That said, I'll usually always play a male character in a Souls title, because [insert valid reason for inconsistency here.]
I often do this when I want the character to mesh with the build. If I'm playing a character with a great shield and giant hammer, I'll want a big beefy character that is often easier to create in game as a male body. And when I play a quick assassin, I often pick female. It's like the opposite of how anime weapons work.
FYI: as someone I think would like incongruent in girl mode, I went as Dr Frankenfurter (creation scene, was cold) for Halloween this year and went all out: full makeup, fishnets, shaved legs, 4" platform heels, etc. It was very fun and could be a good entry into what you might want to do. Also: you can always dress up at home just for yourself.
I play in 2 games and run 1. As a player I play both characters who share my gender and one that doesn't. At the table I run there's a guy who plays a woman, and used to be another.
It's never caused issues or confusion. So for anyone interested in playing like this, feel free to do so! For pronouns I've also found success in referring to characters instead of players with names unless explicitly talking to the player, but that's easier as a GM.
Yep. When the industry can cut off the only way for games journalists to reliably make money (pre-release review copies) then they are totally controlled by the industry. A real journalism industry would see one company not given a copy or blacklisted and the refuse to cover their release entirely in solidarity. Otherwise none of them can be trusted.
To be fair, it seems like they've made 5 games and 4/5 weren't very good. Not surprised this was their last hurrah. I know Steam scores generally don't equate directly to sales, let alone profits, but it seems like the company was struggling.
Yeah, look at Starfield. It has really nice looking textures and objects. Everything else is a disappointment or mediocre. Maybe excepting the Ship Builder feature.
We are shown exploration but little to find besides landscape. We are shown building simple houses with prefabs. We see very basic npc interaction to your presence. But that's it. NMS biggest issue is that there isn't that much to do and it's depth is shallow. I'm seeing nothing here to dissuade that.