How important is it for the games you play to feature character creation/customisation of some kind?

[LuchaSloth]

Also, I mean...it goes without saying that some games just have no reason for customization.

If you have something like God of War, Witcher, or Tomb Raider...then those characters need to be Kratos, Geralt, and Lara Croft respectively. Of course, it's great to have extra costumes and things in that case. I do love customization in that sense...but, I would never want a fully fleshed-out character creation suite. It just doesn't belong in games like that.

On the other hand, if you're playing something like Elder Scrolls, Cyberpunk, Pokemon, or pretty much any other RPGs/sports games, then I think you absolutely want customization in those. So...like I said before, my overall preference of video games has always leaned more towards the pre-set characters in games with a linear story. But...if I am playing something where it's commonplace to have customization, then yeah...I still want that to be rich in options.

 

[sleepydreepy]

I loooooove character customization, but if a game doesn't have it its not a complete turn off. I bought spirit farer thinking the game did not have any customizations (later found out it sort of does) and liked it, and I also enjoy subnautica even though you can't really change your outfit or style. I recently bought hades too that as far as I know does not allow you to customize your character's outfits which doesn't bother me at all.

Basically if a game does have customization it goes on the "pros" of a pros and cons list, but if the game does not have it, it does not go on a "cons" list and is not a deal breaker of any sort.

 

[0ni]

I loooooove character customization, but if a game doesn't have it its not a complete turn off. I bought spirit farer thinking the game did not have any customizations (later found out it sort of does) and liked it, and I also enjoy subnautica even though you can't really change your outfit or style. I recently bought hades too that as far as I know does not allow you to customize your character's outfits which doesn't bother me at all.

Basically if a game does have customization it goes on the "pros" of a pros and cons list, but if the game does not have it, it does not go on a "cons" list and is not a deal breaker of any sort.

This is a totally reasonable standpoint - tbh the more I think about it the more I think I am the same. I think I just assumed games with character customisation had become such a major feature for me because pretty much all my favourite franchises have it as a mechanic in some way or another. And in games that I love that didn't really have it as a feature in past titles but added it in later titles (such as Pokemon, Zelda, Far Cry) I really loved the addition of it even if I don't consider the games themselves the best in the franchise.

Also as an aside - is Subnautica good? I'm tempted to try it.

 

[Croconaw]

It personally depends on the game. For games in the Super Mario franchise, obviously it wouldn’t make sense for there to be customization for him. Mario is an iconic character and it makes sense for him to stay the way he is. For Sims and Animal Crossing games, I would expect those to have customization because those are the types of games they are supposed to be.

 

[sleepydreepy]

This is a totally reasonable standpoint - tbh the more I think about it the more I think I am the same. I think I just assumed games with character customisation had become such a major feature for me because pretty much all my favourite franchises have it as a mechanic in some way or another. And in games that I love that didn't really have it as a feature in past titles but added it in later titles (such as Pokemon, Zelda, Far Cry) I really loved the addition of it even if I don't consider the games themselves the best in the franchise.

Also as an aside - is Subnautica good? I'm tempted to try it.

Yes!! I really like subnautica, but I've only played the sequel Below Zero and not the first one (though I've heard the first one is way better). I plan to buy both once they come out on the switch (if it runs ok).

I first got Below Zero because I was really attracted to the game play- its open world and you can swim around underwater and explore this alien planet. There are different biomes to discover and resources to collect to build devices and submarines. You can also build a base anywhere you want and customize how it looks! The story was interesting too- basically you are searching for your sister on this planet who was stationed there as a scientist. There are clues to discover all over the place, and there is even a special side story you can find thats super cool.

I enjoyed the game a lot and would totally recommend it. The only con I would say is that certain biomes are so dense and detailed that you can get lost sometimes. Also I guess the leviathans can jump scare you, but once you learn where they are its not so bad. If it really bothers you though in the PC version of the game there are different modes, and in "creative mode" the leviathans will not attack you.

 

[oak]

It's really important for me I realized when I bought Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town cause the character customization is basically non-exsistant and it left me feeling bored. I just like to change my outfit too much probs idk

 

[Limon]

It depends on the game really. I don't mind customizing a character, but if there's too many options I get annoyed.

 

[Alexander97]

To be honest, if the game in general is super fun, I don’t mind having customizing options as a side thing to do. I’d rather have lot’s of fun content to keep me busy than cosmetics. Just look at sonic forces, that game was more focused on customizing than level design.

 

[Tao]

I love character customisation. I have bought or played games based on their character customisation (Black Desert Online for example). It's not an absolute must but at the very least, if my character is some sort of 'blank slate', I expect customisation.

Dragons Dogma is still my favorite example as character customisation went to the point of it effecting gameplay, even if most examples were few and far between. Small/light characters could fit in small gaps and could hang on to harpies, large/heavy characters weren't pushed back by wind and could weigh down some monsters such as harpies, female characters were targeted more by trolls, having long or short legs would make you travel faster or slower. It's just small details like that which the game doesn't even tell you about that I love, where making a character 4 foot tall has actual gameplay ramifications rather than just being silly.

Plus, in Dragons Dogma...You get to customise two characters.

Bethesda games are a typical example, but a good example. Even with mods aside there's so much you can do with your character to make them unique and again, there's small gameplay differences alongside even if they're incredibly minor (or even entirely missable).



Then there's games like the Witcher or Red Dead Redemption 2 which I played recently. In terms of customisation it just doesn't feel the same as having a blank slate. When you're given a 'set' character it feels like there's a certain way they're supposed to look or act. Choices as well, I don't find it as fun when you're playing as a premade character where there's a canon response I'm "supposed" to pick.

 

[Mairmalade]

I love having character customization, especially when games have a system where you can have an armor and vanity set co-exist (gain the benefits of whatever you equip, but have the ability to take on the appearance of other items entirely). Terraria is one example that immediately comes to mind.

I'm going to gravitate more towards games where I can also assign skill points and be a part of influencing how they interact with other characters and the world (e.g.: Persona, Etrian Odyssey). Being able to have input on what my character looks like, how they progress, and what they master adds a whole other dimension to the game beyond the goal of moving through the story - and I find a lot of enjoyment in that.

Still appreciate some games that don't have it, but they'd have to do whatever it is they set out to do very well to keep me invested.

 

[Serabee]

I really appreciate it, but it generally doesn't make or break a game...

...with one exception. I've absolutely passed on games because the character was a dude. As a kid I almost never got to play games as a female character, and these days I really prefer it. I just have a lot of trouble relating to male characters. I'm willing to compromise for some series, like I play Mario games and played BoTW (though I still don't think it would make any difference if Link could be female, but whatever), but other games... nope. Like a recent Dragon Quest game you were stuck being a dude... which made NO sense, because IX (or Sentinels of the Starry Sky, whichever that was) let you pick a gender. Why on earth would they go BACKWARDS and change that? I absolutely would've bought the game if I could've just been a girl.
(I also might be weird because I like my female characters to be sexy when possible, lol. I'm legitimately having trouble finding revealing enough armor for my Skyrim character RN.)

As a side note, I still hope Nintendo does a remaster of Sentinels of the Starry Sky at some point. It was the first Dragon Quest game I ever played and I was instantly OBSESSED. It's honestly one of my favorite games I've ever played.

 

[Dunquixote]

It depends on the game. I voted for not important at all, however, if I had played previous games in the series like Fire Emblem Fates and Awakening, which had customization, I would hope to see it continued in the next one like three houses (unless i liked the main character’s design, which sadly I can’t say I was too fond of — well female Byleth anyways); I was a bit disappointed but fortunately I ended up still enjoying the game and still managing to find some pairings with her to be cute. My main concerns for a game is gameplay and story. The things I normally don’t care much about or at all is multiplayer and customization options — i wouldn’t go so far to say i hate customization though (multiplayer is a different story; i feel like with DAI, they could have improved a lot of the single player gameplay had they not invested in the multiplayer. the customization was disappointing as well; I played the other dragon age games so I had some expectation for the customization and appearance of outfits to be a significant improvement from the other games).

 

[0ni]

It depends on the game. I voted for not important at all, however, if I had played previous games in the series like Fire Emblem Fates and Awakening, which had customization, I would hope to see it continued in the next one like three houses (unless i liked the main character’s design, which sadly I can’t say I was too fond of — well female Byleth anyways); I was a bit disappointed but fortunately I ended up still enjoying the game and still managing to find some pairings with her to be cute. My main concerns for a game is gameplay and story. The things I normally don’t care much about or at all is multiplayer and customization options — i wouldn’t go so far to say i hate customization though (multiplayer is a different story; i feel like with DAI, they could have improved a lot of the single player gameplay had they not invested in the multiplayer. the customization was disappointing as well; I played the other dragon age games so I had some expectation for the customization and appearance of outfits to be a significant improvement from the other games).

DAI's customisation was definitely questionable. Like, how many bald options do we really need Bioware? I also wasn't a fan of the voice options - having two was generous but none of them really fit my elf inquisitor.

And you're totally right, they could have easily scrapped the multiplayer for DAI, it was very short-lived even during the games peak. Such a bizarre choice.

 

[~Kilza~]

It's always nice to have character customization, but it's never been a deal breaker for me if a game doesn't have it. I think a large part of that has to do with just growing up in an era where games that did allow for customization were far and few between, so I hadn't really grown up expecting games to offer it. I care more about the actual gameplay, story, etc., with things like character customization being a bonus, and I'd definitely rather have an outstanding game with no customization than a good but flawed game with customization.

 

[Livia]

It’s not important to me. I never play as myself in games and I’m not very creative, so when I’m supposed to customize a character I spend hours trying to think of a name and appearance for them. The only time I enjoy this is in the sims. Otherwise I would rather choose from a few pre-set characters

 

[tomatospooks666]

like others have said, it really depends on the game. games where you're playing as a pre-existing character don't really need any customization ((although having stuff like alternate costumes is really neat, especially when those costumes are still there during cutscenes. nothing like having a serious story driven moment while the main chara is standing there in, like, a bathing suit or a cat onesie or smth.)) but if the chara you're playing as is supposed to represent you then having no way to personalize them except maybe changing their gender or name, or having only a handful of options for hair/clothes/colors ect kinda ruins the experience.

harvest moon and pokemon, from what i've seen and played, are particularly bad at this. the last harvest moon game i played was sunshine islands, and the customization there was just 'pick a gender and a name' and that's it. and considering this came out around 3 years after wild world, which had already moved on to new options for hair styles and more clothing as well as accessories, there was really no excuse for the customization to be so bad.

weirdly enough, some of the best character designers i've seen have been in sports games. ((e.g. wrestling and tennis.))

 

[LadyDestani]

It's not really important to me when I'm deciding whether to play a game. If the game has a bunch of pre-set characters with their own backstories, then I don't expect to be able to customize them and I don't mind. I view it as a more interactive way of reading a book or watching a movie. I'm still invested in the characters. I just get to have a little control as the story plays out.

I've noticed a lot of fighting games are adding more customization options for their characters as well and I don't personally use them much. I might tweak a color of an outfit here or there, but I prefer to keep the look of the character consistent with their personality and backstory.

Now, if I'm playing an MMORPG, that's a completely different story and I go hog-wild with customization. I can't tell you how much RLC I spent on MapleStory when I was playing it to get the perfect hair and cover-up clothing items. My favorite customization was in an MMO called Aion, though. That character creator was so in-depth. There were slider bars to let you choose everything from height and weight to the distance between the nose and mouth and how long/pointed or short/rounded the ears would be. I could spend hours in that character creator just making characters for fun that I had no intention of playing. I would screenshot them and then make another one. It was awesome.

 

[duckykate]

character customization is extremely important to me, especially as a girl since 90% of the default protagonists are men. I think if your game's protagonist doesn't have its design set in stone and is a generic young white person you should at least offer different versions so people can see themselves in the game

 

[Romaki]

I don't really care if I have to play a preset character, I'm not that good at customizing anyway. But if I play "me" and I can't even be a woman, then that's a big no-no and I'll return the game. Our localization for Super Mystery Dungeon used male pronouns exclusively, which was so insane to me. But that being said, I don't have a problem playing male characters, like with Graveyard Keeper for example.

 

[Millysaurusrexjr]

Character customisation is my jam. But if there's a really good character customiser in a game, it's not gonna be what makes me play the game (looking at you, Cyberpunk..) I'm still very picky when it comes to video games in general.
I agree tho Pokemon XY was great!! I wish it were on Switch