Calling On RPG Creators: Kindly Allow Me Return Into The Character Creator

Anyone who is familiar with me realizes I approach character creation in RPGs extremely seriously. I'm not referring to perfecting stats, instead designing my player-character's looks with meticulous precision. I love games that enable me to really breathe life into my avatar via fine touches like makeup, ink, hair highlights, and even nail art. Frequently, I spend upwards of three or four hours in the editor, carefully forming my perfect virtual persona. There's only one problem: After I leave character creation, I often can't get back in.

That Common Realization

I'm sure everyone's faced this at least once. It takes what seems like forever creating your character, and after lots of tedious tweaking, they look just right. But once you leave character creation and finally get a look at what your character looks like during gameplay, you discover something terrible: They don't look right. Maybe their facial structure doesn't suit their face, or you decide you really should have gone with a different cut, or you notice that although they look fine from the front, their side profile looks absolutely bonkers. Regardless of the issue, there's only one fix: Re-enter character creation and fix your character's face. Sadly most RPGs won't allow you re-enter character creation, for motivations that I don’t understand to this day.

My first attempt at creating V resulted in a character with an impressive manicure, but a lackluster face.

Personal Frustrations

Initially it happened to me, I was a few hours into Dragon Age: Inquisition, and finally saw my generally good-looking Inquisitor's side profile. Her nose looked normal from the front, but from the side, it was hilariously off. I played a few more hours before I gave up and restarted the game so I could redo my Inquisitor. It happened again when I played The Outer Worlds, though I thankfully caught it early enough that I only lost a few hours of gameplay. Sadly, the same was not true with Cyberpunk 2077 — I was so immersed with the game that I didn't notice how unfortunate my V looked until I started experimenting with Photo Mode. I was unhappy with her appearance. I lost roughly 15 hours of gameplay beginning again the game to fix poor V's face.

A Simple Answer

A straightforward solution to this problem (other than attempting to just live with it): Let players to re-enter the editor to change their appearance. Many RPGs offer this feature, but most of them don't include it at release, which I find completely confusing. Baldur's Gate 3 initially launched with no way to adjust your character's appearance, but thankfully added the appearance changer shortly after the game's launch. Although I liked my Tav's initial appearance, I later decided I wanted to change up her physical look to show her inner turmoil as the mind flayer influence in her head grew more powerful.

If you launch an RPG that locks players out of the editor, the bare minimum is follow Larian's lead and make adding a Magic Mirror your first post-launch priority.

Recent Examples

When I first picked up Avowed, I was intrigued by the various branches, flowers, and mushrooms I could choose to have on my character's face. But these distinctive Godlike features were a little overwhelming for my tastes, and I didn't really understand why they were an choice to begin with. So I went with the discreet Godlike facial feature the game had to offer, and began exploring The Living Lands. But much later, around the time I reached the game's midpoint, I'd absorbed enough lore to understand why those unique plants and fungi were available in the editor. Now that these extreme customization options clicked for me, I wanted to change up my character's face. Unfortunately, returning to the editor was not an option, something I (and others) found totally confusing in a game where the player's appearance is relevant to the main quest. Avowed's plans shows that Obsidian has plans to add an appearance-tweaking feature to the game sometime this Fall, but the question remains: Why wasn't it there at launch?

That feel when you realize you're stuck with a plain, fungi-free face.

Good Examples

I must acknowledge the good: As much as I disliked Dragon Age: The Veilguard, I was very grateful for the fact that it launched with the ability to change my Rook's look already included in the game. My first Rook looked like a half-melted Bratz doll, and it took several attempts to get her looking right. If her bedroom in The Lighthouse hadn't come equipped with a mirror I could use to change her looks, I'd have probably just stopped playing the game without finishing it.

Final Thoughts

Some might argue that it doesn't matter what your character looks like in a video game, and they're free to have that opinion. I just find that RPGs are more fun when I can build my character exactly as I imagine them in my head, and sometimes that takes a few tries.

I understand that game development is a challenging, often-unpredictable process, and that some content will always end up on the chopping block. I just find it baffling — and frankly, annoying — that even now, in The Year of Our Lord 2025, I'm so frequently finding myself unable to access the editor, desperately wishing for access and internally shouting, "LET ME IN!"