Main Character Design...

[Cake]

i mean...why does he look like a girl or is it a girl...i'm confused

[Pencillus Sedatus]

just a young man, designed to have no specific features compared to other tribes in the game. seems normal to me.

[Snailor Lazzy]

Originally posted by Swimfan:

Originally posted by Cake:

i mean...why does he look like a girl or is it a girl...i'm confused

Easy answer: Women/Non-binary people can be gamers too and they did a very clever (/common) thing by giving us a a more metrosexual-looking character that helps all genders to identify with better.

And yes, I'm 110% fine with that. He's protag-kun and it's always a plus when protag-kun looks unique but not "too out there" (which he doesn't).

This is the correct answer. Many Japanese developers use protagonists that are very androgynous in appearance because it's easy for people of all genders to find something to relate to in the characters design. It's the same reason for why Link looks so androgynous, especially in the recent games.

Would it be better if they gave players a choice of gender? Definitely, but that also means a great deal more work for the developers in RPGs like this. There's a lot of dialogue, character interaction and voice lines that needs to be adjusted to allow that choice. I'm completely fine with this sort of compromise.

[Vesper9603]

Originally posted by Cake:

i mean...why does he look like a girl or is it a girl...i'm confused

he's just a puny twink. his scrawny twink that the programmers made to put themselves into the game, an art design that killed the game for me. i just can't get immersed in such a puny dude wielding a sword and fighting monsters, regardless of his archetype transformations. I dont want to plya a skinny twink programmer in a fantasy game, i want to play a chad. just so awful and immersion breaking, IMO. Joker was really thin, but at least he was still a chad and had an awesome design.

[Vesper9603]

Originally posted by ShockedHearts:

does it matter? its just how he presents.

it does matter. i don't want to play as someone i see at work everyday. some stupid scrawny,. scarf wearing hipster.

[Vesper9603]

Originally posted by Snailor Lazzy:

Originally posted by Swimfan:

Easy answer: Women/Non-binary people can be gamers too and they did a very clever (/common) thing by giving us a a more metrosexual-looking character that helps all genders to identify with better.

And yes, I'm 110% fine with that. He's protag-kun and it's always a plus when protag-kun looks unique but not "too out there" (which he doesn't).

This is the correct answer. Many Japanese developers use protagonists that are very androgynous in appearance because it's easy for people of all genders to find something to relate to in the characters design. It's the same reason for why Link looks so androgynous, especially in the recent games.

Would it be better if they gave players a choice of gender? Definitely, but that also means a great deal more work for the developers in RPGs like this. There's a lot of dialogue, character interaction and voice lines that needs to be adjusted to allow that choice. I'm completely fine with this sort of compromise.

it's simple. make the MC look badass and not like a pathetic loser. simple. doesnt matter what gender or race. no one wants to play as a feminine man or masculine woman except a small minority of players who most likely weren't loved or were abused as children. Use a masculine man or a feminine woman, lol. Simple.

[Molotov Milkshake]

I'm happy to play as a range of characters to get different perspectives, if it's presented interestingly. This guy above is just a clown.

However I also must say I don't care much for the 'standard skinny boy' trope prevalent in JRPGs. Would be nice to have something different for a change. I don't much care if it's hyper masculine dude, strong woman, feminine woman, or whatever. Would just be nice to see something new.

[Giganx]

It's an anime trope.

The main protagonist is always a skinny, short nerd to make all the skinny, short nerds watching feel represented and empowered. A tall, good looking jock type character is always the bad guy as well.

A lot of anime is basically just weak effeminate nerd revenge fantasy.

[Null Winter]

Originally posted by Swimfan:

Originally posted by Raven Ranks:

Female option would have been nice. I don't understand why Atlus hates the idea of playing as a woman or at least having the option to. Females play video games now. It's okay.

I also really don't get it.
The exclusion of a female choice is just lazy here because the protag. being male changes nothing about the overarcing story. It just isn't there because they didn't want to invest extra time which is no excuse when you're asking for 70 bucks.

It would change a lot of dialogue, considering how everyone keeps mentioning the prince and presumably Atlus would want to swap the prince to a princess to avoid weirder player comments after a certain plot event. That's a lot of extra dialogue to change, a new model with new animations, and they'd likely need to change Eupha and Junah's Bonds a bit to avoid screaming from certain very verbal users.

Lastly, they've already seen that they can sell a FeMC as a separate game mode.

[Null Winter]

Anyone else think the main character is just Marth? Slim build. Blue hair. Royal headband. Soft voice. Starts as a wimp. Gets divine power. Gathers a bunch of diverse tribe members for a common cause. Uses a slim sword by default. Endgame "canon" equipment is all stuff designed to kill dragons.

[Truen]

Blame radicals steeped in identity confusion and gender-bending. I hate his look as well and wish we had some basic customization available to us.

[k-ricks]

femboy

[Peter_Evol1]

Hell is a place that's full of steam forum haters talking his sh*t with no pause