I’m pretty bored with every other AAA game protagonist being a square-jawed manly dude
Major triple A game protagonists this year:
-an effeminate-leaning elf that crossdresses at one point (Zelda)
-Female-coded robot (your avatar, Nier Automata)
-Gravity Witch (Gravity Rush 2)
-bishounen Japanese high school student (Persona 5)
-A huntress and survivalist (Horizon:Zero Dawn)Major 2017 AAA protagonists that kind of fit your critique:
-a modestly proportioned civilian thrown into a crisis (Resident Evil 7)
-A white person in Japan with super powers but not exaggerated masculinity (Nioh)Major AAA titles that allow for customization for characters of either gender
-Mass Effect Andromeda
-Prey
-Destiny 2I’ve probably missed a few games, but I doubt it’s going to change the overall impression. There’s still some work to do on the representation front, but the “every game is a brown middle eastern shooter with a hulking jarhead as its protagonist” was already past its expiration date when spec ops the line skewered it in 2012, and it’s only become a less apt description since.
People who criticise video games are not very serious gamers who only play a small subset of the most mainstream popular games.
I wouldn’t go that far - I mean, dronegoddess has a Neir avatar. I think it’s more to do with the impression that games like Nier or Gravity rush or whatever are kind of huddling over here barely scraping by while all the money is in Call of Duty and Gears of War.
And that was even true once! For a long time! And the only reason why we have protagonists like Aloy is because gamers were pretty clear in their desire for a more diverse experience and got the developers to make games like that. It’s just that the activists are winning, things are getting better, and not everyone realizes it’s not 2012 anymore.
Alternative fact: the main things activists have actually achieved is a state of events where “I want more videogames where I don’t play as white shaved head space marine gun guy” is a controversial statement