Baldurs gate 3 was the first game I've ever been able to be explicitly trans. Or at least "trans-bodied" They have 3 identity categories (m,f,nb/o) Then you have the body types which amounts to "boobs or no boobs" And then you have 4 sets of both "privates" So I have two trans women dwarf characters. One with boobs and one without 🤷 it's been incredible
Yeah. I just wish I could dress my characters with the boobs body type using masc clothing, because I have a character who's a trans guy but hadn't medically transitioned in any way, and also wears his hair long because he's a drow, so I need to find some way to make him look masc but the clothing that looks normal on the "male" body types often is modelled very differently on the "female" body types to the point where it doesn't even look like the same clothing pieces sometimes. I want some baggy masculine clothing for my character, but alas....
the most in depth gender and sexuality customization i've played in a game is, of all games, south park the fractured but whole. it lets choose like between a dozen different genders and a dozen different sexualities and like half of them i didn't even know existed before i played it. you can change it at any time you want as well. its pretty cool. i don't play many games, i usually find a game and then just keep replaying it for a long time so it surprised me to find something so representative in a game, especially in a 2017 south park game.
I recall an anecdote from a game dev about accessibility features. He had asked his higher ups for permission to spend a day or two implementing color blind features. He was told, "No, it's not worth the time to cater to such a small number of players." A lot of the time at bigger companies, features that benefit microminorities are not consider a good ROI. It's not about difficulty to implement, or lack of awareness. It's them looking and the bottom dollar and saying, "No, this demographic isn't profitable to include."
He's got a point. Why carter to a small number of people who likes to scream representation here and there just for the sake of representation and not the actual game and story? It's not worth the money and time for them, they're there to make games, not be politically correct. If you want a game that lets you be transgender, then find a game dev that's part of that politically correct stuff, like sims 4 for example. Don't force the other game developers in general to carter to the small percentage of minorities
I definitely abused the nickname changing feature in Animal Crossing to get my villagers to call me a different gendered name for "roleplaying" reasons, going about my island dressed as male characters 😅
Its very rare oddly that games even let you change your name after you make a character for some reason. The only game that does let you change your name and gender freely at anytime (after you unlock the option to recreate your character) I can think of is Dragons Dogma. It also allows you to be gay or bisexual without question about it simply by not restricting it.
Elden Ring and Dark Souls 3 let you change your characters everything and its in lore. Also Dark Souls 2 has a coffin you can climb into that changes your gender!
yeah! playing stardew valley as a genderfluid person is kinda frustrating bc i HAVE to befriend the wizard to change my gender if i start a new save (without mods at least) i wish that stuff like this was just available from the start lol, it shouldn't be locked behind progression
As a fellow NB gamedev, I felt you here. Surprisingly though, adding pronoun customization on text is surprisingly a lot of headaches and partly because of grammar rules. It's been a while since I've done it so I can't think of some of the issues on the top of my head. And while it may be doable in English, the moment you start adding multiple languages, problems come in droves, especially in JP. Most commercial games put Multilanguage in mind so I think that is definitely one of the issues they are hesitant to make a robust system where you can change pronouns or even set your own.
the visual novel "our life: beginnings and always" allows huge amounts of character customization, including being trans (they/them pronouns are even the default). The upcoming sequel will also have an even better pronoun and gendered terms customization
It's really nice to see someone else who feels similarly about how superficial the removal of gendered terms can be sometimes. There are a few games I started recently that give you the "type A, type B" option and don't lock clothes, voices or hairstyles, but then the models themselves very strictly adhere to a binary. The first thing you see in Palia's character creation is literally a choice between a triangle and an inverted triangle. (I will acknowledge that it is in beta, so hopefully they add more options in the final release - but still, the triangles feel like a joke. It looks like you're choosing which public bathroom to go in.) If I play with type A, I'm stuck with breasts. If I play with type B, I'm stuck with a buff dorito body. Neither of them feel like me. Why remove the labels if you're still committed to the binary?
Pikmin 4 has a pretty good character creator. There are four body types (five if you count the secret unlockable one), each are entirely ungendered. While in the character creator it initially looks like two feminine and two masculine options, there are versatile options for all body types, meaning you can make them looks however you like. But there are set hair and faces for each body type, while none are clearly gendered, it still restricts your choices a little bit. There is no pronoun option, rather than basing it off of the body type you choose, the player is always referred to with they/them. It's not entirely perfect, but it strays from the two body type character creator. It feels reminiscent of the character creators in Splatoon 3 and Animal Crossing, which I guess makes sense since they're all Nintendo.
For me, Our Life Beginnings and Always is the first game that I played that had extremely inclusive character customization. From appearance to pronouns to being allowed to change your gender throughout the game. Its a wonderful game and I'd recommend it to anyone!
@unu9651 It's a visual novel/dating sim (although you can choose to not date the love interest). And it has no bad ending, which makes it so much better :)
One game I found oddly great in its character creation was Calico! There is just one character model and you have sliders for waist, shoulder, hip, and breast sizes, similar to Saint's Row. You can change how your body and clothes look at any time. I don't recall if you can change your name, and if they refer to you at all, it's probably with they/them. Outside of your player character, there is also a decent amount of LGBT+ representation, including a lesbian couple and at least two nonbinary people. The in-game bios about them even list their pronouns!
I'm trying to be mindful about this as I develop my own video game! The first step of character creation is entering your name, and the second step is entering pronouns - the four options are she/her/her, he/him/his, they/them/theirs, and other (custom inputs). In the menu, you can easily update your name and pronouns. Right now, it's a button-based / still-image version of the game, so visual character creation will likely have to wait until I can create sprites, but it's definitely something I'm trying to be intentional about.
Consider, aren’t custom inputs plenty? Could anyone ever be mad or dissatisfied if their only choice was whatever they wanted? For example: a male identifying person would be able to simply custom input he/him/his and this freedom would apply to anyone and everyone of any gender identity. You may only need this one unlimited option to achieve the desired effect.
@@Charles-dg2gk That's a good idea! It would also clearly make uncommon pronouns just as valid as more common ones instead of being a step more complicated as the others
imo, the worst offenders are games which gender lock features. missing features? that's complexity that might not be seen as worth it by the devs and may not even think of. makeup and beards not being compatible? maybe they're both stored as the same thing in the code. maybe the computer sees having beard1 and makeup1 at the same time as equivalent to having beard1 and beard2 at the same time. but gender locks? that's added complexity which only reduces how much a player can express themselves. i'm a cis man and stereotypically masculine in most ways, but i've got long hair i haven't had cut since i was a young child, and it has become a very important part of how i express myself, to the point that it can sometimes be a struggle to choose if i should have the hair i identify with or the body i identify with. i can only imagine what this is like for a trans person, especially nonbinary folk
I wish there was a website with nothing but instructions on how to change your name and gender in pre-existing videogames' savefiles and highscore lists, including instructions on how to hack your savefile or contact whoever is managing the server the game is played on. I'd do it myself if I had the time and programming skills to do so.
It's deeply weird that sex is the basis for character body types in video games when there are essentially no games where that would make a difference. I demand twink - chonk - hunk as the three body types.
Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands has two body types. They’re called ‘This One’, which is an absolute slab of Fatemaker, and ‘That One’, which is slimmer and more realistic. These are not tied to your character’s pronouns or voice acting, which is quite nice.
With a optional adicional of tits for people that would like to have it. Because i'm tired of not begin able to have a "female" body type in a game without tits.
because calling it sex was decried as transphobic by people who do not play said games not so long ago ( fail basic english and biology) and thus by management demand it has been changed to be "inclusive" thus changing the category "sex" to "body type".
Elden ring is one of my favorites when it comes to character creation and clothing because both armor sets for male and female are nearly identical. They also let you change your name any time freely.
My favorite approach on gender on customization is with the Elminage series. When you create a character you can choose the typical binary options that affects gameplay, ex; only female characters can equip certain armors and vice versa, the thing is that the 3rd gender option, "unspecified" type, its not affected by this rule, the game literally gives you an advantage for being non binary.
The recent "Story of Seasons" games give you the option to customize your character's look mixing and matching all options of both male and female, and THEN asks for your pronouns after the game has officially begun. They even allow for the romancing of either gender, regardless of which pronouns you pick, and all purchasable clothing options are available no matter what. It's by far the most LGBTQ+ inclusive major franchise out there today, in a way that very much doesn't feel unintentional. Ironically the way they do it looks like it takes way less effort, since they don't have to create two different pools of options, and can just lump them all into one pile instead.
to be fair, Cyberpunk's reception is mostly based on it being horribly glitchy at launch (unplayably so) which it no longer is, they fixed it up quite well, and one of the characters you work for is trans. Even has a trans pride flag on the back of the vehichicle she drives (which you can end up with as yours)
Silver Wolf yelling at me for not picking a main character quick enough was so annoying 😭😭😭😭 I actually got my friends to choose for me and just had hsr open in the background and i could just hear her snapping at me while i waited for them to respond 😭😭 I ended up picking caelus though
I'm sure someone else has already brought this to your attention but there are third party tools that you can use to change your name as well as your appearance on your monster hunter save file for free!
yk i think even with it not quite being finished yet, deltarune and its main character fit into this conversation pretty well since thats kinda what the game is *about* really. kris is litterally designed to be a subversion of the blank slate self insert character, and the fact that they are exclusively referred to *as* they, makes u wonder if thats supposed to be subversion of the idea that players are supposed to project themselves onto the character like that, maybe going by they was *their* choice.
Very interesting video! If I could comment on Cyberpunk, as I played it, you can indeed play as a trans character, but always in the binary, as your voice defines your gender in the game, which is a bit sad. Still, it's better than most games I guess. If I could make a slight criticism of form about your video (because the substance is solid), as someone with ADHD, the music is a bit loud and can get overwhelming when trying to listen to your voice. Good work still (and very cute drawings), keep it up!
i think the splatoon and animal crossing new horizons gender things are localisation. in animal crossing, i know for a fact they're actually gendered in japanese, but the gender labels are taken off in english. which is actually quite annoying, because i'd like to know what gender i'm picking if a japanese player comes across me online. also the music is quite loud so it's a bit hard to hear the speaking in the video
@@blackcrow4446 Putting that 2nd option already requires retooling the dialogue to take into account female pronouns, which could be a LOT of text depending on the game. And simply using the player's name or some catchall phrase to address them isn't going to sound as fitting for every sentence. Normal conversion doesn't go out of the way to not use pronouns. Now imagine having to do this again for NB pronouns, which are bound to cause confusion since they/them are plural pronouns meant to refer to groups of people, not a singular person. That's an added headache on top of retooling the dialogue again. And at that point, it just isn't worth it given how little people this specific change will actually affect. Too much work for like 2% of the Earth's population.
frrr. thats actually why i like games such as minecraft or roblox, because the character customization is way better than most games just because you can mix and match literally anything (to a certain extent)
Hmm... if I had to throw actual answer to the video's premise... it'd probably be the fact of trans community, while undeniably vocal, not being a particularly big percent of potential customers. Leave it or take it, that's more or less the actual reason, rather than a boogeyman in form of a transphobe. Heck, even myself, while working on a VN project with my team of friends, have wondered how many people would even care or how would they respond if I wrote dialogues that'd refer to the main character as male, female or even neither. Well, in the end we ended up dubbing the main character "Cross", where they are pretty much a stand-in for the player (as the story unfolds from the first person perspective), which we felt to be the most optimal choice (and probably the easiest way to do it, as writing all the variants of the script for he, she and they accordingly would be a chore and I'm already busy as it stands).
I like how in animal crossing I just, put on feminine clothes and then changed my gender one day and no one said anything about it, like it was always like that, I know its a game and it would actually be a bit weird if they said anything but, it really made me feel safe and happy (I wish I could change my name tho, thankfully I didn't use my real name but my online username cause I didn't, and haven't for a while actually, felt comfortable using it)
Really good explanation! Was a bit surprised though, i expected south park: the fractured but whole to be mentioned because of the games option to identify as transgender.
I know it wasn't out when this video was made but Baldur's Gate 3 is absolutely fantastic when it comes to queer character customization. Masculine, feminine and gender neutral identities aren't tied to appearance and neither are voice options or genitalia! (as of making this comment though there is a bug where you can get misgendered when playing as a nonbinary character- it might be on masc and fem identities too but I have yet to see it)
I somewhat like the choices in Star Wars Squadrons, though they are a bit limited: you can choose from a small variety of heads already including hair regardless of binary body type (called A/B) and a surprising amount of voices, also grouped by A/B. You can change them at any time, and it doesn't gender you. (And it has a nonbinary NPC.)
personally, i spend every waking moment of my life trying to forget that im trans. so even if more games had these options i dont think id even use them XD though it's still nice when games have those options in case people do want them
Aww, what an adorable character ! It basically boils down to essentialism and cognitive walls. The Pokémon exemple with the portraits deciding what gender you are stems from the belief that gender is just a "natural" thing one should "assume" rather than query about. Locking re-customization options behind paywalls though is quite enbyphobic. It used to be kind of weird when game devs still put character names as unique IDs in their databases in MMORPGs, but right now any dev worth their salt could allow re-customization by just bothering to add one more UI window. Genshin Impact's approach is also quite enbyphobic and essentialist too, with the game _urging you_ to choose between Stella or Caelus _quickly_ (basically berating the player if they don't have a go-to default binary gender), but given its aspects as a "waifu collection" game and therefore the targeted demographic, it doesn't surprise me in the slightest ("are you here for the waifus or boyfus, and will _you_ be one or the other?"). The male and female genders becoming Type A and Type B is interesting because it kinds of underlines the problem of design: to make nonbinary appearances is to wonder what nonbinary fashion could be like, sometimes in universes where nonbinariness is either non-existent, anomalous or even frowned upon (like in a lot of medieval/low fantasy settings), where finding these pieces of equipment outside of crafting would feel uncanny. But it'd still feel uncanny _now in the real world._ As a... broad-shouldered male-to-enby trans person, I have to find outlandish bra sizes that basically don't exist because my waist is too large by at least 30cm: I'm a "Type A" body type who needs "Type B" customization options, and whoever's making those options has _no idea_ of such a need existing, sizes are totally binary especially as there is two different cuts to accomodate for breasts or lack thereof. Sexual Dimorphism is a bi..h as past and current sexism, gender roles and patriarchy caused darwinian selection favoring the differentiation between both sexes, causing this massive difference in expected body types.
12:28 Monster Prom is such a good game series for representation. No gender-locked choices, easy non-binary representation. Your gender is never even brought up, it’s so perfect
So, kind of separate from the discussion of customization, but something I always wanted to see a game do was have a character that transitions over the course of a playthrough. Sorta of like the old Fable games, where leveling up strength made the character more muscular, leveling up skill made the character taller, and leveling up magic gave the character glowing tattoos. Now to be clear, I'm not saying "transness" should be tied to specific RPG stats, I'm just saying I'd like to see a game where the player starts the game as one gender and ends the game as the other. I know there have been a few games that offer mid-game options for gender swapping, but what I'd like to see is game where it happens gradually and automatically.
Just wanted to say while you can’t change your name in animal crossing, you can change your gender in the character creator as often as you would like ^^
Another game that I really liked the gender options of is Warframe I can't go too much into detail about it since it would be pretty major spoilers, but you're never referred to by a gender and as far as I'm aware you never give your character a gender in game, leaving it up to you as the player to decide what it should be
Maybe it's because i'm not trans myself (but am an ally) but i've never really seen a problem with it personally. If you identify as female then choose the girl character, and if you identify as a male choose the boy character. Trans women are real women and trans men are real men after all. That said, if we're talking about pronouns or being non binary or gender fluid then that's where it gets complicated. I personally don't think every game needs pronouns but it does need more customization options so you don't have to look completely male or female. If someone wants look a little like both genders then they should be able to without the text specifically mentioning gender. These are just my thoughts though
as masc nonbinary person (i lean masculine BUT prefer having a more in between thinner body type) i wish i could pick a more female leaning character body type that still isnt supre feminine (especially in western rpgs cuz the male type is too broad shouldered for me. think Mass Effect where I feel uncomfortable no matter what...) but flatten the chest, pick a neutral voice boyish voice and get to he/him pronouns. in anime games this is easier cuz male anime characters tend to be a bit softer and there are plenty of anime characters who you can't tell if they're male or female. its the hyper gendered either way western games that give me the most trouble...
There is no reason for your video to be getting the hate that it is \gen. FWIW, negative nancies like in this comment section are thankfully not the majority of humans. I hope you are living your best life and that you can find some peace away from these negative commenters.
I never thought about a game giving you the possibility of changing name/pronouns/appearance in the middle of a playthrough, but it makes so much sense and it shouldn't even be hard to do at all! I wanna make games and when I do, I'll add that choice 100%. I love this video.
If you defeat O'Chunks in Super Paper Mario, he will ask for your name. Since Mario is a silent protagonist, Tippi will answer for him, without even asking Mario if it's okay to reveal this name. Even though Luigi refused to give his name when asked in the intro. Anyway, O'Chunks will then misunderstand the name and call you Maria instead and Tippi's attempts to clear things up don't work. O'Chunks will then tell you to wax your mustache. You can imagine how weird it felt playing this part as a trans girl. Especially because other Mario games explain that the reason why Mario doesn't get rid of his mustache is because it gives him certain in-game advantages that vary from game to game.
it'd be neat to explore how early videogames shaped players. in my early gamer years female characters werent even an option and usually gave the player the easy route. so for a long time I got taught that if I played a guy I'll get an easier game that wont make me suffer. looking at harvest moon a wonderfull life. the girl version doesnt even give you grass to keep your animals alive. the only game thus far thats come close is aside from splatoon is harvestella, you can choose a body type and a voice but the voice determines if the character is called he or she, thus far i havn't tested all the voices to see if there are any others.
Somehow, the first game that I played where I could play as an explicitly (player determined) non-cisgender character was goddamn Call of Duty. I don't know how to feel about that. 😅 It was very wild hearing CoD characters refer to the protagonist as "they." I think more games with character customization should have a third option for those who do not align with the male or female identity, even if I myself am a cis male, I do like exploring different options and experiencing something new.
(Falls to the sky like that one attack from FUCKING RADAGON) (Gets up like a shambling mass of flesh, metal, and ytps) *{Ť Ř Ą Ñ Ş . . . Ř Ï Ģ H Ţ Š . . .}*
Just started BG3 about 2 months ago... The character creator felt inclusive, but at the same time weirdly rigid... You can either play a hulk of a man, or a petite girl. And then there's the option for an extra beefy body type. I just couldn't find my body type...
I don't understand how you can just not play your "desired" gender instead. The nonbinary argument I can understand, but for Transgender I don't understand
Eh, I wouldn't call C77's character creator that Trans inclusive, since you can really only be a manly buff dude or a woman built like a stripper with the options being a change of voice and junk, not even a gender neutral option for pronouns. It's low effort
As a cis person I do wonder why trans individuals don't just pick the gender they identify as instead of wanting a specifically trans option (I mean some obviously do but you get what I mean), though I understand with more detailed games and character creation it can feel disingenuous to play as an ostensibly cis character but at least for simpler games like Animal Crossing, Pokémon or Splatoon where customization is limited to clothes and hair I feel like having such an option would be pointless, I also get the perspective of someone realizing they are trans after making their character and feeling a disconnect but even then I feel like just giving players the option to redesign their character whenever fixes that. A big part of some videogames is playing as an idealized self and I assumed for trans people an "idealised self" would just be the gender they identify as, the notion does get more technical with non-binary people where they would need a non-binary option, at least for things like pronouns.
Terraria is actually surprisingly good about this seeing as how it allows for a lot of character customization and allows you to change everything about your character after you've made them (including your gender) it is also planned that the character creation system will become more gender ambiguous.
I hate how even the game that often get praised for how progressive they are rarely let you choose multiple sets of pronouns. Just let me be able to have people refer to me using he/him *and* they/them pronouns. Is that really so much to ask?
I do a little bit of game development, and in one specific game I had to make a gender selection screen (as the player is referred to quite a lot). Despite being part of the LGBTQ community, I just put the two options as male and female. I didn't even realize that "hey maybe I should make at least a neutral option". I'd say part of it was my brain acting up, but... I'm not saying we were indoctrinated, buuut
isn't it the POINT to transition TO the gender and or sex required to treat gender dysphoria? ? So WHY would a trans person NOT chose the sex and or gender that they aiming for but something that reflects merely on their mid way point or merely a point that medically possible? Why NOT chose the end result in a fantastic setting like video game that is currently medically unobtainable? You transition to go from point A to point B (as far as medicine allows one to go), you do not transition to be stuck in the middle and not moving forward, right? So why is it a problem to chose something that is ultimately the goal of transitioning and not the middle stage? choose the sex you're aiming for. problem solved.
well, for one, if you paid a modicum of attention to the video instead of just clicking on a video you already decided to disagree with and comment on, you'd know that OP is nonbinary, so there's that.
There is a game that i have a deep love and obsession for that does have queer representation, The game is called 2064 Read Only memories. It's a point and click adventure game that is similar to Hideo kojima's Snatcher which takes place in a futuristic San francisco. I do agree as a straight male there isn't allot of queer representation when it comes to videogames , its super limited.
The way I always saw it (and this is coming from someone who always plays as a female toon, even before I knew what egg behavior it was) was that when you are able to make your own character and you can choose whether they look fem or masc or anything between I thought that was enough. I never needed to have my genitalia accurate on a character. It was cool in Cyberpunk 2077 when I was able to make a pre-op trans person. That was a nice touch.
What I’ve noticed is that even with Pokémon offering the choice of bodies, you still get gendered dialogue based on whatever body/hair you choose. There’s actually a very cute letter from a young Pokémon fan asking Pokémon to offer a nonbinary option that gamefreak responded to floating around the internet. It’s seriously adorable and I hope that they actually offer a gender neutral option even if it’s only in pronouns.
ah, i recommend the game "our life, beginnings as always". the game is an lgbt visual novel where you can customize your character as they grow! You can even choose your gender choice as a child and change it when the character grows up(in other words, you can be trans!), including the pronouns and name! it's a really good game, and the main love interest is also demiromantic and pansexual, and you can choose to romance him or remain platonic, he is also a very lovable character! seriously, this game is good and it's free, i highly recommend it!
You won't find much nonbinary options or representation in Japanese games. Bigger, more internationally recognized (and therefore more internationally pressured) games like Splatoon may differ. And even then, it took 2 sequels. Among the several reasons is that the Japanese words for sex and gender are the same; thus, there's no distinction between sex and gender. To provide a nonbinary option would be to create a new sexual morphism entirely. Either that or an "unknown" or "??" designation along with dialogue that boils down to "don't ask/worry about it", which people may find insulting. In fact, Japanese law dictates that legal pronoun reassignment occurs only after sex change surgery. At that point, transgender Japanese people would just pick one of the generic male or female options mentioned in the video. Japanese culture prioritizes societal conformity or individual liberty. Being trans is "fine" so long as you confirm to the other sex/gender, which is why that law exists the way it does.
Can't belive they forgot about starfeilds "FOKIN PRONOUNS!!" 💀 Genuinely that guy was way to sensitive about basic labels that literally didn't effect him
(Legit question, i'm curious) For TransFem and TransMale, isn't just choosing the gender you identify as enough? Or is there something else? Please educate me on the subject 🙏
It's been 3 weeks according to YT, and you still have no answer. Because they/them don't have an answer. You'd think that the people that want to be seen as the opposite gender they were born as would just pick the corresponding gendered character and call it a day since that's supposedly what they want. But that's not enough for them. Attention is what they want. And they're not going to get it by using a feature that's at least as old as Pokemon Crystal. They SPECIFICALLY want to be able to flag themselves as trans so they can feel special about themselves.
@espurrseyes42 not to be rude, but I don't think the question was directed to you. I'm asking a specific group's opinion. If I wasn't, i wouldn't have specified.
@@davidperte62 I'm aware. But those people haven't bothered to answer in the 3 weeks this comment has been up. Because they don't have an answer for the reasons I stated.
I was about to get nintendo switch online because i got splatoon 3 and cant play it and after watching this THANK YOU for telling me there are so many customization options
I mean a dating sim kinda game I sometimes play happens to make the MC potentially Non-binary and only uses they/them pronouns when the MC is being talked about. but sadly most of the fanbase headcanons the MC as a girl which feels not so comfortable as me being a non-binary person. ( the game is called Obey Me! btw it also has an anime too if you're interested! )
I mean Cyberpunk 2077 has chanced a lot since it first came out, you can choose body, genitalia, and voice. It doesn't really have anything to do with the game itself, but it's still one if not my favourite game
What are you talking about? All modern videogames that have character customization have "body types" or "forms" rather than a "sex" option, as well as options to customize your genitalia and pronouns. Old games didnt do this as much, because old games werent made in a time when this sort of stuff was as common as it is nowadays. Now that being trans is a lot more common, modern games are obviously jumping ship. Hell, we even have old rpg games where a sex change option exists, so i dont really understand what this video is trying to talk about. Like, what do you mean videogames dont let you be trans? You can be trans in games, just because there's not an option to say so in ALL games it doesnt mean that you cant do it. Not to mention that you are also criticising games that are about playing as an specific character and not a custom made one, meaning that you're asking for something that simply doesnt make sense in the context of most games. If there is no character customization why would there even be an option to become trans in a game? So this basically cuts your clickbaity title down to all games that have character customization. If we focus on those games only, we still have tons upon tons worth of games throughout history where you're allowed to become trans. As much as i think this is a feature that is not necessary and should not exist, it does, in fact, exist. The most modern examples that can come to mind are cyberpunk, baldur's gate, the sims, in WoW they changed from binary sex options to "body form" options, Monster hunter does the body type thing as well, and literally any RPG where you can select sex, you can choose to, you know, play as any of either sexes (male and female), which even if textually they dont acknowledge any sort of trans representation, you are free to play however you want and select the body type that you wish to use. So uh... if anything, videogames are basically the haven for trans people if you ask me. Just look at VR chat. Tons of trans folk there. Do you really need the game to textually say something for you to feel comfortable playing with the character that you enjoy? Or, even better, do you really need to customize your genitalia that much that the main point of the gameplay becomes secondary to you when playing any game?
You know, I could agree on the most part and I thought I could finally see a neutral discussion about that topic by a transgender, but ey... 12:44. Why did you have to jump the gun right there? A possible answer is localisation. 'They' as a pronoun just doesn't really exist in most languages. It's a foreign concept and would be hardly possible to implement for a lot of languages. Maybe try being a translator yourself for other languages and see how you do before throwing buzzwords around.
I'm also a little annoyed that a lot of games have only options for either "very curvy female" and "very mascular male". Neither of those work for me - probably because I'm non-binary, but I'm sure there are a lot of cis people who also would like some more other body types options. Also... Link is the best. Link is my goal and my aspiration. They're just the perfect mixture of femboy and tomboy in my opinion. =)
before I watch the video everyone go play I was a teenage exocolonist it lets you be trans and you can customise pronouns if you want and it's a really good looking narrative focused game that reacts to your choices
tbh I chose the male character in genshin (after like 30 min of thinking) and.. I don't really feel like changing it (for now) idk I kinda feel like he still kinda represent me enough (im still kinda representing myself as a femboy for now) and the fact that it's more of a character than a representation of myself and also that changing to the female one would pretty much destroy the story doesn't make me feel really bad about it
Outsider looking in to be brutally honest. The reason they don't care is because it's not worth it. The trans-movement, whether you'll admit it or not, is an innately political movement - taking a side will alienate the opposition. Brands _typically_ don't want to tell a third of their playerbase to jump off a cliff in standard political signaling. But the trans and queer community is somewhere between 2% and 0.1% depending on whether you count gays. And with most queer communities (which we called "gaymers" back in the day) they usually don't even play the game, they either queer-hunt (looking for games that have openly gay voice actors or scenes), or complain on social media while not being a gamer. So nothing short of making a highly niche and unappealing romance simulator with trans characters would appease them. So why bother? If they don't plan to play the games anyway, if even adding a "they/them" option will drop sales 35%, and adding pride flags drop sales 17%, why get involved at all? You're too finnicky and niche a group to bother appealing to in a broad sense. Games either have to be perfectly catered to you, or they might as well not bother.
"the best queer game is cyberpunk number whatever, I don't know because I never played it. But it has a lot of genital customization making it great for queer groups. But considering it released to mixed reviews, you should pass on it." This is exactly what I'm talking about. You don't play games, they're not your hobby. So they shouldn't cater to you.
@Ihavecereal Including everyone is nowhere near as simple as you think. Every dialogue option that mentions a pronouns referring to the PC has to have an alternate version of the line for both genders. I GUESS they could made that particular word a variable that provides the appropriate pronoun where needed, but given the raw amount of times that'd be used in the game, it's still a lot of work. And this is just assuming male and female. God forbid they start trying to implement "they/them" without making things confusing since those are meant to be plural pronouns. It's a pain in the ass that just isn't worth it to appease 1% of the Earth's population. Nevermind that the LGBT will still find a way to complain about their inclusivity as they always do. TLDR "You're too finnicky and niche a group to bother appealing to in a broad sense. Games either have to be perfectly catered to you, or they might as well not bother."
For character creation and pronoun options, I think the best I've seen have been I Was a Teenage Exocolonist which doesn't really let you create your character but you do get the choice for your character's appearence to be more feminine leaning, masculine leaning or angrogynous in your later teen years and the game doesn't tie this to your pronouns (and its pronoun system is...not exactly robust but it is customisable and you can change how your character is referred to and what their name is on the fly with no problems) The best from a game that's still in development though has to be Our Life: Now & Forever (sequel to Our Life: Beginnings & Always which has been brought up in the comment section multiple times). That game has a very extensive character creator which completely seperates gender, sex, pronouns, honorifics and even just how you're referred to by people around you. It's also maybe the only game I can name off the top of my head that allows you to pick multiple pronouns (including custom pronouns that you input yourself). That's huge. Hell, this game's system is so large that it actually lead me to learning some stuff about my gender (namely that I prefer the honorific Myst. as opposed to another non-binary honourific like Mx.). The naming system is a bit more restrictive that IWATEC, you can't change names on the fly but you can change it between the game's different chapters, referred to as 'Steps' (you can also change, like, 90% of the rest of your character, the only things that are locked off are your last name, your skin tone and your eye colour. Hell, you can even customise your MC's mom to a certain extent so that you look more or less like her)
Funnily enough, Lunacid made by Akuma Kira has pronoun character options that dont ever get used in the actual game but upset a lot of people who didnt want representation in their game.
you like pokemon? let me tell you about pokemon reborn. I love pokemon, but I'm non binary, and you did mention 'they let you choose your appearance not your gender' but, alas, people in game still use the gender that your character looks more like, believe me I nearly cried when mr principal man called me the gender I had to choose bc NO THATS NOT ME AAAAAA and I hate it. but pokemon reborn. its a pokemon fan game, that lets you choose any of 6 different characters, separately from your gender!!! (you mentioned legends arceus, so real same thing happened as violet) I personally chose decibel, because I'm pasty as hell, and I liked their clothes the most, turns out they're canonically non binary lmao. it has a few heavy topics, which I would recommend checking if thats a problem for you, but I cannot recommend it enough I love it so much.
Avelog's Mouse Simulator, but weather or not the character is trans is random. It's random IRL, so why should you get the option to choose in a game? /s
Because most people aren't transgender and game developers aren't going to cater to a massive minority. Same reason why a lot of Asian-demographic MMO's only have Asian character features and don't allow you to be dark-skinned or sometimes even have blue eyes. They know their market and they aren't going to cater to the very low number of people from outside of Asia who would play their games. Nothing against transgendered individuals most of the time, but you're scraping the bottom of the barrel for things to be upset about. There's a whole mountain of bullshit you need to face everyday, don't let your video game's lack of character customization be one of them.
I don't think I quite understand. I have the some level of wishing I was the a different gender but In games I can just choose the gender I want. Maybr it's just because Ive yet to have someone explane non binary to me in in way I could understand, but I think the choose a body type option is a perfect compromise for those that don't wish to be labeled.
a game where pc character gender is done quite well and unobtrusive imo is outer wilds. In it you play as an alien from a species where gender doesn't even exist, I don't think the pc is ever referred to by a 3rd person pronoun and everyone else of your species is a they/them
Baldurs gate 3 was the first game I've ever been able to be explicitly trans. Or at least "trans-bodied"
They have 3 identity categories (m,f,nb/o)
Then you have the body types which amounts to "boobs or no boobs"
And then you have 4 sets of both "privates"
So I have two trans women dwarf characters. One with boobs and one without 🤷 it's been incredible
It's definitely not perfect, but I definitely like that they gave you plenty of options to make the character you want.
Yeah that sums it all up tbh, I've been telling my friends "BG3 isn't the perfect game but it IS a big deal"
Yeah. I just wish I could dress my characters with the boobs body type using masc clothing, because I have a character who's a trans guy but hadn't medically transitioned in any way, and also wears his hair long because he's a drow, so I need to find some way to make him look masc but the clothing that looks normal on the "male" body types often is modelled very differently on the "female" body types to the point where it doesn't even look like the same clothing pieces sometimes. I want some baggy masculine clothing for my character, but alas....
@@fluffacep oof yeah this! That always drove me nuts. Sigh... but I guess I can't beg AND choose. BG3 still big step in a cool direction lo
the most in depth gender and sexuality customization i've played in a game is, of all games, south park the fractured but whole. it lets choose like between a dozen different genders and a dozen different sexualities and like half of them i didn't even know existed before i played it. you can change it at any time you want as well. its pretty cool. i don't play many games, i usually find a game and then just keep replaying it for a long time so it surprised me to find something so representative in a game, especially in a 2017 south park game.
I recall an anecdote from a game dev about accessibility features. He had asked his higher ups for permission to spend a day or two implementing color blind features.
He was told, "No, it's not worth the time to cater to such a small number of players."
A lot of the time at bigger companies, features that benefit microminorities are not consider a good ROI. It's not about difficulty to implement, or lack of awareness. It's them looking and the bottom dollar and saying, "No, this demographic isn't profitable to include."
Understandable tbh
He's got a point. Why carter to a small number of people who likes to scream representation here and there just for the sake of representation and not the actual game and story? It's not worth the money and time for them, they're there to make games, not be politically correct. If you want a game that lets you be transgender, then find a game dev that's part of that politically correct stuff, like sims 4 for example. Don't force the other game developers in general to carter to the small percentage of minorities
@@raviolibirb8009 being trans isn't political.
Funnily enough, one of the games used as an example in this video(Splatoon 3) also has colourblind accessibility features.
@@raviolibirb8009Bro then what are you doing on a non-binary youtuber's video talking about gender acceptance?? Like, you searchin' for them or smth?
I definitely abused the nickname changing feature in Animal Crossing to get my villagers to call me a different gendered name for "roleplaying" reasons, going about my island dressed as male characters 😅
i told my mom it was because the girls have dresses, and i never wore dresses as a kid haha. oops mom im a trans guy now!
Its very rare oddly that games even let you change your name after you make a character for some reason. The only game that does let you change your name and gender freely at anytime (after you unlock the option to recreate your character) I can think of is Dragons Dogma. It also allows you to be gay or bisexual without question about it simply by not restricting it.
Elden Ring and Dark Souls 3 let you change your characters everything and its in lore.
Also Dark Souls 2 has a coffin you can climb into that changes your gender!
yeah! playing stardew valley as a genderfluid person is kinda frustrating bc i HAVE to befriend the wizard to change my gender if i start a new save (without mods at least) i wish that stuff like this was just available from the start lol, it shouldn't be locked behind progression
As a fellow NB gamedev, I felt you here. Surprisingly though, adding pronoun customization on text is surprisingly a lot of headaches and partly because of grammar rules. It's been a while since I've done it so I can't think of some of the issues on the top of my head. And while it may be doable in English, the moment you start adding multiple languages, problems come in droves, especially in JP.
Most commercial games put Multilanguage in mind so I think that is definitely one of the issues they are hesitant to make a robust system where you can change pronouns or even set your own.
the visual novel "our life: beginnings and always" allows huge amounts of character customization, including being trans (they/them pronouns are even the default). The upcoming sequel will also have an even better pronoun and gendered terms customization
@@detective2221based?
@@detective2221 you’re right, which is precisely why I left my comment under a video that did ask, instead of dming you with this information
@@AvEli484 didn't ask for your response
@@detective2221 I didn’t ask for yours either, and yet I received it, funny how that works
It's really nice to see someone else who feels similarly about how superficial the removal of gendered terms can be sometimes. There are a few games I started recently that give you the "type A, type B" option and don't lock clothes, voices or hairstyles, but then the models themselves very strictly adhere to a binary. The first thing you see in Palia's character creation is literally a choice between a triangle and an inverted triangle. (I will acknowledge that it is in beta, so hopefully they add more options in the final release - but still, the triangles feel like a joke. It looks like you're choosing which public bathroom to go in.)
If I play with type A, I'm stuck with breasts. If I play with type B, I'm stuck with a buff dorito body. Neither of them feel like me. Why remove the labels if you're still committed to the binary?
I heard Dream Daddy lets you give your character surgical marks letting you play as a trans man.
The Sims 4 added this in an update as well :) Haven't watched the video yet, so apologies if it's mentioned there.
I know that Dream Daddy had a lot of controversy
I'm sorry, HWTA IS THE NMAE IS THE GMAE
I want femboy armor in games. Im pretty sure im not a femboy but i want them to add it bc its fun
based
Pikmin 4 has a pretty good character creator. There are four body types (five if you count the secret unlockable one), each are entirely ungendered. While in the character creator it initially looks like two feminine and two masculine options, there are versatile options for all body types, meaning you can make them looks however you like. But there are set hair and faces for each body type, while none are clearly gendered, it still restricts your choices a little bit. There is no pronoun option, rather than basing it off of the body type you choose, the player is always referred to with they/them. It's not entirely perfect, but it strays from the two body type character creator. It feels reminiscent of the character creators in Splatoon 3 and Animal Crossing, which I guess makes sense since they're all Nintendo.
For me, Our Life Beginnings and Always is the first game that I played that had extremely inclusive character customization. From appearance to pronouns to being allowed to change your gender throughout the game. Its a wonderful game and I'd recommend it to anyone!
Our Life Beginnings and Always. Sounds neat! What kind of game is it? Would you recommend it?
@unu9651 It's a visual novel/dating sim (although you can choose to not date the love interest). And it has no bad ending, which makes it so much better :)
our life mentioned!! ty for the reminder to play the sweetest game ever
common Our Life W
One game I found oddly great in its character creation was Calico! There is just one character model and you have sliders for waist, shoulder, hip, and breast sizes, similar to Saint's Row. You can change how your body and clothes look at any time. I don't recall if you can change your name, and if they refer to you at all, it's probably with they/them.
Outside of your player character, there is also a decent amount of LGBT+ representation, including a lesbian couple and at least two nonbinary people. The in-game bios about them even list their pronouns!
I'm trying to be mindful about this as I develop my own video game! The first step of character creation is entering your name, and the second step is entering pronouns - the four options are she/her/her, he/him/his, they/them/theirs, and other (custom inputs). In the menu, you can easily update your name and pronouns.
Right now, it's a button-based / still-image version of the game, so visual character creation will likely have to wait until I can create sprites, but it's definitely something I'm trying to be intentional about.
damn leftists ruining everything
Consider, aren’t custom inputs plenty? Could anyone ever be mad or dissatisfied if their only choice was whatever they wanted? For example: a male identifying person would be able to simply custom input he/him/his and this freedom would apply to anyone and everyone of any gender identity. You may only need this one unlimited option to achieve the desired effect.
Also, can we get a name for your project? I’d love to check it out whenever it’s public.
@@Charles-dg2gk That's a good idea! It would also clearly make uncommon pronouns just as valid as more common ones instead of being a step more complicated as the others
@@Charles-dg2gk Sure! It's called Sanctuaries, and the basic premise is that you're rebuilding villages which have been overrun by monsters
imo, the worst offenders are games which gender lock features.
missing features? that's complexity that might not be seen as worth it by the devs and may not even think of.
makeup and beards not being compatible? maybe they're both stored as the same thing in the code. maybe the computer sees having beard1 and makeup1 at the same time as equivalent to having beard1 and beard2 at the same time.
but gender locks? that's added complexity which only reduces how much a player can express themselves.
i'm a cis man and stereotypically masculine in most ways, but i've got long hair i haven't had cut since i was a young child, and it has become a very important part of how i express myself, to the point that it can sometimes be a struggle to choose if i should have the hair i identify with or the body i identify with. i can only imagine what this is like for a trans person, especially nonbinary folk
why not identify with the entirety of yourself rather than consolidate yourself into little pieces.
@@commenteroftruth9790 what?
@@brumm0m3ntum94 retard comments like that hurts my brain
I wish there was a website with nothing but instructions on how to change your name and gender in pre-existing videogames' savefiles and highscore lists, including instructions on how to hack your savefile or contact whoever is managing the server the game is played on.
I'd do it myself if I had the time and programming skills to do so.
It's deeply weird that sex is the basis for character body types in video games when there are essentially no games where that would make a difference. I demand twink - chonk - hunk as the three body types.
pleeeease im built like a twink id love to just be a little guy
Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands has two body types. They’re called ‘This One’, which is an absolute slab of Fatemaker, and ‘That One’, which is slimmer and more realistic. These are not tied to your character’s pronouns or voice acting, which is quite nice.
With a optional adicional of tits for people that would like to have it. Because i'm tired of not begin able to have a "female" body type in a game without tits.
because calling it sex was decried as transphobic by people who do not play said games not so long ago ( fail basic english and biology) and thus by management demand it has been changed to be "inclusive" thus changing the category "sex" to "body type".
@@MikePhantom Literally nobody protested that.
Elden ring is one of my favorites when it comes to character creation and clothing because both armor sets for male and female are nearly identical. They also let you change your name any time freely.
My favorite approach on gender on customization is with the Elminage series.
When you create a character you can choose the typical binary options that affects gameplay, ex; only female characters can equip certain armors and vice versa, the thing is that the 3rd gender option, "unspecified" type, its not affected by this rule, the game literally gives you an advantage for being non binary.
This has the same energy as Bisexuals do 10% more damage against everyone. and I love it.
The recent "Story of Seasons" games give you the option to customize your character's look mixing and matching all options of both male and female, and THEN asks for your pronouns after the game has officially begun. They even allow for the romancing of either gender, regardless of which pronouns you pick, and all purchasable clothing options are available no matter what. It's by far the most LGBTQ+ inclusive major franchise out there today, in a way that very much doesn't feel unintentional.
Ironically the way they do it looks like it takes way less effort, since they don't have to create two different pools of options, and can just lump them all into one pile instead.
I second, Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life.
to be fair, Cyberpunk's reception is mostly based on it being horribly glitchy at launch (unplayably so) which it no longer is, they fixed it up quite well, and one of the characters you work for is trans. Even has a trans pride flag on the back of the vehichicle she drives (which you can end up with as yours)
Silver Wolf yelling at me for not picking a main character quick enough was so annoying 😭😭😭😭 I actually got my friends to choose for me and just had hsr open in the background and i could just hear her snapping at me while i waited for them to respond 😭😭 I ended up picking caelus though
I'm sure someone else has already brought this to your attention but there are third party tools that you can use to change your name as well as your appearance on your monster hunter save file for free!
I asked my boss to add the option to change your name to the game we were programming but he said it's too much effort..........
yk i think even with it not quite being finished yet, deltarune and its main character fit into this conversation pretty well since thats kinda what the game is *about* really. kris is litterally designed to be a subversion of the blank slate self insert character, and the fact that they are exclusively referred to *as* they, makes u wonder if thats supposed to be subversion of the idea that players are supposed to project themselves onto the character like that, maybe going by they was *their* choice.
It's very strange that games force you to choose a gender for any character and you can't just pick a sexually ambiguous avatar and get started.
undertale
@@cesruhf2605 That's a good example actually
deltarune
@@cerubiaid Kris is a transition goal
Very interesting video! If I could comment on Cyberpunk, as I played it, you can indeed play as a trans character, but always in the binary, as your voice defines your gender in the game, which is a bit sad. Still, it's better than most games I guess. If I could make a slight criticism of form about your video (because the substance is solid), as someone with ADHD, the music is a bit loud and can get overwhelming when trying to listen to your voice. Good work still (and very cute drawings), keep it up!
i think the splatoon and animal crossing new horizons gender things are localisation. in animal crossing, i know for a fact they're actually gendered in japanese, but the gender labels are taken off in english. which is actually quite annoying, because i'd like to know what gender i'm picking if a japanese player comes across me online.
also the music is quite loud so it's a bit hard to hear the speaking in the video
As an Enby, choosing whether to be a boy or a girl in a video game is torture…
Yeah.
Sry for you pal .❤
I know, right?? Like, is it that hard to put a third option? You put two already!
@@blackcrow4446
Putting that 2nd option already requires retooling the dialogue to take into account female pronouns, which could be a LOT of text depending on the game. And simply using the player's name or some catchall phrase to address them isn't going to sound as fitting for every sentence. Normal conversion doesn't go out of the way to not use pronouns.
Now imagine having to do this again for NB pronouns, which are bound to cause confusion since they/them are plural pronouns meant to refer to groups of people, not a singular person. That's an added headache on top of retooling the dialogue again. And at that point, it just isn't worth it given how little people this specific change will actually affect. Too much work for like 2% of the Earth's population.
frrr. thats actually why i like games such as minecraft or roblox, because the character customization is way better than most games just because you can mix and match literally anything (to a certain extent)
Hmm... if I had to throw actual answer to the video's premise... it'd probably be the fact of trans community, while undeniably vocal, not being a particularly big percent of potential customers. Leave it or take it, that's more or less the actual reason, rather than a boogeyman in form of a transphobe.
Heck, even myself, while working on a VN project with my team of friends, have wondered how many people would even care or how would they respond if I wrote dialogues that'd refer to the main character as male, female or even neither. Well, in the end we ended up dubbing the main character "Cross", where they are pretty much a stand-in for the player (as the story unfolds from the first person perspective), which we felt to be the most optimal choice (and probably the easiest way to do it, as writing all the variants of the script for he, she and they accordingly would be a chore and I'm already busy as it stands).
I like how in animal crossing I just, put on feminine clothes and then changed my gender one day and no one said anything about it, like it was always like that, I know its a game and it would actually be a bit weird if they said anything but, it really made me feel safe and happy (I wish I could change my name tho, thankfully I didn't use my real name but my online username cause I didn't, and haven't for a while actually, felt comfortable using it)
Really good explanation! Was a bit surprised though, i expected south park: the fractured but whole to be mentioned because of the games option to identify as transgender.
Because weirdos would get butthurt about trans people existing in video games
I know it wasn't out when this video was made but Baldur's Gate 3 is absolutely fantastic when it comes to queer character customization. Masculine, feminine and gender neutral identities aren't tied to appearance and neither are voice options or genitalia! (as of making this comment though there is a bug where you can get misgendered when playing as a nonbinary character- it might be on masc and fem identities too but I have yet to see it)
I somewhat like the choices in Star Wars Squadrons, though they are a bit limited: you can choose from a small variety of heads already including hair regardless of binary body type (called A/B) and a surprising amount of voices, also grouped by A/B. You can change them at any time, and it doesn't gender you. (And it has a nonbinary NPC.)
personally, i spend every waking moment of my life trying to forget that im trans. so even if more games had these options i dont think id even use them XD
though it's still nice when games have those options in case people do want them
Aww, what an adorable character !
It basically boils down to essentialism and cognitive walls. The Pokémon exemple with the portraits deciding what gender you are stems from the belief that gender is just a "natural" thing one should "assume" rather than query about.
Locking re-customization options behind paywalls though is quite enbyphobic. It used to be kind of weird when game devs still put character names as unique IDs in their databases in MMORPGs, but right now any dev worth their salt could allow re-customization by just bothering to add one more UI window.
Genshin Impact's approach is also quite enbyphobic and essentialist too, with the game _urging you_ to choose between Stella or Caelus _quickly_ (basically berating the player if they don't have a go-to default binary gender), but given its aspects as a "waifu collection" game and therefore the targeted demographic, it doesn't surprise me in the slightest ("are you here for the waifus or boyfus, and will _you_ be one or the other?").
The male and female genders becoming Type A and Type B is interesting because it kinds of underlines the problem of design: to make nonbinary appearances is to wonder what nonbinary fashion could be like, sometimes in universes where nonbinariness is either non-existent, anomalous or even frowned upon (like in a lot of medieval/low fantasy settings), where finding these pieces of equipment outside of crafting would feel uncanny.
But it'd still feel uncanny _now in the real world._ As a... broad-shouldered male-to-enby trans person, I have to find outlandish bra sizes that basically don't exist because my waist is too large by at least 30cm: I'm a "Type A" body type who needs "Type B" customization options, and whoever's making those options has _no idea_ of such a need existing, sizes are totally binary especially as there is two different cuts to accomodate for breasts or lack thereof. Sexual Dimorphism is a bi..h as past and current sexism, gender roles and patriarchy caused darwinian selection favoring the differentiation between both sexes, causing this massive difference in expected body types.
12:28 Monster Prom is such a good game series for representation. No gender-locked choices, easy non-binary representation. Your gender is never even brought up, it’s so perfect
So, kind of separate from the discussion of customization, but something I always wanted to see a game do was have a character that transitions over the course of a playthrough. Sorta of like the old Fable games, where leveling up strength made the character more muscular, leveling up skill made the character taller, and leveling up magic gave the character glowing tattoos.
Now to be clear, I'm not saying "transness" should be tied to specific RPG stats, I'm just saying I'd like to see a game where the player starts the game as one gender and ends the game as the other. I know there have been a few games that offer mid-game options for gender swapping, but what I'd like to see is game where it happens gradually and automatically.
Just wanted to say while you can’t change your name in animal crossing, you can change your gender in the character creator as often as you would like ^^
Another game that I really liked the gender options of is Warframe
I can't go too much into detail about it since it would be pretty major spoilers, but you're never referred to by a gender and as far as I'm aware you never give your character a gender in game, leaving it up to you as the player to decide what it should be
Maybe it's because i'm not trans myself (but am an ally) but i've never really seen a problem with it personally. If you identify as female then choose the girl character, and if you identify as a male choose the boy character. Trans women are real women and trans men are real men after all. That said, if we're talking about pronouns or being non binary or gender fluid then that's where it gets complicated. I personally don't think every game needs pronouns but it does need more customization options so you don't have to look completely male or female. If someone wants look a little like both genders then they should be able to without the text specifically mentioning gender. These are just my thoughts though
as masc nonbinary person (i lean masculine BUT prefer having a more in between thinner body type) i wish i could pick a more female leaning character body type that still isnt supre feminine (especially in western rpgs cuz the male type is too broad shouldered for me. think Mass Effect where I feel uncomfortable no matter what...) but flatten the chest, pick a neutral voice boyish voice and get to he/him pronouns. in anime games this is easier cuz male anime characters tend to be a bit softer and there are plenty of anime characters who you can't tell if they're male or female. its the hyper gendered either way western games that give me the most trouble...
There is no reason for your video to be getting the hate that it is \gen. FWIW, negative nancies like in this comment section are thankfully not the majority of humans. I hope you are living your best life and that you can find some peace away from these negative commenters.
I never thought about a game giving you the possibility of changing name/pronouns/appearance in the middle of a playthrough, but it makes so much sense and it shouldn't even be hard to do at all! I wanna make games and when I do, I'll add that choice 100%. I love this video.
If you defeat O'Chunks in Super Paper Mario, he will ask for your name. Since Mario is a silent protagonist, Tippi will answer for him, without even asking Mario if it's okay to reveal this name. Even though Luigi refused to give his name when asked in the intro. Anyway, O'Chunks will then misunderstand the name and call you Maria instead and Tippi's attempts to clear things up don't work. O'Chunks will then tell you to wax your mustache. You can imagine how weird it felt playing this part as a trans girl. Especially because other Mario games explain that the reason why Mario doesn't get rid of his mustache is because it gives him certain in-game advantages that vary from game to game.
O'Chunks is a daft, burly Scottish man and possibly one of my favorite villains from that game. Good to see other people talking about it.
it'd be neat to explore how early videogames shaped players. in my early gamer years female characters werent even an option and usually gave the player the easy route. so for a long time I got taught that if I played a guy I'll get an easier game that wont make me suffer. looking at harvest moon a wonderfull life. the girl version doesnt even give you grass to keep your animals alive.
the only game thus far thats come close is aside from splatoon is harvestella, you can choose a body type and a voice but the voice determines if the character is called he or she, thus far i havn't tested all the voices to see if there are any others.
Somehow, the first game that I played where I could play as an explicitly (player determined) non-cisgender character was goddamn Call of Duty. I don't know how to feel about that. 😅 It was very wild hearing CoD characters refer to the protagonist as "they." I think more games with character customization should have a third option for those who do not align with the male or female identity, even if I myself am a cis male, I do like exploring different options and experiencing something new.
Which cod? That’s awesome
(Falls to the sky like that one attack from FUCKING RADAGON)
(Gets up like a shambling mass of flesh, metal, and ytps)
*{Ť Ř Ą Ñ Ş . . . Ř Ï Ģ H Ţ Š . . .}*
I love the idea of YTPs being an eldritch concept.
@@weatherman1504 comes with the italian citizenship and the autism (for me at least) ;P
I dont get it. If you're trans woman, you could in game just choose to be woman. And same for trans men?
They're non binary. They don't fall upon the gender binary.
@@Voidppppp
Read the title of the video again.
Because the binary is deeply ingrained in society
Terraria is gonna add a better system for selecting gender and im soooo excited!!!
Just started BG3 about 2 months ago... The character creator felt inclusive, but at the same time weirdly rigid... You can either play a hulk of a man, or a petite girl. And then there's the option for an extra beefy body type. I just couldn't find my body type...
Play as the gender you're feeling you are, it's as simple as that. Trans or not trans the gender you play as is the same at the end of the day.
I don't understand how you can just not play your "desired" gender instead. The nonbinary argument I can understand, but for Transgender I don't understand
Because it's not about "representation" and other such bullshit, it's about feeling they have the power to strong-arm creators into cattering to them.
@@drowningmerman4256yikes
Eh, I wouldn't call C77's character creator that Trans inclusive, since you can really only be a manly buff dude or a woman built like a stripper with the options being a change of voice and junk, not even a gender neutral option for pronouns. It's low effort
I keep resetting Animal Crossing because I'm still choosing my name. I really wish you could change that.
As a cis person I do wonder why trans individuals don't just pick the gender they identify as instead of wanting a specifically trans option (I mean some obviously do but you get what I mean), though I understand with more detailed games and character creation it can feel disingenuous to play as an ostensibly cis character but at least for simpler games like Animal Crossing, Pokémon or Splatoon where customization is limited to clothes and hair I feel like having such an option would be pointless, I also get the perspective of someone realizing they are trans after making their character and feeling a disconnect but even then I feel like just giving players the option to redesign their character whenever fixes that.
A big part of some videogames is playing as an idealized self and I assumed for trans people an "idealised self" would just be the gender they identify as, the notion does get more technical with non-binary people where they would need a non-binary option, at least for things like pronouns.
Why can't you just play the game and be happy with that.
The audio is really hard to hear!
Terraria is actually surprisingly good about this seeing as how it allows for a lot of character customization and allows you to change everything about your character after you've made them (including your gender) it is also planned that the character creation system will become more gender ambiguous.
I hate how even the game that often get praised for how progressive they are rarely let you choose multiple sets of pronouns. Just let me be able to have people refer to me using he/him *and* they/them pronouns. Is that really so much to ask?
I do a little bit of game development, and in one specific game I had to make a gender selection screen (as the player is referred to quite a lot). Despite being part of the LGBTQ community, I just put the two options as male and female. I didn't even realize that "hey maybe I should make at least a neutral option".
I'd say part of it was my brain acting up, but... I'm not saying we were indoctrinated, buuut
isn't it the POINT to transition TO the gender and or sex required to treat gender dysphoria? ? So WHY would a trans person NOT chose the sex and or gender that they aiming for but something that reflects merely on their mid way point or merely a point that medically possible? Why NOT chose the end result in a fantastic setting like video game that is currently medically unobtainable? You transition to go from point A to point B (as far as medicine allows one to go), you do not transition to be stuck in the middle and not moving forward, right?
So why is it a problem to chose something that is ultimately the goal of transitioning and not the middle stage? choose the sex you're aiming for. problem solved.
That would be too easy and they couldn't blame it on transphobia
well, for one, if you paid a modicum of attention to the video instead of just clicking on a video you already decided to disagree with and comment on, you'd know that OP is nonbinary, so there's that.
@@brumm0m3ntum94
Then maybe OP should title the video correctly.
@@espurrseyes42 what about the title is i correct?
@@brumm0m3ntum94
The part where it says TRANS instead of NONBINARY. If the argument is about NBs, the title should say NB and not trans.
There is a game that i have a deep love and obsession for that does have queer representation, The game is called 2064 Read Only memories. It's a point and click adventure game that is similar to Hideo kojima's Snatcher which takes place in a futuristic San francisco. I do agree as a straight male there isn't allot of queer representation when it comes to videogames , its super limited.
The way I always saw it (and this is coming from someone who always plays as a female toon, even before I knew what egg behavior it was) was that when you are able to make your own character and you can choose whether they look fem or masc or anything between I thought that was enough. I never needed to have my genitalia accurate on a character. It was cool in Cyberpunk 2077 when I was able to make a pre-op trans person. That was a nice touch.
What I’ve noticed is that even with Pokémon offering the choice of bodies, you still get gendered dialogue based on whatever body/hair you choose.
There’s actually a very cute letter from a young Pokémon fan asking Pokémon to offer a nonbinary option that gamefreak responded to floating around the internet. It’s seriously adorable and I hope that they actually offer a gender neutral option even if it’s only in pronouns.
ah, i recommend the game "our life, beginnings as always". the game is an lgbt visual novel where you can customize your character as they grow! You can even choose your gender choice as a child and change it when the character grows up(in other words, you can be trans!), including the pronouns and name! it's a really good game, and the main love interest is also demiromantic and pansexual, and you can choose to romance him or remain platonic, he is also a very lovable character! seriously, this game is good and it's free, i highly recommend it!
You won't find much nonbinary options or representation in Japanese games. Bigger, more internationally recognized (and therefore more internationally pressured) games like Splatoon may differ. And even then, it took 2 sequels. Among the several reasons is that the Japanese words for sex and gender are the same; thus, there's no distinction between sex and gender. To provide a nonbinary option would be to create a new sexual morphism entirely. Either that or an "unknown" or "??" designation along with dialogue that boils down to "don't ask/worry about it", which people may find insulting.
In fact, Japanese law dictates that legal pronoun reassignment occurs only after sex change surgery. At that point, transgender Japanese people would just pick one of the generic male or female options mentioned in the video. Japanese culture prioritizes societal conformity or individual liberty. Being trans is "fine" so long as you confirm to the other sex/gender, which is why that law exists the way it does.
Can't belive they forgot about starfeilds "FOKIN PRONOUNS!!" 💀
Genuinely that guy was way to sensitive about basic labels that literally didn't effect him
(Legit question, i'm curious) For TransFem and TransMale, isn't just choosing the gender you identify as enough? Or is there something else? Please educate me on the subject 🙏
I need answers, too
It's been 3 weeks according to YT, and you still have no answer. Because they/them don't have an answer. You'd think that the people that want to be seen as the opposite gender they were born as would just pick the corresponding gendered character and call it a day since that's supposedly what they want.
But that's not enough for them. Attention is what they want. And they're not going to get it by using a feature that's at least as old as Pokemon Crystal. They SPECIFICALLY want to be able to flag themselves as trans so they can feel special about themselves.
@espurrseyes42 not to be rude, but I don't think the question was directed to you. I'm asking a specific group's opinion. If I wasn't, i wouldn't have specified.
@@davidperte62
I'm aware. But those people haven't bothered to answer in the 3 weeks this comment has been up. Because they don't have an answer for the reasons I stated.
@espurrseyes42 or maybe is cause this comment is buried under the rest, and since it has 1 like it won't show up?
I was about to get nintendo switch online because i got splatoon 3 and cant play it and after watching this THANK YOU for telling me there are so many customization options
You're out here making 10k+ subscriber-quality content with only 415 (now 416) subs! Truely amazing stuff, keep it up!
I mean a dating sim kinda game I sometimes play happens to make the MC potentially Non-binary and only uses they/them pronouns when the MC is being talked about.
but sadly most of the fanbase headcanons the MC as a girl which feels not so comfortable as me being a non-binary person. ( the game is called Obey Me! btw it also has an anime too if you're interested! )
I mean Cyberpunk 2077 has chanced a lot since it first came out, you can choose body, genitalia, and voice. It doesn't really have anything to do with the game itself, but it's still one if not my favourite game
What are you talking about? All modern videogames that have character customization have "body types" or "forms" rather than a "sex" option, as well as options to customize your genitalia and pronouns. Old games didnt do this as much, because old games werent made in a time when this sort of stuff was as common as it is nowadays. Now that being trans is a lot more common, modern games are obviously jumping ship. Hell, we even have old rpg games where a sex change option exists, so i dont really understand what this video is trying to talk about. Like, what do you mean videogames dont let you be trans? You can be trans in games, just because there's not an option to say so in ALL games it doesnt mean that you cant do it. Not to mention that you are also criticising games that are about playing as an specific character and not a custom made one, meaning that you're asking for something that simply doesnt make sense in the context of most games. If there is no character customization why would there even be an option to become trans in a game? So this basically cuts your clickbaity title down to all games that have character customization. If we focus on those games only, we still have tons upon tons worth of games throughout history where you're allowed to become trans.
As much as i think this is a feature that is not necessary and should not exist, it does, in fact, exist. The most modern examples that can come to mind are cyberpunk, baldur's gate, the sims, in WoW they changed from binary sex options to "body form" options, Monster hunter does the body type thing as well, and literally any RPG where you can select sex, you can choose to, you know, play as any of either sexes (male and female), which even if textually they dont acknowledge any sort of trans representation, you are free to play however you want and select the body type that you wish to use. So uh... if anything, videogames are basically the haven for trans people if you ask me.
Just look at VR chat. Tons of trans folk there.
Do you really need the game to textually say something for you to feel comfortable playing with the character that you enjoy? Or, even better, do you really need to customize your genitalia that much that the main point of the gameplay becomes secondary to you when playing any game?
customizing myself in real life OMG
I am utterly stealing that thank you
They could design and make there own games for trans character if they know programming and unreal engine
You know, I could agree on the most part and I thought I could finally see a neutral discussion about that topic by a transgender, but ey... 12:44. Why did you have to jump the gun right there? A possible answer is localisation. 'They' as a pronoun just doesn't really exist in most languages. It's a foreign concept and would be hardly possible to implement for a lot of languages. Maybe try being a translator yourself for other languages and see how you do before throwing buzzwords around.
tbh i dont wanna get reminded that im a freak when i play vidya
I'm also a little annoyed that a lot of games have only options for either "very curvy female" and "very mascular male". Neither of those work for me - probably because I'm non-binary, but I'm sure there are a lot of cis people who also would like some more other body types options.
Also... Link is the best. Link is my goal and my aspiration. They're just the perfect mixture of femboy and tomboy in my opinion. =)
really interesting video, a topic i havent really thought about but i would love the more self-insert style of characters to have these options
crazy how i dont care
before I watch the video everyone go play I was a teenage exocolonist it lets you be trans and you can customise pronouns if you want and it's a really good looking narrative focused game that reacts to your choices
I don’t know why this has been recommended to me. The games I play don’t apply for this or they already have representation
tbh I chose the male character in genshin (after like 30 min of thinking) and.. I don't really feel like changing it (for now) idk I kinda feel like he still kinda represent me enough (im still kinda representing myself as a femboy for now) and the fact that it's more of a character than a representation of myself and also that changing to the female one would pretty much destroy the story doesn't make me feel really bad about it
Among the games with robust customization there are quite a few visual novels. Like "i was a teenage exocolonist" ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
great video, very based, made a lot of children mad in these comments
Earned a sub can't belive you have less than 150
Outsider looking in to be brutally honest.
The reason they don't care is because it's not worth it. The trans-movement, whether you'll admit it or not, is an innately political movement - taking a side will alienate the opposition. Brands _typically_ don't want to tell a third of their playerbase to jump off a cliff in standard political signaling. But the trans and queer community is somewhere between 2% and 0.1% depending on whether you count gays. And with most queer communities (which we called "gaymers" back in the day) they usually don't even play the game, they either queer-hunt (looking for games that have openly gay voice actors or scenes), or complain on social media while not being a gamer. So nothing short of making a highly niche and unappealing romance simulator with trans characters would appease them.
So why bother? If they don't plan to play the games anyway, if even adding a "they/them" option will drop sales 35%, and adding pride flags drop sales 17%, why get involved at all?
You're too finnicky and niche a group to bother appealing to in a broad sense. Games either have to be perfectly catered to you, or they might as well not bother.
"the best queer game is cyberpunk number whatever, I don't know because I never played it. But it has a lot of genital customization making it great for queer groups. But considering it released to mixed reviews, you should pass on it."
This is exactly what I'm talking about. You don't play games, they're not your hobby. So they shouldn't cater to you.
@Ihavecereal " character customization should include everyone"
It does already: male and female.
@Ihavecereal
Including everyone is nowhere near as simple as you think. Every dialogue option that mentions a pronouns referring to the PC has to have an alternate version of the line for both genders. I GUESS they could made that particular word a variable that provides the appropriate pronoun where needed, but given the raw amount of times that'd be used in the game, it's still a lot of work. And this is just assuming male and female. God forbid they start trying to implement "they/them" without making things confusing since those are meant to be plural pronouns. It's a pain in the ass that just isn't worth it to appease 1% of the Earth's population. Nevermind that the LGBT will still find a way to complain about their inclusivity as they always do.
TLDR "You're too finnicky and niche a group to bother appealing to in a broad sense. Games either have to be perfectly catered to you, or they might as well not bother."
Best to lower the music, it's hard to hear your voice sometimes.
For character creation and pronoun options, I think the best I've seen have been I Was a Teenage Exocolonist which doesn't really let you create your character but you do get the choice for your character's appearence to be more feminine leaning, masculine leaning or angrogynous in your later teen years and the game doesn't tie this to your pronouns (and its pronoun system is...not exactly robust but it is customisable and you can change how your character is referred to and what their name is on the fly with no problems)
The best from a game that's still in development though has to be Our Life: Now & Forever (sequel to Our Life: Beginnings & Always which has been brought up in the comment section multiple times). That game has a very extensive character creator which completely seperates gender, sex, pronouns, honorifics and even just how you're referred to by people around you. It's also maybe the only game I can name off the top of my head that allows you to pick multiple pronouns (including custom pronouns that you input yourself). That's huge. Hell, this game's system is so large that it actually lead me to learning some stuff about my gender (namely that I prefer the honorific Myst. as opposed to another non-binary honourific like Mx.). The naming system is a bit more restrictive that IWATEC, you can't change names on the fly but you can change it between the game's different chapters, referred to as 'Steps' (you can also change, like, 90% of the rest of your character, the only things that are locked off are your last name, your skin tone and your eye colour. Hell, you can even customise your MC's mom to a certain extent so that you look more or less like her)
Funnily enough, Lunacid made by Akuma Kira has pronoun character options that dont ever get used in the actual game but upset a lot of people who didnt want representation in their game.
Thank you TH-cam algorithm
I wish the music wasn't so loud so I can hear better. There's some parts I missed
you like pokemon? let me tell you about pokemon reborn. I love pokemon, but I'm non binary, and you did mention 'they let you choose your appearance not your gender' but, alas, people in game still use the gender that your character looks more like, believe me I nearly cried when mr principal man called me the gender I had to choose bc NO THATS NOT ME AAAAAA and I hate it. but pokemon reborn. its a pokemon fan game, that lets you choose any of 6 different characters, separately from your gender!!! (you mentioned legends arceus, so real same thing happened as violet) I personally chose decibel, because I'm pasty as hell, and I liked their clothes the most, turns out they're canonically non binary lmao. it has a few heavy topics, which I would recommend checking if thats a problem for you, but I cannot recommend it enough I love it so much.
Avelog's Mouse Simulator, but weather or not the character is trans is random.
It's random IRL, so why should you get the option to choose in a game? /s
if it ain't broken don't fix it
Well it's broken so fix it.
@@Voidppppphow
223 subscribers and 3.1k views? Good job getting this message out there I really enjoy your style with this
Because most people aren't transgender and game developers aren't going to cater to a massive minority.
Same reason why a lot of Asian-demographic MMO's only have Asian character features and don't allow you to be dark-skinned or sometimes even have blue eyes. They know their market and they aren't going to cater to the very low number of people from outside of Asia who would play their games.
Nothing against transgendered individuals most of the time, but you're scraping the bottom of the barrel for things to be upset about. There's a whole mountain of bullshit you need to face everyday, don't let your video game's lack of character customization be one of them.
I don't think I quite understand. I have the some level of wishing I was the a different gender but In games I can just choose the gender I want. Maybr it's just because Ive yet to have someone explane non binary to me in in way I could understand, but I think the choose a body type option is a perfect compromise for those that don't wish to be labeled.
a game where pc character gender is done quite well and unobtrusive imo is outer wilds. In it you play as an alien from a species where gender doesn't even exist, I don't think the pc is ever referred to by a 3rd person pronoun and everyone else of your species is a they/them