Can you make the protag female?

[Murrue]

Please let me know.

[Gray Riders]

Yes, but it's a bit complicated.

The game doesn't have a single protagonist but goes through a succession of rulers. The first two are preset and are both men; later ones are chosen by the player from a semi randomized offering, and women are available.
When you start up the game you select and name either a man or a woman who'll serve the role of the protagonist for the final section of the game (though it's possible through unusual circumstances to win before they appear).

[Chester]

Gray Riders gave a good answer, but I'll throw in and give an example of how the Successor system works here. After an Emperor cedes the throne and a new generation of characters comes about, the player picks the next Emperor from a semi-random list of currently recruited classes (it's slightly more complicated than that, but "semi-random" will mostly do as a descriptor). In the original game you could pick from a list of 4 characters, but in this version I think it's more (in the trailer you can see a moment of being able to pick from 6, though that may not be the case upon release). A notable portion of the game involves recruiting new classes and some are female exclusive (like Ninjas), male exclusive (like Brawlers), or have both male and female options (like Crusaders). Some classes aren't human, like Salamanders - yes, you can have a Lizard Emperor (though in the original, non-human classes still had a gender designation. Salamanders were female!).

So if Gerard were to cede the throne at the end of the Demo, you may see a list of the next generations rulers like: Heavy Infantry (Male), Light Infantry (Male), Light Infantry (Female), Ranger (Male), Court Mage (Female), and Mercenary (Female). In that example, Light Infantry, Rangers, Court Magicians, and Mercenaries all have Male and Female options, but that doesn't mean you'll see both in the Succession list. The Final Emperor will be the one you chose at the start of the game.

The next Emperor's gender plays little to no impact on the story (though very occasionally may have some slight impact on gameplay), though if it's important to you then you will have options. The Emperor's Succession will happen when either; 1) Enough gameplay/story elements have occurred (like beating bosses or witnessing major story events); 2) Your party wipes (the game doesn't end, you just choose the next Emperor and keep going); or 3) You willingly retire (this is new for this version). So if you see a list of Emperors and you don't want any of them (like in this case, no female option) you can just pick someone and immediately retire, picking from a new batch.

The Succession system is a little complicated, but pretty quickly you'll understand it and be able to work it to your advantage. If there's certain outcomes you're intending with it, you will have options to get what you're looking for.

[Mewsona]

One of the few aspects where gender comes into play is the charm status effect, particularly with one of the bosses. For that boss you will likely want to bring a party consisting entirely of women, unless you have charm resistant equipment by the time you fight them.

[OrigiULTRA]

Originally posted by Mewsona:

One of the few aspects where gender comes into play is the charm status effect, particularly with one of the bosses. For that boss you will likely want to bring a party consisting entirely of women, unless you have charm resistant equipment by the time you fight them.

Alternatively, you can spark immunity to that skill on a male party member if you're lucky. If you lose the fight, you can share the immunity among the male party members of your subsequent squad. It's hugely recommended you spark the skill, as the last boss likes to spam charm as well, and it can be a run ender if you happen to have a male party member with you.

[OrigiULTRA]

There are also multiple quests you cannot initiate or clear unless your emperor is male or else female.

[NoPJag]

I just discovered this game (and the franchise) while I'm old enough to have played Shining Force at release... (and it's a good surprise). It looks interesting, but I wanted to ask a few questions about succession:
1. Are character designs (looks / visual aspect) random?
2. Are classes randomly assigned to characters ?
3. OrigiUltra: you speak about a "run" : does this mean it is replayable?