Hogwarts Legacy Character Creation - How Good Is It?
Jan. 31, 2023Hogwarts Legacy Character Creation – How Good Is It?
We dive into the character creation options available in the upcoming open-world RPG Hogwarts Legacy, and how it matches up to recent RPG releases.
Previously I talked a bit about my general impressions of Hogwarts Legacy: What I liked, the things I think they could work on, what people might be disappointed in, etc. But one of the things I didn’t really touch upon isCharacter Creation. I want to go through it here because it’s one of the things I believe to be outstanding in this game.
Before we get into Hogwarts Legacy’s character creator itself, however, I do want to say it’s a feature that more and more games are adding because frankly, people like to make their own characters. Either a version of themselves, some fantasy character they’ve made up, a celebrity look-alike character or even some crazy-looking character.
Nowadays games are increasingly getting knocked for not having character creation mechanics in them, sure there are exceptions to this likeThe Witcher, or something likeDevil May Crywhere you’re playing a specific fantasy character, already good and fun to play. But I bet you there are tons of people out there playing those games wishing they could make a character that plays or feels more like them, and I think it’s something those games could benefit from.
This is something I love about Larian Studios and how they’ve handled this, such as inBaldur’s Gate 3andDivinity Original Sin 2. They have mostly fixed characters that you can choose to have their own storylines and quests, but then they give you the option to create your own – making it the best of both worlds and providing you with the option to play a character already developed and set up for you, or the option to have complete freedom in the way you make your character.
Let’s jump back into Hogwarts Legacy. The first thing to notice when first stepping into the Character Creator is that you have a set of initial presets to pick from, allowing you to get started on your character with a rough idea of how they are going to look in regards to things like gender, skin color, looks, hair settings such as length or color, etc. Once you’ve made a selection, you get to alter the shape of your character’s face. There are about 15 selections to choose from here, and then you can select the color of their skin through the use of a slider, allowing you to edit that exactly how you want in order to further define your character.
Once you’ve made a selection, you get to alter the shape of your character’s face. There are about 15 selections to choose from here, and then you can select the color of their skin through the use of a slider, allowing you to edit that exactly how you want in order to further define your character.
From there you’re going to choose your hairstyle – There’s a good number of options to choose from in my opinion. You’ll find short and long hairstyles with wavy or curly hair, etc. Not the most diverse selection I’ve ever seen but it’s certainly not bad – and you can obviously adjust your hair color at will. And then, you are also capable of adjusting Complexion to give your character more skin details, such as freckles, moles and things like that. You can also add scars or markings if you wish to, although I feel like this is something that maybe Dark Wizards will add more than Light Wizards.
I could see a Dark Wizard character having something along the lines of a scar across his eye or something looking kind of sinister. And again, the number of options are not the most I’ve ever seen, but the fact that they’re there is great, allowing you to tailor your character a bit more.
Next we have Eye Color and Eyebrow Color. You can adjust what color you want these to be in addition to the shape of your eyebrows. I feel like that’s a good thing they did as eyebrows kind of dictate the mood of a character. You can see a lot about someone’s mood based on the way the eyebrows are pointing. Whether they’re angry or have a question, happy or sad. So it’s really up to you how you want them to be as there are a good amount of eyebrow options in my opinion.
Finishing up, you are able to choose a voice for your character. There are only a couple of options for voices, but you can adjust the pitch of it in order to make it higher or lower. Having at least three or four voice options would have been great, but the fact that you can adjust the pitch kind of gives you a wider array of options than two more voices, and is also much easier to add – a nice little cheat. Still, I would have liked to see more here. Finally, you get to pick the difficulty of the game, your character’s first and last name and whether you’re going to live in the Witch or Wizard dormitories.
All in all, Hogwarts Legacy’s character creator is good, but not great. It’s certainly better than some other games I’ve seen, yet still not as good as I’ve seen in others. I think to this day that probablyNioh 2‘s character creator is one of the best I’ve ever seen, and this one isn’t nearly as good as that, but it’s pretty decent in my opinion. Most people will be able to create the character that they’re trying to get, just don’t expect MMO levels of customization. What do you think about Hogwarts Legacy’s character creation mechanics? Are you happy that you’re not just playing a set protagonist? I knowForspokenhas a set protagonist, and I feel that is something that is really hurting the game, and that this is something that’s really going to help Hogwarts Legacy, making it more fun and exciting for players.
Excited about Hogwarts Legacy? We’ve got just the thing, head to ourwikifor all the latest details includingSpells,Talents,Companionsand more. Be sure to be on the lookout for more Hogwarts Legacy content as we draw nearer to the launch.
In the meantime check out nextHogwarts Legacy Gameplay Impressions.
Castielle
Senior Editor at Fextralife. I enjoy gaming, playing and watching sports, cooking yummy food, watching a good movie and hanging out with Fex.
