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FacelessVixen

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My Top 20-Something Games with Character Customization

Out of all the things that I enjoy about games, the one feature that makes me the most excited about a given title is the ability to create and customize a character. Though "immersive" at this point feels like one of those cliché buzzwords that's too easy to use, it reluctantly works for describing what I want I want in games these days, and getting it is by being a character of my own creation, because allowing that significantly adds to the escapism and power fantasy that I desire, in addition to lending itself to a game's illusion of choice.

Because I'm feeling nostalgic towards early ScrewAttack and GameTrailers videos, here's a thought salad of a list of games which feature varying degrees of character customization with these qualifiers of a sort:

  • This is a ranked list, so read from the bottom up.
  • The placement of each entry is weighted more on the customization options rather than my overall enjoyment of the game.
  • Being able to modify a pre-made character's appearance counts.
  • MMOs are excluded since it would be too easy to fill this list. And also, because I haven't played much them since Tera Online in the early 2010's.
  • One game per franchise will represent my favorite of that series.
  • I mainly play games on PC, so adding mods to a game can also be a factor.
  • And, minor spoilers for Persona 4, Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet, and Cyberpunk 2077.

And with that out of the way... well, I haven't written much of anything resembling a blog since GameTrailers, so let's see how this goes.

List items

  • I wouldn't be surprised if I'm one of the few people outside of modders and MxR who have played this for over 1,100 hours since December of 2015. This has been my go-to game for when I've had between weeks and months’ worth of free time to burn. It's been my go-to game for when I want a post-apocalyptic setting with some survival elements. I've spent less time attempting to go down every conversation path, and more time exploring the landscape, gathering crafting materials, and more of less embracing the notion of role-playing as merchant. And I've spent a lot of time building settlements which I liken to a few moments of playing games that revolve around creation and management: Roller Coaster Tycoon 1 and 2 Lego Stunt Rally during the Windows XP days, spending a few all-nighters in Minecraft on Xbox 360 in 2012, and I'm sure that my more present-day time-sinks into Cities: Skylines are a part of the mix as well. So despite the criticism towards settlements and the praise that New Vegas still gets, 4 has just hits differently because it satisfies most of if not all of my creative desires in games.

  • Along with Cyberpunk, Nioh 2 (again, the Steam version which released eleven months after the PS4 version) has also been a big part of 2021 as far as what I played that year. I'm always down for a good character action game. Devil May Cry 3, my first foray into the genre, is a classic. I did have Ninja Gaiden 2 for the 360 back in either 2008 or 2009, but it was to difficult for me at the time, so I want to go back to it in order to redeem myself. And there's also Bayonetta, Metal Gear Rising, Lollipop Chainsaw, Killer is Dead, Nier: Automata... I think you get the point in that I hold the genre in high esteem. So what better way to enhance my enjoyment of the genre by giving me a very wide move sets via each weapon type, ninja magic, the ability to cosplay as Ryomou Shimei for a few hours before it gets weird, and a chance at redemption for bailing on Ninja Gaiden 2? This game.

  • Saints Row 2 is where character creation has become a much more desired feature in games, and in turn has made me realize that I like Saints Row more than Grand Theft Auto; even after my solo escapade with GTA Online. I appreciate Rockstar focusing in on a cinematic approach to designing and crafting the stories and characters for San Andreas, 4 and 5. But, as far as my intentions and purposes of playing games go, self-intercession and self-expression are more engaging for me than merely piloting one character or another, at least, that's how I can best describe the different sensations I get from the two franchises.

    This spot can also go to Saints Row 3 or 4. But if someone were to ask me which my favorite Saints Row game is, I feel like I'd answer with 2 more often then 3 for no particular reason.

  • Back in the 90's, I wasn't the kid in class who drew Dragon Ball characters all of the time, but I very well could have been since I "played" Dragon Ball Z with some other kids at school and summer camp with throwing air ki blasts and whatnot before the video games made things less imaginary over time. So what better to satiate my early weeb power fantasies than to make my own Dragon Ball OCs? Sure, Arc System Works has a choke hold on anime fighters and I give FighterZ its props, but Xenoverse is what I've always wanted from a series that revolves around power fantasy.

  • For better or for worse, I'm one of the few people who had had a pretty good experience with Cyberpunk since launch, granted that I didn't get swept up the multiple years of hype that the game was accumulating, and that an i9 9900K and a 2080 Ti are still pretty capable in 2022. While keeping the game in my periphery, I simply wanted open-world Deus Ex where Adam Jensen was swapped with my OC, and I pretty much got it. Night City is the most visually appealing world that I've explored. And my only complaint with the story and characters is that I wish that I had more time with Jackie and T-Bug, while everyone and everything else works for me given the game's story and themes, even with Johnny being a douchebag.

    As for fashion souls, I'm actually okay with the game primarily being in first-person. I don't dress for stats, I dress for style, and occasionally seeing my attire in the inventory menu and while riding a bike works well enough for me; just knowing that my style choices are there. At about 375 hours in at the moment I'm posting this, if I desperately want cyberpunk in third-person, I'll just play Saints Row 4 again.

  • The mainline Senran Kagura game are my way to experience modern anime without actually watching them due to me needing some type of interaction with the medium as opposed to being a passive viewer. Shinovi Versus was enjoyable despite my skepticism with introducing the ecchi genre into my games library; as if God or War, The Witcher 1 and 2, and Mass Effect 2's camera being half way up Miranda's ass didn't exist. Estival Versus was the hypest shit of my 2017 when the Ikkitousen DLC released internationally along with the Steam version. And with Peach Beach Splash being a third person shooter instead of a beat-em-up: Weapon selection becomes a thing. Skill customization becomes a factor. Being able to level up characters, weapons, and skills is certainly a mechanic. And all of that equates to Unreal Tournament with how fast paced this game becomes due to how overpowered each character and loadout can be. By the end game: Sniper rifles become rail guns. Miniguns gain as much water in reserve as a reservoir for a small town. And team healing and team shields adds a lot of suitability to both teams. Add in some Mick Gordon or The Black Dahlia Murder for the soundtrack, and you have one of my ideas for video game Shangri-La.

    I mean, look, I'm not saying that Peach Beach Splash is the Quake that people are sleeping on. ...but it is the Quake that people are sleeping on, provided that you can find seven other people for multiplayer since online for the Senran Kagura games are kind of... well, Discord communities exist.

    ...Oh, yeah, and you can dress up the characters, but, eh, whatever.

  • Though my experiences with installing mods started with Fallout 3 with a humble Lenovo T410 laptop in 2014, Skyrim on my fist desktop involving a Celeron G1840 and 750 Ti is where my PC gaming-isms where really picking up steam (no pun intended) just a year later. I enjoyed the game a lot on the 360 as both my first Bethesda title, but I always knew that Skyrim on PC was the definitive version because of all of the wild shit you could add to the game, like Randy Savage dragons. Fast forward to today, I just keep a short list of quality-of-life and graphical enhancement mods with the Special Edition.

  • I've never watched Sword Art, nor do I plan to. I don't have any strong feelings in favor of or against any of the characters. And Dan Avidan (of Game Grumps and Ninja Sex Party) has unknowingly accurately decried an underlying plot point of the series of which doesn't surface until the last quarter of the game by referencing Stay Alive: "If you die in the game, you die for real!"

    ...So why is this so high on the list? Phantasy Star Online and Diablo.

    Yup. To those who don't care about Sword Art Online but likes the MMO grind of numbers getting bigger, this is a an epitome of a podcast game; just play this in the background of whoever you want to listen to for a few hours, and you too can go through this shonen anime adventure while mindlessly shooting various bugs, robots, other players (because, oh, yeah, the whole Sword Art Online premise is that it's meant to follow kids playing one MMO or another but with The Matrix, eHarmony and 4chan thrown into the mix), bigger bugs... bigger robots... something, something, the power of friendship, and creepy visual novel style come hither pin-ups of the characters (both female and male) which reinforce my dedication to not being an incel.

    ...But the gameplay is the best incarnation of Phantasy Star Online and the game lets you redesign and respec your characters at almost any given moment, so... Fuck it. This game is great.

  • I'm talking about GTA Online for anyone that's confused. Seeing as how this makes the top ten, I think it's safe to say that my solo adventures in GTA Online in January were more or less a success. My low point included but weren't limited to: Me grinding the same three missions over and over again for roughly $10K per completion. My character having a similar level of bullet resistance as a dryer sheet. And piloting a cargobob with mouse and keyboard controls. But to sum of my high points in three words: Cayo Perico Heist. I'll admit that I did buy the $1,250,000 Shark Card (albeit for only $7.50 on a grey market) after I knew the proper steps in order to access the heist. But the sense of accomplishment of being able to reliably complete the heist and earn about $1.4M per completion is equal to me beating Dark Souls 1 for the first time, so I'm not exactly stressing over making one microtransaction. Now that I'm in a position where I can essentially play GTA Online as a The Sims-like power fantasy where I can buy all of the cars, clothes and guns that I want, I kinda recommend playing GTA Online alone and making a B-line to buying the submarine.

  • It's not that I hate let alone dislike Forza Horizon. It's just that Need for Speed 2015, Heat, and Undergrounds 1 and 2 better scratch my vehicle customization itch, and Heat being the latest game at the moment does it pretty well. Hopefully Criterion keeps Ghost's momentum going without being too influenced by Turn 10. ...unless they also want Hot Wheels and Lego DLC. I'd approve of that.

  • What I said in the Dark Souls section can more or less be said here, but with less gitting gud and more being picky about other people's OCs.

    Same amount of oddball charters and Berserk references between the two games, though.

  • There's a point where you're comfortable enough with the games to where your priorities switch from getting the most out of your souls for levels, and more about buying a complete set of armor from a merchant, just because. It becomes less about knowing which boss souls you can consume in order to level up faster, but about knowing which souls can become which weapons; not to use, but to keep as trophies. It's less about knowing which NPCs you can bring into a boss for the extra help, but it's advancing their quest in the way that gives you their weapons and armor later. And it becomes less about using weapons and armor that best compliment your stats, and more about stylin' and profilin'.

    Where git gud ends, fashion souls begins.

  • Don't confuse this as me being an apologist for Mass Effect: Andromeda. The Shepard trilogy is mostly solid, and Mass Effect 2 is the best game of the franchise.

    But, I will say that the one thing that Andromeda has over the classic trilogy is adding significantly more flexibility to the class system. I like being a Vanguard 'n' all, but it is nice to be able to give it a break and try other things in order to break up the monotony of being tied down to a single gameplay strategy for tens of hours. ...which feels like a hypocritical statement to make given what you basically do in Andromeda, but... Okay. It's like in Devil May Cry; I like Trickster, but I wouldn't want to go through a game with only Trickster.

    ...Did I mention that this list is more about how much I like the character customization aspects of the game, and not about how much I like or don't want to like the game?

  • This is where being able to modify a pre-made character's appearance comes into play through characters having multiple outfits and the main characters having something to say about them. I wouldn't say that comments about the various school uniforms and causal outfits aren't particularly special. ..well, unless you get Naoto to wear a girl's uniform. But it's the referential and fan service outfits that yield more interesting and amusing exchanges. As for some examples: Having the male characters in drag after the talent show event, especially Yosuke, Kanji, Teddie, and Charlie (aka Yuu). Yukiko's reactions to characters wearing Groucho glasses. Neo Featherman (aka Power Rangers/Super Sentai). Chie's Bruce Lee (or Kill Bill) inspired yellow jumpsuit. The difference in dialogue with dressing female party members in bikinis and maid uniforms whether you've romanced them or not. And Naoto rightfully questioning the practicality of the Coronet Armor, where upon realizing that the costume makes her show more crack than asphalt actually disturbs me a little because I don't go to Persona for rule 34 ideas. ...But I digress.

  • Come to think of it, the more modern Pokemon games let you play as a main character where you can spend thousands if not millions of Poke Dollars on clothes and hair styles. I mean, after beating each game's Elite Four for tens if not hundreds of times, what else are you going to spend your money on? So, not only does character customization give me another list of things to collect, it also makes me not care as much about finding the canon names to each protagonist and role playing at them, but instead make the characters my own and it's some form of me trying to be the very best that millions of players have become over the 26 years and counting.

    Also, being able to have Marnie's hair style a few moments after exploring the Isle of Armor? Game Freak must have known that some of the fans ride for Goth IHOP.

  • In the words of RuPaul, "You better work", and that's exactly what you have to do in order to get the weapons and armor that you want, be it for bigger numbers and bigger damage, though I mainly care for fashion souls. And some of these sets really deliver, especially when coming off of the PlayStation Portable and Nintendo 3DS entries where you can see more realized versions of these designs one modern consoles and PCs.

    That said, I can't put this very high my list because of the MMO characteristic of only allowing full character re-creations using vouchers of which you have to pay for with real money. Not cool Capcom. Not cool.

  • Soulcalibur 3 can work here as well because of how much an impression the Chronicles of the Sword mode has left on me, but Libra of Soul works well enough, and the current game looks prettier if not outright badass when pulling off Nightmare's critical edge.

  • Before first playing this back in 2019, that last Assassin's Creed I played was either 2 or 4, so adding loot to Assassin's Creed was a new concept to me but not an alienating one. But the feature that got me turnt is transmogrification; equipping one item but having it look like another. I don't know how many games feature it before this one, but it should be a thing in more games.

  • Trying to be a fashionista on a 4" 480 x 272 resolution screen isn't very impressive by today's standards, but this is sort of where the seeds of my affinity towards character creation were planted, all while spending a good amount of time grinding in the right area for the right clothing drop that can be worn by a preferred character class. Similar sentiments can extend to Phantasy Star Online 2, but Monster Hunter World as shown me that the less free-to-play MMO qualities are attached to character customization, the better.

  • I miss Armored Core, but this scratches the mecha itch well enough since my anime nerdom took a more degenerate path. So with Armored Core not having been a thing for years, Front Mission also having not been a thing for years (for the time being), and we don't talk about Left Alive, this is more of less my best bet for recreating Unit-02, not that I'm complaining.

  • Sometimes the fashion souls doesn't have to be extensive. 'Merican military has its element of escapism to it, and Wildlands is fun enough to play in lieu of a PC version of Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction.
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