Do you care what gender you play as?

Started by Enpatsu Shakugan April 25th, 2018 9:25 PM
  • 2857 views
  • 50 replies

Enpatsu Shakugan

Banned

Male
Seen November 4th, 2018
Posted November 4th, 2018
1,824 posts
5.1 Years
Since the inclusion of male and female protagonists in every game, are you determined to always pick one or do you not care at all?

How do you generally decide?


I go by character designs. For example, I thought the DP male was laughable in design, and the girl was way better (even the anime thought so) so I had no problem playing a girl in those games. Same with the Omega Ruby remake too.

But when I genuinely like the design of a male protagonist, I will generally choose him. I've played male way more than female. Customization plays a big role too and I get much more invested in customizing a male character than a female, like in the case of Y.

I do not self-insert in games, I like playing as set characters or creating one. Never named after myself. That makes gender decisions easier for me too.

OneLuckeyWife

OneLuckeyWife

Female
Texas
Seen May 3rd, 2018
Posted April 27th, 2018
4 posts
5.3 Years
My main game I am always a girl just because Im a girl. In my second game, I always get both versions, I choose a boy to see if the dialogue is different. Sometimes it different like in ORAS the dialogue was different, not by much, depending on the gender you chose.
www.OneLuckeyWife.com

IG: OneLuckeyWife

ZeoStar

Seen 1 Hour Ago
Posted 6 Hours Ago
11,418 posts
5.6 Years
Male. I usually like pretending the character is me, and also it makes sense because I like giving the character my real name.

Enpatsu Shakugan

Banned

Male
Seen November 4th, 2018
Posted November 4th, 2018
1,824 posts
5.1 Years
I would like to say that I don't care, but when every male from Gen V onwards has basically been a clone of Gen IV's Lucas, it's difficult to really want to play as a male in Pokemon titles. Especially when the female protagonists are always unique by comparison...maybe not well-designed, but at least different.
I didn't get that from the X and Y male; since he was so customizable. Once you get the opportunity, he stops being a clone to me.

You even get quite a few options at the beginning, from what I recall.

Sorvete

Novice

Male
Brazil
Seen 3 Days Ago
Posted March 25th, 2023
3,110 posts
5.1 Years
Usually I play with the boy because I think his design is cooler than the girl, in most games. HG/SS for instance, I rarelly play as Lyra. BW and BW2 are exceptions, both male and female characters are awesome imo.

But no, I don't really care which gender I'll be playing as.

Sheep

She/Her
Australia
Seen 4 Hours Ago
Posted 15 Hours Ago
39,267 posts
16.6 Years
Absolutely yes. I want to feel like I myself am playing, so I'll need to use the female avatar. Plus the females tend to have cuter clothing choices (in games where customization is a thing), so that is an added bonus. ? I prefer playing (and being) a female.

Seff

Seen September 19th, 2018
Posted May 3rd, 2018
22 posts
5.1 Years
When customization was not a thing, it was all about the characters, but right now I always go for male ones since I can create my own in-game style. Back then, I had used both Red and Leaf, Ethan, which had my favorite sprite, Dawn, Hilbert. I've chosen the male in my UM playthrough, and now playing as Calem in pokemon Y.

pastelspectre

Memento Mori

Age 25
he/him
The Pacific Northwest
Seen 2 Weeks Ago
Posted 2 Weeks Ago
2,156 posts
13.1 Years
i typically go as female bc.. idk. but if they ever make an option where you can be neither, i'll definitely pick that one ouo

TaviTurnip

Artist and Streamer | Also a turnip

Female
Seen 1 Day Ago
Posted August 9th, 2021
95 posts
5.1 Years
I pick at complete random. If the games had four or five genders (or body sizes or races or something) I'd still do random. Although if I picked one last time and am repeating a game, I'll go the opposite next time :P Gotta experience it all.
I stream Pokémon games each week with an engaged chat. Come visit and have some fun!
Twitch Link! We'd love to have you! <3
Twitter Or come get annoyed by me here :B

colours

she/her
gracidea fields
Seen December 30th, 2022
Posted December 29th, 2022
8,974 posts
18.1 Years
Much like Janna, I actually want to feel like myself when I'm playing so nine times out of ten I'll play as the female protagonist unless her design is absolute garbage, which hasn't happened since at least BW.

... I don't know what Game Freak was thinking when they came up with Hilda's design. @[email protected];

Mawa

The typo Queen

Age 30
Female
Canada
Seen August 13th, 2020
Posted March 1st, 2020
I was happy after we had the choice of a gender since I am female. But before we had that choice? I didn't care. Now I can choose, I'll choose the female one. But if I don't have that choice it doesn't change my enjoyment of the game much.
I miiiiight be back?
And why am I not a supporter anymore >.<

Hikamaru

Age 30
Female
Australia
Seen January 24th, 2019
Posted September 4th, 2018
50,214 posts
12.2 Years
I am female, so I always play as the female when possible. Thankfully the female protagonists tend to have cute designs and starting in 6th Gen, better clothing choices than the males.
Gone forever for personal reasons.
Visit my Tumblr page if you wish to contact me.

http://daikenkki.tumblr.com/
Seen May 28th, 2019
Posted May 24th, 2019
47 posts
5 Years
I'm female in real life. Before character customization, I always choose to play as a boy, purely because I liked the male trainer designs better. I felt as though many of the girls were overdressed, whilst the male characters looked simplistic and iconic. However in the newer games because we can design our protagonists the way we like, I choose the female to match my gender, because I can get rid of the dorky hats and weird scarf-but-no-pants combos. Still not keen on the pink backpacks and backgrounds though!

L'Belle

I am beauty!

Age 21
He/him
The Netherlands
Seen December 30th, 2022
Posted November 29th, 2022
2,175 posts
7.1 Years
Generally, no.

CodeHelmet

Banned

Male
Hayward
Seen June 9th, 2019
Posted June 9th, 2019
3,373 posts
5.9 Years
Even though I'm a guy, I play as the Female simply because the Anime has the Male protagonist(in this case Ash), doing what you do in the games: Challenging the Gyms and corresponding League while leaving the sidequests/extra's for that region's Female Lead. Therefore I purposely play the Female character just to see what it would have been like had May, Dawn, Iris(granted I know its Hilda in BW) and Serena had done the same thing as Ash.

I swear... can the Anime get with it and give the Female Lead something better than to strut around as eye candy?

Enpatsu Shakugan

Banned

Male
Seen November 4th, 2018
Posted November 4th, 2018
1,824 posts
5.1 Years
Even though I'm a guy, I play as the Female simply because the Anime has the Male protagonist(in this case Ash), doing what you do in the games: Challenging the Gyms and corresponding League while leaving the sidequests/extra's for that region's Female Lead. Therefore I purposely play the Female character just to see what it would have been like had May, Dawn, Iris(granted I know its Hilda in BW) and Serena had done the same thing as Ash.

I swear... can the Anime get with it and give the Female Lead something better than to strut around as eye candy?
It should've changed the protagonist every region like one of the mangas or the games. Ash is one of the most pathetic protagonists in anime history. But the anime is literally status quo: the anime.

Always token female and male companions, Team Rocket and Pikachu. It will never change past that, apart from maybe changing the number of token sidekicks from time to time.

Lycanthropy

Owl + Bear =
Owlbear

Age 26
any
Clan of Fools, Waterdeep
Seen December 14th, 2022
Posted December 14th, 2022
11,033 posts
9.3 Years
I usually play as the male on my first playthrough, as female on the second and pick either one on any consecutive playthrough, at random or whichever design I think looks best.
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