So, I just need to say this about other types of games.Something I just need to make my thoughts clear.
Choosing a preset character’s weapons and class shouldn’t be counted as character customization. Yes, maybe I can use a sword instead of a spear or what have you, but I’m still playing the same character, with the same personality, with really, the same everything.
Maybe it’s a nice touch to be able to fine tune a character’s fighting style, and yet, that’s all it is. At the end of the line, I’m not really making the character more connected or my own. It’s still the exact same.
Now, there are examples where I can swallow this. Hyrule Warriors. Preset characters because it’s to fit into the Zelda universe. Link has a variety of weapons(But really, still only about three useful weapon sets.) So when Fire Emblem warriors comes around, it’s understandable that you only are going to play as main universe characters. Makes sense.
Except…not really. Both are examples of Dynasty warriors crossovers, but that’s just it. As someone who follows the series and will honestly say the Empire versions are better, there is a reason for that. Empires allows you to construct a character of your own and insert it into the universe.
Not unlike Dragon Ball Z Xenoverse. While, yes, I’ll admit I didn’t like the Time Patroller’s incredibly generic anime hero personality that the dialogue implies, it was still your own character who doesn’t feel shoe horned or random to the universe at all. It was proper customization that allows you to have a unique character who also doesn’t feel forced.
Now, back to Hyrule Warriors. Some of us already know that the main Dynasty Warrior games will still let you make your own character for Free Mode, we don’t see any of that here. There is however a completely new and(what comes off as a very forced) addition to the game, named Lana. As a character, I don’t mind her. As what she implies that they were willing to allow new characters to exist in the franchise, the lack of any ability to make someone of your own design starts to make less sense, with the only justification being budget and time reasons.
This isn’t just a spill about Hyrule Warriors being bad, because it is in fact(Incredibly cliched and derivative storyline, aside), a good game and one that I’ve sunk tons of hours into. It’s a point that the justification for franchises not wanting to interfere with the lore makes little sense, let alone in games that aren’t even supposed to be considered canonical.
We still get countless of RPG’s in 2019, all claiming unique character design which boils down to “You can pick out their clothes and their weapon skills”, which does apply under the definition of character customization, but allows very little feeling of content and value and certainly doesn’t help me as a player feel more connected to my character just because “He has a hat now.”
Does any remember Saints Row 2? Which came out in 2008. By today’s standards the character models would be a little odd, but you were fully allowed to design your character, without it really damaging the story, and even came with different voices showing distinctly different character traits. They accomplished all of this eight years ago, and it’s true, that smaller developers have more limited resources, but we get just as many releases from major developers who do have the means to do these things and simply choose not to, to hammer out a “good enough” product.
Long rant to a simple summary, decorating my sword with a ribbon is “customizing”, just not in any particularly satisfying way.
