Role-playing titles are special among video games. They can be large in scale and scope, requiring you to inhabit a living, breathing world, pretending to be one of that world’s inhabitants. They can also be on the smaller side too. What really defines them often enough is the character you play as.
In many role-playing games, you create a character from scratch. From skin color to background, skills, abilities, and more. Some RPGs don’t offer that though, instead making you inhabit a pre-existing character. There’s nothing better than seeing yourself represented in a video game, a movie, or a piece of media. Whether it’s someone of the same ethnicity, background, religion, race, sexuality, gender, or any other key identifying features.
InAssassin’s Creed: Odyssey, you create a character and then explore Ancient Greece. The world is inhabited by men and women of varying degrees of importance, and it lets you romance whomever you want, to whatever extent you want.
The game is surprisingly modernistic in its representation of LGBTQ characters. There are women in power positions, people of color in significant roles, queer characters who aren’t the butt of jokes, and much more. On top of this, the game lets you choose between stealth and combat mechanics, andabilities, really letting you play however you want.
At the start ofCyberpunk 2077,you can create a custom character. The character creation suite has a lot of depth and allows for plenty of diversity. You can play as a male or female, or make them trans, or non-binary, altering their voice and genitals. Plus, the ability to choose a skin tone of your liking too.
Once in the game, there are people of all ages, races, religions, beliefs, genders, sexualities, and more. The game doesn’t always represent certain characters or groups in a positive light, however. Female characters are often sexualized, homosexual characters are sometimes stereotyped. The representation and diversity of Cyberpunk 2077 isn’t always successful, but it’s attempting more than many other games do.
Like many RPGs,Baldur’s Gate 3lets you create your own character. You can also select one of the already existing characters from the game to play as. Not only can you create a diverse character, but the range of skills and abilities on offer makes them especially unique to you.
Throughout the game, you’ll encountercharacters you can romance. BG3 presents characters of various sexualities positively, often not letting their desires define who they are. There are also characters of various races, ethnicities, religions, and much, much more.
Trans representation is still lacking in the video game sphere. An early attempt at a trans character was inDragon Age: Inquisition, with the non-playable character of Krem. Krem was labeled a woman at birth, but illegally joined an all-male military to support their family.
They then fled when this was discovered, forming a mercenary group of their own. This is a rare example of good trans representation. Inquisition acknowledges real world views and opinions, making a powerful, important statement, and normalizing trans lives in the process. It also features characters ofdiverse sexualities, ethnicities, backgrounds, cultures, and more.
Telltale’sThe Walking Deadis a point-and-click adventure in which you initially play as a former teacher turned convict, Lee, and then later, Clementine. If you already know the game, it might come as a surprise that we included it as an RPG. However, as it has you selecting choices and actions that will change the fate of the characters and the story itself, we thought it could make the cut.
The representation and diversity on display are impressive, by the way. There are people of color in prominent roles, women in positions of power, characters of varying ages, backgrounds, and beliefs, and more. When you later take control of Clementine, you also get the choice to play her as a queer character too, increasing the diversity.
Life is Strange
Like Telltale’s The Walking Dead,Life is Strangeis sort of a role-playing game in that you inhabit characters, make choices, dictate their actions and views, and alter the course of the story as you do it.
The series puts attention on characters coming to terms with their identity. It has themes and messages around LGBTQ issues and topics, and it offers you superpowers, too. One of the said powers allows you to empathize with others, really getting an idea of how and what they are thinking.
In theMass Effectseries, you create your own character, choose what skills and weapons you want to focus on, and then inhabit a galaxy of diverse races, cultures, and people. The game draws attention to differing political, social, economic, and religious views. They may not be real world ones, due to thesci-fi nature of the series, but they do relate to our people and cultures.
Starting withMass Effect 2, you can romance whatever sex and gender you want. It lets you play the role of a queer character if you so choose. The only area where the experience stumbles in terms of diversity is its representation of trans characters, in whichAndromedawas the first in the series to have such a character, and they failed to accurately portray the life and views of a trans person.
InHorizon: Zero Dawnand its sequel,Horizon: Forbidden West, you play as Aloy. Aloy is a tough as nails, determined, white female redhead on a quest to save the world from robotic dinosaurs and selfish humans from the past. She’s not defined by her gender; she just happens to be a woman. It’s later revealed that she’s alsoqueer, with an attraction to other women.
What makes these games so diverse and impressive is the variety and diversity of supporting characters. The world is inhabited by people of different races, ethnicities, cultures, and backgrounds. On top of that, many of the in-game tribes and groups are defined by ideals rather than appearance or background, making this a diverse and inclusive series at the same time.
