Best JRPGs that let you create your own character

Most JRPGs tend to have premade protagonists. That's one of the biggest differences between Western RPGs and JRPGs. That doesn't mean premade protagonists are bad because some of the best games, like Final Fantasy 7 and Persona 5are loved because of the main characters and party members. For Final Fantasy 7the characters have stuck with fans so much that Square Enix even expanded the universe.

For Persona 5players have an even deeper bond with their party as they can go on dates or hang out, which can lead to romances. Aside from pre-made JRPGs, let's take a look at some games influenced by Western culture that have custom character options. MMOs and Soulslikes will be considered, even the Japanese ones, as they are a completely different breed from the following examples.

Pokemon Legends: ZA

The city of masters

Pokemon Legends: ZA is a more recent example and the latest Pokémon game, and as recent examples, players can fully customize their male or female avatar, including their basic facial structure from hair to eyes. Afterwards, players can continue fine-tuning their character by visiting hairdressers to get new haircuts and plenty of shops to change clothes to match the latest fashions.

Online, players get to show off their characters to opponents in battle, which is one of the reasons anyone spends so much time on a character to begin with. Otherwise, the game itself is good as players can go around collecting Pokemon in certain areas of the city, along with facing opponents at night to go in the city tournament. The combat system is still turn-based, but since players can spam attacks while waiting for cooldowns, it feels more active than most.

Dragon Quest 9: Sentinels Of The Starry Sky

A big step for DQ

Dragon Quest 9: Sentinels of the Starry Sky is an older example and a great thing for Dragon Quest series. Players were able to customize their male or female hero for the first time in a main entry, a trend that carried over to the next game, Dragon Quest 10: Rise of the Five Tribes Onlinewhich was an MMO, so it was more expected.

The cosmetic changes aren't huge, but the best thing about the overall adventure is that players also get to hire and trade up their party, which not many JRPGs tend to do. Later, players can enter the class system, called Vocations, to further customize their party to make it more powerful in turn-based battles. Finally, there's four-player co-op, which means players can explore with friends and see what their heroes look like.

Fantasy Life in: The Girl Who Steals Time

Your life, your rules

Fantasy Life in: The Girl Who Steals Time is the best game for all JRPG action fans who value customization above all else. They can't sculpt their hero to make them look like famous people, but they can at least decide what they want their male or female hero to look like, along with their starting class. Classes are called Lives in this game, and they are divided into different categories. Combat Lives has more traditional JRPG roles like attacking enemies and includes a Life like the Paladin. Gathering Lives goes out and collects materials like wood as woodcutters.

Finally, there are Crafting Lives that make things, like the Chef. All three life types can level up and build that hero overall, meaning players can eventually swap lives. The more they get, the more activities they can do. Without a grand story about the end of the world, Fantasy Life in: The Girl Who Steals Time can be played more casually too, including dungeon hopping with friends online for some side adventures.

Octopath Traveler 0

Rebuilding tomorrow

Octopath Traveler 0 is the first game in the HD-2D series that allowed players to make their character, and the options were simple between gender and a few different hairstyles. Still, it was more than the previous titles. Gameplay is slightly different overall, as players will still enter turn-based battles where they can choose to defend and build up points or act multiple times in a turn based on those allocated points.

Before, it was divided into parties of four, but in Octopath Traveler 0players can take eight characters into battle, with each line independent from the other. There's also a city-building element to the game, which allows for more creativity beyond character customization.

Xenoblade Chronicles X

Fish Out Of Water

Xenoblade Chronicles X is the only game of the four Xenoblade Chronicles titles that allow players to customize their character with the usual options for gender and face formations. There's also a class system that can further player customization, and switching between them is the best way to get stronger.

In addition to that, Xenoblade Chronicles X is a large open world game with MMO style battles. Along with their party, players can explore and fight monsters and combine different skills to affect them in battle. It's a large and complex world that can be challenging at first, but dedicated players will eventually find it becomes easier once their mech, called a Skell, is unlocked.

Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings Of Ruin

Running With Eggs

Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruinlike most Monster Hunter game, gives players a lot of character customization options. Although the graphics are cel-shaded and thus much more cartoonish than the main games, players are still free to make their character a reflection of themselves.

Instead of hunting monsters with action combat, Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin is a turn-based RPG that's all about raising monsters and turning them into allies. Players will still kill tons as they explore the semi-open world looking for monster lairs. Inside, players can steal eggs, and if the raid is successful, players can then hatch and add these monsters to the party, similar in a way to the Pokémon games.

Kingdom Hearts X

Keyblade Wars

Kingdom Hearts X has changed its name and gameplay several times since it started as a browser game in Japan. Regardless of the name, players got to create their Keyblade wielder, complete with a few preset faces, hairstyles and clothing options. In the current version of the game, before it was shut down, players could collect medals representing different characters from Kingdom Heartsincluding original characters, Disney characters and Final Fantasy sign.

Each medal had an attack, and the power would increase through rarity and by increasing its power through fusion. It was like a trading card game, but with medals, with original stories told through familiar worlds in turn-based battles. Unfortunately, new fans are interested in Kingdom Hearts X won't be able to download it because the online services were shut down in 2021 and the game was delisted in 2024.

Miitopia

More you than normal

Miitopia isn't the best turn-based RPG, as the players don't have much say in how the battles play out. That said, character creativity can make the game more fun. In the original 3DS version, the game would pull data from the system's friend library, using people players met during SpotPass and StreetPass sessions. Miitopia's the world would then be enriched with these people in random ways, mostly through the monster faces.

The protagonist can be the player's Mii avatar for 3DS, or they can create a new Mii to import. In the Switch version, there was less customization in the adventure as the console didn't have the cool SpotPass and StreetPass functionality in addition to players making a Mii, which is still cool, but the randomization is what made the 3DS version so fun. So anyone looking to check this game out should try to find a 3DS copy if they care about making an original adventure.