To an extent. I mean how often do you see your character in say, Fallout 3? (Unless you play in third person if you just feel the need to look at your characters horrible walk animations)
Poll: Is Character Coustomization a Must for RPGs?
- Thread starter Judgement101
- Start date
I'd say no when the game isn't based around named PCs.
However, if there is little to no customization then I prefer the PC to be a fairly ambiguous avatar.
However, if there is little to no customization then I prefer the PC to be a fairly ambiguous avatar.
As far as I can tell, the more customization there is, the harder it is to make a game for it. For instance, having male or female options means that there has to be two people doing lines for that character. Face and clothing customization means that pre-rendered cutscenes are impossible. A customizable past and present creates a customizeable future, which means that the game will have to supply alternate endings instead of just one. In the end, that means that you could get all the customization you want, but at the cost of either getting a half-baked game, or waiting much longer for the well-done version. So, in the end, I wouldn't mind if Commander Shepard couldn't be a girl or had a single option for his childhood actions, as long as the game's many minor flaws were fixed.
The actual technical answer is no, it is not a must. I'm going to step outside of the specific genre and name Saints Row 2 is an example of good customization. You control quite a few aspects of character customization, and you don't really ever ruin it, even online. You can always notice how you look, sound, and act.
I think it's kind of silly with Oblivion and Fallout 3, because you almost never see what you look like(Defaults are good because I'm lazy). It's also pretty silly in MMO games, because you end up dressed like everybody else playing you class(eventually). Look, it's armor dye, so now I can look the exact same, except for the colors. It even seems kind of silly there too.
I think it's kind of silly with Oblivion and Fallout 3, because you almost never see what you look like(Defaults are good because I'm lazy). It's also pretty silly in MMO games, because you end up dressed like everybody else playing you class(eventually). Look, it's armor dye, so now I can look the exact same, except for the colors. It even seems kind of silly there too.
Nope, not at all. Did you customize anything[footnote]besides their name[/footnote] about Chrono or Aayla in Chrono trigger? No. Did that make it a horrible RPG because it was missing "a must"?
Hell no! Chrono Trigger is awesome. You don't need the ability to change everything in an RPG to make it amazing.
That is all.
[sub][sub][sub]No poll... sadface...[/sub][/sub][/sub]
Hell no! Chrono Trigger is awesome. You don't need the ability to change everything in an RPG to make it amazing.
That is all.
[sub][sub][sub]No poll... sadface...[/sub][/sub][/sub]
For me, there are some things which absolutely have to be customizable, and some things which I think are pretty pointless.
Facial customization is a must, as is sex and race. Bodily appearance is usually pointless, and so is voice choice (think DA:O or NWN).
If the RPG lets you make many choices, it helps to have a unique character that you can relate all those choices to. When you replay the game, a different face with different choices help make a more coherent role-playing experience IMO.
I get really annoyed by RPGs that don't let you customize at all. For me, those are more action adventure games than RPGs. I don't want to over-emphasize customization, but it's an integral part of the experience. Since the tech seems to be much more refined and much easier to make nowadays, I fail to see why any developer wouldn't put it in.
Facial customization is a must, as is sex and race. Bodily appearance is usually pointless, and so is voice choice (think DA:O or NWN).
If the RPG lets you make many choices, it helps to have a unique character that you can relate all those choices to. When you replay the game, a different face with different choices help make a more coherent role-playing experience IMO.
I get really annoyed by RPGs that don't let you customize at all. For me, those are more action adventure games than RPGs. I don't want to over-emphasize customization, but it's an integral part of the experience. Since the tech seems to be much more refined and much easier to make nowadays, I fail to see why any developer wouldn't put it in.
Yeah it is that's what is part of the defining elements of an RPG aka Role Playing Game the more you are able to interact with your character the more immersed you can become within that world.
Please fix your spelling so that I can stop twitching...
Character Customization helps with immersion, and also allows you to be whoever the hell you want to be, instead of the same person as either a thief, mage, or warrior.
Character Customization helps with immersion, and also allows you to be whoever the hell you want to be, instead of the same person as either a thief, mage, or warrior.
I vastly prefer more customizable games to those that have you being a cookie cutter player. It's fun to either make a character similar to your real self, or to make one so wacky and insane that it provides it's own sort of fun outside of the gameplay itself.
What he said. I think Fable got it pretty great though. For all it's shortcomings, the character customization it provided was really refreshing. I'm not talking about horns or halos either, but clothing, hairstyles, and how they have benefits or consequences. However, for MMOs, yeah, character customization is a must for me. I just wish they had more options.Durxom said:
For me it depends on the game.
For Fallout 3, you spend most of the game in first person or third person staring at the back of your head. Even if i made a character that was bright blue or boiling red, it didnt make it very interesting. and once you unlocked power armor, it stopped VATS being any fun anyways. It really didnt matter to me. Not looking anything like your father, but having everyone say "look at him, you must be JAMES' son. you look just like him" felt foolish.
Alternatively Saints Row 2. Character customization MADE this game for me. It was more a form of art then avatar assembly. I got to watch MY goateed, blue eyed, high cheekboned, furrowed eyebrowed, sneering british gangsta in every cinematic. Pure Orgasmic Excellence. The rooftop fight with Marrow after the minigun bossbattle is one of the coolest things I have ever witnessed because it was MY character. Just blew me away.
Usually I scoff when I see a slider for CHEEK SIZE or NOSTRIL WIDTH, but Saints Row 2 made it such a wonderful aspect that I was gleefully spending two hours tweeking every single little slider trying to make my Notorious B.I.G. or my Jason Stathom or my Spock. It is the only game Ive felt that rewards me for taking my time and making him exactly like I wanted.
So to sum up my opinion, character customization is a delay tactic 90% of the time. Until you find the gem that it works perfectly with. Then you thank god that developers stuck with the idea until someone got it right.
For Fallout 3, you spend most of the game in first person or third person staring at the back of your head. Even if i made a character that was bright blue or boiling red, it didnt make it very interesting. and once you unlocked power armor, it stopped VATS being any fun anyways. It really didnt matter to me. Not looking anything like your father, but having everyone say "look at him, you must be JAMES' son. you look just like him" felt foolish.
Alternatively Saints Row 2. Character customization MADE this game for me. It was more a form of art then avatar assembly. I got to watch MY goateed, blue eyed, high cheekboned, furrowed eyebrowed, sneering british gangsta in every cinematic. Pure Orgasmic Excellence. The rooftop fight with Marrow after the minigun bossbattle is one of the coolest things I have ever witnessed because it was MY character. Just blew me away.
Usually I scoff when I see a slider for CHEEK SIZE or NOSTRIL WIDTH, but Saints Row 2 made it such a wonderful aspect that I was gleefully spending two hours tweeking every single little slider trying to make my Notorious B.I.G. or my Jason Stathom or my Spock. It is the only game Ive felt that rewards me for taking my time and making him exactly like I wanted.
So to sum up my opinion, character customization is a delay tactic 90% of the time. Until you find the gem that it works perfectly with. Then you thank god that developers stuck with the idea until someone got it right.
Yes, but ONLY if you're going to go all out, in games like Oblivion or Dragon Age you could spend hours perfectly crafting your character you your liking and that in my opinion makes them much more personal, but if it's just going to have maybe one or two changeable options then you might as well not bother. But then there are the JRPGs, many of which get by perfectly fine without it so I guess it depends on what you're shooting for.
Isnt it odd that the games that you typically have robust char customization, such as oblivion, or fallout... are the games that you rarely if ever see your char outside of approving your choices, where as games where you typically dont, such as the FF series, you see your char all the friggen time.
I like it.. it adds a minor sense of immersion when done right. But its not a prerequsite.
I like it.. it adds a minor sense of immersion when done right. But its not a prerequsite.
A good RPG does not rely on character customization. In fact, I think the customization is a bit of a handicap for developers, resulting in a less personal progression of the game/story.
I like the balance that BioWare has struck with Mass Effect, and which they will hopefully continue to with Dragon Age 2. It makes it easier for them to deliver more contextual content, even after the initial campaign is completed.
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If we are talking dungeon crawler style RPG without much of a story element behind it I care even less. Though it's a nice gimmick and I'll abuse it to the best of my ability when available.
And if it's an MMO I swear to God there better be customization seeping from the character creation screen or I'll be a sad little Taffer.
I like the balance that BioWare has struck with Mass Effect, and which they will hopefully continue to with Dragon Age 2. It makes it easier for them to deliver more contextual content, even after the initial campaign is completed.
...
If we are talking dungeon crawler style RPG without much of a story element behind it I care even less. Though it's a nice gimmick and I'll abuse it to the best of my ability when available.
And if it's an MMO I swear to God there better be customization seeping from the character creation screen or I'll be a sad little Taffer.
