It’s interesting that, despite being among the chorus of voices asking for you to expand on this idea in your BitD post, I actually knew exactly what your player meant. BW is one of the most character-focused RPGs in existence IMO, and it accomplishes this within a very “trad” context. I don’t think it feels nearly as “mechanical” as some other 21st-century games. It’s more like having a D&D character sheet in front of you, except all of that data a typical character-focused player includes on the sheet actually matters.

I need to get more PbtA games under my belt before I can compare and contrast, though. I will say that your description of starting from “as myself” does jibe with my limited experience.

Aside: I love that BW incentivizes making tests, not just succeeding at them, since failure is so key to the game. In our current game my PC has a lowly B2 Spirit Binding, and failing or succeeding at that skill has heavy consequences. Yet, I love to test it, because you need tests, pass or fail_ in order to advance. Plus, tests are so damn meaningful in BW; they always make the session more interesting.