After years of waiting and anticipation, FromSoftware fans are finally able to get their hands on the excessively hyped Elden Ring. When games have a long development cycle and receive widespread attention before they're even launched, it can often be hard for them to live up to fan expectations. The industry has seen many a title in similar circumstances crash and burn upon release, unable to deliver on the game's early promise pre-launch. In the last few years alone, titles like Cyberpunk 2077, Fallout 76, and Mass Effect: Andromeda have soured player perceptions due to unmet hopes and buggy releases, and Elden Ring was in danger of following their lead thanks to its massive pre-launch build-up.
However, the FromSoftware title seems to have surpassed even the most optimistic of predictions, as Elden Ring is currently one of the highest-rated games ever made. It seems increasingly rare that a video game can live up to its own hype, but for fans that have waited since Dark Souls III's 2016 release to play a similar FromSoftware title, the positive reviews that have been pouring in for Elden Ring are a massive relief. One of the aspects of Elden Ring that has been praised is the depth of its character creation – often a popular feature in games. Elden Ring's character creator is particularly detailed, with players able to alter even the most minute features. Naturally, some gamers have taken this and ran with it, often with hilarious results.
Getting Started In Elden Ring
Elden Ring has ten classes for players to choose from when they first begin, with plenty of options for different playstyles and experience levels. Unlike previous Souls games that allowed players to pick a specialization but offered little flexibility on stats once a path had been chosen, Elden Ring brings with it more flexibility, with features like the Ashes of War helping players switch up how they play throughout the game.
However, the character creator is where FromSoftware really brings Elden Ring to another level in comparison to its previous games. With varying tools that let players adjust and tinker with absolutely anything from skin tones, hairstyles, body types, and facial structures, the in-depth system on offer lets players bring some unique creations to life. With the sheer amount of options and areas of customization that Elden Ring has, it's no wonder that some gamers have taken the opportunity to create (or recreate) some very memorable characters.
How Players Have Pushed The Limits Of The Character Creator
Whether they build a brand-new character from the base up to best reflect the hero they want, or if they're recreating famous TV, film, and game characters with the flexible system, there's no doubt that players are taking full advantage of what Elden Ring has to offer. Recently, Reddit user Gidrah created their own version of Venom Snake, the eyepatch-wearing protagonist of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. In another example of players seeking to bring characters from other video game franchises to life, Redditor wildy8 posted their attempt to create Kratos from the God of War series in Elden Ring – the deity-hating hero is perhaps the perfect protagonist to take on some of Elden Ring's dastardly demigods.
Similarly, another Redditor called PercyWolfAndrew sought to bring the human version of Shrek to the world of Elden Ring. However, players didn't stop there, showing off their versions of characters like DC's Joker and even the paleontologist divorcee Ross from the beloved TV series Friends. Having the freedom to not only create their own characters but also re-envision faces from other mediums and popular franchises is a great way to showcase Elden Ring's extensive character creator. From film, TV, and video game characters to even recreating memes like GigaChad, Elden Ring gives players so much to work with before the gameplay even gets underway.
Why Character Creation Is Important In An RPG
Not only do character creators give players a chance to have a little fun craft figures from other franchises or colorful monstrosities that add a touch of unreality to their playthrough, but they also let players put their own stamp on games like Elden Ring. For role-playing games in particular, the ability to make a unique character that accurately represents the type of playable hero the player wants is important. It adds an extra depth to the gameplay and often makes gamers more invested in the action, much like the deep process that goes into creating a character in a Dungeons & Dragons campaign.
Another vital reason is to help bring some diversity to games. Protagonists in video games have been overwhelmingly white and mostly male for decades, even in fantasy titles where the demographics are completely devised by development teams. The introduction of character creation allowed players to create a playable character that better represented them, or who simply looks different from the main characters that they're used to seeing on screen. It's not only diversity in racial representations that is important, but also for body types. This helps to provide alternatives to the unrealistically ripped male physiques or physics-defying proportions of female bodies that players often encounter in games.
New titles increasingly adopting character creation, even if previous installments in a series didn't, is an indication of how popular the feature is. One of the aspects of the upcoming Diablo 4 that fans are most excited about is its in-depth class customization, building on the options available in previous Diablo games. Following the pattern of games like Baldur's Gate 3 and Cyberpunk 2077 with their extensive character creators seems to be becoming more and more common, much to the delight of gamers. However, some games miss the mark slightly, even if they still feature customizable systems.
The MMORPG Lost Ark has faced some criticism for the restrictiveness of its gender-locked classes, the narrowness of its body types (which players can't change), and the overly sexualized and limited outfit options of some female classes. Seriously limiting how players can customize their characters and offering a very predetermined and unoriginal array of character builds is harmful not just for perceptions and unrealistic representations, but also creates a more restricted and less unique gameplay experience. FromSoftware avoiding these issues is yet another reason that Elden Ring's character creator is so impressive.
Elden Ring is available for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
