Best LGBTQ+ Switch Games

Surely Unpacking should be on the list...

I'm surprised to NOT see Rune Factory 5 in this list?

Very good to see this article show up again.
But I'm worried sick about the comment section being open again.

The fact that articles like this still receive pushback of seething vitriol in the year 2022 proves exactly why we need articles like this ❤️

@Joe-b It's bad that I don't know if your comment is serious or not?

@inenai RF5 likely won’t make it due to the performance/technical issues. Still a good game though and hakama is still patching it.

Murder by Numbers should absolutely not be on the list. The one major gay character, and frankly that’s being generous, is a walking stereotype.

Wow ban hammer out today, miss the days that was rare. Anyway, good list and can’t see anything wrong with having one, although I do think there are spoilers in the thumbnail which isn’t ideal!

Great list and I hope one day the comments section doesn’t always descend into madness.

As a straight male myself I’m not sure why others similar to me find it so difficult to accept other peoples lifestyles and feel the need to be triggered by things that don’t effect them at all.

Live and let live.

The world would be a beautiful peaceful place if we could all become more tolerant to others.

Sorry mods I'll try again. Great list and I love reading everyone's opinions on all the subjects contained within.

@antster1983 how so? I am honestly curious as I stopped playing because it seemed just the life of a heterosexual couple being unpacked and I got bored. Merely because I can’t relate so the theme didn’t hold my attention.

@dartmonkey does that mean that those of us that didn’t have comments removed have lost access to our comments? Because the comment section just got really small. And some comments were suggestions for games that aren’t on this list.

Ouch, so many removed comments! Anyway, have fun with the list if that's your thing.

Please update this to LGBTQIA2S+ so that this represents all the community.

@antster1983 Oh? I didn't realize there was a story beyond the puzzles. Maybe I'll finally check that game out soon.

@ThomastheTankEngine this site is very liberal, forward thinking and open to all. Comments are only removed if they do not line up directly with the views of the staff. This list is like a list of great indies, which shows that triple a games are yet to embrace cultural change in the same way mainstream society has. Good to see indies filling a clear gap in the market!

Just here to support the community and protect everyone's right to find games where they can escape and express themselves. It's one of the most beautiful parts of gaming.

And even better, no one is forcing anyone to play them!

@Ryu_Niiyama I initially thought the same thing about the story, but you've got to make it to the end to see it play out.

Sure, I could do a pacifist run of Undertale so I can learn about the world and lives of the characters contained within, but story is for nerds and genocide is way too much fun. RIP AND TEAR

@ThomastheTankEngine Your comment was purposefully incendiary and it got a reaction. You really shouldn't be surprised.

@Pawsebutton oh, ok. Perhaps I will give it another try. Thank you for this info.

@dartmonkey Sayonara Wild Hearts should be considered for this list (or a future list like it)! It's a wonderful game about navigating the stages of grief and coming out as a better version of ones self at the end. The use of a bi pride color scheme for the entire game makes it clear who the story represents, and the ending has some marvelously heart-warming catharsis.

Gregg from Night in the Woods is my spirit animal.

If I ever make a game, I promise the main character will be in a lesbian relationship.

@Ryu_Niiyama You're welcome 😊. I thought it was quite beautiful actually. As someone who cleans & organizes to cope with stress, I really enjoyed the premise of the game too.

@Pawsebutton can't wait to play it!! ❤️

i find it hard to be open about my part in the lgbt community with others, but it does warm my heart to see representation like this slowly branch out as tough as it may be for some. reaching a point where people wont fuss about these kinda things in games is one i hope we can reach

Eastward should be added to the list. Alva and Isabel are in what appears to be a romantic relationship.

I downloaded "Freezer pops" it's a gay dating sim, that I can download on my Nintendo.. I love that this is something I can do now! 😂❤️

(thanks for the heads up on that one! 😁)

@TheBigK That's how I played Undertale. I slaughtered everyone and only spared two or three characters. My friend still hasn't forgiven me for doing that.

It's great that this article is starting to recur annually; LGBTQ+ is a huge social issue in today's world and one that urgently needs the spreading of ideas to be solved.
If you don't like stuff like this, kindly don't comment.

Sea Bed, OshiRabu, Sweet Kiss is Sweet and Tender

@KateGray & Nintendo Life, thank you for this article! I deeply appreciate it; as a transgender, lesbian woman; who is finally living the life she was meant to live, at 45 years old. 🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈 In a cis & hetero-normative world, it warms my heart to know about games like Celeste, and that we do matter enough to have a place in gaming.

I’ve heard so much about it, but was turned off hearing of the difficulty level. I don’t have the time, or mental energy for “NES hard” these days. To know that the protagonist is trans herself, however, puts the game in a new light, and I’m considering getting it to celebrate Pride month! I’m wondering if Maddie’s difficult journey is symbolic of the uphill climb trans, and lgbt individuals, face in everyday life? It sounds like Maddie is me, battling depression & self esteem issues, from a lifetime of dysphoria & the feeling of living in the wrong body! 💖

Growing up, the closest I could come to having representation of myself was playing as Chun-Li, Princess Peach, Samus, et al. I never dreamt that one day I’d be able to live this openly, or have a character I could play as and say with joy: “Hey, that’s me!” 🥰🏳️‍⚧️ Thank you again, for remembering & thinking of LGBT, BLT, etc. gaymers! 😆🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🥓💖

Remember guys and gals, this is a Nintendo website....if you need to get anything off your chest, try Reddit or something. Mainly eyeing the removed comments lol

That being said I didn’t know more than half of these games had gay relationships and such. Undertale and Celeste surprised me the most! See devs? Gay is popular lmfao

NINJA APPROVED

Here we all go again!!!! This time I will be viewing everything said here.

I caved for murder by numbers, it's currently 4 bucks. Is a detective game, with picross puzzles and music by the composer of ace attorney and ghost trick... And now you're telling me it's 🏳️‍🌈?!

Those are basically all my exact niche interests in one! 😂😍

@EvilRegal I am unbelievably proud of you, and so happy that you're here to share your story ❤️

Yes, Murder by numbers !

@Z-Core I’d love to see Aerith & Tifa become a Final Fantasy lesbian power couple, and freeze Cloud out of that love triangle! Maybe Mr. Strife will find romance with Jessie… and deeply reflect on how wonderful being in a dress felt! And thus, Lightning was born! 😆🏳️‍⚧️

Chicory and Ikenfell have been on my “must get around to that eventually” list for some time. Too many games, too little time 😭😭

@EvilRegal I love this! 😂❤️

@CharlieGirl Thank you so much for the beautiful words & support, Charlie!!! 😄🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈 I haven’t posted much here at NL for a long time, and I think this has been a mental block in this & many areas of life, because coming out is difficult.

@garfreek Thank you for the love! 💖🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈

@EvilRegal Thank you for sharing your story. I'm very happy video games have become more inclusive and representative, despite how slow of a slog it has been to get there.

@RetroWarrior Did someone hold a gun to your head and tell you to read the story? If the topic isn't of interest to you, don't read it. There are dozens of other stories on Nintendolife that don't discuss this that might be more to your liking.

@EvilRegal You are absolutely welcome here, and I'm so honoured that you enjoyed this piece! It's the least I can do as the B of the BLT 😅

And if you need any other recommendations about trans or lesbian characters in games, let me know. There are loads, they're just not all on the Switch!

Homophobes will never win.

@__Link__ Oh, I'm sorry. Were straight people marginalized in our society? I must've missed the memo.

@EvilRegal I think certain “fan art” websites have that topic covered lmfao <3

@Stocksy

Tolerance goes both ways, but unfortunately, a lot of those who clamor for it aren't always willing to put it back in. As a person of faith, I have a more traditional view of gender and marriage. But, I also know I can't force my religion down anyone's throat (doing so usually just makes them resent it more), and I don't condone anyone who harasses others or throws gay slurs at people because of how they identify.

I'm personally not that interested in seeing my Christian faith reflected in the games I play; that's always been a pretty taboo thing since the inception of video games as a medium. Nintendo always would try to shy away from religious references in their games, and stuff that evoked that kind of imagery never made it stateside. Which is fine, but on the off chance a game with religious themes is released, I hate how overwhelmingly negative the portrayal often is. Like that fighting game about gods where one of the playable characters is a depiction of a crucified Jesus. Or The Binding of Isaac, which is themed around a psychopathic religious zealot who believes God is ordering her to kill her child.

Such depictions have created an incredibly negative stigma surrounding Christianity. I can't tell you how much of a toll it used to take on my mental health when every day on Facebook, Twitter, etc. I would see comment after comment of people saying "religion is the cause of every war," "imagine believing in fairy tales about an invisible sky daddy," "they're all a bunch of racist, homophobic cultists," "every pastor is a m*lest*r," etc. It hurts, I'm not gonna lie. I spent a long time living with guilt and shame about, and it took a year of therapy and finally medication for me to love myself again.

I'd never wish harm on any gay person; whether or not my views aline with theirs, I would still welcome them to sit at my dinnertable. Whether they would offer me the same courtesy in return, I cannot always say. I understand that for many people--especially LGBT+ individuals--they probably had a very traumatic religious experience. But harassing every Christian with conservative values, even when they've done nothing to hurt you, is no better.

In recent months, I've taken to Twitter to start expressing my views despite the platform being very Liberal. This began as an exposure exercise encouraged by my therapist to get me to stop being too petrified of cancel culture, doxxing, and harassment to be open and honest about myself and where I come from. I'd love to become a YouTuber someday, but there's always been the looming fear that people will expose me as some kind of bigot because of what I happen to believe in, and all the people who looked up to me will resent me. But I'm not so scared of that anymore. I've spoken with many gay and trans people on Twitter who have shown mutual respect, which is all I could really ask for. It's been an enlightening experience, and I haven't been met with nearly as much hostility for being open about my views as I previously thought. I've still had people call me hurtful names and tell me what an evil person I am. But for every person who does that, there's at least 3 others willing to listen to where I'm coming from and say that even if they disagree with me, they still respect me.

@Cineologist It’s a fair request, though. If all we are interested in is representation, leaving a group out doesn’t make much sense! Include everyone, or your inclusive message falls flat!

NINJA APPROVED

@EvilRegal Y'know I wasn't planning on making a Final Fantasy Fan Game, but now... (joking lol)

@quinnyboy58 Just so you know, the idea of a site being "very liberal, forward thinking and open to all" is diametrically opposed to the removing comments that "do not line up directly with the views of the staff."

@KateGray "It's the least I can do as the B of the BLT" congratulations on coming out as bacon, we still treasure you just the same 😘
/j /lh

@BloodNinja "Leaving a group out". The irony. I'll let you marinate that thought.

I need to get started on "Hades." It's been sitting on my shelf for months. I got it on sale Black Friday.

@Stocksy

2/2

This is what true tolerance looks like. I fear that for all of humanity, it will always be a power struggle where oppressed groups become the oppressors in a viscious and never-ending cycle. But if we truly want to cultivate a world of peace, we have to be willing to hear each other out instead of immediately labeling them evil. Listen to their stories, don't tell anyone their feelings are invalid or that they're coming from a place of privileged fragility or that they're just trying to play the victim card. Everyone's subjective experiences and feelings are important and should always be considered.

Hope the mods don't delete this, as I think it's a deeply important lesson. This is how we bring healing in the midst of so much social and political strife. I love each and every one of you whether your values align with mine or not. Let's be the change and love our neighbors, no matter how different their background is. We all still have more in common than we're willing to admit.

I hope everyone will read my couple of comments, as I think there is valuable information to take away from it. And I welcome hearing from other people's experiences to broaden my own world views. Let's all be patient with each other, open and unafraid to share who we are, but also willing to reflect on our own biases and acknowledge that in this messy thing we call life, there's bound to be growing pains and mistakes made along the way, but that's okay. No one is perfect, and we shouldn't strive to be. Unconditional empathy and kindness is what ultimately matters.

God bless, guys, and much love. We're all in this together. ❤

@kingbk It’s my honor, and thank you for the kind words! I think it’s pretty much in line with all of society. As far as being trans, it was once considered mental illness. But, as it’s gradually being discovered that there are biological reasons for being who we are, we are gradually being viewed as simply normal, everyday human beings. But, I’m not delving into all that, All aspects of life & the arts are catching up with the lgbt community, and treating us as any other group/consumer, including gaming! 😄🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

@CharlieGirl

Yaaaaaas queen.

Wake me when we have a Genderfluid video game character

(I have a heavy bias ok?)

@EvilRegal

I had the same feeling with regards to Uncharted's Nathan Drake (but in my own context of course). Thanks so much for sharing your story.

@Chocobo_Shepherd Question. How are the comments that are removed? Just asking.

No Lord Of The Rings?

Bro A Year of Spring is such a cute little story, highly recommend checking it out, especially since it'a only $5

Don't forget Ace Attorney! Phoenix and Edgeworth are Husbands

@Cineologist There’s no irony, though. Are these the intentions you wish to leave on the world?

I like how all of the LGBT characters in Bugsnax have happy endings, nice to see

@Not_Soos This is actually an interesting comment. I get why religion (christianity among them) is hated by so many people, specially in the LGBT+ community since to this day religion is one of the big reasons why they continue recieving hate. But it is also true that there are religious people that are actually respectful towards LGBT+ people (or, at the very least, actually accept their existence).
I believe that, unless you are actually disrespecful, you could actually fing common ground with LGBT+ people and I'm glad you were able to do just that.

Bless whoever is moderating this thread. There are some real damaged, problematic perspectives out there on this subject. Thank you to Nintendo Life for having the courage to share this information!

@Not_Soos Beautifully written!!

NINJA APPROVED

Thank you for highlighting games that represent! Would love to see more lists highlighting indie creators, creators of different backgrounds, and more to help games and communities get bigger spotlights.

I recently played through The Artful Escape, because I'm a simp for Annapurna games.

While the game wasn't challenging in the least, it was definitely a beautiful sight to behold, with a meanful message behind it.

Trying to tread lightly on spoiler territory, but the plot is about a character feeling pressured into a Folk singer persona that never quite fit who he felt he was. You reach a point where you get to reinvent your look entirely which gives you a range of fashion choices that allows you to look as fem or masc as you see fit.

Once Francis emerges from the literal/metaphorical closet, their confidence finally matches their grandiose vision of the emerging rock star that has eluded him from the start. Its a very trans-friendly message that I didn't even fully grasp my first time through.

@Not_Soos
Out of a loud crowd of "Christians" who spread hate online, I'm glad you see things the way you do. I appreciate you taking your own values and applying them to yourself, rather than forcing onto others. Thank you for actually listening to the Bible saying "love thy neighbor as yourself". It's perfectly okay to set your own rules for yourself via religion and I am thankful that you can love and accept those who don't follow the religion without demanding they adhere to what you follow. LGBTQ+ community is about spreading awareness so hate stops and people get equal rights, not abolishing religion. Nobody will ever be the same as you or me, so we must judge who they are by their actions towards others first and foremost, and not by what they do to themselves. A muslim and a Christian can be best friends while respecting each other. Surely a trans person and a christian can also have the same relationship

@EvilRegal
Thank you for your story, great to hear that you found who you really were!

Would it not be better for the mods to review comments before they’re published (only for certain articles, of course), rather than allow such idiots to post their rubbish and then have them removed, but still leave up a blank comment which is really jarring to see just how many ignorant chumps dwell in this community?

Unpacking!

That game is such a sweetly told story in such a unique and delicate way.

Happy Pride to all!

So brave, thanks NL for making gamers aware of the pride community we don't get enough of these in other medium.

Many great games in this list. Some I might have to give a shot in the future. I might be in the minority here but I don't really like to think of videogame characters as sexual beings. Just like I don't care about the personal lives of my favorite artists and athletes.

Happy pride month
-octokid the Demigirl

I think I have played around 60% of those games listed. Those games are either good or excellent.

Seeing these articles always fills me with joy with how much the gaming community has progressed in regards to LGBTQ+ acceptance and representation! Happy pride month! 🏳️‍🌈

Happy Pride. Great list and more inclusivity in games is always welcomed. As a disabled gamer I always enjoy seeing wheelchair users in games.

@MisterMan Personally, as an autstic man I find characters with autistic traits to be entertainingly recognizable and relatable but I can do without the on the nose 'This person is autistic!' tropes.

As a straight male, I enjoyed Celeste. It was simply a (extremely hard) engaging game.
But it's the kind of game I'd only play once in order to not lose my sanity thanks to it's difficulty.
Didn't know the character was supposedly trans and I don't care to be honest, as long as I enjoyed the game that's all I care about.

Here's hoping bans are going handed out to the people making homophobic comments. There's no place for that here, full stop.

@nintey_cola Do you also complain about the games with straight relationships? Highly doubt it, but go off.

Does Rune Factory 5 qualify? I think that one is a good option.

@Thief Honestly, unpopulair opinion these days it seems, I find relationships in game of the interactive kind, like in games like Dragon age or mass effect, fallout etc. to be very very cringe inducing.
It's so bad that my autistic ass is even like: "people do not interact like that!"
and I mostly do not bother with any of them/ can do without them.
Or I play as a raging lesbian ... but that's a different story...

Happy Pride, everyone! I love this list, and I would also like to submit the wonderfully-written and super sweet Rune Factory 5 for consideration. The localization team at XSEED brought important representation to one of my favorite series (Story of Seasons/Rune Factory) and two decades after I first experienced the magic of farming and dating in HM64, I was able to add a hubby to my humble ranch--just like I added one to my home IRL. (Yes, I did get a little misty-eyed at both weddings.) 🥰

@jowe_gw Probably mostly tame and/or expressing non-trendy opinions and facts.

(Might not even be safe saying this much.)

This is a good list of high quality indie games many of which I have enjoyed and played. None of the ones I've played screamed "LGBTQ+ game" to me, more like a game that would appeal to everyone that happens to have a wide range of relationships in, ones that I would argue are just parts of life.

I have a genuine and well intentioned question, and I see many people in these comments (and the author themself) who's comments and opinions I enjoy and respect so manybe someone can help me understand?

Firstly, I should probably state that I'm a cis het male, white and live and work between London, Paris, LA, NYC and Toronto, all fairly liberal and progressive areas I suppose. I'm relatively well off and work in the entertainment industry. I don't venture much outside of those areas or social groups tbh, so I don't experience large extreme religious communities who may be more offended by supposedly "alternative" relationships. I have many friends, colleagues and relatives who are all shades of the rainbow, and I myself am often mistaken for being gay because of my mannerisms, so I understand homophobia and predudice to an extent. TW, Homophobic violence, for context: I was once (in the 90s) nearly beaten to death by a stranger who in the court case used the excuse of "I thought he was gay". Grr. I was going to drop charges before that point, but after that I changed my mind!

I've produced many films, and worked on literally hundreds over the years. Most of them in the early days were very low budget independent films that went straight to VHS/DVD/Streaming depending on the year. As you may imagine, there are hundreds of relatively small distribution companies who buy them, many warehouse/wholesaler companies who buy them wholesale, and many retailers who then buy pallets of assorted films - like a cheap shop/garage/bestbuy or whatever don't buy 1000 copies of an individual indie move, they buy 1000 assorted films, not caring what they are. Its the same for streaming platforms who buy slates of at least 5 difference indie films at a time, its not worth their time to negotiate deals for less.

These films, both when bought in bulk, and when individually bought by a distributor, are always classified by genre. Horror. Action. Crime. Romance. Comedy. Family. Animation. etc. To me, as an "artist" these are often frustratingly vague, as if you make something too original or artsy, there is less interest to sell it and you'll get far less wholesale orders, and companies don't know how to sell them. Of course many films mix these simple genres - a romcom can sell to both romance and comedy pallettes, for example, so can be twice as profitable if you make it fit into the easy to label boxes.

But here's the thing I've never understood: There is a separate genre. "Gay Interest" (which I guess is an archaic way to say LGBTQ+). It doesn't matter if we've made the goriest horror film, the sweetest romance, the most foul mouthed gangster movie, or an animated kids puppy cartoon. If there is a single character in the whole ensemble who is in any way LGBTQ+, even if they are only on screen for a couple of minutes and don't even kiss let alone anything further, its instantly labelled "Gay Interest" and none of the other labels will be attached to it.

(pt2) To be very clear: I'm not talking about film where the only characters are LGBTQ+, the main plot point is about their relationship, and there is much kissing or "love scenes", like Brokeback Mountain, or a film specifically about the struggles of a gay character to be accepted, or love themselves etc. I understand why this is its own genre, and many people who wouldn't consider themselves to be homophobic might not be interested in this media. In fact, I even produced, shot and edited a very arthouse "lesbian film" that won many awards at LGBTQ+ genre festivals, and while its one of the things I'm most proud of artistically, it was specifically made for that target audience. (The reason I as a straight male did it was I was asked as a favour by a good friend of mine who's lesbian, as apparantly I was the right person for that specific job, and I took the responsibility very seriously and had many lesbian people help with it, and of course I didn't write the script!). These are obviously not the types of films I'm talking about. Simply, an otherwise generic mainstream cookie-cutter horror, comedy, thriller etc can be "written off" as "Gay Interest"-only by having very minor characters or plot points involving an LGBTQ+ character.

My confusion is, surely its really patronising to assume that only gay people want to watch a film with gay characters... (I'm straight and have watched several specifically gay films and loved them. I don't have to see myself reflected on screen to empathise witha character!). Its surely also non-sensical to think that just because gay people enjoyed a horror film with a gay character they'll enjoy a romcom with one, or vice-versa simply because there are gay characters?

I worry that by pidgeonholing things as "this is an LGBTQ+ film" its actually counter productive because it means straight audiences are less likely to see it (not through predudice but because it won't be shown or recomended to them) and equally that it makes people in the LGBTQ+ communities want to rally around it and make it "theirs" and then media becomes segregated and exclusionary, which could emphasise differences and encourage anger/indignance from both sides - which we see online all the time, including in this article's comments.

I can't help but feel that the way to actually help heal the rift and bring exceptance and true equality for everyone is to just normalise showing reality in movies by including LGBTQ+ characters where it makes sense, and propotionately to how common they are IRL, and not make a big deal about it, and make sure they are real characters and not token stereotypes to tick a box, whose only characteristic is "the gay one" or only plot point is "the one who's bullied" etc.

Any of the above equally applies to "Black" media, which is another "genre" that makes little sense to me but I've had movies that are considered "too black" for a mainstream audience, and there are distributors and networks who specifically only by "black" films. Again, I kinda feel like this leads to more segregation and feelings of difference or resentment between groups. Before I worked in film I was in the music industry as a producer and ghost-writer for Hip-Hop and RnB and you wouldn't believe how much of that is ultra rich white people picking poor black kids up and telling them to fit a certain stereotype to sell music to make profit for the higher ups. A lot of it was specifically designed to increase tension between groups and make both sides scared of each other and proud of their own community, in order to support it by buying things. As soon as I got successful enough to pull back the curtain I got out of that world.

(pt3) Of course, all of the above applies to games too. There are many great games in this list. But they are extremely varied in genre and style and the vast majority of them would not have even slightly occured to me as "LGBTQ+ game"... I worry that labelling them as such might turn people off, assuming its going to be a huge in your face main feature (rather than a natural subtle inclusion that probably wouldn't have bothered them)... and also that inversely, assuming that LGBTQ+ people will automatically want to play any game regardless just because they are "represented" for a few minutes could be patronising or even lead to more "left vs right" "progressive vs conservative" labelling and make groups of people feel further apart rather than closer?

Again, I very much like and respect Kate and many of the people in this comment section and I'm not criticising, just trying to understand.

I feel that many of the people who might seem homophobic when responding in a knee-jerk kind of way, are actually people who have probably played or enjoyed Celeste, Undertale, Stardew Valley, Spirit Farer, etc. and didn't get angry or offended or label them as "woke". They are simply good games and the fact there are some LGBTQ+ characters without it being the defining feature of the game is precisely the way to normalise things and stop people getting angry when real relationships of all shapes and sizes are represented in media. Perhaps this anger at something being labelled in such a reductive way (often associated with tokenism or fake-wokeness exploited by corporations or for political points) is the same reason we saw people getting irrationally angry under the "wholesome" threads?

@Chocobo_Shepherd it was an intentional oxymoron

@samuelvictor "surely its really patronising to assume that only gay people want to watch a film with gay characters."
To be quite honest? I want that. I prefer media (films, books, comics, games, etc) that focus on gay and/or trans characters. My girlfriend feels similarly. My closest friends do, too. And certainly the majority of my friends and acquaintances both online and in the real world. The prevailing logic is: for years, decades even, we've been force-fed the attitude that people like us are the "other." We're the "alternative." Were treated as background players and comedy relief. We want to see ourselves as the main characters in media, because we've been force-fed the idea that we can't be. Even though we deserve to be.

"it makes sense, and propotionately to how common they are IRL, and not make a big deal about it, and make sure they are real characters."
The problem is, there are a lot of people in the day-to-day world that don't see us as real people, let alone real character potential. There's still a big deal made about representation because it still is a big deal. Gay and trans people are still fighting an uphill battle for equal treatment, and that battle is far from over. So until it is, it (sadly) stands to reason that there is still a rift between those who deserve to be seen, and those who don't want to see us. (I, realistically, do not see things getting better in that regard anytime soon.)

@aughra no it hasn’t. It’s not turned into anything. It’s about having characters and stories that are different. As a white straight male I’ve recently been watching some classic TV shows I grew up with… things like “cHips” (on forces TV in U.K. if anyone cares) and Noticed how 95% of the characters were the same race and gender. It was really noticeable. For years movies and TV shows didn’t tell varied stories from different perspectives. It’s difficult to understand if it’s stories about similar experiences to yours. You can’t just dismiss this. It’s fact. Just meaningful female characters have taken long enough to come along.

This isn’t about labels. This is about stories and feeling accepted and belonging. Represented. I’m not sure why anyone is against that. Don’t like - plenty of games feature other stories.

@garfreek Could you tell me where you can get it for 4 bucks? Thanks!

@Not_Soos Soos! That's a + point any day!

As you mentioned, a lot of people have had a lot of horrible experiences with religion and faith. (There's a lot of people thrown out or hurt in the name of the lord. Rights taken away, people picketing at gay funerals saying they deserved it... That's where those comments come from. )

And I think that's such a shame! I feel this is a small portion of people who totally have misunderstood our lord. The guy who ripped his own clothes to help someone, who never turned his back on anyone in need or anyone who was othered by the rest of society.... And they're saying that man will condemn me for loving someone?! I don't feel that. I feel my faith as warm, accepting of others and being open. (And I've got the degree in catholicism to prove it!)

So thanks for being understanding, thanks for showing us not every Christian is the same, that there are areas in between. And I hope I can show you the same about my group. 😉

@TeamRocket47 on the E-shop, right now! 😁 Just finished downloading and I can't wait to start!

Good list, I'd add Unsighted, and TimeSpinner which are both very good games and heavily lgbtq

Straight guy who doesn't have a horse in this race but I'm glad to see lists like this reminding people where they can find representation of themselves and loved ones who identify as LGBTQ+.

Sad to see all the comments removed here.
Remember: freedom of speech is not freedom from consequences. You don't have a politically or morally enshrined right to make people feel weak or minimised.

@dartmonkey I appreciate the reset as I believe some people's views were misrepresented last time. I do wonder though if it is better to remove comments entirely rather than to let everyone know they are removed. I often see people commenting on the removal of comments as opposed to the article itself.

Either remove the comments entirely with name and all, or have an "unhide" button so we can check what was said (but then people might disagree so maybe just remove entirely).

Like before I suggest Binding of Isaac for this list. There is a lot to be said about self identity and the battle people face, particularly if you have very christian parents. Every character you play as is Isaac himself, be it male or female. It's a game about identity that everyone can relate to

Edit: There's also a pride day challenge. In my opinion there is more representation than a lot of other games on this list

@Not_Soos what you are describing and your attitude is perfect summary of free speech. Unfortunately many that hold views slightly more extreme than you but on a similar path use hate speech and do not understand the principles of free speech. This intolerance can be found on both sides. I’m a centralist who believes everyone can be who they want to be including religion.

I believe education is important. You often read about people saying cancel culture is cancelling anyone who isn’t “woke” it’s nonsense. A persons views and the way they air them may cut down on their earning potential or it might increase it - see Tucker Carlson - If cancel culture was a thing like it’s made out to be Tucker Carlson and Nigel Farage would not be earning money for airing their views.

Unfortunately everyone online gets abuse if they put details about themselves and their views. No one is safe.

I’ve been hounded for having a disabled daughter. I’ve been hounded for my football team. I don’t do social media now and tbh today was the first time I’ve commented on here for while after my treatment here.

I protect my own mental health at all costs. If something bothers me. I step away. I complained here and got a staff reply but I deleted without reading because I wasn’t in the right place to read it. So I stepped away.

Online is a horrible place for everyone is my honest opinion. Others get it worse than me. I’m not cheapening their experience. I’m just saying sometimes online presence just isn’t worth it whatever you beliefs, background etc.

@garfreek Must be part of the Europe Sale. (Live in USA) Thanks regardless!

@Plipi I can't believe I forgot about Unsighted! I haven't played it yet as I'm waiting for the physical edition from Limited Run Games. But I know that it's a game created by two Brazilian trans fems, and I think it's so, so important that Nintendo gave it a chance to shine on Switch!

I don’t mind what’s in my games as long as they’re fun to play. Just like my movies and tv shows and books. Entertainment is what I seek to spend some time away from this rough world we live in.

A game with a variety of relationship types or gender identities is fine with me. Just like it should be in real life too. 🤷‍♂️

@kingbk That and John is a PANsexual. OK I'll see myself out

My wife and I had a girlfriend in common(for 5 years). My wife is bisex and it´s nice to see characters that show it in games!

Seabed should be on the list.
Not really for the list but Gun gun pixies is also a great game with yuri vibes.

Of the games on the list, Undertale is a great, cute game. Not really my sense of humor.

Want Bugsnax

Don't really like Monster prom if its the same as the Steam game also named Monster prom.

@LittleGhost Ok, that made me LOL a little.

Also, I'd add Outer Worlds to the list. That's on Switch and one of the main characters is a lesbian.

@Stocksy

I used to be in a very similar place as you where I just couldn't deal with toxic internet discourse and all the negative press you see in the news 24/7. It was taking a serious toll on my mental health. I never shared my beliefs on Twitter or Facebook or any internet forum, and even on Nintendo Life, I only ever used to comment dumb, meaningless posts that no one would take offense to. I even worried about making people mad at me because of my gaming opinions.

But like I said in my original post, the whole reason I started opening up in the first place is because it was an exposure exercise my therapist encouraged me to undertake. Basically, the idea was to subject myself to online scrutiny and harsh criticism and learn to de-sensitize myself to it. Now, what works for one person may not work for others--I used to suffer from debilitating obsessive-compulsive disorder so badly that I became agoraphobic. I had anxiety or panic attacks every single day, I hardly left my home, I didn't drive, and I didn't feel able to work a job. The treatment for OCD is very different from how many other people with depression/anxiety are treated, so don't take this as a surefire way to help you. But I've learned that having trigger warnings, safe spaces and the like really do enable a person's mental issues with unhealthy coping mechanisms known as avoidance behaviors. It isn't just old conservatives bellyaching that our kids today are too soft--there's science to back the idea that facing one's triggers is the best way to overcome them.

With that said, I think we could all use a little less social media in our lives. I don't want to downplay how mentally draining it can be, even on a person with no psychological disorders. So if you think you're better off just cutting it out of your life cold-turkey, then more power to you. But if you miss having more of an online presence but worry your nerves won't be able to handle it, maybe do some research on effective methods of performing "exposure and response prevention" therapy where you start small and gradually boost your tolerance to the discomfort social media brings you.

I hope you are in a better state of mind these days, and I'm sorry to hear people made fun of your daughter. I'll be praying for the wellbeing of the both of you.

@Not_Soos Thank you for your thoughtful post. I know there are Christians like you in the world, the "live and let live" types, but I wish there were way more than there are out there.

I used to consider myself a pretty religious person. Born and raised Catholic, went to Catholic schools, did bible studies, but I left religion about 10 years ago when all the hypocrisy, bigotry and "us vs. them" divisive nature became too much for me.

I know some wonderful people that are religious, and I know some truly awful people that are as well. You seem to be in the former, so thank you for that.

Based on this article, all games that have same-sex gender romance would make the list. That’s a bit misleading because very, very few games are actually having explicit LGBTQ+ characters and/or situations.

The gaming industry, because of the trolling and fake backlash from a handful of vocal homophobes, is still hundreds of years behind what is expected from it.

@Not_Soos Just over 50% of Christians think homosexuality should be accepted, 99.9% of gay people think heterosexuality should be accepted.

So the framing of this "Tolerance goes both ways, but unfortunately, a lot of those who clamor for it aren't always willing to put it back in" is way off. Gay people are just mean to you for a thing you've chosen for yourself. Christians don't want gay people to marry, have kids, or exist, for the way they were born.

Christianity, and religion in general, has caused, and continues to cause, a lot of hurt and harm, and until christianity changes and offers the tolerance to others, I can't blame others for having an intolerant view on religion.

A good way to determine whether the anger is misplaced, or if it is you that's wrong. Just ask yourself "Would I allow this person all the same rights that I believe I should have myself?, if the answer if "yes", then you are good. If you are saying "no" or something like "well, you can exist, but I want to be able to marry but I don't want you to", then you are probably asking for it.

@CharlieGirl Thank you, I'm glad you responded. I've often seen and "liked" your comments on here and often wanted to tag you and say that I agree, but in the context of the threads it didn't seem necessary and didn't want to annoy you, or incite others who were disagreeing to flame you and other more, so I just comment similar feelings in a more neutral way without taking sides. But I feel like I have learned certain things from some of your coments over the years, so I'm glad you replied.

I 100% understand that you prefer media that has a big focus on gay and/or trans characters, and having those kinds of things being front and center helps feelings of representation, and is a very valid genre all itself in a way. This is what I was alluding to with my mentioning that a non-homophobic person who doesn't mind or even likes inclusive media might have little interest in, say, Brokeback Mountain, or my lesbian arthouse film I mentioned. Thats totally cool and your point about redressing the balance is something that I am very aware of.

But am I to understand from that inference that games I mentioned, and that are in this article, like Undertale, Stardew Valley, Spirit Farer etc are not your preference, because the LGBTQ+ elements are not the main focus? Or do you also like more mainstream widely popular things having these elements be subtley included and not pushed to the front? Whilst I very much see the comfort in feeling part of a group (and I happily celebrate Pride with friends and relative despite being straight myself, and regularly stick up for Trans rights in interviews and on social media even though I always get a tonne of stupid backlash on Twitter) I would hope that the ultimate goal is equality and normalisation, so I as someone in the media who nowadays is working on much bigger more mainstream products feel that the way forward is to produce more media that just incorporates gay, trans etc characters as part of the overall ensemble and make sure that the (presumed straight) characters just accept them and don't question it or joke about it etc.

@CharlieGirl (pt2)
To be slightly selfish and use a real world example of mine, my current big project is a pretty big Superhero movie (which also has a comic book series, videogame, and several MCU style sequels/spinoffs planned) which I've been developing since 2014 and is due to be unveiled at London Comic Con this November.

The two main characters are a typical male macho hero, who in his mind is definitely the "good guy" and does a lot of good, but he starts of with some fairly derogatory ideas about women, simplistic ideas about certain political ideologies etc... he's kinda been brainwashed by the pressure to fit an alpha-male sterotype and is the kind of uber patriotic "don't question the government" kind of traditional Superman/Captain America archetype. Secretly he has many insecurities, had a hard childhood, some big mental health issues that he hides, and is probably neurodiverse (I myself am IRL) and the hero alter ego, the suit, the mask, how he presents to the public is actually all one big character he tried to force/mould himself into in order to feel "good enough" and be be accepted by society. His more toxic traights are actually more about his own insecurities than actual hatred, he tells himself lies about the way the world is as a cope. I see a lot of "Red Pill" in him.

He meets a female-presenting character (who is actually non-binary and a-sexual, though they never states this directly and its slowly alluded to over the course of the film and comics, and detailled further is a later pre-quel and sequels). They are also a superhero, but very much the opposite of him - they don't wear a bright costume and take pictures in the press, or promote her good deeds on social media, feeling its better to do good deeds privately and not take credit for them, doing them to make the world better rather than for personal glory. They are more "woke" and left leaning in many of their ideologies, mostly in a good way, but sometimes to the point of being unrealistic and nieve, or just being angry at the world because they feel rejected, and can sometimes act in a stereotypical "man-hating extreme feminist" way. Again, they have had a very difficult growing up and we see elements of how their world view was shaped and how they became who they are.

Of course, the heroes are very different and to begin with completely antagonise and wind each other up. The audience can (hopefully) see that both of them are good, but flawed people, who are at extremes. Over the course of the film, they are forced to work together against a greater enemy and for a bigger cause, and they learn to like and respect each other, and their more extreme/toxic elements become softenned, and in learning to work together despite their differences they become better people and also happier as they understand the world more and don't see 50% of people as "the enemy" or people to be judged purely for the flaws which may have a deeper underlying cause. And NO, they don't fall in love and kiss at the end. That would be ridiculous and offensive and you would not believe how many time I've had to argue with higher up producers that thats not what "the female audience will want". Grr.

When summarised like that, it sounds almost like a very "woke" film or "pushing an agenda" but its really not. Those aren't the main plot points, more the underlying emotional tone of their character arc. Its a big Hollywood style popcorn blockbuster with lots of action, lots of jokes, an irreverant Deadpoolish style, and probably a lot which would be considered fairly un-PC by people looking to be offended rather than understand that the characters progress over time and thats the point.

@CharlieGirl (pt3)
So, that's a non-binary a-sexual lead character (though its not immediately stated) and there are 2 smaller but significant characters in the world that happen to be played by trans actors, as well as gay, lesbian and bi characters within the world, at a percentage that I consider to be representative and realistic, amongst straight characters. Of course, all body types, races, ages etc are represented healthily too - its a big New York style American inner city, that's just how society is IRL, so thats what I want to reflect!

I'm hoping that the balance is as such that (similar to something like Stardew / Undertale) a more mainstream audience, plus the "bro" audience, including people like 4chan/9gag/reddit people who hate "woke" ideology, or young men looking for direction such as followers of Jordan Peterson or Red Pill teenagers will still be able to enjoy it, find the jokes funny, the action cool, and by the end of it, they might even like the main male character a bit better when his views and actions become more nuanced. And the more left leaning and diverse ranges of minorities feel not only represented, but accepted and welcome in the world of the film/comic/game, which is hopefully widely expanding to become a franchise where those characters can develop and flourish and become fan favourites with ALL audiences.

Does that sound like something that fits into your preferences of seeing more mainstream representation in bigger "Hollywood" style media? I'm genuinely interested. The one thing I have no idea about yet is if our film will be labelled as "Hollywood Woke Propaganda" by the extreme right, or "Offensive! Take him out of context and cancel him!" by the extreme left. I feel perhaps the most likely result is both, which is kind of sad, as it shows how both sides are so tribally divided and can't meet in the middle. I'm hoping to help slowly move towards bridging the gap, doing what little I can.

@Richnj "Just ask yourself "Would I allow this person all the same rights that I believe I should have myself?, if the answer if "yes", then you are good. If you are saying "no"..."

I have seen a lot of vitriol from (for lack of a better term) left people towards people with somewhat conservative values(vice versa too but the consesus is they are already the badguys).
Your sentiment is correct though, as the Jesus said: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."
But a lot of people do not apply this when they get emotional or angry.

@samuelvictor "But am I to understand from that inference that games I mentioned, and that are in this article, like Undertale, Stardew Valley, Spirit Farer etc are not your preference, because the LGBTQ+ elements are not the main focus?"
Not necessarily. It's not that Spirtfarer or Undertale are not my preference, as those are both games that appeal to me and the LGBT content in them is a great bonus. It's more like, I would go out of my way to search for and play something like Sayonara Wild Hearts, or If Found, or We Should Talk, or Yurivania (an itch io game), or etc etc etc. Whereas in the case of a game where LGBT representation is something that just so happens to be in a game, rather than an advertised bullet point, I'd be less likely to actively search for such a game.

"Or do you also like more mainstream widely popular things having these elements be subtley included and not pushed to the front?"
Oh, I absolutely want LGBT elements pushed to the front. In every medium.

You forgot the IA you're now cancelled lol

@BlubberWhale I mean... I don't know. I myself saw some of those comments before they were deleted and... oof. Like, the first one I saw was "oh, cool, a list with the worse Switch games!" which... I don't think is very constructive at least.

@khululy Yeah, I'm obliviously not religious, but "do unto others" has always been solid advice.

@Richnj I wouldn't blame a religion for causing harm. People are always at the helm, and serve the choice, in the end. The tools they choose to harm or help is besides the point. My advice: put more focus on the people rather than the tool, (religion, in this example) and you'll notice that the main comparison is that there is always a sociopath in a leadership position, and THAT is the cause of the problem, not the religion or other tool. That can happen anywhere, and is not strictly limited to religion.

@Richnj I think the "tolerance should be both ways" is more along the lines of respecting each other. Like, christians respecting LGBT+ people and LGBT+ people respecting christians. Obviously, people from the LGBT+ community respect people from the LGBT+ community like... of course. Just like christians respect christians. Their point was of mutual respect.
But I get your point and I myself mentioned it before. It makes sense that a big group of LGBT+ people hate religion when the majority of attacks to them come from there. I think the idea there is to also consider that there are religious people that do accept LGBT+ people and it's wrong to assume that's not the case. Even with the numbers you mentioned, 50% is not insignificant. And even if the percentage is like 40% or 30%, that is a significant amount of people. And maybe mutual respect could actually increase the number of christian supporters towards LGBT+ topics.
But, like I said, I get it...

@KateGray Could I suggest a game? I’m not sure if it would count since it’s not present that much in the game itself.

@CharlieGirl Thanks for clarifying! So, for a straight person working for a mainstream mass audience but wanting to be a good ally and help reduce repdudice and bring people together, my approach seems the way forward? It wouldn't make a lot of sense (and could so easily be accidentally patronising!) for me to write and direct a 100% "gay interest" film (I even had reservations about producing shooting and editing that lesbian film, but once my friend begged me to help, I did my research, hired the right people and made sure I did the very best job I could). But similarly, it feels wrong and even unrealistic to create a project set in the modern day real world and not populate it with as diverse and representative cast of characters and faces as possible, and I do a lot of research and bring in consultants to make sure its done in the most helpful way possible without accidentally reducing things to sterotypes or tokenism to gain "woke points" or something.

I know I typed a LOT (I do that, sorry) but I'd be interested your feelings on the character and plot outline I gave above, its something I've been working on for 8 years now and getting it financed and approved without removiing all of the diversity was a huge uphill struggle, but I personallythink its worth it as it adds a lot of meaning to an otherwise fun but fluffy popcorn flick, of which there are so many they become forgettable. I'd like it if it touched some people, made some people on both sides feel seen, and hopefully soften some of the more spiky edges and makes us all see each other as people and allys again. Even if 99.9% of the audience will just laugh at the jokes and coo at the explosions

I think my main point/question was that this kind of list (or labelling a film as "gay interest"!) could mean that more subtle inclusion which should be encouraged and become the norm over time, end up getting disregarded by people who assume that to be called that it must be extreme niche stuff that isn't for them, and that labelling things this way can irrationally anger people who wouldn't have been angray at the game/film itself and would probably have enjoyed them. Its a thing I worry about a lot, in creating media, because its a responsibility I feel to try and help, not enflame.

@relinqued What an edgy joke you have there. I hope you are proud

(joke comment)

@xDeckardx nice profile pic 👌🏻

160+ comments and no one has mentioned the “hidden gem” of this list ?!😱

Awesome list! As a bi male, it’s always great to see LGBTQ+ representation in games. The next mainline Fire Emblem game could maybe learn a thing or two from the games on this list…

@theberrage what is it?! What's the hidden gem?! (Or is it all of them? 😂😁) My current guess is night in the woods. And on a hiden-ner streak: murder by numbers!

@CharlieGirl yeah it's so very good!

@Z-Core The new Saints Row basically has a genderfluid main character. You can change your entire look and character customization at any point you feel like doing it.

Did not expect this one back. Cheers to the mods for even attempting to tackle this. Pride should be a month of protest and the bile spewed here shows it.

@Not_Soos okay, so for you it's more an alpha and omega thing. The comment about the plug and the socket.

I must say living with a sibling for a while really was a blessing. We both took up some of the things that needed to be done, but we did it according to our strengths. Things that someone said are male, or female, just turned into "stuff that needs to be done.." that's how my sister is the carpenter, and I clean the house. But I put the spiders out while she decorates the house.

That's what a good lgbt+ relationship is like too. Getting in sync. With each other. Being there not because you're the man, but because you want to help your partner. I think some straight families could learn from that dynamic. To show actual mutual respect for each other. (And then the other can still fetch slippers when they're home earlier! 😊😁)

@Bret You can also do that in WoW now, I just see it as a feature though, not so much a form of representation but you could see it that way if you feel so inclined.

Is there an article explaining why that is? Now I'm interested....

@samuelvictor From a fan to a creator, I want to say: any inclusion is better than none. If you start with 0, you can't divide by 0, you can't multiply by 0.
"Tokenism" can be improved upon. Imperfect representation can be improved upon.
Flawed representation opens the door to a discussion on how to improve it. Flawed representation can inspire other creators to go "that was good, but I can do it better. Heck, flawed representation can inspire people who aren't creators to become creators!
Representation of any kind is a net win, that can move visibility forward, and in turn move marginalized people off the sidelines and into the foreground in the real world.

And, for the record, I'm off the school of thought that says: "if you're making bigoted people angry, then you're doing something right."

@CharlieGirl Thank you! Thats reassuring and helpful. I agree with everything you just said but its nice to hear someone who's more deeply involved with that side of things say what I already thought. Because its something thats important to me (to the point I have fought tooth and nail for years for it and recieved several budget cuts, salary reductions etc as I wouldn't budge) I think my primary fear is making something well intentioned but getting it wrong and the very people I am trying to help and include don't like it. I've learned over the years that being openly on the left (as I always have been to some extent) can be a scary place as even the most progressive of people can get "cancelled" over the seemingly tiniest thing, often for well intentioned mistakes or just not knowing something only someone deep in the culture would know.

Contrapoints has made some great videos showing all the different infighting between groups of people who should be on each others side. And she herself has been "cancelled" numerous times and is considered controversial by some. But she has helped SO many predudiced people become less so over time by explaining things in an entertaining way that everyone can understand, so I deeply admire that. I was never predudiced but her videos have very much helped me understand certain nuances I didn't previously.

My gut instinct is to just make the art I want to make, with the intentions that I know are good, and hope that even if it makes some people angry, others will find it helpful. And I really like your point that even if I did it "wrong" in some people's eyes, the mere fact I tried and it got an audience could inspire others to do it again, but "better" in their eyes. I love that. I want progress.

@Not_Soos I've been interested in your previous replies, but let's please not get onto our personal porn habits on a gaming site for all ages. TMI my guy

I honestly am one of those people that groans a little when the representation is a bit too much 'in your face' about it, because it feels less like a character being themselves and more like a game trying real hard to show how progressive it is. Where it feels more like you stick a label to someone because you know what audience it will attract than because you thought it over. Those games sadly exist for a reason, I just notice myself enjoying it less when it comes up.

That's why games like Wandersong, Celeste, Coffee talk and Undertale feel like the kind of LGBTQ I always like seeing. They just... are. Madeline being trans gives extra context to her struggles, but any non-LGBTQ person can relate just as well too. The bard being non-binary hardly closes any doors either in terms of enjoying the game either and those that feel more represented that way can enjoy it even more so! Coffee talk just has people being people and they don't have to verbally mention a sexuality, you just see possible relationships form and you think 'those two go well together!' regardless of anything else. I guess I just like it when a character gets room to breathe instead of it feeling like the extension of an argument for acceptance. As someone who has already long accepted that love is love no matter your gender or sexuality, I feel on the same wavelength when the games feel like they just accept that too.

Can't deny the feeling that these conversations always feel like I'll say something 'wrong' but ey, so be it. My little comment is just a smol opinion in a warzone anyway.

@samuelvictor "My gut instinct is to just make the art I want to make, with the intentions that I know are good, and hope that even if it makes some people angry, others will find it helpful."

That's all you can do. And from what I'm reading, it's pretty clear that your intentions are good. I believe that will show in your work.

Thank you for doing what you do! Good luck on your project(s)!

Pardon my ignorance but what is pansexuality?

@brandonbwii Attraction to people without regard to gender. Not entirely different from bisexuality, but the distinction matters to some and that's okay.

@Markiemania95 I've edited the wording to hopefully make it a little more appropriate. I had reservations about going there, and it's not something I particularly like talking about. But, I wanted to make it clear I wasn't trying to be some self-righteous virtue signaler who doesn't do any actual self-reflection, but is very much a flawed individual. I also know this website has run plenty of articles I wouldn't consider family-friendly, like ones on Senran Kakura Burst that show phallic monsters in the thumbnail before you even click on it. But, I understand you concern and appreciate you for thinking of the younger audiences. If this website has them, I feel this entire thread probably isn't the best place for them just by the heavy nature of these conversations.

@CharlieGirl Thank you so much

@brandonbwii From what I understand, its being attracted to all genders regardless of if it fits 100% into a binary box, whereas being bisexual MAY (to some) imply that you are only specifically attracted to specifically male or female. In the same way, pangender may be another term for gender fluid, where people feel more traditionally masculine one day, or feminine another. Miley Cyrus (who I've worked with and is lovely) identifies as pansexual was the first person I heard explain it in a way that made the distinction make sense to me. Basically, you just love who you love and traditional ideas of labelling "gender" don't really factor into what you find attractive about them. I hope I explained that well and in a way that doesn't upset anyone if I misunderstood.

@Janeygo Whilst I've heard that arguement many times and I agree to an extent, sadly its not actually true in a practical sense when it comes to corporate media, simply because there is so much false woke/tokenism purely for cynical profit by coroprations who will milk it for money but actively do things to harm minority groups in private (or in different territories like China which is massive for film and games) when it makes them money too. There is huge frustration from both sides with consumers realising they are being manipulated by cynical companies. I've posted at great length about this previously on this site giving specific examples of almost every major media company I've worked for over 2+ decades.

i think it's good when games have gay stuff and even better when games have trans stuff. every straight person trying to make an edgy joke about lgbt+/queer/etc people has been the most tired and boring stuff on the planet. some truly dire sub-1980's stuff. just dreadful.

So more games but still no mention of Birdo who was Nintendo/gaming's first trans icon!

@samuelvictor you missed my point entirely. People who claim to get angry about tokenism are mostly using it as a fig leaf for their bigotry.

And with regards to this list, these are games that have been selected for their genuine, meaningful representation that is not tokenistic.

I said trans rights!
Let's gooooooooo
Didn't know Haven got this update, now I'm finally tempted to grab it because het love stories are so represented already

Hm it's weird seeing Celeste's publisher still listed as Matt Makes Games - the dev later changed the name of the studio, for obvious reasons.
Wikipedia says "The game was originally released under Matt Makes Games but was updated to Extremely OK Games in 2021." - however it's still listed as MMG on Nintendo's UK and US sites 🤷‍♂️

@EvilRegal the main story levels of Celeste aren't ridiculously hard, they should be a good moderate challenge so everyone can enjoy the story. It's the optional extra levels that get HARD. Enjoy, it's a beautiful game that I've been meaning to get back to soon.

@Would_you_kindly Thanks my friend!

Another one that might be considered for the list is Omega labyrinth life. Or atleast a honorably mention If I remember correctly it had great yuri vibes

@LoveRose_428 Best thing you can do is send Nintendolife an email about it instead of keep getting your comments deleted for discussing moderation.

this list should be updated on a monthly basis!

@jowe_gw Ha that’s fair. I don’t doubt there was a “good” mix of that too.

@Janeygo With respect (especially as it seems we are on the same side fundementally!), I didn't "miss your point entirely", I said I agree with you for the most part but theres important exceptions which do more harm than good. There is a growing amount of people who are fully pro LGBTQ+ rights and fully against large corporate greed, most of whom are naturally on the left and many who are LGBTQ+ themselves and annoyed by their goodwill being exploited when it suits the companies. Me in the entertainment industry for over 2 decades, often dealing with production, distribution, sales or marketing at the highest end, I can tell you that much of the corporate tokenism is extremely cynical and exploitative and from corps who are run by people who are actively homophobic in their policies and personal beliefs. This is obvious to many outsiders and I know just as many LGBTQ+ people who are annoyed by cynical tokenism / woke for profit as I do more right wing folks. And before you consider thinking of me in any negative light or thinking I'm trying to spin, or dog-whistle, please read my many messages above where I spent hours and much consideration talking about (and asking advice on) ways that I'm actually trying to be an ally and help in my position of influence.

As for the list, I made extremely clear that I don't consider this article to be tokenism. My query (not beef!) was the opposite of that - I feel that most if not all games that have realistic interpretations of modern days characters should have at least some LGBTQ+ characters, and should be enjoyed by all! I was simply wondering where the line is drawn between a game that is intended for all audiences, as opposed to a game specifically intended for LGBTQ+ audiences only, and mentioning its something to be warey of that labelling things in a simplistic way that dilutes them down to a single genre or plot point can be counterproductive and increase feelings of "them vs us" in the people who are perhaps on the fence. I'd rather win them over slowly by exposure to media they enjoy, which happens to have some LGBTQ+ characters. Again, with respect, if you read all my messages, I don't think it would be possible to misunderstand that, or my intentions.

If somehow we still disagree, please, I don't want to argue about something I feel we mostly agree on. And it may be best not to anyway as I think your first message was removed as being off topic anyway. Have a great day

there has always been subgroups. they arent created by a website. subgroups are mostly interest based groups, some people play soccer others play chess - sports is the overarching plot

@zool This article isn't "creating sub groups". It's just highlighting games that have a certain type of story element to them. What you're saying would be like claiming that an article highlighting something like the best games where you have a pet dog, or an article about games with the most accurate historical representations, or an article about games with a female protagonist is "creating sub groups". Calling this list "segregation" is frankly ridiculous.

Shovel Knight has some LGBTQ elements to it. You can change shovel knights gender and shield knights gender as well.

@zool would talking about couples in videogames in general also be "toxic"? Or in that case is ok? There is one group of people here trying to stigmatize LGTB+ people and are not LGTB+ people the ones doing it.
This post highlighted games with LGBT+ topics, that's it.

@zool Pretty sure we'll all just go back to talking about Nintendo games within a few days. No subgroup, no segregation.

@Bret LMAO barely over an hour after I posted this, NL posted an article about the best cat games for the Switch. I'm allergic to cats, so I'm definitely going to be taking that article as a personal affront against me. /s

I think we should give NL a bit of a break. Some of my comments have been deleted for being off-topic while lots other off-topic comments remained. LGBT is a delicate subject after all, and I bet NL is having a hard time making decisions which comments to delete or not. And if we are truly honest here, the topic of this article is merely a list of LGBT games. Technically not a lot of people stayed on topic, on topic would be commenting on the games on the list, played /not played, liked/not liked or proposing a hidden gem that would fit into the list. its not a discussion about wether LGBT should be represented in games or not.

@EvilRegal

In case you or anyone else is still on the fence about Celeste because of its difficulty, I urge you to consider the game’s Assist Mode feature. You can always start playing the game without it and switch it on from the File Select menu if you get discouraged. Then you can tweak it from the pause menu at any time while playing. Depending on what you’re having trouble with, you can:

• Lower the game speed (helpful if you need more precise timing).
• Give yourself infinite climbing stamina (so you can cling to a wall as long as you need to before making your next jump).
• Fly freely with infinite air dashes (or just add one extra dash to save yourself if you make a slight mistake).
• Freeze time while aiming an air dash (great if you need a moment to remember your next move, have impaired fine motor skills, or just if your Joy-con is drifting).
• Become invincible and bounce back from pits (for when you’re just sick of starting the same room over again).
• Skip past any chapter at will (you can always go back to it later).

I personally did not need to use Assist Mode, but I have nothing but praise for the developer’s thorough effort to making sure players of more levels of ability and experience can enjoy the game in its entirety. I can assure anyone intrigued by the story and characters that those elements were made very deliberately accessible even if its toughest challenges are too much for you.

@icomma its also off-topic to talk about validity. what does that have to do with the games?

@icomma i think you would and should get banned in such scenario

@zool While I agree with you, what sub-group did NL create? If anything, that group existed before the article was written.