With graphics being what they are these days, it is no surprise when a game has a detailed character creator. It is more surprising when they do not have one. Rewind the clock back a couple of decades, however, and the addition of a character creator in a video game was seen as a unique luxury.
It was all the more impressive when it was filled with numerous options. These were still the days when being able to pick between at least two genders was not a guarantee, so these PS2 games need to be commended for being ahead of their time in the customization department.
Tony Hawk’s Undergroundwas a huge evolution for the series. Instead of a set of objectives loosely related to skateboarding, the fifth game in the series – and the first without a number – told a story about a skateboarder rising through the ranks from a local street punk in New Jersey to a pro pulling off tricks side-by-side with Tony Hawk himself.
Players created the protagonist from a variety of options. There was even a feature to put one’s face in the game with a digital camera. The game’s customization features did not stop there. There was also the ability to create a skate park, create a graphic on the skateboard, and even create a trick.
Soulcaliburhad some of the more unique guest fightersof the time, grabbing from other IPs long beforeMortal Kombatdid it for the first time in 2011. An even more interesting guest character in the game is the one the player can create from scratch.
Fighting games are almost always some of the most graphically impressive games in any given generation, andSoulcalibur 3was no different. This makes the ability to create a character in this game particularly appealing. The character creator would continue being featured in futureSoulcaliburtitles, only becoming more detailed with each entry.
During the PS2 generation, it was hard for any open-world game to come even close to whatGrand Theft Autohad achieved. Still, TheGodfathermanaged to do okay on its own and offered unique mechanics other titles of the time lacked.
The shooting was smooth for an open-world game of the time and the story faithfully retold the first film in the legendary trilogy from the perspective of a new character players created when starting the campaign. The character creator was fairly advanced while still setting boundaries to make players adhere to the aesthetics of the game’s setting.
TheFight Nightseries offered players the chance to get in the ring without the bruises, injuries, and years of training that accompany doing it in real life. They could even put themselves in the ring if they were so inclined, thanks to an advanced character creation system.
Perhaps its most impressive feature is the ability to make minute adjustments to facial features directly, as if molding a face with one’s own hands. This mold would then get remolded in the ring with bruises thanks to the countless punches that come with the sport.
In a similar vein but focused on wrestling, the PS2’sWWE SmackDown!games also had great Create-a-Wrestler modes that are still fun to revisit in this day and age.
Mortal Kombat Armageddonwas kind of like theMortal Kombat Trilogyof the PS2 generation. Like that game, it featuredevery single character the series had introduced up until that point.On top of that, it also included an in-depth character creation, appropriately called Kreate a Fighter.
There were plenty of aesthetic options along with the ability to customize attacks and special moves. Players could even write an ending to the character’s arcade ladder. More than fifteen years afterArmageddon’srelease, the series has yet to reintroduce this feature.
Mortal Kombat: Armageddondid not feature unique fatalities for each fighter, so there was no option for the created character to have a unique finishing move.
Final Fantasy 11presented a lot of firsts. It was the first MMORPG in the series, the first MMORPG for the PS2, thefirst in the genre with crossplay, and the first game in the series to have a character creation feature.
The options are not as advanced as future MMORPGs, but for the console it stands out for the variety of races available to choose from. Like any RPG, character customization does not stop at the character creation menu, since the different armor and equipment also affect the character’s look.
Service for the PS2 has since ended forFinal Fantasy 11. The game is still playable on the PC, however.
Players do not create the protagonist inGraffitiKingdom. Instead, they craft many smaller characters to fight alongside them. These sidekicks, called Grafittit Creatures, are almost completely customizable from the ground up, allowing players to create whatever wild abomination they can think of.
Once created, players take the beasts into battle, whichresembles an action RPG.Combat is in real-time, but players still level up. With new levels also comes new customization tools that further increase the possibilities for what types of creatures they can make.
