A lot of gamers out there assume that character creators in video games should be easy to make, but they aren’t. Developers have to worry about the thousands of potential clipping issues, what exactly to give players control of & what to lock off, or how to fine-tune every single option so that it doesn't clash with all the other choices.
It’s a real tough thing to pull off, and it's even more impressive when done well. There have been games that had promised character creators more advanced than what they could actually handle, such as Demon's Souls (though the remaster's is pretty great) or Cyberpunk. Then, there have been games that have managed to completely nail it on their first try such as Dragon's Dogma. And, as far as the last decade is concerned, here are the best character creators that gamers seem to love.
10 Dragons Dogma: Dark Arisen
Speaking of Dragon's Dogma, here it is! There are a lot of character creators in video games, thousands of them in fact. Yet, for some reason, a very common trend with most of these character generators that players can't change their character's physique. But, Dragon’s Dogma is different. Not only is this a game where players design two different characters (the protagonist and their “Pawn"), but it's also just an incredibly well-made character designer. Players can make their character short, tall, buff, overweight, and everything in between. Frankly, the only downside is just how low-quality the textures are.
9 Monster Hunter World
The character creator in 2017’s Monster Hunter World really took everyone by surprise. This is a game series where the player character spends most of their time completely with their face completely covered by some helmet made from a Dragon's toenail or something. Yet, MHW has an incredibly in-depth character creator that has tons of options for every facial feature, no gender-locked aspects (outside of armor itself), and ton of quality-of-life features such as players being able to see their creation in different types of lighting. Plus, this game actually doubles up on the character creators, considering players can also customize how their Palico looks as well. Although, it remains to be seen how the character creator will look in Monster Hunter Rise, though fans are expecting quite a lot.
8 Disco Elysium
Disco Elysium is such an insanely unique game, both in its hilarious storytelling & deceptively intelligent characters. Although the character creator for Harry doesn't let players change how he looks, the pure amount of variables they can modify with the Archetype and Skills system is enough to still get this game into the list. Depending on how players set up Harry, this washed-up Cop can spend all day talking to inanimate objects, licking booze off of tables, or threatening everyone he walks past. It's a rare instance of a game where players don't just pick traits that are "good" or "evil" but rather, they build their version of Harry from the ground up. And, since Disco Elysium has been revealed to be getting new content and a PS5 version, now's the time to keep this game in mind.
7 Black Desert Online
Black Desert Online is pretty much regarded by the entire gaming community as the title at the pinnacle of character creation. Quite frankly, there are tons of people in the creative industry who straight-up use this game’s character creator to help them workshop new character designs, it’s that in-depth.
Player’s can adjust how shiny their hair is, the quality of their skin, and they can even make adjustments to minuscule portions of the face. It’s insanely complex, and there’s really nothing else like it.
6 Guild Wars 2
It’s one thing for a character creator to be sub-par or mediocre in a single-player game. But. in MMORPG’s, a bad character creator is unforgivable. This is simply because no one wants to run into another player who happened to design their character the exact same way as them. Luckily Guild Wars 2 has a lot of unique aspects that players can pick and choose from. In particular, the races in Guild Wars are creative and all look widely different from each other. this creator has a ton of individual sliders for facial features, tons of presets, and even some visual aspects that are exclusive to specific races. And, once that’s all said & done, players get to pick out the background & past of their character too, which does have an impact on in-game dialogue. So, Guild Wars 2 is sort of the best of both worlds in terms of mixing visual design options with personality customization.
5 Code Vein
Code Vein is the perfect game for people who want to bring their ideal anime character to life. This is another Dark Souls-like title, but with some pretty unique concepts & mechanics that add to the genre overall. In particular, the aesthetic of the characters, the fashion, and the accessories in Code Vein are all well designed, and this is most easily proven by its character creator. It’s not the most complex character creator of the bunch, not by a long shot, but the openness of it, the accessory system, and the ways players can mess around with the tools they're given to varying effects absolutely proves that this character creator is versatile, to say the least.
4 Soul Calibur VI
Soul Calibur’s Character Creator is quite frankly quite close to Black Desert Online’s in terms of complexity, just in a different sense. Thanks to the insanely gigantic amount of items & customization options players can apply to their custom fighter, people have figured out how to make just about anything & anyone. There are fans who have created Donkey Kong and pitted them against Guy Fieri, and that's pretty basic in comparison to most of the others. Sure, it’s one of the more “janky” character creation systems out there, but there's nothing quite like seeing Donkey Kong using Voldo's fighting style
3 Dragon Age: Inquisition
Bioware has always been good at creating interesting characters with unique features, Mass Effect proved this, and they gave players the option of trying that out for themselves in Dragon Age Inquisition. This character creator is a lot more in-depth than it first appears, allowing players to change the color of both their outer & inner iris, the exact positioning of their scars, or a ton of makeup options.
It’s a pretty snazzy system overall that offers a lot of options without compromising on much.
2 The Sims 4
Obviously, the Sims was going to be on here somewhere, how could it not be? While the other games on this list are video games that have neat character creation systems added into them, the Sims is sort of all about the characters players create. This is a game for people who want to simulate (hence the name) the entire life of any number of characters they create. Sims 4 only adds more options to the already staggering list from previous games, especially with certain mods installed.
1 Saints Row IV
And finally, let’s end things on a wackier note with the character creator in Saints Row IV. Cyberpunk 2077 isn’t the first game to include genital customization options in it, and it won’t be the last. Older titles like Conan: Exiles and Saints Row 4 sort of cornered this market, with Saints Row using a slider that players can use to increase or decrease their “Sex Appeal”. But, that’s not all, the character creator in Saints Row IV has an insane amount of unexpected options! Players can pick almost any color for their skin, choose between a ton of different voice options for their character (including one that doesn't actually use words but rather zombie groans), or picking between different body types such as obese or ripped. Saints Row 4 is by far the zaniest game in the franchise, and the character creator is a perfect representation of that.