I’m taken to another screen with all kinds of options. To the right, a default character model waits for me to mold it. Right now, it’s a masculine character with some funky combinations of hair, eye, and skin colors, along with hairstyles, piercings, tattoos, and scars. To the left is a list of attributes I can change, with a big button at the top.
Randomize
I flip back and forth for a minute between the body options, my first decision to make. I had assumed, going in, that I would play a feminine character, but I also like the way the stereotypically male body looks, and I wouldn’t mind playing that. There are even options to make the body more androgynous.
I can be someone else.
In this game I can be whoever I want to be, look however I want to look. I do finally settle on the female-presenting body, because I like the way she shifts her weight and stares down out at me, like she’s daring me to pick her. I change the skin tone to tan, the tone Alissa and I would be in the summer after hours playing softball, and give her freckles across her face and arms. I give her long black hair tied up with a spiky purple bow and black rings laddering up her right ear, a bit of punk femininity. Her eyes are antifreeze green. The character model looks at me and gives that daring smile, and even though she’s done thatat least fifteen times now, this time, because she looks the way she does, it feels like it means something. The way I have made her is correct.
The last two things to decide are her class and her name.
There are three classes to choose from, and the game gives me a short description of each when I hover over it.
Guardian
Tank Role
Primary Stats: Strength | Resilience
Defend your party and deal heavy blows. Each point of damage you take can be converted into armor, more powerful attacks, or self-healing.
Medic
Healer Role
Primary Stats: Intellect|Recovery
Heal yourself and your allies while providing crowd control support and strong area effects.
