On the other hand, some of us have an imagination and enjoy being immersed in the character(s) we're following ... building our empathy for their positions and motivations.
We do this all the time when watching cartoons with lovable robots (e.g., Wall-E), anthropomorphic creatures (e.g., Zootopia) and so forth. I see no difference in playing the role of a female character fully and with best attempt at virtually being their motivator/director when that makes sense. We get into their "heads" and feel with them, not just for them - we want them to succeed as if we were them and wanted the best outcome.
Part of the love I have for this game is that each storyline option is due entirely to choices which determine the personality of the people you can control and those you can only hope to affect + those you can't impress at all. That forces you to take an active consideration for your playable character(s) and can immerse you more into the storylines that come from your decisions, making you consider cause + effect throughout the game.
I find it more difficult to play fighting games because I don't like being the character inflicting all this mindless violence for the sake of such. Sometimes the storyline gives it a sense and purpose, which is better, but the be-all-you-can-be-a-killing-machine games don't engender much empathy from me. Still, it's all fantasy so I can also just play them and disassociate for the sake of mindless hand-eye coordination exercises.
I have absolutely no problems taking on a temporary role as another gender for gameplay - I care more about the personality being worked, not the gender itself (which helps inform some things, certainly). I played as a gay anthropomorphic protagonist in a futuristic game and found it fun overall, but it didn't challenge or change my real-world sexual orientation or actual humanity
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