I hate people.

I seriously don't understand the problem here. What is there to get? Bayo's a female protagonist. You're a guy. I would've thought that you would PREFER to play as a girl because it's eye candy. And why do boards get into such an uproar whenever there's a main female lead? WolfeyesVIII made a mention of FFXIII's unveiling, but I don't remember any of the backdraft. I just remember excitement from the announcement. I can understand some people being a little upset about Dissidia's cast (Tina, CoD, Ultimecia and Shantotto) though. Both sexes end up over-sexualized in all sorts of media, yet there's only outcry if it's the female. Very rarely the males. And about connecting to the characters? If you want to connect to them, fine. I have no problem connecting to a character whether they're human or not, male or female, or a robot. It just doesn't matter as long as said character was interesting.

Take Bayo, since that's one of the newer games. At first, in 2007, I just didn't care. OK, a gun on foot (heels = 99% sure it's a girl). Woo. 2008. Really didn't keep up with the news, no developer blog to really read. E3 '09. Still didn't really care that much until seeing gameplay. Loved how the game flowed. Didn't care that main was female. Oct 29th. Started playing the game. Yep, just like a female Dante, only with a bigger mouth. Did I connect with her immediately? Nope. It took until about Chapter 14 to understand her, why she does what she does. Started connecting there and appreciating the effort to create her and her world. Have to admit though, I still prefer Antonio Redgrave, even though he's dead, because of his journal entries. Maybe it's just my geeky tendencies taking over. OK, not really. I'm usually like this. What if Bayo was male? I really don't think it would have changed how I felt about the game. Why? Because it's damn fun to play. The narrative and interesting characters were an extra to give the game some more depth. For games like Bayonetta, it's all about the gameplay. But I guess some people have problems with a witch going around sending angels into iron maidens or cutting them in half with a massive chainsaw. If the character fits, there's no reason to get upset about it. It's a design choice. If you don't like it, just try to ignore it. Don't go online (or to your friends) complaining about how the main is a girl. Complaining about game mechanics is perfectly fine though. I have a complaint of my own: she's too floaty. There's others, but that's a moot point.

Taking a look at Demon's Souls. I created a female avatar. Why? Because I'm a girl. I could have easily created a male avatar if I wished to do so. In fact, I was going to start a new file with a male character (if I hadn't lent it out to someone) after finishing my original scenario. There's no difference between the 2 sexes other than some gender-specific equipment. Just like how Last Remnant has some RACE-specific equipment. You don't see people screaming racism against LasuRemu, now do you? ... I'm actually kinda upset that I can't make a guy run around in a dress though.

P3P? Didn't really feel anything when they announced that there was an option to play as a female. Actually, that's a lie. I felt "yay, we have a choice!" Then, "wait, that means that the girl's ending is non-canon." But yeah, I happen to like the choice. SenBASA is another one. I like playing as Kojuurou and Matsu.

tl;dr I hate people. People are stupid. And why didn't I go into game journalism?! Other than the fact that I hate writing most of the time.