Summary
ManyJRPGssee the player taking on the role of a named character, one with a defined design and personality that allows them to appeal to players. Even when games likeDragon QuestandPersonagive their players silent protagoniststo project their personality onto, they still have generally static designs that aren’t very customizable.
Of course, there are still a few JRPGs that offer the player an opportunity to not just play as a character, but to customize them as much as they want. While it’s more common to see them in western RPGs,JRPG fans who want the chance to customize their own character should check these games out.
Customization On Two Fronts
Xenoblade Chronicles X
The next massive sci-fi role-playing game from Monolith Soft, the creators of Baten Kaitos and Xenoblade Chronicles, comes exclusively to Wii U. A terrible intergalactic war leaves just a handful of Earth survivors trying to live in a beautiful yet hostile environment. Players engage in battles against powerful creatures of all forms and sizes using the deep battle system that builds on the triumphs of Xenoblade Chronicles for Wii.Riding and controlling a weaponised mech, players can explore every inch of the massive open world displayed in gorgeous high-definition graphics. The world is filled with strange and imaginative creatures, from small bugs to giant dinosaurs.As characters improve in different classes, they will learn new combat and defensive skills, or Arts. Players can customise the Arts palette as their characters learn new Arts. All Arts have a ‘recast’ time - once cast, the player must wait out a ‘cooldown’ period before that Art can be used again. Players can customise everything about the main character’s appearance, including gender, shapes, height, skin colour, voice, and tattoos.
A spin-off to the popularXenoblade Chroniclesseries,Xenoblade Chronicles Xoffers a slightly different gameplay experience, with a stronger focus on multiplayer. Part of this involves creating a unique avatar that can be used in both the single-player campaign and multiplayer missions.
Since players are allowed to have their own avatar, they’re given some free rein to design them, though with some restrictions. However, they can also design the Skell mechs they gain access to after a certain point in the game, giving them several options to personalize their gameplay experience.
A Dungeon-Crawler With A Freely Customizable Party
Etrian Odyssey Nexus
The final Etrian installment on Nintendo 3DS.With more classes, characters, gameplay systems, and labyrinths than any other game in the series, Etrian Odyssey Nexus is the ultimate dungeon-crawling adventure.Create and customize characters from 19 playable classes, then take on the dangerous creatures of Lemuria’s labyrinths with your perfect party! With the ability to swap between four difficulty settings, auto-mapping settings, and a grand standalone story, series newcomers and experienced veterans alike are welcome.
Etrian Odysseyis a video game franchise from Atlus that evokesthe first-person dungeon crawling experienceinitially pioneered by classic RPGs likeWizardry. Each game sports similar gameplay, with the player taking a party of five adventurers through a series of dungeon environments.
Like many dungeon-crawlers that take influence fromWizardry,Etrian Odysseyallows players to customize their entire party, allowing swpping out their skills and their appearance. The newest game in the series,Etrian Odyssey Nexus, gives players even more freedom in customizing their party, allowing them to change their hair, eye color, and voice.
Dragon Quest 9, like every other main entry in the series, features a silent protagonist that allows players to project their own personalities onto the hero. However, unlike other games, the protagonist is fully customizable as well, allowing the player to give them a variety of hairstyles and facial expressions.
In fact, the player can do this for any playable character, as all of them are blank slates that the player can design and customize as they wish. In addition, every piece of equipment or armor is visible on the character, allowing for even more customization.
Final Fantasyis a landmark franchise in the JRPG sphere, with several of its entries being lauded as some of the most popular games of all time.Final Fantasy 14is the second attempt by Square Enix to create an MMO version of the iconic franchise,and it has become so successfulthat it has dwarfed long-time veterans likeWorld of Warcraft.
As an MMORPG,Final Fantasy 14naturally sports a variety of options for players to customize their avatar. In addition to the usual options to adjust hair, face, voice, and height, players can also choose their character’s race, class, and background, staples of a classic MMORPG.
Monster Hunteris a franchise known for allowing players to customize their appearance with the many different armors available in-game, but it doesn’t always give players a lot of options to customize the characters themselves. That all changed withMonster Hunter World, which improved the franchise’s character creation options by leaps and bounds.
Of course, being aMonster Huntergame,character customization doesn’t end at creation. The franchise is known for being able to create unique armor out of monsters, and which armor set players choose to adorn their avatars with helps personalize their experience even further.
Inspired and influenced by theDark Soulsseries,Code Veinis a uniquetake on the Soulslike subgenre. Sporting a more anime-inspired esthetic,Code Veinoffers a robust character creation system similar to the ones featured in FromSoftware’s games.
Code Vein’s character customization is actually quite impressive. Not only does it allow the player to change all sorts of aspects about their avatar’s appearance, it also allows them to give their avatar tattoos, markings, scars, accessories, and more.
The originalDragon’s Dogmastood out for its epic, large-scale combat mechanics, but alsodue to its incredibly intricate and precise character creationsystem. Things like height and weight could affect an avatar’s statistics, and players could customize the appearance of characters as much as they liked.
The recentDragon’s Dogma 2provides a similar level of detail in its character creator, with the addition of the playable beastren race alongside the returning human characters. With more customization options than ever before, it’s not a stretch to claimDragon’s Dogma 2’s character creator as one of the best in games today.
