NOTE: I just want to say that overall I am enjoying EA a lot, and look forward to the improvements coming over the next few months. I played a little bit of DOS, but fell out of it, mostly due to trying to play on console. I think BG3 will receive a lot of unfair comparisons to it, but there a couple I do want to make. I do not think they are the same game, and I vastly prefer BG3.
The positives:
- Hairstyles: Most RPG games like this have terrible hairstyles. Absolutely awful. I love Dragon Age a lot, but they got some ugly hair in that game. I want to emphasize that I do like the current hair options a lot. I hope that more will be offered in the future. I would especially like to see some longer braided hairstyles, or longer styles in general, especially for male appearance (I need that long elf hair).
- Preset Faces: I'll get more into the negatives below, but I do think that the existing preset faces are very nice, and rendered beautifully. I definitely get an immediate sense of this being... a person. I don't know how to describe it.
- Skin/Hair/Eye Colors: I'm happy with the large variety of coloring options I have for skin/eyes/hair, etc. It is a little limited, but overall I feel like I am able to accomplish what I want with the options available. I wish there was a whiter option for the hair - still looks a little yellow/blonde.
Overall, it is beautiful. Beard textures could use some work, but overall even the hair looks like actual... hair. That's nice.
The negatives:
- Missing customization options: I think this is due to EA and being very early in, but it is very clear that some basic customization options are missing - such as:
Scars: very surprised to find there are no scars/scarring options for the face/body, especially in a D&D game
Limited makeup options: The only makeup options affect the eyes. We need makeup for cheeks and lips too.
More sliders/preset option: Faces for sure, but also in terms of height and body type. More muscular, skinnier, fatter, tall, short - FFXIV is an example of a character creator that did this decently. Sliders would be ideal, but some preset options would be fine as well. Let me make my short elf.
More Beard/Hair options: The existing hairstyles are very nice, but again, would like to see more! Mostly though, the beard options are pretty lacking. The texture is a little weird - but the biggest complaint I have is lack of stubble. It's either full beard or baby face. Would like to see more beard/stubble options.
Preset Faces: While the preset faces are gorgeous, they are extremely limited. I would highly, highly suggest two things... either adding in sliders so we can make custom faces and get creative in addition to the preset faces, or add more granular preset options - being able to choose between different preset lips, eyes, eyebrows, that kinda thing. The preset faces are very pretty, but let us create something ugly! If we want! Or, just something unique. If you stick with the preset faces only, we need a looooooot more options. I'm talkin like 20-30 per character/appearance combination. At least.
Overall
The one comparison I am going to make to DOS/DOS2 is this - realize that your target audience for BG3 is a little different. This game is very much targeted at people in the the DND/TTRPG community, and people who have played the previous BG1/BG2 games. Either group is very familiar with d&d or very familiar with the BG games in general. Both of these groups of people have one major expectation coming into a BG3 game - we want to create our D&D characters. That is the first priority.
I am getting the sense that character creation has been ham-stringed due to the time being spent on the set origin characters. And while I do think they will probably end up being neat, and I will eventually play as one or two of them, my first priority is gonna be to create my d&d characters. The limited set of preset faces is the biggest hindrance to this, and will be an even bigger issue in Multiplayer when you look at your friend that has the exact same face you do. It was advertised that there would be 150+ faces - and I don't know if that's overall across all races/appearances, or if they just haven't been released yet, but getting to choose between only 5-6 faces and that's your entire character customization available beyond coloring... that's very disappointing.
I urge you to focus on the custom character options in addition to the set characters you are developing. I'm hoping this will be expanded on as this is EA. As mentioned above, I would suggest at the very least adding a lot more preset faces to choose from, and at best sliders. As a compromise, more granular preset options. That way people who want something simple can just choose a preset face, and those who want to get more into the nitty gritty can do so. Everyone wins!
I am very much enjoying actually playing the game (beyond the bugs I knew I'd run into due to the nature of EA) but having a very samey character that doesn't represent what I tried to create at all is a big bummer.
Thanks for reading!
- Customize starting armor (Color), and choose starting weapons - this is especially important for like, a dex-based fighter. They would use an entirely different weapon than a strength based fighter.
- Racially themed armor options
- Tiefling tail customizations and horn recolor options. Tieflings also have the least hairstyles available.
- Seeing all the preset faces on NPCs really showcase the fact that the faces are not unique at all
- Elven faces - they don't look like elves, they look like human faces. 'Prettier' face options for men (elves in particular), rougher faces for Dwarves.
- Better & more tattoo options
- Unlock all faces for all races maybe
