I've always loved it when games offer customization. Having the option to personalize things like your character's appearance boosts my opinion of nearly any game. The options provided by most customizable games make the entire experience feel more personal and in depth. They allow player expression in an otherwise preset and predesigned world. And for that reason, it generally puzzles me when games go without the uniqueness I've come to love.
The original Animal Crossing presents an ideal example of significant customization. On the surface, it looks like a childish game where you're constantly talking to animals and performing mundane tasks. But beneath that deceptive layer is something brilliant.
While Tom Nook subjects you to insane debts on your new property, your ratty, empty shack is place you can expand and decorate into the house of your dreams. And this is where Animal Crossing becomes amazing. You can turn your house into nearly anything you could think of: an aquarium, a shrine to Nintendo, a fake restaurant, or perhaps just a friendly, cozy, little home. Once word got out that Animal Crossing had such a fun and interactive concept, the game spread like wildfire.
The addiction to personal uniqueness has done nothing but grow over the years — both for me and for the gaming community at large. Nowadays, Minecraft enjoys the same popularity that Animal Crossing once did. When it launched, instead of appearing childish and boring, it appeared clunky and dated. But as time went on, it became obvious that the beauty of Minecraft is in building something from your imagination that is completely unique.
Minecraft forces you to master the natural world while forging tools and building shelter. Eventually, in more grandiose projects, you can create sprawling bases, structures, traps, cities — nearly anything you can think of. All of this becomes even more remarkable when you include a persistent online server populated by friends.
As time goes on, more and more developers are understanding that gamers adore having an experience that is indvidually unique. While Borderlands doesn't allow you to directly customize much besides your skilltree, it has an infinite arsenal of genuinely distinct weapons for you to choose from. No two players will ever carry the same set of guns into a firefight. Team Fortress 2 lets you acquire and paint decorative hats. The popular FPS also allows you to rename any of your items for that extra little satisfaction that comes with killing people with christened gadgetry. BioWare's Mass Effect lets you fine tune your character's appearance, and it encourages players to make unique decisions in order to propel the game's story. The list goes on and on.
This is precisely where games without customization start falling short for me. I can play through and thoroughly enjoy Mario games. But I'm often left unsatisfied and feeling like I haven't used my imagination. I'm just following the path that the developers designed for me follow. It's constricting, and my ideas struggle to break out.
Don't misunderstand me: Plenty of amazing games lack this kind of player input. Shadow of the Colossus is still one of the most beautiful games I've ever played, and Left 4 Dead 2 provides memorable fun with each versus match I play. But being able to express oneself in a game is a truly wonderful thing, and I hope to see even more of it in the future.