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[pastrami]

I think it largely depends on why you play games. If you play games for their story or gameplay, it shouldn't bother you at all. If you play games as a form of power fantasy, then I can see female characters bothering males.

 

[Disxo]

I can relate to characters If I have control of what I say and do, this is why I love Rpg's.

Story driven games like Uncharted, Tlou and Horizon? Hell no, I am not them, prefer to be watching a movie.

 

[Slashlen]

I don't try to insert myself in games, so relating to the protagonist has never really been necessary for me. In terms of avatars vs defined protagonists, I've always come down hard on the side of defined ones. I care more about whether or not they're interesting, and some of my favorites have almost nothing in common with me.

I can see the point if someone is trying to self-insert. If being able to play as a woman has value to certain people, I don't see why being able to play as a man wouldn't either. The latter of course has more options, but if anything that makes it easier for them just to skip such games.

 

[Galactico316]

I'm a brown male so I'd be pretty screwed if I couldn't relate to any protagonists that didn't look like me

 

[Synless]

I could play as a slug if the game is good. Gender, race, sexuality, species, I don't care.

 

[Murkas]

I find it easy to relate with any character because I don't really self insert. Even in character customisation games, I just create a random character...

Although I wonder which is worse, guys who never play female characters because they 'can't relate' or guys who always play female characters because 'I'd rather look at a woman's ass than a guy's ass for 10 hours'

 

[Prisoner KSC2-303]

People have different criteria of what they want / get out of playing a game. As long as your friend's a decent person, I don't see a major problem. I know people who'll always do the opposite given the choice, and it makes them no more enlightened.

 

[Golden_Pigeon]

Of course i can, the main issue is that i am not used to. For instance, i am playing Trails on the Sky right now and, if you don't know, your main character is Estelle but she is always accompanied by a male protagonist. When they speak with each others, i am always taken by surprise when i have to reply from Estelle perspective, since i am so used to always play male character with a female ally in my crew.

I think it's a great and revealing experience. Also the fact that the male protagonist is getting a lot more sexual attention than her. I really like this game, buy it!

 

[truly101]

I've never construed relating to a character as identifying some sort of 1 to 1 analogous experience that I shared with the character, its more about how they are presented in the context of the story and world the developers created. I think they did a pretty good job with Aloy in that regard.

 

[Son Of Sparda]

Good characters are good characters.

Pretty much.

 

[alexbull_uk]

Makes no odds to me. It's weird that some people can't enjoy games that don't feature people exactly like them.

 

[Cromat]

I don't understand it at all honestly. I don't even think there is a requirement to identify yourself at all with the main character, it just needs to be interesting.

 

[JasonUresti]

Though not necessary for my enjoyment, as a human being I don't find it that difficult to relate to human being characters in games.

 

[Mr.Deadshot]

I don't like playing as a woman in testosterone-driven action games like God of War, Yakuza or Gears of War. IMO it simply doesn't fit the setting.

But in most cases I don't have a problem with playing a woman. Most recent example is Aloy in Horizon: Zero Dawn. I love the character. Probably best female main character ever.

 

[Impetuous Imp]

As a female, this sentiment always causes me to roll my eyes a bit at first glance.

But then I stop and think about it further and realize that - questionable morality of those "heroes" who murder relentlessly aside - I really don't like playing characters who are framed as the "bad guy." I had zero interest in taking the "bad" routes of Infamous, for example, and getting to the end of TLOU and realizing that Joel was never on any kind of path to redemption was a bit unsettling. Maybe there's also something to be said for the idea that perhaps I don't like the implications of what it would say about me if I did enjoy it?

Which then makes me wonder.... what do people who "can't relate to a female character" inherently think about being a woman that is negative - is there some sexism involved that they might not even be consciously aware of, and do they have a subconscious fear of perhaps enjoying playing a female and what it might say about them?

 

[Garibaldi]

Good characters are good characters.

Agreed. They don't even need to be human.

 

[Taliban Stan]

It's odd to me, but I'm a minority so I grew up never being able to play as characters like me. Basically, I had to get over this around like age 5 if I wanted to continue playing games.

 

[CrowdChant]

The topic could have ended with this third post.

Yup. As long as everyone has the exact same opinion.

 

[MilkyJoe]

When I say "I can relate to that" It means that I have had a similar experience.

Therefore relating to;

Jumping on evil mushrooms,
Killing Robot Dinosaurs
Racing F1 cars
Killing Imperial Stormtroopers
Fighing Lions in an Amphitheater
Shooting Nazis
Escaping Zombies
etc...

Are not things I can relate to. So the notion that you need to relate to a video character is absolute bollocks. You are there for the ride. If you can't enjoy it unless there is a mini version of you on screen then that's something else.

 

[Hoya Destroyer]

I pretty much only like playing as a hot girl or a tough guy. Sex and violence make games more fun for me.

 

[Woo-Fu]

I don't relate to protagonists, I am the protagonist. Whether it is a vector triangle in Asteroids or a huntress in HZD, that's me, not somebody I have to "relate to".

 

[sleazefrenzy]

As a male I struggle to relate to Master Chief, Marcus Fenix, Mario etc. I've literally never saved the world even once in my entire life, so how could I?

 

[ChryZ]

No need to relate, the more different the "protagonist" is from me the better. I know me, I'm me 24/7. Games is about escapism, dial that to 11, give me a break.

 

[Thud]

With good writing you can relate to almost anything.

 

[Lothar]

I guess this is only a problem for kids in their early teens who play games pretending to be the main character.

Role playing games are pretty popular. More than just teens play them.

 

[nOoblet16]

I wonder if OP's friend can't play Snake Pass or Okami because you know...

 

[XandBosch]

I've been gaming for over two decades now and I don't think I've ever been empathetic with or tried to "relate" to a video game character. Sure stories and characters can have an emotional impact, but it's never because I feel as though I have some kind of shared experience with them or whatever. Maybe because I grew up playing the simplest games where that's not even possible lol.

The closest I've gotten to feeling like I was a character or something would probably be Bioshock, but that required a lot of "meta", so to speak. And that's not really even what this is about.

Games are escapism to me, I'm not trying to live the problems of some virtual avatar. That's why I find any argument like this pretty dumb (that is: "I can't play Horizon because I can't relate to the woman, or I won't play Zelda unless I can play as female Link"). It's just weird to me. I play games because they're fun, I don't really give a shit who a character is or what they look like as long as I'm entertained or intrigued.

 

[petran79]

I really hated the female lead in So Blonde. But she had excellent characterization and sense of humor

 

[ShyMel]

As a woman, I have played as so many male characters and even if I have not been able to relate to them, I was still able to play the game.

 

[Nheco]

The majority of my Bioware chars are womans. Even when I play as a guy I don't see my chars as a projection of myself, maybe in his moral values, but thats it.

 

[Ahasverus]

I can relate to women, but can't relate to space marines. Such is life I guess.

 

[PR_rambo]

I don't think I've self inserted myself into any games other than sports. I consider myself a coach so It's the team's fault if I lose.

Seriously though, because of this, I just enjoy watching the prisoner's story unfold and tinkering with the gameplay. Didn't have a tough time at all playing as Aloy. She's the most fun I've had playing as since Nathan Drake. Which is a great thing, because there are games where it really doesn't matter who the lead is, but a Horizon sequel wouldn't feel right with Aloy.

 

[Messofanego]

Has there ever been a muslim or british pakistani protagonist in videogames?

If I went by OP's friend's logic, I wouldn't play any videogame ever lol.

 

[beril]

I don't think there's anything wrong with admitting that all other things equal I find it easier to relate to a male character. Now as the current state of the industry a female protagonist is kindof a rarity, and that itself might make me more likely to play a game.

Ultimately it's not for my sake they should do more female protagonists (for me they should add hunky gay guys that I can romance); it's to make the medium more inclusive to a more diverse audience, and when people proudly proclaim that they don't have an issue with playing any kind of character the argument can easily be flipped to say that women shouldn't care about having to play as a guy in 90% of the games.

Though the guy in the OP just sounds weird...

 

[Sulik2]

Anyone who says this is just a closet misogynist. Its not like Horizon is dealing with women's issues. Anyone can relate to the characters, its all broad strokes stuff.

 

[Zakalwe]

As a female, this sentiment always causes me to roll my eyes a bit at first glance.

But then I stop and think about it further and realize that - questionable morality of those "heroes" who murder relentlessly aside - I really don't like playing characters who are framed as the "bad guy." I had zero interest in taking the "bad" routes of Infamous, for example, and getting to the end of TLOU and realizing that Joel was never on any kind of path to redemption was a bit unsettling. Maybe there's also something to be said for the idea that perhaps I don't like the implications of what it would say about me if I did enjoy it?

Which then makes me wonder.... what do people who "can't relate to a female character" inherently think about being a woman that is negative - is there some sexism involved that they might not even be consciously aware of, and do they have a subconscious fear of perhaps enjoying playing a female and what it might say about them?

I don't see how it /can't/ be sexist, especially if the person is - as OP states - a decent person by other metrics.

I mean, he could be in denial to the point he's unaware of his sexist ideals, but surely being unable to relate to a female protagonist means difficult or inability to relate with women in general?

That has to come from a sexist place.

 

[Spman2099]

I felt this way when I was younger. I think it speaks to a very immature world view...

I mean, he could be in denial to the point he's unaware of his sexist ideals, but surely being unable to relate to a female protagonist means difficult or inability to relate with women in general?

That has to come from a sexist place.

I think this is bang on. It very likely doesn't come from a place of mean-spirited sexism, just institutionalized sexism. It doesn't make the OP's friend an awful human being, but it does speak to some form of prejudice that they aren't able to empathize with someone that belongs to another gender.

 

[MannyToons]

Reminds me of when I was watching my male friend play Horizon, and he mentioned feeling uncomfortable when a male character flirts with Aloy.

I said, "Good. Now you know how it feels".

Regardless of that, I've never really struggled too much to "relate" to a male character in video games. It's such a standard that a lead character in a game be male, unfortunately.

 

[KillerMan91]

A lot of times I actually prefer to play as an opposite sex especially on role playing games like Dragon Age or Mass Effect. Games are escapism for me so it's refreshing to be something you are not in real life.

 

[King Tubby]

Gender and race and the like aren't typically what make you relate to a character anyway. Characterization and writing are what does that.

 

[gigantor21]

I only have a problem relating to poorly written or deliberately unsympathetic characters, male or female. ¯_(&#12484_/¯

 

[Rabid Dwarf 76]

Why do I need to relate to the character to enjoy the game? If the story's good and the game is fun I'm done to play it. I don't and need to relate to Bayonetta or Kratos to enjoy their games. I've never once related any fps protagonist but I still play them. I don't see a need for every character I play to be relatable.

 

[mike6467]

Tokyo Jungle was just....an abhorrent piece of software. How am I supposed to relate to a Pomeranian? I just didn't have the patience to unlock the lion, game is pandering bullshit.

Spoiler

/s

I've noticed the alternative to "not being able to relate" to a female character is the "I'm playing a game so why wouldn't I want to look at a girl's ass for 50 hours."

That feels like a more fucked up view to me. Though I've talked to one guy in particular, and that was how he justified playing these games when his chauvinistic brother gave him shit about it (this was in regards to No One Lives Forever, Cate is one of his favorite characters ever). I can't imagine that's uncommon, but realistically it's toxic regardless of the motive.

 

[ZeroGravity]

The notion of having to relate to a character in order to enjoy a piece of media is a pretty absurd one to begin with. Stories where there are aspects of a character you can relate to do make for memorable experiences, but the absence of that is no less valuable.

 

[gweemz]

I was able to relate to Clementine in Telltale's the Walking Dead, and I am a guy in my 20's.

 

[The Elite]

I have no problems with this. For me, it's more about relation to a protagonist's situation or personality. That can go beyond gender.

 

[OriginalPoe]

I can relate to anything, if it's a good character.

Second post nailed it. I've played games as rectangles and squares that have textboxes and related to them.

 

[The Dude]

I just play, male or female characters I don't give a fuck, just give me a good game.

It's someone else's vision of a game, either play it or don't, simple as that. People fuss way to much about things

 

[Jakoo]

Playing as Sarcastic Female Hawke made Dragon Age 2 bearable, so no, I can't relate.

 

[Shahed]

You don't need to relate to their gender in order to appreciate the characters beliefs, personality, situation and motivations. I have no issue with playing as a male or female, their gender has little bearing. It's the character themselves that's more important. I suppose it can be a bit awkward if it's a female character with an absolute trash design or overaly sexualised, but in recent cases like Velvet in Berseria there was an alternate outfit, and in Nier's case I just dealt with it