Good character creators tied to amazing games

[SolVanderlyn]

I know Black Desert is hailed as the character creator to end all character creators, but the game itself leaves a lot to be desired, at least in my opinion.

Mass Effect would be the opposite for me. Only FemShep has good customization options, and they're just that - good, at best. Not fantastic. MaleShep ends up looking like a default space marine or a neanderthal. The games, on the other hand, more than make up for this.

I guess the best fusion of the two for me would be Dragon Age: Inquisition, especially for its time. It was one of the first PS4 games I played, and I was blown away by the character creator at the time, and how seamlessly my beloved creation blended into cutscenes and felt like a real, breathing, living character in that world. I loved it so much I played it twice just to see another one of my creations romp through the world (and because of how differently the story can play out based on your choices). The game isn't my favorite RPG of all time, but it was pretty good, enough for me to see it through more than once.

What are some of your examples? Any characters you'd like to share?

 

[Zolbrod]

Monster Hunter World has one of the best character creators out there, especially with the Iceborne expansion.
Code Vein is also really good if you want to make anime-style characters.

 

[domstah]

Dragon's Dogma had a really good character creator.

 

[Escaflow]

Lost Ark. Much better game than BDO

 

[Rendering...]

OP's right about Mass Effect. The Mass Effect trilogy's character creators made me sad. I could only manage to make custom FemShep look good. MaleShep always came out looking like a wax sculpture of a prehistoric quarterback.

Default MaleShep was so much more handsome than any of my custom creations that I was basically forced to pick him. How else was I going to get an avatar hunky enough to sustain me for 50+ hours in each ME game?

 

[Dark_Castle]

Dragon's Dogma had a really good character creator.

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It's honestly crazy how good its character creator is. I love that you can roleplay as a legit child or an sickly old man, or as a female Hulk if you want. It truly is robust.

DD also took it further and made weight/height have some gameplay influences. Interesting stuff.

 

[Turin]

Not an amazing game but yeah, I really liked Dragon Age Inquisition's character creator.

Here's a weird pick, Fight Night Round 2.

 

[DaciaJC]

Dragon's Dogma had a really good character creator.

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Frankly, it's one of the best I've seen in a game. The facial customization isn't anything special, but in terms of height, weight, and body types, it's really good. And as someone else mentioned, the fact that some of these attributes have gameplay effects (albeit minor ones) is impressive.

 

[Dlanor A. Knox]

Lost Ark. Much better game than BDO

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I really hope this game gets a western release

 

[Snormy]

Just wanted to say that it isn't at all an important feature for the genre but I absolutely love that Soul Calibur has a character creator with customizable armors/clothes.
Shout out to this thread while I'm here.

https://www.resetera.com/threads/soulcalibur-6-create-a-soul-showcase-thread-offer-your-soul.75601/

I also really enjoyed Attack on Titan 2. The character creator and how it is tied into the story is split but I personally really like it. It still fails a lot of things such as skin colour and maybe some more body types. The creator is pretty simple but enough for me to enjoy and fits nicely with the game I think. This isn't the type of game where you get to dress up nicely. Your visual variation is mostly limited to uniform types, changable shirts, cape/jackets being on or off, minor accessories and head/hair features. The gameplay is also quite good, your character is blended into the story as just another soldier who is part of Eren's year of recruits so you're right in there where the action is at and it tells the story from a slightly different perspective than watching the anime or playing the first game.

I guess another character creator I really enjoyed is the one in Dynasty Warriors Empires series. You have the regular main heroes but you can create new warriors and base them off a hero's moveset or weapons. Sometimes it looks a bit goofy but it also lets me play weapons/styles I like but have no interest in the characters as I dislike them visually or whatever.

Also. On the topic of Black Desert Online. While I think some other games have caught up in terms of quality character creators one thing I do like is that if you have a value pack in BDO (which is often rewarded or bought via in game currency from market) you can alter your character again. I still have issues with gender lock, race lock, weird proportions and such but overall I'm glad you can change and tweak your character so easily. Many other games such as MHW lets you do some of it but full options you need to pay for a ticket.

 

[Jamie]

My favorite character creator? Maybe the Fallout series (3&4 specifically), and Dragon Dogma was cool too.

I enjoyed Mass Effect Andromeda, but the character creator was tragic. I remembered giggling a bit when I created this bad ass looking character (Arnold Schwarzenegger) , and ended up with Danny DeVito instead. Just ended up using Sara.

 

[RingoGaSuki]

May not be exactly what you're after, but I had a great time with the create-a-wrestler back in Smackdown vs Raw 2006 and Day of Reckoning. They were such good games honestly, I wish we had something resembling them rather than the buggy mess we have now in 2K20 (and I don't even watch WWE, the games were just good fun)

 

[Deleted member 49319]

eh, code vein?

 

[Wood Man]

Don't those WWE wresting games have insane amounts of customization?

 

[Castor Archer]

The Souls games have a pretty robust character creator. There's a lot of options, and it does seem daunting at first. Most people don't really spend a lot of time with it, or they click random a bunch of times to make meme faces, but you can really get some good results.

 

[Chopchop]

FFXIV has a good character creator imo. It has a good amount of customization options, though it tries to keep you away from looking comically ugly.

It also has a variety of background previews in different lighting conditions. It's so that you don't make your character and then realize it looks completely different in the first scene of the game.

 

[marimo]

Saint's Row 3 would be up there with DA:I for me.

 

[sn00zer]

I was really not into the idea of FF16 potentially having a character creator, but FF14s character creator lets you make awesome looking characters so easily. Also easily some of the best hair options Ive ever seen.

 

[Urban Scholar]

Hi hello there OP & folks.


So in regards to character creators, if you're a person of color, I've found the following to do more than the bare minimum effort for us (folks with melanin), hair & skin tones past 4 shades.


Monster Hunter World
Code Vein
Sunset Overdrive
Guild Wars 2
The Surge 2
Daemon X Machina
Elite Dangerous

Hope that helps. I'm trying to keep a running list of character creators that do PoCs justice.

 

[FarZa17]

Saints Row 2

Great character creation in the great game in the series.

And I think it's still the best creator, because it's the first one that I truly impressed and spent more time creating. Unlike previous title, this one is massive upgrade with more detailed customization, new female addition, no limitation of creation (Feminine body with man voice and beard, walks like a female? No problem). The selection of costumes, accessories are great too.

 

[Mochi]

Lost Ark. Much better game than BDO

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I completely forgot that this came out. Really, REALLY hope it gets an international release!

 

[Love Machine]

Code Vein does little for me, but I'm tempted to play it just for the anime creator.

OP's right about Mass Effect. The Mass Effect trilogy's character creators made me sad. I could only manage to make custom FemShep look good. MaleShep always came out looking like a wax sculpture of a prehistoric quarterback.

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*Spits out tea* LOL

 

[Deleted member 3888]

dragon's dogma, mostly because of the body size/weight customization that tie into gameplay, being heavier can weigh down enemies (and carrying more stuff), being tiny get you through certain places, the problem is that the game don't offer enough content that take advantage of those elements.