History Main / PurelyAestheticGender

* At the beginning of Creator/{{Infocom}}'s ''VideoGame/LeatherGoddessesOfPhobos'', not only do you choose the appropriate gender in order to empty your bladder, but most characters get a different gender depending on the bathroom of your choice, including your sidekick of the same gender (Trent for the male character, Tiffany for female) and the royal couple (the sultan and his wife for male, the sultaness and her husband for female). The only characters whose gender remains the same are Joe, the MadScientist, King Mitre and his daughter, and the [[JustForPun titular]] Leather Goddesses of Phobos.

* The {{MMORPG}} of ''VideoGame/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanOnline'' enables you to play as a male or female pirate with no penalty or bonus for either gender. However, several [=NPCs=] make tiny slips in their word choice that implies that you are [[EveryoneIsBi interested in girls]], once again ignoring the fact that [[MostGamersAreMale sometimes gamers really are female]], and not just playing as a female in order to ogle their character's assets [[IncrediblyLamePun and breastettes]].

* Zig-zagged in the ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'' series. Your gender doesn't affect your stats at all, but certain perks (Black Widow for female characters and Lady Killer for males) will open dialogue options for your characters.

* In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZelda BS'' and the sequel, you can choose to play as a male or a female. This has no effect on the gameplay or storyline, however.

* In the older ''VideoGame/MortalKombat'' games, Johnny Cage's signature GroinAttack didn't work on women, under the belief that the attack wouldn't hurt someone lacking family jewels (even though the move worked on ''robots'' since the game still flagged them as male). Most women can personally attest that getting hit in that region still hurts like a mother, and the developers must have gotten the memo at some point, because starting in ''VideoGame/MortalKombat9'', Johnny's Low Blow affects female opponents the exact same way as it does men.

* No matter which gender you pick for the player character of ''VideoGame/ThePedestrian'', the gameplay will not change.

In those {{RPG}}s where one can generate one's own characters, it is often the case that the sex of the character is a purely aesthetic choice, with no difference whatsoever in terms of in-game stats. In a rare few cases, there will be a small difference in beginning stats, but no difference in terms of the maximum ability score that can be gained. Character stats aside, the choice will have minimal impact on the game scenario, perhaps affecting only the manner in which {{Non Player Character}}s address the character. In games with romantic plots, the hero's gender may determine the available love interests, but this generally won't affect the main plot. It is also increasingly common to see games aim to be more inclusive towards transgender and non-binary players, generally allowing the player to mix and match gendered traits to their liking, usually resulting in any distinction between their options becoming even more of a purely aesthetic choice.

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 - [[LesYay the same female NPCs, and ONLY female NPCs, 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.

* In ''VideoGame/SyphonFilterTheOmegaStrain'', the PC's gender does not affect their stats, although the female can be a ThirdPersonSeductress.

** While completely gender neutral in Japanese and localizations of ''God Eater Resurrection'' and ''God Eater 2 Rage Burst'', all of the voiced dialogue in English localization of ''Gods Eater Burst'' assumes you are male.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Terraria}}'', you can choose to create a male or female avatar, but aside from some slight [[BareYourMidriff visual]] [[ChainmailBikini differences]] between male and female armour and clothes, stats are completely unaffected. Hairstyles are also unaffected, allowing avatars to have anything from a long beard and mustache to a curly ponytail if you want, no matter which gender they are.

* ''VideoGame/{{Runescape}}'' plays this completely straight. Gender has no impact on stats, and while in an older version armor had to be forged for the gender of the wearer, it now molds itself automatically to whoever puts it on. There are two dwarven mining corporations with sexist hiring policies (one for each gender) and one quest requires player characters to be at least situationally female to get through a NoManOfWomanBorn twist, but that's it. This has a lot to do with the fact that you can change your character's gender (and any other customizable characteristics) at any time for a fee of a few in-game coins. It also plays the "only female [=NPCs=] are attracted to the player character" part straight with Zanik and Zu Zu.

** Statistically, female characters in ''VideoGame/DragonQuestIX'' are exactly the same as males but have additional equipment options such as dresses and skirts. Outside of a few exclusives that favor females (blue panties are surprisingly cheap and effective leg armor in the early game; the boxers you can buy early are equal to your default equipment in stats) that the differences are so minimal (and females can wear the trousers anyway), it doesn't matter... until you hit the post game, where the "Magical Skirt" is ''awesome'' for most BonusBoss fights (it gives heavy resistances to most elements), while the bikinis aren't a slouth either, and you can obtain 2 (cosmetic) titles only with a female character (there is only 1 that is male-exclusive).

* The protagonist of ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOps3'' 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''.

In those {{RPG}}s where one can generate one's own characters, it is often the case that the sex of the character is a purely aesthetic choice, with no difference whatsoever in terms of in-game stats. In a rare few cases, there will be a small difference in beginning stats, but no difference in terms of the maximum ability score that can be gained. Character stats aside, the choice will have minimal impact on the game scenario, perhaps affecting only the manner in which {{Non Player Character}}s address the character. In games with romantic plots, the hero's gender may determine the available love interests, but this generally won't affect the main plot. It is also increasingly common to see games aim to be more inclusive towards transgender and non-binary players, generally hallowing you to mix and match gendered traits to your liking, usually resulting in any distinction between your options becoming even more of a purely aesthetic choice.

But while gender equality is an admirable goal, it can still be implemented sloppily. The game might not take into account the more subtle differences between men and women, such as body language. Players may have to awkwardly watch their heroine slouch in a chair with her legs wide open during {{cutscene}}s because the developers didn't program different animations for a female hero. 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 - [[LesYay the same female NPCs, and ONLY female NPCs, 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.

In those {{RPG}}s where one can generate one's own characters, it is often the case that the sex of the character is a purely aesthetic choice, with no difference whatsoever in terms of in-game stats. In a rare few cases, there will be a small difference in beginning stats, but no difference in terms of the maximum ability score that can be gained. Character stats aside, the choice will have minimal impact on the game scenario, perhaps affecting only the manner in which {{Non Player Character}}s address the character. In games with romantic plots, the hero's gender may determine the available love interests, but this generally won't affect the main plot. This has often been accomplished by allowing you to mix and match gendered traits to your liking, usually resulting in any distinction between your options becoming even more of a purely aesthetic choice.

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 - [[LesYay the same female NPCs, and ONLY female NPCs, 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 sex.

In those {{RPG}}s where one can generate one's own characters, it is often the case that the sex of the character is a purely aesthetic choice, with no difference whatsoever in terms of in-game stats. In a rare few cases, there will be a small difference in beginning stats, but no difference in terms of the maximum ability score that can be gained. Character stats aside, the choice will have minimal impact on the game scenario, perhaps affecting only the manner in which {{Non Player Character}}s address the character. In games with romantic plots, the hero's gender may determine the available love interests, but this generally won't affect the main plot. It is also increasingly common to see games aim to be more inclusive towards transgender and non-binary players, generally by allowing you to mix and match gendered traits to your liking. This near universally results in any distinction between your options becoming even more of a purely aesthetic choice.

But while gender equality is an admirable goal, it can still be implemented sloppily. The game might not take into account the more subtle differences between men and women, such as body language. Players may have to awkwardly watch their heroine slouch in a chair with her legs wide open during {{cutscene}}s because the developers didn't program different animations for a female hero. In the worst-case scenario, 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 - [[LesYay the same female NPCs, and ONLY female NPCs, will flirt with the main character regardless of how the player designed them]].

* ''VideoGame/IdolManager'': The PlayerCharacter and their story mode rival can be made any gender the player wants, but neither affects gameplay.

* In ''VideoGame/SaintsRow2'' [[EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep The Boss]] can be a ScaryBlackMan, a SilverFox, a DarkSkinnedRedhead, a {{Meganekko}}, a morbidly-obese gender-neutral pig-human ''thing'', [[GenderBender anything else in between]], and it literally affects ''nothing''. Not character interactions, not gameplay, not [[VirtualPaperDoll clothing options]], not The Boss's views on stripper poles and their regular operators, not even [[VocalDissonance which voices can be assigned to them]]. Hell, returning characters from the first game will only comment on your "haircut", even if your character is female (in the first game, the player character still had a wide variety of customization, but was always male). WordOfGod has stated that if you play as a female Boss in ''Saints Row 2'', she was a woman in ''VideoGame/SaintsRow1'' canon-wise.

* Initially, ''VideoGame/{{Terraria}}'' had no gender option, simply allowing a player to choose default features that made the character look male or female. A later patch introduced the option to be male or female, with existing characters flattening out into male. So there are a lot of crossdressers in ''Terraria'' now.

* In ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' series, for about 99% of each game, gender is completely aesthetic. In the pre-''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'' games with character attributes, the starting attributes are slightly different between genders of the same race, and there is the occasional quest (or set of quests) only available to (or is slightly different for) one gender, but these are only a very small minority. Really, the gaming experience is the same regardless of your character's gender. In ''Skyrim'', thanks to EveryoneIsBi, every single marriageable character can be married regardless of your character's gender.

** In addition to the above, ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate'' adds female skin options to the returning characters [[VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue Pikachu and the Pokémon Trainer]], as well as the newcomers [[VideoGame/{{Splatoon}} Inkling]], [[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Byleth]], and [[VideoGame/{{Minecraft}} Steve]] (defaulting to male, male, female, male, and male, respectively).

* ''VideoGame/{{Splatoon}}'' allows the player to use a customizable female or male Inkling (and in [[VideoGame/Splatoon2 the sequel]], Octoling) who are both completely identical gameplay-wise.

* In ''Culdcept Saga'' you can change your character's base appearance after you've beaten the game once. If you make your character female (or another species) they still have the same voice and love interest.
** In ''VideoGame/{{Culdcept}}'' for [=PS2=], an apparent glitch makes it such that your gender has so little effect that ''everyone still refers to you using male pronouns.''
* ''VideoGame/HeroesOfMightAndMagic'' has heroes of both genders for all races, but with the exception of important story characters in V, they all share the same (male) model. Knights and Demon Lords at least wear concealing armor, Necromancers wear hooded cloaks but everyone else apparently has very masculine-looking women. And of course, the gender doesn't matter gameplay-wise (unless you count the hero specialty).
** ''Heroes IV'' at least has different male and female models for each faction, but with the elimination of specialties, everything about heroes of the same faction is purely aesthetic.