like games where the character is a defined person, specified
gender and all. I love Portal and
others like it. But, I find that I get a lot more out of playing the game as
myself. When the playable character is completely ambiguous, I find myself caring
about the story and characters more.
So, I try to stay out of the polarizing
conversation that is genders in gaming. I personally couldn’t care less if the
character was intended to be male or female or something else. I just prefer
the ability to strike out into a new world and make your own story.
Also, in a few Mass Effect games, you can
choose to romance this guy:
And I think that’s pretty neat.
Lookit him.
He’s beautiful.
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