This isn’t too common but I have seen this in every type of interactive fiction: fake slow burn romance.
By that I mean the very last chapter and in some cases the very last paragraph the MC gets together with a “RO” with no buildup, tension or hint of desire. “Oh I have never showed interested in the MC not even the barest of hints but I guess we’re dating now”. It’s lazy and points obviously to the authors being uncomfortable with writing romance.
Real slow burn should have desire, tension, and conflict (not just in attitude but can also mean emotionally internally). You should be able to see over time the feelings start to build and smolder til it erupts into a bonfire of love and passion.
I know I maybe in minority here. But I dislike being forced to describe the MC appearance. Initially it was fun to see it few games. But now it feel like every game has this same dialogue option or something. It feels repetitive.
For example. MC looks into mirror/water puddle mostly. MC has eyes like their dad in which color is almost described in same manner across every game. Like Midnight if black. Then MC has his hair color same as his Mom. Same description stuff. Then Hair style is the same 5 stuff. Same in regards with skin color. Finally height of MC is described in relation to door hitting their head or uncomfortable seating in vehicle.
I do appreciate games which gives me an option to forgo all these stuff. Similarly I also appreciate unique description to appearance (I remember reading one I forgot which one it was. But it was fun.)
I would certainly prefer to rather select a vehicle that is correct size for me if it’s my own and not a work car or something at least! It’s just plain horrible and potentially dangerous trying to drive it otherwise. (Been there, done that.)
I don’t mind “Set MC appearance” thing, they’re mostly brief and one-time, but I am endlessly amused by characters over-described in a way that feels like you’re reading from IKEA catalogue while also browsing for jewelry and shopping for groceries.
"He was 190cm tall with broad shoulders 102cm width, narrow hips 55cm in diameter, with redwood skin, malachite eyes and kumquat curls swept to one side hanging 4cm 3mm over the right ear (see STÖIIK RǾ model on the page 69 of our “ROs of season 2026” collection for reference).
I’m so with you on this, especially the height detail. Whenever I see a character’s exact height listed in text, it always breaks my immersion a bit. Is Seeing someone on the street and instantly knowing their exact height a thing most people can do? Cause I always find it really strange.
I’ve read that Full Metal Daemon Muramasa, which is supposedly one of the greatest Japanese visual novels ever made, has an RO route that lasts for what? 10 minutes. Yes, that’s one major Achilles heel right here.
I always think of these type of descriptions as jigsaw puzzles that don’t quite come together to make the big picture in my head, but I very much enjoy the metaphor of IKEA instructions too.
Gross exaggeration about 10 minutes, but Chachamaru isn’t really a full on route and more of a quick side character what if route, and it does have tens of hours of buildup before this. And there is a lot of context that make much more sense about it if you read it. So this particular example is really ridiculous.
But i agree that buildup should be gradual and slow. Most authors fall into press this to flirt and SUDDENLY characters are hella attracted to each other. This is just not how it works and is never satisfying, it should not be sudden or short. Gotta build up mutual respect and affection.
I don’t mind getting the option to customize your character appearance if it actually plays a role in the narrative, like if being short allowed you to sneak in through the vents or having a certain hair color allows you to skip getting a wig for a disguise later on or something, but I personally have not seen an IF that does that outside of gender and pronouns, and in the case of gender, in some cases not even that. In most cases you can strip all that customization away and the narrative would not change a single bit.
I think a few has stuff like easy checks if you are short or tall. But I agree with you. In most games if you remove the customisation nothing would change really. It feels like wasted opportunity.
I, The Forgotten One has some decent reactivity to height and looks. With your character getting different reactions based on how intimidating they look making it easier to instill fear or love in their troops. Height also directly correlates to the correct choices during a duel you have.
Although yea, most of the time it doesn’t really ever matter what you pick for your looks and that makes the prologue of lots of books a slog.
My feeling has always been if you are going to ask I expect it to be used cause other wise, Why? I can imagine my character in far more details than your game can provide just fine all on my own.
A lot of people need that customization even if it never gets used.
If you fail to include it people will get upset and you’ll get bad reviews that mention the lack of customization, but if you had included the customization and done absolutely nothing with it they’d have been happy.
Character customization is the bottom bar I need a game to clear for me to have any interest, whether that has highly sophisticated knock-on effects in game or does nothing but sit in the stats menu as a reminder.
I don’t mind a game making the customization optional, EG:
You have an hour before X, you could go get changed and check the mirror beforehand.
A. I don’t care about my appearance (skip character customization, your appearance will be glossed over)
B. I want to look my best (enter character customization, your appearance will have no mechanical impact in play)
I think I’ve played games where it isn’t referenced in the stats menu at all, and that’s super annoying to me because then I’ll forget halfway through what the MC looks like (I don’t visualize as I read at all) and in worst cases I’ll forget what gender I’m playing as, and then I wonder if I’ve hit a bug or picked an option I didn’t intend to by accident when something is mentioned in the game and I can’t check.
Honestly, I’m surprised to hear this. I’ve seen games that have it in the stats and thought it was kinda corny. Granted, it didn’t make me less likely to play it. I’ll take note though
I’m of an opinion that if appearance isn’t used narratively there is zero reason to include it. I can imagine how i look in a given scenario better than any description even most talented author could provide. There is no need for customization, i can customize it in my head.
Now if, for example, having a scar can give you something like intimidation bonuses, better first impression from some characters and worse from others, having long hair can paint you as impractical but more charismatic or for example someone grab you by long hair but you dodge with short, different clothes could give different starting impressions and options in various situations, allowing to maybe skip some confrontation or lead to extra dialogues like giving a coat to a lady if you have one - if all of that played a role and was more of a one-off mention, i would be happy to customize my character every time.
This would introduce dreaded minmaxing as a problem, but taking things CRPG into account, whether you want to play (random example) a dwarf for this hp per level boost or for a story reason, that is a valid choice to give to a player and shouldn’t be a problem in general.
TL;DR: Customizing character is useless if not used, really good if matters.
I can hallucinate any imagery I want while engaged in literally any activity. There’s a difference when the game acknowledges and incorporates your appearance.
