Summary
Role-playing gamesare a blast to play for a whole host of reasons, regardless of whether players control an original character or a pre-existing one. However, when it comes to the former, fans will always expect their game to come equipped with a decent character creator to help immerse them fully in these titles.
While most fantasy RPGs have amazing character creators, some fans will be surprised to learn that the sci-fi genre is a bit less fortunate in this regard. This is why it’s important to commend the character creators in certain sci-fi RPGs that do a great job of letting players create a unique player character to take on their adventure.
Deus Ex’s character creator is pretty limited, with players cycling between one of many preset looks for JC Denton before deciding how his skills are distributed. Still, for what it’s worth, the game does a decent job of making this choice meaningful. The player’s brother, Paul, will look like a carbon copy of him based on the look that the player chose. It’s a small yet meaningful change thatother RPGs can try to replicate in modern times.
BioWare games are known for amazing stories and engaging worlds, with their character creators being serviceable at best. However, these creation systems still do a decent job of letting fans put themselves in the shoes of a protagonist who must achieve several heroic feats and save the world.
Such is the case inKnights of the Old Republic. Players control an amnesiac Jedi who slowly regains their memories, only to stumble upon one of the biggest plot twists in video game history. It leads to an iconic unmasking that vindicatesKOTOR’s character creator and lets fans witness the narrative impact of their cosmetic choices, as minor as they may be. Players choose their character’s portrait, switching the protagonist’s face from one of several presets.
The Outer Worldsis a great sci-fi RPGthat serves as Obsidian’s take on an epic in this genre. Despite some paper-thin worldbuilding,The Outer Worldsstands out thanks to its humor and some great environments for players to explore.
The character creator offers a decent number of options for players to mess around with, although they have to get pretty creative with the game’s limited sliders to create truly unique characters. All of these options revolve around changing the protagonist’s face. players can choose not to wear helmets if they want to appreciate all the effort they put into designing their custom character.
Mass Effect: Andromeda’s character creator was lambasted back when it came out, but more people have warmed up to it over time. It may not sportthe most advanced modern character creation systemaround, but the suite of options is still quite varied compared to the Commander Shepard games.
Players can craft Ryder’s face in their desired image by choosing from a litany of options, although body types don’t receive the same treatment. Players can put the same care into customizing the other Ryder twin’s appearance, while also deciding whether their father, Alec Ryder, will exhibit these unique looks. There’s always a chance to get a good look at the custom character in conversations and cutscenes, which is exactly what fans want with an RPG where they can spend hours creating the character of their dreams.
Starfieldsplit fan opinion when it launched, with several players finding it somewhat shallow compared to other Bethesda games. However,this sci-fi adventure has a lot of promisethat shows if players ignore the loading screens and avoid landing on procedurally-generated planets.
It helps that the character creator is great and gives players many options to tinker with. Body types can be configured, and faces can be altered with numerous sliders to help the hero look as unique as possible. After this, players can choose various backgrounds and traits that have in-game consequences. There may not be many opportunities to look at the player character in question, but the customization is pretty great regardless.
Since cyberpunk is a sci-fi subgenre, it’s easy to see whyCyberpunk 2077qualifies here. Players can spend hours creating the V of their dreams, and the game features several moments where players can look at their custom character’s face, despite the first-person viewpoint. Along with the regular options, players can also customize V’s private parts and even alter the tone of their voice, which is a rarity in most character creators.
Cyberpunk 2077’s character creation system encourages players to create unique-looking characters with varying attributes and lifepaths. This allows a player’s version of V to be as unique as possible as they embark on a high-stakes adventure to save the protagonist’s body from being taken over.
