Starfield can stand out among Bethesda's library by featuring an even better character creation system than Skyrim had. The spacefaring adventure is set to explore areas and ideas that past Bethesda games have yet to touch upon. Starfield's space setting will let it go in a harder sci-fi direction than Fallout got the chance to, and that influence can be reflected in the way that it lets players build their characters. Although players have already gotten a small glimpse of what Starfield's characters can look like, the game could go above and beyond when it comes to customization.
When it comes to a wide-ranging space adventure like Starfield, the player character is an important piece of the puzzle. They're the character that the player will be with for the duration of the journey, so it's important that the player likes them. Since the player will be designing them themselves, it seems like they would be almost guaranteed to have a protagonist that they are fond of. However, a good character creation system needs to be in place to make sure that the character can live up to expectations. Starfield's character creation system must be sufficient, especially for such an ambitious game.
Starfield Deserves a Robust Character Creator For a Futuristic Experience
One thing that may affect Starfield from the start is Skyrim's variety of races. Starfield will likely only let players make human characters, while Skyrim featured humans, orcs, elves, and even beast races in the form of Argonians and Khajit. At first glance, this would make one assume that Starfield's character creation won't be as robust. After all, if it sticks to only featuring human characters, then it seems like it would be missing out on an entire dimension that Skyrim leaped into with both feet. However, even if Starfield only lets players make human characters, it can still be impressive.
Although the game is still largely secretive, there is reason to hope that Starfield's character creation will be ambitious. Early looks at the system show that players will have a good amount of options at their disposal. In addition to having a fair amount of control over their character's physique, they will also be able to choose traits and backgrounds that will play a role in their build as well. These traits in particular seem like they could be similar to Skyrim's race-specific features, such as High Elves' magicka bonuses. At least from this early look, Starfield's character creator has some potential.
Of course, there are a few ways that Starfield can make sure that it surpasses Skyrim in this field. Starfield's hard sci-fi direction could be used to its advantage. A futuristic angle could open the door for all sorts of hairstyles and accessories, from the modern to fantastical. In addition, Starfield could up the ante with more distinctive features for characters, such as tattoos and piercings. The sci-fi setting also opens the door for more varied hair and eye colors than Skyrim offered. Starfield's version of the future should aim to let players make everything from a straitlaced ship captain to a space punk.
Creating a character is going to be a vital part of the Starfield experience, and it will need to deliver on that front to make a good first impression. Starfield doesn't have to be revolutionary, but it needs to take full advantage of the options available to it. Even if Starfield's playable characters are restricted to humans, the game can provide a vast enough slate of options to let players design any sort of spacefaring character that they desire. Hopefully, Starfield will be able to provide players with Bethesda's best character creation options to date.
Starfield will be available September 6 on PC and Xbox Series X/S