Summary
- RPGs prioritize character depth, customization & setting new standards for player agency.
- Dragon Age: The Veilguard excels in character development & customization with representation.
- Games like Pokemon X & Y, Baldur's Gate 3 & Avowed bring unique character customization features.
Role-playing games have always been about staking a claim in the world with a unique character. Sometimes these characters are faced with difficult moral decisions, or tasked with defeating huge threats to the world. Other times, it's enough to have them simply exist in idle harmony with the surrounding land. While in other genres the player character is little more than a vessel, an empty space for the screen to hold that lets the player shoot or drive through glittery set pieces. In an RPG, the player character is everything.
It's no surprise, then, that some of the best RPGs have set new standards for character customization, adding new depth to how characters can be sculpted and the roles they take on in the world. The titles in this list might have since been surpassed by games with more in-depth character customization, or they might still reign supreme as icons in this area. But no matter what, these games redefined within either their own series or the genre as a whole what character customization meant to players.
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7 Dragon Age: The Veilguard
An In-Depth And Incredibly Detailed Character Creator
Dragon Age: The Veilguard
- Released
- October 31, 2024
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- BioWare
- Publisher(s)
- Electronic Arts
- Platform(s)
- PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X
- Genre(s)
- RPG
A triumphant and thrilling return to the world of Thedas, Dragon Age: The Veilguard excels where its characters are concerned. The lore of previous titles was all but ignored, and the overall worldbuilding of Thedas suffered despite venturing to some never-before-seen areas. However, this game will keep players coming back for more, purely for how well-realized Rook and their companions are as characters.
Rook has a level of depth to their customization only matched by a handful of games. Six distinct factions all provide unique opportunities to make this Rook feel like they have stakes and presence in the world, and aren't just a blank canvas. This game also does an excellent job with its representation of diverse characters. Rook can be any sexuality the player wishes, and their experience with gender identity can be brought up several times in game.
6 Pokemon X & Y
Brought A Highly Demanded Feature Into The Series
Pokemon X and Y
- Released
- October 12, 2023
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Game Freak
- Publisher(s)
- Nintendo
- Platform(s)
- 3DS
- Genre(s)
- JRPG
This game represents the Pokémon franchise's first, fumbling steps into the 3D era. The story needed work, the models needed work, but if there's one area where this game shone, it was in the level of character customization the title brought to the franchise.
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This was the first mainline title to let players change the appearance of their character beyond whether they appeared male or female. Skin color, hair color, and clothes could all be changed to add new levels of personality to the protagonist. It was a huge step forward for the mainline games, and hopefully this character customization returns in Legends Z-A.
5 Dragon Age Origins
Characters Can Be Customized Well Beyond Looks
Dragon Age: Origins
- Released
- November 3, 2009
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood, Intense Violence, Language, Partial Nudity, Sexual Content
- Genre(s)
- RPG
Compared to modern games, the physical character customization in Dragon Age Origins can seem a little slim. The armor styles and designs are nothing short of iconic, but even for their time, the aesthetic choices were a little limited. Designing a character's appearance at the beginning of the game often took a lot of tweaking to get someone looking halfway decent.
The way this game revolutionized character customization, however, didn't come from aesthetics. This game's origin system, which determines where in Thedas the player begins, is nothing short of legendary. It provides a drastically different paradigm to experience both side quests and the main quest in.
4 Avowed
A Highly Unique Take On Character Customization
Avowed
- Released
- February 18, 2025
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Obsidian Entertainment
- Publisher(s)
- Xbox Game Studios
- Platform(s)
- Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PC
What makes Avowed so different and so iconic when compared to many character customization systems is just how unique the protagonist specifically is in the world. Anyone familiar with Pillars of Eternity and the world of Eora is familiar with the Godborn, a mysterious race of people who bear physical resemblance to the gods, and magical powers that follow suit.
The protagonist is first and foremost an anomaly because of their status as Godborn, and doubly an anomaly because they don't know what god they get their powers from. Customizing a character in Avowed isn't just about deciding how the player looks, but how their Godborn features have altered their looks. NPCs will react to the unique way that the players' Godborn abnormality has manifested. This dimension to the protagonist is another layer of excellent storytelling in Avowed.
3 Baldur’s Gate 3
A Huge And Expansive Array Of Customization Options
Baldur's Gate 3
- Released
- August 3, 2023
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Larian Studios
- Publisher(s)
- Larian Studios
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PC, macOS
- Genre(s)
- RPG
One of the biggest draws to Baldur's Gate 3 was how elegantly and exceptionally it brought the depth that comes with tabletop RPGs to the video game scene. It is no small feat to give players the same breadth of options in a graphically stunning game that they might have when a game is fueled with pen and paper. But the expansiveness and player freedom begins right at the character creation screen and continues from there.
Players can select from a myriad of races to suit any number of dedicated builds. Each race still has synergy with almost every class, allowing for an unprecedented breadth of customization that helped make this game so iconic.
2 Cyberpunk 2077
V Can Be Customized Down To Minute Details
Cyberpunk 2077
- Released
- December 10, 2020
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- CD Projekt Red
- Publisher(s)
- CD Projekt Red
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch 2, PC
When players customize V, they're not just customizing their looks. This game's in-depth cyberware system, honed after a myriad of updates and revamps, is central to character customization in a way that few games manage to replicate.
Cyberware changes the way V moves and interacts with Night City, and how they function in combat and outside of it. It can provide huge, build-altering abilities or bonuses depending on how much chrome players pile onto their character.
1 Elden Ring
No Soulsborne Game Can Compare
Elden Ring
- Released
- February 25, 2022
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- From Software
- Publisher(s)
- Bandai Namco Entertainment, From Software
- Platform(s)
- PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X
The jump in character customization from Dark Souls 3 to Elden Ring is nothing short of astonishing. The sheer level of detail players can put into sculpting the perfect character is incredible. Beyond this, gear and weapons of every style and aesthetic are available to carry into battle.
Elden Ring set the standard for soulsborne and soulslike games in just about every department, and character customization is no exception. More than any game in this genre before it, players have unprecedented freedom in how their character looks and moves within the game.
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