I think we can all agree that we’ve played some wonderful games with the cast already chosen for us. Nathan Drake and Lara Croft made treasure hunting and escaping from bad guys look too badass while Sora and his friends from Kingdom Hearts made believing in yourself and friendships a true possibility. So we get it – some characters are made in a way that makes you enjoy a game and not want to change a thing. But you know what else makes a game exciting every now and again?
Character customization.
Sora and friends make the KH-verse worthwhile, but what if we could be our own heroes?
I feel that character customization is something that was vastly popular (and still is) among MMOs and online RPGs like World of Warcraft and Phantasy Star Online or even IMVU, but as console games become more open world and versatile, character customization options are becoming plentiful. It can be basic customization as seen in Titanfall 2 or even a “start from scratch” approach like in the Destiny and Mass Effect games. Either way, character customization is a big deal in the gaming world when it’s given because I feel that it really pulls the player into the story. Making a character as you see fit with the given resources not only takes time and effort but most players usually have a name and a story for their creation. It truly brings out the imagination for everyone involved.
Wanna be a badass purple-skinned woman? Destiny says why not.
That being said, one thing I don’t like about character customization is being able to change the name of a character that already has a canon name. An example of this is being able to change Link and Epona’s name in the Legend of Zelda franchise. Sure, it’s a nice option in case you don’t like the names anyway, but I feel that just doesn’t make sense when Link and Epona are well-known as Link and Epona even outside the Zelda-verse. It’s a simple customization that most people probably don’t even care about, but it’s something that has always bothered me (which is why I never changed their names).
This picture speaks for itself.
Outside of that minor flaw, another reason character customization should be seen as something phenomenal and an actual game-changer in video games is because most of the time you can change your gender and skin color. I’m going to be honest here: if I can be a woman or black in a video game, I have a better chance of playing that game and it’s not just because I am a woman and black. Having the options to be something other than male and white is not only realistic and very plausible, it makes the other half of society (you know, women and minorities) be able to relate and enjoy the game as well. Being able to create a kickass character the way you want to after seeing many games paint them as stereotypically shallow and weak side-characters really changes your mind right? Right.
Even Fantasy Life makes character customization satisfactory.
The video games of today are starting to explore many elements thoroughly such as interactive AIs that are more accurate and helpful along with stronger female characters and even emotional male characters. Keep in mind this has nothing to do with character customization and that while having the option to make our own characters makes a game more entertaining and interesting, well-developed characters made by the creators themselves are also important and can serve a huge purpose in the storyline. Still, I feel that I can say most people would be set on playing a game with character customization first and foremost, but that’s a personal opinion for all.
