If I Can’t Customize My Character, Why Care About The Video Game?

I’m in my 40s and have been playing video games most of that time. I’ve hopped across dozens of different platforms and genres and have poured so much money into this hobby-turned-career that I might be a millionaire right now if I didn’t play them. With all of that experience, I want to be loud and clear: I don’t care about games that don’t let me customize my character.

I’m sure you’re ready to tell me I’m wrong, and that’s fine because, in actuality, it’s you who’s wrong. All of the best games let me customize my character. And by all the best games, I mean the Fallout franchise, wrestling games, live-service games that let me buy cosmetics to make my player and everything about them distinctly me, and any other title with a customization tool.

Why Do I Need To Customize My Character?

I grew up in an era where game characters weren’t all that customizable. Then my mother got me WCW/NWO Revenge on the N64 as a birthday present. While it didn’t have the creation suite that went on to become a staple of WWE games, you could edit almost everything about the game’s existing wrestlers. This allowed me to make them look how I wanted and led to me even trying to edit one of them to resemble me.

The ability to customize characters in this game resonated with me in ways decking out your hero does in the Diablo series did not. It’s likely due to my wrestling obsession at the time. But as console games got better, character creators became more common. By the time Wrestlemania 2000 hit on the N64, there was an early creation suite that had me stuffing the cartridge memory with created wrestlers based on me and my friends.

From there, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic was the customizable game that caught my eye. Not only could I build my Force user, but I could guide who he becomes – Jedi or Sith – and his physical appearance would change based on those choices. Once Fallout 3 dropped in 2008, it was all over.

From that point on, I went out of my way looking for games with character creation options. It’s simply easier to immerse myself if I’m playing a game where I had an active role in shaping the character. I feel more involved and more motivated to fight my way to greatness. It’s the difference between playing a story and starring in one.

I Get Why Some Games Don’t, But They Should Anyway

Player characters are sometimes as iconic as they come. Whether it’s Super Mario, Nathan Drake, Sam Porter Bridges, or even Solid Snake, they are known for their specific look, with the franchise built around that. Even some of those games allow a bit of customization, though.

Mario, for example, has been changing his look to fit his powers since, well, the dawn of Mario. I’m not going to lie and say I haven’t picked some of his power-ups solely based on what he looks like with them. Shoutout Cat Mario.

And that’s basically all I want from other games. Let me change the character’s shirt, give them a different haircut, or even swap their boots for sneakers. Even something surface-level grabs me because I’m getting to make the character my own.

Take Death Stranding, for instance. This is a beloved game fronted by a wildly recognizable face. It’s Norman Reedus, star of The Walking Dead and its spin-off. With two Death Stranding games behind him now, he’s as much the face of the franchise as creator Hideo Kojima.

It’s not a surprise you can’t edit Sam in Death Stranding 1 and 2, given the amount of money likely paid to Reedus. I just wish you could. You can tinker around with his suit and some of his accessories, though. You’re still going to be Norman Reedus, but you’ll be your Norman Reedus. That’s less helpful if you don’t like Norman Reedus in the first place, but I can only do so much.

Look, this is a luxury problem. ‘Oh no, my video games won’t let me turn myself into the hero.’ And I know more and more games are adding customizable elements. Sports games have been way ahead of the curve on this, having offered creation suites for years. Even Donkey Kong: Bonanza offers up a bunch of costuming options that can be unlocked throughout the game for DK and Pauline.

First TV Show

Fallout

First Episode Air Date

April 10, 2024

Cast

Ella Purnell, Aaron Moten, Kyle MacLachlan, Moises Arias, Xelia Mendes-Jones, Walton Goggins

Where to watch

Amazon Prime Video

First Game

Fallout

Latest Game

Fallout 76

If not a large ape smashing his way through an underground society, why not all characters?

So hear me when I speak, developers. I want to play all of your games. Just let me be me in them, or I’m out.