I think there's a few facets to this but I want to look at two, one where you create a character that's fully customizable, and the other where it's just choosing your gender and the male/female character have a set design for the most part. Another angle I thought of is choosing which pre-established character to play as but I think I want to focus on the blank character side of it.
Also this is just as it applies to your first/main playthrough of a game. Obviously you can go wild in subsequent playthroughs.
Full customizable character: I haven't played much of these types of games, but when I do, it's always male for me. If the point of it is to be a self insert then sure, I try to make it as similar to me as I can while taking whatever creative liberties that come to mind, which generally isn't much. Although if there is a "canon" look to this character then I'd generally go for that instead. A few of the games I've played that have a custom character are Pikmin 4, Xenoblade X, Tony Hawk's Underground, and Phantasy Star Online. Might be more but these are off the top of my head.
Choose your gender: This one actually depends on the design of the male/female characters. I've definitely gone female if I find the design more appealing than the male's. Pokemon games are the main ones I think of w/ a set design for the genders, and it's been about half and half for which gender I picked. I would say the same about modern Fire Emblem but those tend to have a romance element so that leads me to pick male.
Also this is just as it applies to your first/main playthrough of a game. Obviously you can go wild in subsequent playthroughs.
Full customizable character: I haven't played much of these types of games, but when I do, it's always male for me. If the point of it is to be a self insert then sure, I try to make it as similar to me as I can while taking whatever creative liberties that come to mind, which generally isn't much. Although if there is a "canon" look to this character then I'd generally go for that instead. A few of the games I've played that have a custom character are Pikmin 4, Xenoblade X, Tony Hawk's Underground, and Phantasy Star Online. Might be more but these are off the top of my head.
Choose your gender: This one actually depends on the design of the male/female characters. I've definitely gone female if I find the design more appealing than the male's. Pokemon games are the main ones I think of w/ a set design for the genders, and it's been about half and half for which gender I picked. I would say the same about modern Fire Emblem but those tend to have a romance element so that leads me to pick male.
Last edited: