History Main / PurelyAestheticGender

But while gender equality is an admirable goal, it can still be implemented sloppily. In the worst-case scenarios, it comes across very clearly as the game [[MostGamersAreMale expecting a male player and not bothering with other options]]. Most easily seen with romantic content -- the same female [=NPCs=], and ''only'' female [=NPCs=], [[HoYay will flirt with the main character regardless of how the player designed them]]. Also evident when female characters haven't been bug-tested enough -- for example, dialogue glitches referring to the player character as the wrong gender.

** Handled a bit differently in ''VideoGame/MassEffectAndromeda'', where the male and female versions of Ryder (the new PlayerCharacter) exist as siblings in the same universe, rather than being gender-swapped versions of the same character like Shepard. While their stats and abilities are unaffected, the developers have said male and female Ryder will have slightly different responses and tones in their dialogue and interactions with NPC[==]s due to their differing personalities InUniverse.

* ''VideoGame/Left4Dead2'' has a female version of the [[DeadWeight Boomer]], but she plays out exactly like the male counterpart.
** This applies to your team of survivors. There are two girls and six guys with zero mechanical differences between them.

* The protagonist of ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOpsIII'' can be male or female, and is even fully voice acted by an actor and an actress for the two different versions. The player can swap between the gender of the Player ''between missions''.

* ''VideoGame/MonsterRancher 2'' allows you to input your gender at the start of the game. However, since your character is TheFaceless (and even implied to ''just be you''), this has little effect. The only real thing that changes is that your assistant Colt will make a comment about how nice it is to work with a fellow female monster breeder for once.

** From ''Crystal'' onward, players could choose their genders, and it did not affect the story save for the gender of a rival character (''Crystal'', ''[=FireRed=]'', and ''[=LeafGreen=]'' excepted); that's because in Generation 3 and onward (excepting Generation 7), each player character model (male and female) is also an established character; whichever character you're not playing as becomes your rival. So in ''Ruby/Sapphire'', for example, the boy character is "Brendan" and the girl character is "May". The protagonist-turned-NPC may have some personality differences and dialogue changes depending on their gender, but this has no effect on the story.

** In the second generation when genders were first introduced, individual Pokémon with lower attack genes are female (Attack IV determines gender, rather than the other way around). This was done so the system could tell them apart, as unlike the later games, ''Gold/Silver/Crystal'' doesn't have its own variable for gender; this, in turn, was done in order to allow backward compatibility with the earlier games. Shiny Pokémon also had straight 16 [=IVs=] in everything for the same reason. This was fixed when the data structure was overhauled in Generation 3, which made "gender" a separate variable, independent of stats.

* A bit of a difference depending on which version of ''VideoGame/{{Moonmist}}'' you've played: while the original game only has you optimize your character in the forms of HelloInsertNameHere and SchrodingersGun, the [[UsefulNotes/PC98 PC-9801 version]] not only ditched the prefix in place of this "Purely Aesthetic Gender" (with an option of either male, female or "okama", i.e., DragQueen), but it also allowed you to type in the number of your age.

* ''VideoGame/StoryOfSeasons'': The majority of games in which you can choose either male or female characters has no bearing on the player's stamina, strength, or skills, only differentiating between whether it's the male or female marriage canidates availiable to you. (Even when the female half is the farmer and pregnant, she can still handle the farm fine on with no slowdown in skills.) Starting with ''VideoGame/StoryOfSeasonsFriendsOfMineralTown'' even the different marriage options wasn't a difference anymore, because now [[EveryoneIsBi they're all player-sexual]] and you can marry anyone you want.

* ''VideoGame/TheSims'' is very close to having this. Clothing and hair options are obviously different, and only female Sims can get pregnant, but for job interaction, skill building and social interaction the two genders function exactly alike. Also, all Sims in the same age category are the same height. Then again, it's kind of justified, since VideoGame/TheSims is ''supposed'' to be a simplified, idealistic version of real life.
** [[FaceFullOfAlienWingWong With aliens that like to abduct and impregnate males.]]
** Even more so, now that ''The Sims 4'' allows UsefulNotes/{{Transgender}} and [[WholesomeCrossdresser cross-dressing]] Sims.

*** And now with ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossingNewHorizons'', changing your gender in the wardrobe does ''absolutely nothing'' to your looks and treatment on the island.
* Similarly, ''VideoGame/MagiciansQuestMysteriousTimes'' (an ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossing'' clone) does something similar. Since this game includes wearable [[VirtualPaperDoll skirts and dresses,]] you'd think it'd have an effect--but no, [[WholesomeCrossdresser even males can wear the Princess Dress.]] However, it does affect who your LoveInterest(s) can potentially be.

* ''VideoGame/StardewValley'' lets gender make no difference to your abilities, and nobody treats you differently if you're a boy or a girl. You can even romance and marry any one of the twelve eligible bachelors/bachelorettes, as apparently EveryoneIsBi. (More accurately, Leah is always of a compatible orientation [[spoiler:since her ex Kel will be the same gender as you]], while everyone else seems to fall under IfItsYouItsOkay.) The only notable change is that same-sex marriages receive their children through adoption rather than conventional pregnancy.
* In the ''My Baby'' series, the player or the titular baby’s gender don’t impact much of the core gameplay; the only changes aside from aesthetics are what pronouns the baby is referred to, and, by ''First Steps'', if the baby calls the player “mama” or “dada”.
** ''My Baby Girl/My Baby Boy'' allows you to make your baby the opposite gender after completing the game once, and clothes aren’t gender-locked which means that no one (not even the in-game nurse and pediatrician) will bat an eye if you [[WholesomeCrossdresser dress your baby boy in any of the purchasable Princess or Fairy outfits.]] This is TruthInTelevision for some cultures and time periods, with baby clothes being more-or-less unisex until about 1 or 2.
* ''VideoGame/MonsterLegends'' describes its monsters as individuals instead of species, thus their descriptions give them genders. However, any two monsters can breed as long as they are not opposite elements.
* ''VideoGame/HouseFlipper'' has options in the menu to play as either a male or a female, but since the only thing you ever see of your character is their arms, that mostly just controls whether said arms are hairy or not. There are also options to play as Santa, a zombie, or two different variations of cyborg.
* ''VideoGame/MyChildLebensborn'' lets the player chose whether they want the titular child to be a girl named Karin or a boy named Klaus, but the choice ultimately impacts neither gameplay nor the story. The most obvious change to the story is what happens during a specific encounter between the child and a hostile stranger: Klaus will be told that he has "[[InTheBlood traitor-blood]]", while Karin will be called "a [[SlutShaming whore]] like [her] mother".
* ''VideoGame/IdolManager'': The PlayerCharacter and their story mode rival can be made male or female, but neither choice affects gameplay.