Starfield Direct, the most in-depth look at Bethesda’s upcoming epic title to date, has given fans an idea of the unprecedented character customization they can expect when the game drops later on in 2023.
The Starfield content players got after 2023’s Xbox Showcase was always likely to scratch the proverbial itch for information. However, we’ve been blown away by the detail we received – and the detail Bethesda appears to be putting into every orifice of Starfield.
Rick Vicens, Lead Animator on Starfield, told us that “the most important story is the one you tell”. It appears to be more than a good soundbite, with Bethesda doubling down on character customization in every conceivable way. Here, we’re walking you through all that was revealed about character creation, choices and customization during Starfield Direct.
Choose Your Starfield Character From a Real Life Face
Bethesda revealed that they scanned the faces of real-life individuals to collate and enter into Starfield. Every character – whether the player’s or a NPC they encounter in the galaxy – is derived from real-world people and takes inspiration from a face somewhere.
Beginning your character creation as though you’re “scanning through employee records”, players will choose one of 40 preset faces as their starting point.
After that, it’s on the players to tweak the preset they’ve chosen. On that, there’s more ways than we could ever imagine to customize your players. However, if you want to get into the game and aren’t too bothered about your character – that’s fine too.
Bethesda’s character creation for Starfield is, in their words: “as detailed or as quick as you want it to be.”
Starfield Character Customization Options
You might be worried about there not being a preset for you. We’ve all been there with a game – having to choose from someone who looks nothing like you but, because they’re the best of a bad bunch, you grit your teeth and get on with it. Well, Starfield looks to have a way round that.
Once you’ve chosen your character preset, you can customize them in countless ways. These include, but are not limited to: Body Type, Walking Style, Skin Tone, Head Shape, Hair, Hair Color, Facial Hair, Eyes, Eye Color, Chin, Neck, Jewellry, Jewellry Color, Dermaesthetic, Scars, Facial Forms, Teeth, Cheeks, Mouth.
Ben Carnow, Lead Character Artist, said: “We let the player get as close as possible to make whatever they want… it’s a lot, but I think it’s the most fun to use.”
“Who Do You Wanna Be?” Starfield’s Backgrounds, Explained
Players won’t just be limited to aesthetics though. Backgrounds are another sphere in Starfield’s character creation, giving your player some backstory and context, as well as skills specific to the background chosen.
We personally like the look of Chef, a Background that gives players access to new ingredients, duelling and scavenging. The trailer gave us looks at multiple Starfield backgrounds though, all of which are listed below:
- Beast Hunter
- Bouncer
- Bounty Hunter
- Chef
- Combat Medic
- Cyber Runner
- Cyberneticist
- Diplomat
- Explorer
- Gangster
- Homesteader
- Industrialist
- Long Hauler
- Pilgrim
- Professor
- Ronin
Each brings three skills which, according to the devs, you never know when you might need. Starfield’s character designs are specific to the player – and to specific situations that’ll arise as you play through the massive title.
Great Traits To Define You
The customization doesn’t stop there though – with players also choosing three Traits from a long list. Each is a essentially a character trait (obviously!) that brings with it “advantages and disadvantages”. In short, pick wisely because these might constitute weaknesses or drawbacks for your character moving forwards.
All the Traits revealed in the Starfield Direct segment are listed below:
- Alien DNA
- Dream Home
- Empath
- Extrovert
- Freestar Collective Settler
- Hero Worshipped
- Introvert
- Kid Stuff
- Neon Street Rat
- Raised Enlightened
- Raised Universal
- Serpent’s Embrace
- Spaced
- Taskmaster
- Terra Firma
- United Colonies Native
- Wanted
We couldn’t help but love the ‘Hero Worshipped’ Trait the trailer shown, with an adoring (and slightly annoying) fan sprinting up to players to tell us how much they love us. Whether it’ll become annoying in the full game… well, we’ll let you know.
Traits aren’t final either, with Bethesda promising “ways” to remove them after selection, but saying that we’ll only find out more when the game drops. The trailer hinted at executing your annoying companion. We’ll plead the fifth on this one for now.
“No matter what you choose, there’ll be plenty of ways for you to tell your story,” promised Vicens.
We can’t wait to create our own individual and explore the galaxy – how we want to.Barring any delays, Starfield is set for release on 6 September, 2023.
