BioWare is relying onDragon Age 4to help with its reputation on the upcoming generation of consoles. After difficulties withMass Effect: Andromedaand the critical, commercial failure ofAnthem, the game will need to make some changes from previous installments if it’s going to feel fresh and attract new players on the new platforms.
One of the difficultiesDragon Agehas always had had been in its character customization.Dragon Age: Origins’ customization was varied but the outcomes were often so grim looking that players had to find mods to make a normal looking character.Inquisitionmade strides in this regard, but there’s still one big placeDragon Age 4needs to improve: hairstyle.
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Hairstyles in Dragon Age
The available hairstyles inDragon Age: Inquisitionare extremely limited. Of the 27 hairstyles available for a human Inquisitor, for example, 12 are different degrees of shaved or extremely close cropped hairstyles while only one goes down to the shoulders. A part of this design choice is likely to avoid clipping problems with hairstyles, helmets, and chest armor, but it’s clear from games likeThe Witcher 3than the technology to make realistic and dynamic hairstyles which don’t clip through clothing does exist and can be pulled off.
Dragon Ageis going to have to provide bettercharacter customizationif it’s going to compete with series that have preset characters where the developers can fine-tune the design. InInquisition, a lot of the hairstyles and beards also don’t fade naturally into the face, making them look blocky and chock-full of mousse rather than resembling actual hair.
Furthermore, there are limitations to the hairstyles available to the different races. For example, while there are a few cropped hairstyles that resemble curly hair, there are very few hairstyles for humans that resemble Afro-textured hair. There are, however, cornrows available for the Qunari.
Of the available hairstyles, most of them simply don’t look as good or as varied ashairstyles in games likeFallout 4, which released around the same time. The hairstyles inDragon Age: Inquisitionhave a clear divide between the static and movable parts of the hair, with the top of the hair always seeming totally fixed in place like a helmet while a few ringlets will wobble around like 2-dimensional jelly.
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Why Character Customization Matters
Character customization is extremely important in these games for more than aesthetic reasons. Aside from Hawke, who was slightly more of a fixed characters within the parameters of the choices players could make inDragon Age 2,Dragon Ageplayers need to be able to identify very closely with the protagonist.
Through bothDragon Age: Origins’ WardenandInquisition’s Inquisitor, the player is presented with a blank slate which they must be able to totally project themselves or a clear idea of what sort of character they want to roleplay as onto for the game to be immersive and for the stakes of their character to feel real. While limited hair doesn’t ruin this, lackluster character customization can undermine this immersion.
While previous installments may have been able to get away with lackluster character customization, this is less likely on the next generation of consoles. WithThe Witcher 3’s studio CD Projekt Red already promising a huge array of character customization options for its hotly anticipated upcoming RPGCyberpunk 2077, a failure to match that level of customization in BioWare games could lead to the studio being left behind by new IPs on the next generation of consoles.
