Sometimes a game gives the player the choice of gender selection for no other reason than to let the player pick their avatar. Nothing significant changes, and the game carries on as if there wasn't a choice in the first place. This just lets players insert themselves or pick what character they would prefer to play as instead of worrying about what might happen.
Other games, however, make sure to emphasize the choice by ensuring that there are going to be differences based on that choice. These can be anywhere from dialogue changes, statistical differences, or even major differences for voices, armor, and weaponry. Further choices might be limited based on what the player chose at the very beginning, leading to some preemptive research to see what might change as well as opening the game up to multiple play-throughs.
10 Matters: Mass Effect Has Some Very Interesting Differences
If there is one thing that divides the Mass Effect fandom, it's whether or not someone prefers playing Commander Shepard as male or female. While at first glance it might seem like there's not a big change— especially how the developers treat their character— there are actually some big rifts between this seemingly innocuous choice.
Male Shepard comes across as monotonous and bland where the female has more energy, and she also has some more unique lines than her male counterpart. Also in Mass Effect 3 there are split dating options with the exception of one blue-skinned alien in particular. Andromeda even had each of the Rhyder twins being so independent of each other that they would give nods to the other one.
9 Doesn't Matter: Assassin's Creed Odyssey Barely Changes Pronouns
The majority of the dialogue even stays the same throughout Assassin's Creed: Odyssey so much that it really sent shocked waves throughout the gaming community. Pretty much the only thing that changes is the pronoun usage, and that's only in a handful of instances where they're used and in the DLC.
The armor doesn't change to be skimpier for Kassandra, which is another solid bonus. Not to mention she also doesn't get that weirdly illogical shape to armor to show off her chest that most female gaming characters tend to get. It looks just like a slimmer version of the same stuff Alexios gets. Their dating options stay identical, their dialogue options are identical except when saying things like "brother" or "sister" to reference their sibling. They also don't get any differences in experience yield, combat prowess, or anything else. There's really no difference between them besides personal preference, though some fans will argue it feels better when Kassandra is at the head.
8 Matters: Dishonored 2 Even Splits Up The Skill Tree
Dishonored 2 really hit fans where it hurt by significantly splitting up what the protagonist could and couldn't do based on their gender. There are different skill trees and story interactions, with some things working out better for one gender than they might have for the other in certain places.
Not to mention, the male's style tends to be a little bit more stereotypical in the grunge factor whereas the female gets to be a bit more elegant...or illogical. That doesn't mean that either is all that bland characterwise either, it just is something to consider before picking the character. What sorts of reactions and things are available really depend on what was chosen initially, so picking gender based on preferred playstyle the second time around is a good choice.
7 Doesn't Matter: Fable 2 & 3 Doesn't Actually Care About That Choice
For games that care so much about the player's choices, Fable 2 and 3 really could care less about what gender the player selected at the very start of the game. The original game probably wouldn't have cared either, but they only had the option to play a male character.
Even having children doesn't do anything to either of the characters. It just time skips regardless of what the player chose. The player can still woo whoever they want of the hundreds of available NPCs and enough elbow grease. And if they get clothes for the opposite gender they can still wear them. There might be some snickering about, but it really doesn't affect gameplay at all.
6 Matters: The Dragon Age Games Has Entire Interactions Locked Behind Gender Choice
The Dragon Age games love their diversity. With that comes various perks and consequences for all actions, and that includes gender selection. Some characters are more willing to speak or work with a specific gender, and some dating options are locked behind the choice.
Most notably, fan-favorite Dorian Pavus who debuted in Inquisition will give only male characters a slew of flirtatious comments and gratuitous butt shots, whereas he just tones down his behavior for female leads. He can't even be dated by a female, which is a nice thing. Let the NPCs have their own sexualities too.
5 Doesn't Matter: Saint's Row 2 & Onward Could Care Less Who Playa Is
Playa can be anything starting in Saint's Row 2 when the already impressive character creation menu was expanded even further to give gender options. Even the developers refer to them with neutral pronouns and can be heavily customized to be anything the player wants them to be from their skin color to their body type. Later games even give the option to adjust their personality and reactions to things outside of cinematics.
They also tend not to use pronouns for Playa throughout the games, though once in a blue moon something slips awkwardly while they try to connect the timeline. It's fun and allows the player to not need to worry about getting into some tasteless situations in a game that loves marrying the wacky with the hardcore.
4 Matters: Rune Factory 4 Severely Limits Certain Character Interactions
As with most Harvest Moon-style games, Rune Factory 4 is a farming and dating simulator. This one though actually was the first to really let players choose their protagonist, giving the male option of Lest and the female option of Frey. They are eventually allowed to swap between them visually, but their gender stays the same.
The thing is, that limits a lot of their character interactions and doesn't allow it to be altered even if they swap their avatar. Certain characters such as the actual prince are a lot less kind if the player isn't dateable. A good chunk of their heart events are even locked behind the choice, meaning that the player never gets to fully experience about half of the cast beyond their tired, early-stage reactions to them.
3 Doesn't Matter: The Elder Scrolls Series Has A Hard Time Realizing Anything Has Been Chosen In General
Some of the Elder Scrolls games have a visual difference between certain armors, but the games in general even have a hard time recognizing the player's racial choices so it's no surprise that the gender selection in Morrowind, Oblivion, and Skyrim pretty much gets tossed to the wayside. Morrowind is a little more aggressive about things than its descendants, but even then it matters so little if the player is being male or female.
For the most part, if the player is in the first person, they won't even notice if they are playing male or female, men, mer, or beast by interactions alone so they can just be whatever they feel like. Skyrim doesn't even limit marriage or follower options which was a real treat back when it was originally released in 2011.
2 Matters: Pokémon Seriously Limits Customization Based On Gender In The Games That Offers It
If a player really likes to customize their characters, they have to be very careful in the Pokémon games. While not all of them offer the option to change how their character looks, most of them since X and Y have given the option to some extent. Female characters get a much larger pool of hairstyles and clothing options, whereas males tend to get very bland outfits, few choices, and nearly identical haircuts.
Additionally, a good handful of the games will swap the player's rival to be the character they didn't select. They are occasionally mentioned by pronouns, but they're usually just referred to as a kid or another character's friend.
1 Doesn't Matter: Far Cry 5 Barely Shows The Player Anyway
Being a first-person shooter, the majority of the time Far Cry 5 just has the player looking at their character's forearms. The only time it becomes relevant is when they die and the camera pans back to show off the ragdoll effects.
There's no difference outside of that whatsoever. No statistical differences, no customization options that really matter since there's not much opportunity to see them, and very little dialogue difference outside of a few mild exceptions. It's to the point it's actually a little irrelevant to choose at all since it matters so little and is so rarely seen.