This is my first post so please go easy on me.
Quick Summary of Character Creation of some well known games:
Witcher: Character Geralt - has a pre-established history/background being pulled from books. No input from player for creating Geralt
Mass Effect: Character Commander Shepard - player can choose from
3 Pre-Service Histories: Spacer, Earthborn, Colonist
3 Psychological Profiles: Sole Survivor, War Hero, Ruthless
6 classes: Soldier, Engineer, Adept, Infiltrator, Sentinel, Vanguard
Dragon Age Origins: Character The Warden/Hero of Ferelden - player can choose from
3 Races: Human, Elf or Dwarf
3 Classes: Warrior, Rogue or Mage (mage class is unavailable to dwarves)
1 or 2 Backgrounds out of 6 depending on the chosen race/class combination:
Human Noble for human warriors/rogues, Dalish Elf or City Elf for elven warriors/rogues, Dwarf Commoner or Dwarf Noble for all dwarves; Circle Magi for elven and human mages
Elder Scrolls: Character Nerevarine, Hero of Kvatch, Last Dragonborn - player can choose from
10 Races: Altmer, Argonian, Breton, Bosmer, Dunmer, Imperial, Khajiit, Nord, Redguard, Orcs
Baldur’s Gate: Character Gorion's Ward - player can choose from
4 Class Groups: warrior, priest, mage and rogue (10-14ish kits depending on game and edition)
7 Races: Dwarf, Elf, Gnome, Half-elf, Half-orc, Halfling, Human
DOS2: Origin Characters - Sebille, Ifan Ben-Mezd, The Red Prince, Lohse, Beast, Fane
Custom Characters: Players can choose from
5 Races: Human, Elf, Dwarf, Lizard, Undead
2 of 7 Tags: Barbarian, Jester, Mystic, Noble, Outlaw, Scholar, Soldier
Now that we have briefly summarized the character creation of these 6 games I’d like to look at how much a game defines a character vs how much a player defines a character.
Game defined
Witcher
DOS2 Origin
Mass Effect
DA:O
BG
DOS2 custom
TES
Player defined
Let's start with the Witcher. In the Witcher you play as Geralt. He is human, male, a witcher, has white hair etc. You the player have no say in this. Additionally he comes with his own canonical history prior to the game. Like all games in this list you can choose how to play him during the game but you can’t choose how to build him.
Next we’ll look at the DOS2 origin characters. While their backstory is not as extensive as Geralt’s they have a little introduction video that sets up their background. The player can customize the origin character's appearance to an extent as well as skills/talents but tags are locked. So more freedom than the Witcher but still little control over pre-game role play customization.
Mass Effect is where we really start to see some proper role play choices in character creation. Though with an arguably minor impact to the actual story, Mass Effect gives the player options for a Pre-Service History and Psychological Profile. Additionally players have the option to play with a male or female Shepard which was not an option with the Witcher or DOS2 origin characters.
In Dragon Age Origins your choice of Race/Class determines what your background or “Origin” story will be. While you later come to be defined as the Warden, who you start out as is up to you. Want to play as a dwarf noble rogue? Go for it! A city elf warrior? The choice is yours. With the exception of Mage your choice of class doesn’t matter as much as your origin which is more dependent on race.
Next up is the original Baldur’s Gate. Here you have the choice of race and class. With only a textbox in character creation that allows you to define your character's background/history, it's up to the player’s imagination to determine what kind of character they are playing. However the player will always be Gorion's Ward.
DOS2 custom and TES are both pretty similar so I’ll be talking about both of them at the same time. In both games you choose your race but start out as a nebulous prisoner. DOS2 does have the tag system however it was woefully underutilized while TES offers no way to establish who your character was prior to being put in chains. For the most part, defining your character is left almost entirely to your imagination.
Now as we know everyone preferences are different, so I’m sure that each one of these approaches will appeal to someone. For my part I'm not a very creative person so I appreciate having at the very least the template/skeleton that DA:O offers. That isn’t to say I didn’t enjoy playing BG and TES, it's just that from a role playing perspective I wasn’t able to enjoy my characters as much as when I was playing Witcher or Mass Effect. In those games I got to BE Geralt or Shepard. While in BG and TES I was just a half-orc berserker or a wood elf sneaky thief. I’m sure other people might have the opposite reaction to me in that they felt Forced to play as Geralt or Shepard and would have preferred more choice. This is why I really liked the DA:O approach because it gives some freedom while also providing a good bit of support.
DOS2 and BG3 are in weird spots because they seem to be trying to combine multiple approaches. On the one hand custom characters using the tag system seems like it could work as a slimmed down version of the DA:O origin system with some decent world reactively. And then the fully fledged origin characters offer something more along the lines of a Geralt or Shepard. While I don’t have an issue with this necessarily, what I have to say next might be a little controversial. I don’t think companions should be origin characters and I don’t think non chosen origin characters should be companions. Not sure how to articulate this point very well so I’ll just end this post like this and anyone wants to chip in why I’m wrong or right or expand on something I said please have at it.
