Character customizations?

[Sakuraa]

Honestly, for me, the only reason I'm not as upset about the lack of customization is mainly just because May is my favorite player character design wise. So even if there was character customization I might not have even done that much outside of outfit changes every once in a while. If it was a character like Dawn or Hilda, who's designs I don't much care for, I'd probably be much more disappointed.

I'm still getting the games, the lack of customization isn't enough to make me not want to play the remakes of my second favorite set of games, but I seriously hope they bring it back in future games as it was my favorite feature of XY.

 

[Team Gaara]

Re: NO CUSTOMIZATION FOR ORAS

Well now that I've had a good cry and I'm back in the gym allow me to explain. (Because I was really upset! Lol!) For me, it's not just about changing cloths. I can remember when I was playing gold and silver wondering why I couldn't be a girl. Then Crystal introduced that idea and has been running with it ever since because game freak realized that girls played this game too and gave us that option.

Well, this is not entirely true. GAME FREAK knew girls had been playing their games. Hell, the first Red and Green commercials in Japan featured a girl telling guys about Pokemon. There's also the fact that we had a beta designed female protagonist featured alongside Red and Blue. The thing is that Red and Green didn't have the capabilities to include a female PC in the games' data. By the time Crystal rolled around, they finally were able to make that option because the games could handle it. It wasn't a matter of blatantly ignoring the fact that girls play the games, like certain other games that were made years afterward (that may or may not remain nameless), they were just unable to do so (considering all the glitches in Gen I, it was probably for the best).

Ever since we've had the ability to choose our identity. When Kalos was introduced and I could further customize my character to me it gave me the freedom to explore this game as myself. When I play my game, the protagonist is me. I'm the one capturing pokemon. I'm the one training them. I'm going on the journey, having the adventure, defeating the gyms and the Elite Four. It's me. And I have always wanted my character to look like me. Because in every pokemon game, each poke prof tell you to pick your first Pokemon they tell you to go on a journey. Your they may be speaking to your protagonist in the game but the protagonist is you. If I am the protagonist I want my protagonist look like me. Plain and simple. If the technology is available I should have the option to have my character look like me. Why? Because you gave me that freedom, you gave me that choice. I like representing my skin tone. I want to and now you've taken that choice, that freedom away to. The choice to create myself in my charater. To me Kalos was the most interactive and personal game to me yet. Yes I bought clothes but sit was like the first time I turned on the game and had the choice to be a boy or a girl. You see? I guess what I'm trying to say is that there is something freeing about being your true self in a game. I liked seeing me, a dark skinned girl, in the pokemon world. I think their excuse is just them being lazy. Team aqua gets to have dark skinned characters but I can't choose to be one anymore. Pikachu gets to where eligant and extreme costumes but I can't change cloths anymore. That....is bullshit no matter how you look at it. And as I said in my previous comment they could have kept the fashion stuff and made kalos cloths exclusively Kalos and made whole new designs further enriching the experience overall but they didn't. Laziness.

But that's just how I feel.

All that aside I do think it's a good idea to let game Freak know of my that so I will be writing them. (Lord knows what good that might actually do but hey, any things possible) and in the mean time I might as well play this game. After all I already put my money on it. Who knows? I might still enjoy it. But I am definitely saddened that I won't be able to be myself in the game. Or at least as close as I could have been.

Like I said, I understand people playing through the game with the idea in mind that the PC is them, so, naturally, they want it to look like them. Hell, I can understand being both dark-skinned and a girl, because I am one, too. But, again, this is just one small feature in a game that has really nothing to do with dressing up your character. It's about all the stuff you do regarding Pokemon, which can still be done whether or not you look like the person you're playing as. You can still see the player as yourself if you choose to. It's just all about how you view it while you play. ORAS won't be any less interactive or personal just because you won't look at least 50% like the person you play as.

That said, I personally think that people who are raging and ranting and saying they won't get the games anymore because they can't do something so insignificant considering what they games are actually about, in addition to complaining about how terrible GAME FREAK is for doing this, is rather foolish (just my opinion). You'd think GAME FREAK had removed the ability to catch Pokemon. I guess what I'm saying is: If dressing up your character really outweighs playing through a revamped Gen III with much better graphics, new features, and a new story, then, by all means, don't get the games, because you won't enjoy them. But if you can get past not looking exactly like the PC (as has been the case for most of the games) enough that you'll be able to do whatever else it is you enjoy Pokemon as a series for, then I think you should just get the games, play through them, and then consider how the lack of customization affected your enjoyment of the games.

 

[Silktree]

The thing is that Red and Green didn't have the capabilities to include a female PC in the games' data.

Where is this coming from? You can use a cheating device to replace Red's sprite with anyone else's. It would have been pretty trivial to make this possible via normal gameplay. Why wasn't it done until Crystal? Because the idea of a female player character wasn't even widespread at the time.

 

[Aulos]

THIS ISN'T THE SIMS

Pokemon isn't a customizing game in the first place, and character customization was one small feature that was optional. It's stupid to think ORAS is worthless just because it doesn't have customization. I repeat: This isn't The Sims

I will agree with the idea that the game isn't worthless because of this omission, however, I question your logic.

Pokemon games have, since at least Generation II, been adding features that could be considered only necessary for The Sims. Generation II added small amounts of customization to your room at your house (I forget to exactly which extent this went, but it was there). Of course, R/S/E expanded this quite a bit with the Secret Bases.

Now... Tell me, would you be unhappy if, for some reason, they had not returned Secret Bases? Secret Bases are very much a feature you'd more expect in The Sims (or Animal Crossing). Of course, you could argue some functionality in the games, but character customization also had function. At the very least, character customization provides a way of setting yourself apart from other player characters, aside from the boring limited stock trainer choices.

No matter what, I don't see any harm in this feature being added and kept. Your post just comes off like "I don't like this, therefore it shouldn't be there". As I said, Pokemon has been adding features like this since Generation II. It is not new, and it is not absurd for us to hope for and expect it to be kept up and improved.

 

[Cute Charm]

The thing is that Red and Green didn't have the capabilities to include a female PC in the games' data.

Where is this coming from? You can use a cheating device to replace Red's sprite with anyone else's. It would have been pretty trivial to make this possible via normal gameplay. Why wasn't it done until Crystal? Because the idea of a female player character wasn't even widespread at the time.

Having a girl in R/B/G would require having a whole new set of sprites made for Green/Blue not to mention the little "are you a boy or a girl?" bit at the start of the game and maybe alternate pronouns would probably drive up the file size a bit too much to be playable. Not being able to play as a girl in Gold and Silver could be chalked up to the fact that they were still compatible with the original GB unlike Crystal was. So maybe the limitations weren't just in the games themselves but the system as well.

Either way, I really don't think the reason for omitting the Female option for so long wasn't because the concept was unheard of. I mean the Capsule Monsters concept art actually HAD a girl trainer . So plans of having a female trainer go way back.

 

[Silktree]

Having a girl in R/B/G would require having a whole new set of sprites made for Green/Blue not to mention the little "are you a boy or a girl?" bit at the start of the game and maybe alternate pronouns would probably drive up the file size a bit too much to be playable.

I'm sorry, but this is pretty... out there. A dozen of sprites and a few lines of text hardly take up any space.

So maybe the limitations weren't just in the games themselves but the system as well.

That idea is laughable.

Either way, I really don't think the reason for omitting the Female option for so long wasn't because the concept was unheard of. I mean the Capsule Monsters concept art actually HAD a girl trainer . So plans of having a female trainer go way back.

The Pokémon world having female trainers hardly means that there was always a plan to use one of them as a player character. Take a look at other RPGs from that period.

 

[Almonds]

THIS ISN'T THE SIMS

Pokemon isn't a customizing game in the first place, and character customization was one small feature that was optional. It's stupid to think ORAS is worthless just because it doesn't have customization. I repeat: This isn't The Sims

I will agree with the idea that the game isn't worthless because of this omission, however, I question your logic.

Pokemon games have, since at least Generation II, been adding features that could be considered only necessary for The Sims. Generation II added small amounts of customization to your room at your house (I forget to exactly which extent this went, but it was there). Of course, R/S/E expanded this quite a bit with the Secret Bases.

Now... Tell me, would you be unhappy if, for some reason, they had not returned Secret Bases? Secret Bases are very much a feature you'd more expect in The Sims (or Animal Crossing). Of course, you could argue some functionality in the games, but character customization also had function. At the very least, character customization provides a way of setting yourself apart from other player characters, aside from the boring limited stock trainer choices.

No matter what, I don't see any harm in this feature being added and kept. Your post just comes off like "I don't like this, therefore it shouldn't be there". As I said, Pokemon has been adding features like this since Generation II. It is not new, and it is not absurd for us to hope for and expect it to be kept up and improved.

I was simply saying that one feature shouldn't be the one to decide whether a game is worthless or not. If the lack of customization was enough to not buy the games without even taking a look at the many other features the games potentially has to offer, then you'd might as well not play pokemon and do other games like the sims where they offer all the customizations you want. I never said I hated customization. I liked it, I admit it was faulty, but I still liked it. But was it necessary? Was it the one and most important feature that literally kills the game if it weren't in the game at all? No. If customization returns in the future, that's cool. Even if it doesn't, I won't be complaining and not playing pokemon because I can't change what my character looks like because that's not the point of pokemon. It adds fun, sure, but thats not the only thing pokemon has to offer. I enjoyed Seceret Bases before and missed them when they were gone, but I didn't find HGSS/Black and White to be useless, unworthy games just because they didn't have that one optional feature. You have to look at the other features in the games.

So in case there was any misunderstanding, here's my explanation.

 

[Shadow Rush]

People are still going on about this? Not once since I've played RGB onwards did the thought nor desire for a customizable/personalizable PC came to mind. I prefer their default design and always eager to see what the artist made next. It wasn't until Platinum that I noticed the lackluster apparel of previous generation PCs. Sadly, after BW2 the designs reverted back to the blandness.

 

[lugia61617]

THIS ISN'T THE SIMS

Pokemon isn't a customizing game in the first place, and character customization was one small feature that was optional. It's stupid to think ORAS is worthless just because it doesn't have customization. I repeat: This isn't The Sims

Customisation of clothing in the very least comes STANDARD in most RPGs nowadays. Pokemon gave us a taste of them doing it and being modern for the first time and then removed it.
Finally catching up to modern standards and then falling short is a bad thing.

And also:
Most people prefer not looking like clones when in multiplayer

 

[godiego]

If anything it's a clever marketing ploy. They planned well in advanced that customization wouldn't be in Hoenn. (I can excuse them for not wanting to do all extra work to adapt the fashion to Hoenn.) So they say it's a Kalos exclusive. Obviously it's not likely. When it returns in Gen VII GameFreak can be like "we listened to our players!" when in reality they already planned to keep it going, just not in ORAS.

 

[Xita]

Re: NO CUSTOMIZATION FOR ORAS

Like it's been said before, there's no use in boycotting ORAS. What's done is done and there's no protesting what has already been decided.

What people can do, though, is try to politely ask gamefreak not to remove the much awaited feature but to improve it for future non-Kalos games. If fan demand made them remake Ruby and Sapphire maybe it will finally make them listen about their stupid choices in mechanics they decide to keep and toss. It may or may not work but it's a start.

Showing them there's at least a demand for skin color, eye color, and hair color and style customization in future games may be even better. It may not be full customization with clothes and stuff but it will still give a personal touch to people's trainers as well as having their avatar represent just a little part of themselves.

I only half agree with this. One may boycott, but politely tell GF why you are doing so and ask not to remove such feature in future games. If you ask GF to put it back in and still buy it, why should they listen to you? They already have your money.

Such a boycott may have little effect anyway, but at least it stops one from being part of the problem. I highly doubt such things like sending an email would have an effect anyway since GF is in Japan and they haven't brought pokemon following you back despite the everlasting outcry.

 

[Cute Charm]

Re: NO CUSTOMIZATION FOR ORAS

I only half agree with this. One may boycott, but politely tell GF why you are doing so and ask not to remove such feature in future games. If you ask GF to put it back in and still buy it, why should they listen to you? They already have your money.

Such a boycott may have little effect anyway, but at least it stops one from being part of the problem. I highly doubt such things like sending an email would have an effect anyway since GF is in Japan and they haven't brought pokemon following you back despite the everlasting outcry.

You have to take into consideration that walking pokemon is near impossible with the way the games are now. Extra sprites didn't take up a lot of room, but 700+ extra models plus all the battle models and the Amie models wouldn't leave room for anything else. If anything Amie is the response to the outcry of wanting to interact with pokemon.

As for Game Freak being in Japan, they still knew everyone wanted Hoenn remakes. It's been confirmed in interviews that the only reason they made them was because of the fans. They even know the Hoenn Confirmed meme and that was mainly an English language thing. So if everyone just makes it known and/or if someone knows Japanese and sends pleas to GF...it might just have a tiny effect and change the playing field.

 

[Xita]

Re: NO CUSTOMIZATION FOR ORAS

I only half agree with this. One may boycott, but politely tell GF why you are doing so and ask not to remove such feature in future games. If you ask GF to put it back in and still buy it, why should they listen to you? They already have your money.

Such a boycott may have little effect anyway, but at least it stops one from being part of the problem. I highly doubt such things like sending an email would have an effect anyway since GF is in Japan and they haven't brought pokemon following you back despite the everlasting outcry.

You have to take into consideration that walking pokemon is near impossible with the way the games are now. Extra sprites didn't take up a lot of room, but 700+ extra models plus all the battle models and the Amie models wouldn't leave room for anything else. If anything Amie is the response to the outcry of wanting to interact with pokemon.

As for Game Freak being in Japan, they still knew everyone wanted Hoenn remakes. It's been confirmed in interviews that the only reason they made them was because of the fans. They even know the Hoenn Confirmed meme and that was mainly an English language thing. So if everyone just makes it known and/or if someone knows Japanese and sends pleas to GF...it might just have a tiny effect and change the playing field.

I'll take that explanation, but I'd feel better about if it I had official word on it.

That's true, I suppose it's worth a shot though I still have my doubts.

 

[Cute Charm]

Sorry for bumping this up yet again, but I have an idea as to why they took out the customizations: They're trying to make the move to cinematic cut scenes.

During the Groudon stuff in OR it was apparent that there was spliced non-SD zoomed in overworld models in there. Kind of like the battle intro/outtro and trainer card ones. It's stupid and they're probably still being lazy regardless considering they won't leave skin, hair, and eye color...but still.

 

[lugia61617]

Sorry for bumping this up yet again, but I have an idea as to why they took out the customizations: They're trying to make the move to cinematic cut scenes.

During the Groudon stuff in OR it was apparent that there was spliced non-SD zoomed in overworld models in there. Kind of like the battle intro/outtro and trainer card ones. It's stupid and they're probably still being lazy regardless considering they won't leave skin, hair, and eye color...but still.

Yeah...no. Guess what? Plenty of games can do cinematic cutscenes AND have customisation - they just use the "Default" appearances for the cinematics.

 

[Ivysaur]

I don't think Masuda was lying when he gave his reasoning. It just happened to be a really bad reason.

That, or customization will be re-introduced as a major marketing point for Gen 7.

 

[Kallyle]

Sorry for bumping this up yet again, but I have an idea as to why they took out the customizations: They're trying to make the move to cinematic cut scenes.

During the Groudon stuff in OR it was apparent that there was spliced non-SD zoomed in overworld models in there. Kind of like the battle intro/outtro and trainer card ones. It's stupid and they're probably still being lazy regardless considering they won't leave skin, hair, and eye color...but still.

Yeah...no. Guess what? Plenty of games can do cinematic cutscenes AND have customisation - they just use the "Default" appearances for the cinematics.

That's not entirely true. There's a game called Kingdom Hearts II where the main character, Sora, can use a mechanic to change int Drive Forms. These Drive Forms stay in the cutscenes, provided that Sora is still in said form before the cutscene begins. Granted, Sora's not fully customization, but the point still stands that you CAN implement multiple costumes into a cutscene.

As for why CuteCharm said what did, it's most likely because Game Freak doesn't have that much experience with cinematic cutscenes, so it's better for them to leave customization out until they master the ability to balance cutscenes and customization just like other video games do. Otherwise, trying to rush into both without have much experience with it might lead to a very glitchy game, or at least result in a game-breaking bug.

 

[Cute Charm]

That's not entirely true. There's a game called Kingdom Hearts II where the main character, Sora, can use a mechanic to change int Drive Forms. These Drive Forms stay in the cutscenes, provided that Sora is still in said form before the cutscene begins. Granted, Sora's not fully customization, but the point still stands that you CAN implement multiple costumes into a cutscene.

As for why CuteCharm said what did, it's most likely because Game Freak doesn't have that much experience with cinematic cutscenes, so it's better for them to leave customization out until they master the ability to balance cutscenes and customization just like other video games do. Otherwise, trying to rush into both without have much experience with it might lead to a very glitchy game, or at least result in a game-breaking bug.

That was pretty much what I was trying to get out before my brain shut down due to how late it was, thank you.

Sure they can implement the customizations into the cut scenes, but at the same time a company who doesn't have the experience would probably back off from it for a while until they can figure out how to go about the different renders and making them look natural and non-glitchy as possible. If anything it would be like how they got rid of the day cycle until the internal battery issue was fixed. We were lucky that the DS era and it's system clock happened after the original R/S, but if it hadn't they would have probably left it out indefinably.

It may be a long time before clothing and hair style customizations come back because of this. However, there's still a chance they could still keep the skin/hair/eye color in due to them being just textures and wouldn't require extra animation and renders. Though I guess even that's hoping for too much at this point and we won't know until gen VII which is still a ways off.

 

[pokefan548]

THIS ISN'T THE SIMS

And also:
Most people prefer not looking like clones when in multiplayer

I know where you're coming from, but in rustboro and fortree you can choose what trainer class you want to represent you.

 

[firepanda]

The next games are going to determine this then. Is customisation Kalos-only, like Secret bases and following Pokemon? Or was it removed from ORAS only because of nostalgia (and to keep development times down)?