: That is interesting, because I remember reading - I think it might have been
: from Anita Sarkeesian, that the game STILL explicitly catered towards the
: heterosexual male gaze. The romance options were explored, and when female
: characters were present, the camera angles were much more… provocative.
: One shot had an ass right in your face. Not so with the men.

Nothing is perfect, sadly. There was a lot to applaud with great zeal, but also a whole lot to also question consistently all throughout the series. Mass Effect does often cater greatly to heterosexual men though that wasn't always the case. Commander Shepard was originally envisioned as a woman for the default model. I'm sure marketing had considered who their audience might be which led them to put DudeShep front and center for two games. It wasn't until the third game that BioWare made an active effort to be inclusive with its marketing. First with a new default woman model who was later featured in her own CGI trailer which ultimately culminated in reversible cover art. I'm sure you can imagine who was faced on the outside on store shelves. What strikes me as odd is that the majority of Shepards I've seen players talk about were from other women, not men.

A lot of what you mentioned is indeed off-putting, and as great as the inclusivity is in the game otherwise, that cannot be forgotten. The way that I see it is that it was a tremendous baby step in the right direction and it's only going to get better from now on given supportive audiences and publishers willing to stop viewing men as their sole audience. No matter how great these steps are, though, we can't be afraid to call people out on even the smallest of mistakes.