For a while, the ability to customize elements of my character in an RPG has basically been a requirement for me to try them, but Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth has shown me why I was wrong to limit my tastes. Part of my preference for customizable characters is likely due to my personal history with RPGs. One of the first RPGs I really fell in love with was Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, largely due to the freedom it offered me to make choices and influence the game’s story.

Warning: This Article Contains Spoilers For Final Fantasy VII Rebirth

As time went on, I found myself gravitating more towards RPGs which, like KOTOR, allowed me to create my own character. I didn’t have a problem playing other styles of games like Mario Sunshine or The Legend of Zelda, where I was forced to play as a given protagonist, but I still tended to find RPGs like the Tales series less appealing because I was forced to play as an established character. I eventually started to be more open to the idea, but it wasn’t until I played Final Fantasy 7 Remake and Rebirth that I was fully sold.

Customizable Characters In RPGs Used To Be Essential For Me

I Preferred Games That Let Me Customize My Playstyle

There are a few different factors that attract me to RPGs with customizable protagonists. First, is the fact that RPGs are typically a lot longer than other styles of games. If I’m going to sink over a day’s worth of time into a game, I want to have the freedom to play it the way I like. Having full control over my character’s build allows me to customize the experience to my tastes.

Something that goes hand-in-hand with playstyle choice is narrative choices. Being able to influence the story in an RPG can help me stay more invested. I can also get frustrated when too much combat starts to interrupt the flow of a game’s story. To combat this, I typically spec my characters in RPGs to have higher charisma scores, allowing me to talk my way out of certain battles. Shaping both the story and gameplay elements to fit my personal preferences makes it much easier to work my way through a long game.

I also used to think that games with customizable characters had more replayability. I would always tell myself that I could go back and try the game with a completely different build. Countless stealth archer playthroughs of Skyrim on multiple platforms have since taught me that this isn’t usually the case and that I’ll default to playing the way I like best when revisiting a game. Still, this impression that I could go back and play a totally different way was something that initially drew me to this type of game.

The Witcher 3 Helped Me Start To Realize The Merits Of Having A Set Character

Geralt Was A Good Midpoint Between Custom Characters And Specific Characters

Although I played a decent helping of games with specific protagonists, I didn’t really start coming around to the idea until I played The Witcher 3. I think Geralt was a good in-between to help me transition to having a set protagonist in an RPG. Geralt’s fighting style was largely determined by the game. There was still some customization allowed through my allocation of skill points, but no matter what I was fighting with a sword.

Geralt also had a voice actor and some defining character traits, but I was also able to make big decisions in the game’s story. This gave me the freedom of choice I liked in RPGs, but still forced me to play as a more defined character. Geralt wasn’t exactly the type of character I would usually play in an RPG, but he ended up winning me over, and I started to see the merits of not being able to fully customize my character.

FF7 Remake & Rebirth's Strong Narratives Sold Me On Having A Specific Protagonist

FF7’s Cloud Showed Me How Important A Strong Character Arc Is In RPGs

FF7 Remake was probably the first RPG I truly loved, despite having little to no control over the game’s story or the protagonist. Instead of starting with a character creator, the game drops you right into the shoes of its main character, Cloud Strife. Not only are most of the details about Cloud predetermined, but he is very different from the type of character I would typically play in an RPG.

I enjoy building charismatic characters that can talk their way out of situations, so playing as a moody closed-off protagonist who preferred to let his sword do the talking was a big change of pace. Initially, I thought this would make Final Fantasy 7 a hard sell for me. This feeling was only intensified when Cloud showed little interest in ing up with Avalanche, which was led by a character I much preferred, Barret Wallace. Barret is bold, ionate, and has a strong sense of direction. However, as I kept playing, I started to appreciate Cloud more.

I had been so caught up in wanting to play the type of characters I liked in RPGs that I forgot it doesn’t always make for the best stories. Sure, I enjoyed stepping out of the Nautiloid in Baldur’s Gate 3 already being a charming Rogue adept in the powers of persuasion, but my character was largely static throughout the game. In contrast, Cloud can go through an entire character arc because he isn’t shackled to my personality or play preferences.

I may not have liked Cloud at the beginning of Final Fantasy 7 Remake, but that’s because I suspect I wasn’t supposed to. I could see some redeeming qualities in him that made me stick with the game, but there was also a lot of room for him to grow. When Cloud agreed to help Jessie, I was pleasantly surprised. After meeting Aerith and letting her kindness and openness rub off on him a bit, I started to really appreciate Cloud. This only intensified in FF7 Rebirth.

Early on, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth gives players an extended look at Cloud’s past. Seeing a young, more optimistic Cloud and the reasons why he was no longer that way helped me connect with him a lot easier. This is the type of thing that is hard to pull off in an RPG where you customize your own character because they typically shy away from giving any details that could contradict the player’s imagined backstory for their character (funnily enough, my old favorite, Knights of the Old Republic, is an exception here).

Complex Dialogue Trees Are Great, But They Can Also Muddy A Story

Dialogue Trees Make Stories More Malleable, Making Emotional Beats Harder To Land

RPGs with a specific protagonist, like Final Fantasy 7, don’t just have the advantage of being able to lock down a character’s backstory and narrative arc, but they can also deliver more impactful story moments. As much as I love a complex dialogue tree and the ability to influence a game’s direction, this can lead to a story feeling less cohesive. Sometimes I’ll make out-of-character choices because I want to recruit a party member that I wouldn’t naturally get along with, or simply because I think it will help me speed through a side quest I don’t care much about.

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, while not devoid of choice, keeps its story largely the same regardless of player input. This allows the developers to craft an emotional story with specific beats without the need to placate every player’s sense of agency. This also allows the game to include more intense narrative beats.

In a game with more choices, like Baldur’s Gate 3, if a companion died, I would assume it was because I made some incorrect decision. I would expect to be able to save them on a subsequent playthrough and would feel as though the game’s emphasis on choice was a false promise if I couldn’t. By not offering players that type of control over the game’s narrative, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth can deliver devastating moments like Aerith’s death without me feeling like I should be entitled to change it.

While I wouldn’t say I’m happy that Aerith dies in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, it happening is undeniably a huge point in the story’s favor. The death of Gaia’s final native resident at the hands of someone who was essentially created by the Shinra corporation hammers home the game’s themes. It’s also a moment where I felt more connected to Cloud than I ever did to any of my custom characters in a game like Fallout. Like Cloud, I had grown to care about Aerith, and I similarly mourned her death.

Ultimately, the emotional connection that Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth was able to create between me, Cloud, and its other principal characters felt a lot stronger than in other RPGs. Part of this was because I wasn’t able to fully customize Cloud, or ensure that he always said or did the right thing. His imperfections and the friction they cause between him and the rest of the party made him a much more fully realized character and delivered a better story than the one I would have come up with were I allowed to have too much control over the game’s direction.