The best character customization options you've seen

[Gentleman_Reptile]

Despite my overall laziness and hatred for operating anything more finicky than a can of fanta, I absolutely love detailed character customization in games.

I could spend weeks just tweaking my fighters in Soul Calibur 4 or Mortal Kombat Armageddon, in fact I refuse to buy fighting games unless they have a decent custom fighter option.

The richer the customization, the more involved I am with the game on all levels, so what are some of the best create-a-character options and systems you have seen in gaming to date?

 

[GloatingSwine]

Saint's Row 2.

It's literally unequalled in the amount of mental nonsense you can get out of it.

 

[TriggerHappyAngel]

APB, too bad the rest of the game was a huge dissapointment

 

[DJDarque]

As much as I disliked the game, White Knight Chronicles' character customization was fairly decent.

 

[Quaxar]

Saint's Row 2.

It's literally unequalled in the amount of mental nonsense you can get out of it.

Really, that's like the biggest "this" I can give. It's the only game I ever played that let you decide how high you want your character's eyebrows...

You could spend days just building characters.

 

[Ranorak]

Saint's Row 2.

It's literally unequalled in the amount of mental nonsense you can get out of it.

Really, that's like the biggest "this" I can give. It's the only game I ever played that let you decide how high you want your character's eyebrows...

You could spend days just building characters.

I played Saints Row 2 with a Joker look-a-like with the British accent.
It was hilarious.

 

[Jezzascmezza]

Like half the people in this thread so far, I'm also going to go ahead and say Saints Row 2.
5 (ish) words: Over-weight, red-headed, she-male, British, gangster.

 

[Scarim Coral]

Champion Online although it can be a bit too much (by all means its got a lot of parts eg gloves but its a pain going through each of them to see if it look cool on your character only to find it doesn't look good.
It's also not perfect either since certain part remove a options to another part. Dammit I want chest armor and a cape not one of them only (well ok they got a hybrid of a cape with metal attachment to the armor but it doesn't look too great).

 

[GWarface]

APB, Since it was not only a outfit and body costumizer but also a symbol designer to create unique tattoos and clothing patterns...

Too bad it didnt get it anywhere though...

 

[Codenet]

Prototype.
I really enjoyed choosing which character model I liked best, then grabbing said model by the throat and then devouring it with my blood zombie tentacles and taking that form. Quite intuitive if you ask me.

 

[Micah Weil]

Saint's Row 2.

It's literally unequalled in the amount of mental nonsense you can get out of it.

Really, that's like the biggest "this" I can give. It's the only game I ever played that let you decide how high you want your character's eyebrows...

You could spend days just building characters.

I played Saints Row 2 with a Joker look-a-like with the British accent.
It was hilarious.

It's that accent that makes the game. Seriously.
Oh, that and when he starts singing along to the Final Countdown.

 

[Vhite]

Neverwinter Nights. I spent more time creating characters then playing.

 

[AbyssalSanhedrin]

Somewhat niche style of game but the Smackdown Vs. Raw (wrestling) games have insanely detailed character customization. Shame the same system hasn't been implemented in other games.

 

[Aulleas123]

I'd have to give it to either Champions Online or Saints Row 2. Although not all customization is a good thing. Look at Mass Effect, moving away from the main look makes the character look like some sort of man-farm animal-hybrid.

 

[Cogwheel]

Gameplay-wise rather than just appearance?

Arcanum.

Yes, balance is shot. That said, many approaches work quite well, and a lot of it is just tons of fun. Summoning demons and disintegrating everyone? Well, obviously. Every game has that. Smashing your way through every problem? Sure, that works. As does stealth, theft and being able to talk your way out of pretty much everything but mooks. And sometimes, even that (for instance, you get to skip a long dungeon by knowing what to say).

Or you could go with the obvious option. A magnetic top hat that deflects bullets, a suit/smoking jacket (or steam-based power armour), seventy million molotovs, a clockwork mechanical arachnid that both fights for you and dispenses healing, plus your weapon of choice: The tesla rifle.

There's a lot of options and all of them are neat/fun, in short.

 

[Woodsey]

APB.

Best bit of the game - although that's not really saying much. They could have probably made more money selling the character customisation system off than they did from the game.

 

[Jabberwock xeno]

Spore.

You litary make your chartecer.

 

[Toriver]

I could spend weeks just tweaking my fighters in Soul Calibur 4 or Mortal Kombat Armageddon, in fact I refuse to buy fighting games unless they have a decent custom fighter option.

For all of its faults, I actually preferred Soul Calibur 3's customization. A much larger library of outfits, combat styles that weren't just copies of the already playable characters, and I didn't like the whole thing with certain costumes changing the character's stats. I want to be able to make the character I want without worrying about nerfing it in the process.

Tabletop Dungeons and Dragons.

Haters Gonna Hate.

This, however, wins the thread.

 

[Stollos]

Mass Effect 2. Two and a half words:

Samuel L. Shephard

 

[SwagLordYoloson]

Spore.

You litary make your chartecer.

This, attack my blue blob with no eyes, arms or legs!