i will always champion for character creators in any game. mass effect proved you could have a heavy “story based” game with two main versions of the single main character + the countless custom personal creations

That's a fair point. Cyberpunk also did it quite well with the customizable character called V (Vincent/Valerie), I thought.

On the other hand, I have to say for games like the Witcher, that adapt an existing world, character set and story threads (from a book series in this case), this is probably too hard to do without compromizing the source material. I'd rather get a good adaptation than risk it going wrong.

And I also understand if smaller studios keep it simple and bring one artistic vision to the game. Like Dontnod with Life is Strange. You could probably make it so Max can be male too, but it's an extra burden and it's a valid choice to go with Max as a fixed person.

Jedi knight outcast:jedi academy did this well. You could even customize your lightsaber and fighting style.

Jedi knight outcast 2 is amazing as well, but you play as Kyle katarn