Character customizations?

[HyruleAlpha]

Who else is excited to only be able to be white/asian again? Anyone else read this article?
So Does Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire Include Trainer Customization? | USgamer

I call BS. Why should a feature be removed for 'nostalgia'? For most of us gen III weren't even our first games. So if character customization was meant to be a 'Kalos exclusive' why keep mega evolution, the exp share the same and Amie?
As much as I love Masuda, his logic is a little messed up there.

I was only hoping to be able to change skin colour and hair colour at the least. Or clothing colour... this just seems like a huge leap back!

What a shame. It was nice to be able to customize your character in XY (it wasn't in-depth, but it was a start). Seems a bit odd that this was mentioned this late, though.

 

[Nymphia]

I think that there's three reason why OR/AS don't have customization.

1) Because OR/AS is a remake of an odler game that didn't have cuistomization, it would be weird that the Hoenn characters (who were never customizable) are suddenly customizable in the remakes.

2) I think that customization has more problems than expected. Remember that Pokemon is a children game and there could be issues with some of the outfits and "specially" skin color that they coud have trouble.

3) Customization in OR/AS (if they made similar than in X/Y) would be too confusing in Wifi battles and it even though they would be a way to distinguish an OR/AS outfit and a X/Y outfit by older players, younger players could misidentify an X/Y for a OR/AS outfit.

 

[SUP3RN0VA]

I think that there's three reason why OR/AS don't have customization.

1) Because OR/AS is a remake of an odler game that didn't have cuistomization, it would be weird that the Hoenn characters (who were never customizable) are suddenly customizable in the remakes.

2) I think that customization has more problems than expected. Remember that Pokemon is a children game and there could be issues with some of the outfits and "specially" skin color that they coud have trouble.

3) Customization in OR/AS (if they made similar than in X/Y) would be too confusing in Wifi battles and it even though they would be a way to distinguish an OR/AS outfit and a X/Y outfit by older players, younger players could misidentify an X/Y for a OR/AS outfit.

1. I don't understand how it could be weird to suddenly dress up Brendan and May in our own clothing choices. If it was weird to suddenly change their clothing, they would not have been redesigned to begin with.

2. Those don't seem like problems to me. None of the outfits we were able to choose were offensive or inappropriate in any way whatsoever. There was no issue there. As for skin colour, they'd technically have more trouble only having white protagonists, rather than letting us choose our own skin colour.

3. The alternative now is that every person is going to look exactly the same in a WIFI battle without customisation. Everyone will either be Brendan or May. I don't see how different customisation options between two different games can be more confusing than that.


My opinion on this matter is that I too feel a little disappointed that customisation will not make a return. It was the one defining feature that completely had me. Customisation is always one of my favourite features of any game, and Pokemon finally bringing customisation was a joy.

Gamefreak has taken that away from me, which I'm not particularly happy about. The worst thing though is how Masuda stated his ideas. I am now worried that Customisation will never reach further than Kalos, therefore never reaching outside of Generation 6, which scares me. Now that i know customisation may perhaps never be included in any future game except possibly one that still has us in Kalos, I feel saddened.

I will not however, let this affect my eperience of Pokemon ORAS. Customisation aside, I'm sure it will be a great game to play.

 

[Kit Chan]

After just finding out that customization isn't coming back, along with how ugly the default characters look, I've decided to cancel my preorder.

How disappointing, I had been excited about ORAS all year.

 

[Almonds]

RSE didn't have any customization to begin with, so I'm not disappointed with no customization. In XY, the lack of content led me to aimlessly spend money on the few clothes the male character had (SERIOUSLY, THE MALE CHARACTER NEEDED MORE DIVERSITY). But ORAS seems to have a ton of content, so much other things to do that even if there WERE customization, I probably would be too busy experiencing other stuff and play the game in default clothing.

 

[lugia61617]

I can overlook ORAS not having it, my problem is mostly with Masuda's implication of it being Kalos-exclusive, which I think is one of the most backwards things he's decided on.

 

[Jolene]

This is honestly a buzzkill but I expected it. The only thing that Game Freak is consistent at is inconsistency.

I'm guessing they left it out because Norman and his wife are white and it would create too many questions if you played as a black character. Are you an adopted orphan? Did his wife cheat on him? Are you a stepkid from a previous marriage? The world may never know.

 

[Blue Cobra]

I think it is a very, very bad decision to remove the customization feature.

I think the feature was a very good and long awaited addition to the Pokémon franchise, since you finally were able to differ from other trainers and show your own Unique style.
Also, since the Pokémon games are very personal in terms of the different choices you make through your adventure, I really think it was a great addition that you could actually change the look of yourself. It just made the experience much more personal, since you didn't have to look the same way as everyone else.

The fact that different trainers have different personalities and different battle styles also made it a very logical feature to be added and I really think it was a fresh and actually one of the best features ever introduced, since it just improved one of the core elements in Pokémon: Difference between trainers.

Of course it doesn't ruin the games completely for me, but I certainly think that Game Freak took a big step forward in Pokémon X and Y, while they have gone two steps back now.

I can understand Masuda's point about that each region has it's own peronality, and that Kalos has the concept about beauty and fashion, but I really don't see that as an argument for taking out the feature. At least Game Freak could have added just a few customization options which could still match the Hoenn region's tropical climate.

I'm very dissapointed about this, but hopefully, all the new features in the games will compensate for that.

 

[aliveatnight]

How disappointing. I really hope that it comes back in the future, because leaving it in Kalos only would be such a waste to a good feature.

 

[Finicky Fennekin]

I can mayyybeee understand the fashion thing being Kalos-exclusive, but I really really wish GF had at least left in a choice of skin/hair color at the beginning of the game. :/ (Rival-Orlando being a little tan got my hopes up, but it looks like PC-Orlando is still lily-white, haha...)

Like I'm sad about not being able to play dress up, but I'm even more upset at being locked into "super pale brunet(te)" no matter what. :/

 

[Absent]

Couldn't they have at least left Character Customization for Online? They didn't have to go full blown like XY but at least let you manage an avatar.

A lot of games force you to use an established character but allow you to create your own small avatar for online play.

 

[Bittersweet]

After just finding out that customization isn't coming back, along with how ugly the default characters look, I've decided to cancel my preorder.

How disappointing, I had been excited about ORAS all year.

Wow, that seems a bit drastic.

It's disappointing and all, but will it really ruin the whole game for you? This is Pokémon, they haven't had customisation for years, X and Y were the first games with it, and they had problems even with customisation.

 

[Kallyle]

I think that GF removed customization because they don't want to include a patch for Kalos in regards to ORAS content. All of this seems to be saying that the only way XY and ORAS can communicate is through PokéBank. I'm afraid that Nintendo is pushing GF to do all of this so we have to buy XY, ORAS, AND PokéBank in order to experience every single feature in Gen. 6. I have no doubt that all of this a related and a deliberate marketing scheme.

 

[The Outrage]

2) I think that customization has more problems than expected. Remember that Pokemon is a children game and there could be issues with some of the outfits and "specially" skin color that they coud have trouble.

You don't get to make outfits like you do in Animal Crossing, so there should be no issue on clothes unless Game Freak intentionally makes a skimpy outfit for both trainers.

And please, do tell how skin colour could be offensive. The idea that we shouldn't have any skin tone customization (which they have in the Trainer Club accounts and TCGO with absolutely no issues) because darker skin could be seen as offensive (let's face it, the characters can't exactly get lighter than they are now, except Brendan who has a tan) is at best political correctness and color blindness gone awry.

I think that GF removed customization because they don't want to include a patch for Kalos in regards to ORAS content. All of this seems to be saying that the only way XY and ORAS can communicate is through PokéBank. I'm afraid that Nintendo is pushing GF to do all of this so we have to buy XY, ORAS, AND PokéBank in order to experience every single feature in Gen. 6. I have no doubt that all of this a related and a deliberate marketing scheme.

That's what I'm guessing. If they're not going to patch Megas, they sure wouldn't have patched all the different styles a trainer could come in. We'd be lucky to even see May and Brendan's models in the game if they've been pre-programmed and not yet discovered, but I'm assuming we'll see default Calem and Serena.

 

[Talon87]

XY pre-release: No one said anything about character customization being unique to Kalos.
XY release: No one said anything about character customization being unique to Kalos.
Now: Masuda suggests that character customization is unique to Kalos.

XY pre-release: Mega Evolution is billed as being an exciting new evolution found only in the Kalos region.
XY release: Mega Evolution continues to be billed as an exciting new evolution found only in the Kalos region.
Now: Mega Evolution looks likely to remain a permanent part of the franchise. The reboot of an older generation has even had its story retconned to incorporate Mega Evolution.

Something seems backwards. Why is it that the feature Masuda originally advertised as unique to the Kalos region looks now to become a permanent part of our franchise while the feature everyone's been requesting for years, finally received, and he never said anything about being Kalos-only until now ... why is it that that feature is suddenly the one which is Kalos-only?

Ribbing Masuda and his selective logic aside, I would encourage those of you who are panicking to take this history to heart. Not but a year ago, Game Freak was speaking about Mega Evolution as though it were uniquely Kalosian. One year from today we could very well be discussing how character customization has been confirmed by Game Freak to be here to stay. People's opinions change, guys. Including Junichi's. He's only human.

One thing you can do is (politely, calmly) reach out to him on Twitter. (@Junichi_Masuda, https://twitter.com/Junichi_Masuda) Tell him how much you love character customization. Tell him that you feel removing it from future games makes as much sense as removing abilities would have made sense for Diamond and Pearl or removing infinite-use TMs would have made sense for Kalos. Whatever you tell him, try to fit it into 140 characters and above all else be courteous. And if you really want to make a stab at a community effort, you can work together with the Bulbagarden community's best speakers of English and Japanese to convey precisely what you wish to convey to Mr. Masuda in a letter. The letter can be provided in a number of ways to him (via Pastebin, via an image attachment, via a link to a Bulbagarden thread, what have you), and it can offer both English and Japanese halves, the latter for his reading convenience, the former for yours.

If you do contact him, I would discourage whining for character customization to return in time for ORAS. It's far too late in the development cycle for that sort of change. Try to keep your requests restricted to requests for the future. Those are the games he actually has the power to still change for you.

 

[Robo-Floatzel]

That is pretty disappointing, but I'm not too surprised. There weren't any signs of being able to buy outfits or choose a different skin color for the player character. The reasoning is pretty weak though. I would be more disappointed if that feature is only in Kalos and not in any future generation. Seems like a huge waste in that regard. I grew to like that feature in X/Y a lot more than I thought I would initially and it would have been nice to see it in OR/AS. If I didn't like the playable characters' outfits as much as I do, I'd be much more disappointed.

I agree with you, I would be disappointed if they took out customization permanently and we're stuck with the default look the whole time, especially since it made our characters in the game look more distinct and recognizable. I do agree that Masuda's reason for this is very weak, because apparently only people in France change their clothing, then again, Game Freak is NOTORIOUS for removing features that people like, such as Secret Bases (heavily watered down in Gen 4) and the Pokemon following you in HG/SS. I do find it strange that they take out customization, yet they keep Amie and Super Training.

I liked customization because you could make your trainer look distinct and make it your own character rather than what's set. In previous generations, customization was impossible due to the fact that the games still used sprites and would take too long to design them, combined with technical limitations, but here I just find it to be a huge step backwards.

I can overlook ORAS not having it, my problem is mostly with Masuda's implication of it being Kalos-exclusive, which I think is one of the most backwards things he's decided on.

Agreed, this just seems to be a backwards move, yet they keep Amie and Super Training, hypocrisy much?

How disappointing. I really hope that it comes back in the future, because leaving it in Kalos only would be such a waste to a good feature.

I agree, especially with this like right here he said:

In terms of the customization of the trainer, that was really kind of a special thing for the Kalos region, which featured this kind of motif of France and really focused on this beauty and fashion aspect, which is why it was a prominent feature in that game.

Because apparently, France is the only country where people wear different outfits and in every other country like Japan and the US, everyone owns multiple copies of the exact same outfit like they're some sort of cartoon character who is only seen wearing the same outfit every episode. Honestly, I don't see the point in removing this feature simply because of something in the real-life country Kalos is based on, when this is a feature that I and many others have wanted for many years.

 

[Kit Chan]

Because apparently, France is the only country where people wear different outfits and in every other country like Japan and the US, everyone owns multiple copies of the exact same outfit like they're some sort of cartoon character who is only seen wearing the same outfit every episode. Honestly, I don't see the point in removing this feature simply because of something in the real-life country Kalos is based on, when this is a feature that I and many others have wanted for many years.

IKR?? Masuda is racist.

 

[Piplup]

I wonder if enough demand for customization (and possibly other removed features such as seasons or pkmn following you) being shown online could affect anything. Masuda DID say it was fans online that were vocal about their desire for RS remakes that made them decide to do ORAS, so maybe fans have more power than they think. Of course, it'll have to be as crazy as the RS demands which was pretty much everyone wanting it and posting about it everywhere, and I guess not enough people care that much for customization (or other removed features) so it won't work...

 

[Melgogs]

Customization being removed really annoys me. It gave us a way to truly add a visible personal touch to the game. Instead of removing it they should have made an effort to expand it, this was an awful decision. Saying characterization wouldn't fit because this is an older gen game with established chars is also rather dumb cus we now have new mega evolutions too so lots of things of that gen have been retconned JUST for mega evolution. Character customization wouldn't have screwed around with the entire timeline/storyline the way mega evos do.

Darker skinned friends were also pretty happy to finally have skin options in a pokemon game. This game is sold internationally and has many fans from all over the world so saying it's good they removed skin colors because hoenn is based on japan is also annoying at best.

This is just an all-around bad decision and I really hope customization doesn't stay as a kalos-only feature and makes it into future games.

 

[Silverwynde]

I can overlook ORAS not having it, my problem is mostly with Masuda's implication of it being Kalos-exclusive, which I think is one of the most backwards things he's decided on.

This.

It has me more than a little worried that customization may be a Gen VI only feature. I was honestly hoping that ORAS would have some tiny measure of customization, even if it was just the hair and skin tone. I'd be fine without changing outfits if I could just change the way my character looked even slightly. I had that in Kalos and it stinks out loud that it won't happen in Hoenn.

But if this truly is Kalos only, I may cry. Gen VII could easily expand customization and give us a lot more than Kalos did but the way things sound, there's a chance it may not happen. =/