That said, I believe it should not be the default, as the difference between species should reflect in their general stats. No two persons are the same but if you imagined a distribution of stats according to race, you would expect e.g. Half-Orcs to be stronger in general and reach levels of strenght naturally that Halfling couldn't. And I'd expect the general NPCs to follow these typical characteristics of a race. The world itself should reflect this. If some unique NPCs then try to play a different role than expected and try to adapt to it, that can be interesting.
As some already mentioned, these differences lend themselves to play unique characters that don't entirely fit their mould. I guess it can be difficult in a video game, but at least in normal DnD these characters can shine in roleplay bits. I remember a Dragonborn Sorcerer I played, but as I didn't want to waste the +2 to Strength, I didn't dump the stat. Combine that with a Sorcerer's proficiency in intimidation and it makes sense roleplaywise and plays into the intimidating physique of a Dragonborn.
Yet I think in the character creation it should indeed be an option.
I agree the normal ASI should be default. Like for the NPCs or in character creator it should default to standard racial stats then let us adjust if we decide to. Because I agree being able to play against the mold can be a great experience at times even if I don't want to do it every time or sometimes you might want to play a specific race, background, class combo and the default bonus can make things more difficult to especially if we decide on playing on hard difficulty here.
