This post is written by Milo, a 17 year old trans member of our Q42 group.
So recently video games have become a huge part of my life, taking up the time I never had while I was in college. Ok, that’s a lie, I spent every free period for 3 days trying to beat Undyne on my Undertale Genocide run (I beat her a week later at 3 am, and I woke my gran up from my victory “YAS”).
But anyway, as a member of the LGBTQA+ community, I strive to make my games as gay as possible. And by that I mean freaking out about how much I love every character in every game that I perceive / headcanon as gay (e.g. Mettaton from Undertale is a gay trans male, Shane from Stardew Valley is a messy Bisexual, ect.) and recently there has been many games and gaming companies that have realised how many LGBTQA+ play their games and have made them accessible to the community.
For example, the most recent gaming company that jumped on our rainbow bandwagon is Ubisoft with their newest game Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey. There isn’t a single relationship (platonic or romantic) that is effected by your chosen gender in the game, the only difference that choosing either Alexios (the male character) or Kassandra (the female) is just the aesthetic; The choices the game gives the player don’t change, only the voices and the visuals are different. Kassandra, someone who is honestly gorgeous and I love her, is actually the lead role in this game as well, the only other Assassin’s Creed featuring a playable female character being Assassin’s Creed Syndicate.
Many groups say that Ubisoft is just pandering to a new audience (their previous audience being young men) and no other game franchise does this, but there is a surprising amount of LGBTQA+ characters in many games, even if it’s just headcanons. And now I’m going to list 5 (because this article is already looong), because to no surprise I have played most of them. I’ll mention which ones I haven’t played and with the ones I have, and I might spoil some plot points so… Sorry in advance?
Yep, the trash game that garnered some controversy due to the weird fandom on Tumblr, and also MatPat for giving a copy of the game to the Pope in 2016 (he has a video explaining this choice here I recommend giving it a watch because his choices are sound)!
Anyway this game includes such cute stories and characters that I fell in love straight away. The main LGBTQA+ presenting characters are Frisk / Chara (the non-binary human protagonist), Mettaton (a gay trans male robot with the best legs), Alphys (a pansexual lizard that many perceive to be polyamorous), Undyne (the fishy leader of the Royal Guard who has a huge crush on Alphys and eventually tosses her into a bin), and the Royal Guards (a bunny and a dragon who have get together for ice cream after the battle).
This game… Has ruined me… While the game is mainly about farming, the main character (that you can customise and change the gender of) can romance some of the town folk. No matter what gender the character is, any of the available town folk can be romanced and I’m going to list them (and name my favourites): Alex, Elliot (who is so handsome, like his hair is goals), Harvey, Sam, Sebastian (an emo boy who is so good), Shane (who is honestly a mess and has an upsetting backstory / storyline but loves chickens so I love him), Abigail, Emily, Haley, Leah (an artist!!!!!), Maru, and Penny (who loves books so I love her).
Honestly, I 100% recommend this game, not even for the romance, just for the calming gameplay and adorable story lines.
Yes this thing that I have definitely played more than twice(!)…. Well anyway, the front line girl for this first-person shooter is Tracer, a fast girl who is stuck with a clunky ‘chronal accelerator’ to prevent her from zipping around in time and anchoring her to the present (which, honestly, get me one of these). A story about Christmas came out in the Overwatch comic book (around December 2016) which revealed that Tracer has a girlfriend called Emily, even getting a kiss for a cute present.
While I’ve never played any game in the series, my boyfriend (who drew the comic about Q42 – it’s so good <3) has played them and is constantly raving about how gay it is. Many of the characters, for example Leliana (Origins) who is Bisexual, and Iron Bull (Inquisition) who is pansexual, are romanceable. While I haven’t played it, He really recommends it so I followed the Tumblr tag and it seems pretty good so far.
And now for my personal favourite…
I didn’t sleep for three days when I first got this game, I just sat and played. A platform style game that focuses on characters and their lives and oh my lord, it’s so good. The main characters are Mae, a dissociative cat who plays bass, Bea, a gothic alligator / crocodile who plays drum (well electronic drums but still), Angus, a cute bear in a top hat who sings / growls, and Gregg, a fox who rules, okay? Him and Angus are the only gay couple in the whole of Possum Springs, with Mae being pansexual and Bea being bisexual. There are also so many minor characters which includes many LGBTAQ+ characters.
I 100% recommend all of these games, because these games are so so good and even though some are pricey, the Steam sales are your best friends. Anyway, that’s me finished with ranting about my obsessions. I’ve missed so many great games, tell me what else is out there!
