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Everybody who knows me understands I approach player customization in RPGs incredibly earestly. I'm not referring to maximizing perks, but rather designing my avatar's visual design with obsessive care. I'm a big fan of games that enable me to really bring my character to life via subtle features like eyeliner, body art, streaks, and even nail art. I'll often spend more than three or four hours in the editor, meticulously crafting my ideal virtual persona. Unfortunately: Once I leave the editor, I often can't get back in.

The Annoying Realization

No doubt many players have faced this at least once. You spend what feels like an eternity building your character, and after lots of time-consuming adjusting, they look perfect. But once you leave character creation and finally get a look at what your character looks like in-game, you realize something awful: It’s not quite perfect. Maybe their facial structure doesn't fit 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 solution: Go back into character creation and adjust your character's face. Unfortunately most RPGs won't permit you return to character creation, for reasons that I don’t understand to this day.

My first attempt at creating V yielded a character with an great manicure, but a disappointing face.

Gaming Experiences

The first time it occurred to me, I was a few hours into Dragon Age: Inquisition, and finally noticed my generally good-looking Inquisitor's profile. Her nose looked normal from the front, but from the side, it was absurd. I played a few more hours before I had enough and began again the game so I could redo my Inquisitor. The same issue arose when I played The Outer Worlds, though I thankfully caught it soon enough that I only lost a few hours of gameplay. Sadly, the same was not true with Cyberpunk 2077 — I was so enthralled with the game that I didn't notice how awful my V looked until I started playing around in Photo Mode. I was unhappy with her appearance. I lost roughly 15 hours of gameplay beginning again the game to correct poor V's face.

The Simple Answer

An easy fix to this problem (other than attempting to just live with it): Allow players to re-enter character creation to change their appearance. Many RPGs do have this feature, but most of them don't launch with it, which I find completely baffling. Baldur's Gate 3 initially launched with no way to tweak your character's appearance, but thankfully added the appearance changer soon 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 reflect her inner turmoil as the mind flayer influence in her head grew more powerful.

When releasing an RPG that doesn’t allow re-entry to the editor, the bare minimum is emulate Larian's lead and make including a character editor your first after-release priority.

Current Cases

When I first started playing Avowed, I was intrigued by the various plants, 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 option to begin with. So I went with the least-noticeable Godlike facial feature the game had to offer, and began exploring The Living Lands. But hours and hours later, around the time I reached the game's midpoint, I'd absorbed enough lore to understand why those crazy-looking plants and fungi were available in the character creator. Now that these wild customization options clicked for me, I wanted to alter my character's face. Regrettably, returning to the editor was not an option, something I (and others) found absolutely confusing in a game where the player's appearance is connected to the main quest. Avowed's roadmap shows that the developers 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 sensation when you realize you're stuck having a plain, plant-less face.

Positive Examples

I must give credit where credit is due: As much as I wasn’t fond of Dragon Age: The Veilguard, I was very grateful for the fact that it launched with the ability to change my Rook's look already baked into the game. My initial Rook looked like a weird 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 put down the game without finishing it.

Final Reflections

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 enjoyable when I can build my character exactly as I picture them in my head, and sometimes that takes a few tries.

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