I see the disconnect. To many people all parts of the game are gameplay, because they happen in the context of a game.

Art used, themes explored, dialogue choices, unskippable cutscenes all happen within the context of playing the game, so matter to many people.

Like just imagine if Harry's pronouns were female in Disco Elysium and literally nothing else changed in the game. No art, no gameplay, no dialogue. Just the times gender is mentioned it's swapped to "she" — it would have an impact on how the game is perceived, and how it feels to play it.

It's fine if this doesn't affect you at all, but your experience isn't universal.