I understand a lot of what you’re saying, but to me the most important part is story. If there is a good story I will transcend all genre.

Also it’s a tad suspect that when I say my favourite series is Phoenix Wright, or that I love Professor Layton, there’s this judgement from gamers. Like puzzle games, or games with a large female userbase, don’t count. I don’t necessarily love puzzle games most, or adventure games, but I do think they’re just as valid a form of game as something with fighting and a huge overworld (and I love them too, when there’s a story to support it)

I’ve tried things like Call of Duty and they just don’t seem compelling to me. Very “Go here, shoot the thing” which is fine, but I don’t understand why a lot of gamers and devs think you can’t have an incredible story to dive into and also have shooting. Proper characterization AND good gameplay. I would say Mass Effect is a decent example of this. So when I hear a female gamer saying “Well, it had decent gameplay, but I wish the story had less plotholes and the female character wasn’t wearing booty shorts in combat” I see that not as trying to take away games, but a critique saying where the game could do better. That it could grow and become something more.

Obviously game devs want to make money, but I am afraid for the future of games when they stick to a particular thing in the name of making cash. Innovation is a good thing, sometimes it flatlines and gets pretentious or irritating, but sometimes it is a risk worth taking.

We don’t need to hate on male power fantasies or subtle adventure games. We don’t need to take them away, I’m just not going to play them. But I don’t like the idea that certain games have no right to exist, or that they should be exempt from all criticism. Or that we should criticize/beatify games based solely on the gender of the dev who made them.

I criticize everything, hell I can even point out places in my favourite games that could have used work. I criticize because I love games and I want them to continue to flourish in the future.