The biggest allure to Hogwarts Legacy is the idea that fans can role-play as themselves or others in the Wizarding World. Much of the game’s marketing has been centered around fans’ preferences being honored, such as being able to choose their desired Hogwarts house or having a custom character creator. Because Hogwarts Legacy is an action RPG, it is exciting to see how wand-dueling combat and scheduled coursework will be interwoven with open-world exploration. That said, there are still unfortunate limitations on what Hogwarts Legacy has put forth in its freedom of expression.
Hogwarts Legacy’s recent gameplay showcase gave fans a small tour of the castle’s interior, which had not been depicted to that extent beforehand. Before the tour began, a comprehensive look at Hogwarts Legacy’s character creator was also shown. In it, fans can customize a wide range of features familiar to other character creators out there. But while what it does feature is great, providing many options for fans with presets and abstract facial markings, it is not fully representative since it does not include any scales for players to choose what their character’s body figure looks like.
Hogwarts Legacy Currently Has No Body Figure Representation
It is a shame that Hogwarts Legacy currently seems to lack the option for players to make their character’s body look a particular way. Right now, all student characters seem to have the same slender figure.
If the game’s true goal is to have players fully express themselves through their character, it is a blemish on the character creator to not have some sort of scale for the student’s figure. Still, fans may be more interested in how reflective their character’s facial features can be, knowing that their body will be tucked away in house robes.
However, many fans will surely feel underrepresented if they cannot see themselves in the character they create. There are slender masculine figures and slender feminine figures, but no option to have someone who may define themselves apart from those physical constraints.
It may also be worth noting that there is no option for students to have facial hair, though it makes a little more sense not to have Albus Dumbledore-length beards for students in their fifth year at Hogwarts, since they would typically be fifteen or sixteen.
Hogwarts Legacy Could Still Receive a Patch Introducing Body Options
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To be fair, Hogwarts Legacy is still a few months from launch. In that time, if this issue is brought to WB Games Avalanche’s attention enough, it is always possible that the finalized product will feature a more comprehensive character creator. There is a disclaimer plastered on the bottom of the entire gameplay showcase that assures fans this is not the final product and that it is still in development, so there is potential for it to be added later.
Therefore, this showcase would have been the perfect time for WB Games Avalanche to mention a body figure option being worked on. But no such mention was made, and as a result, fans are correct to assume there are no current plans to include one.
If enough fans express that body figure options would be preferable, it would not be surprising to see a day one patch introduce it for fans at launch, let alone in a gameplay showcase that airs sometime beforehand. WB Games Avalanche seems to have its priorities in the right place with Hogwarts Legacy, where players’ preferences are kept carefully in mind, so this is a strange oversight for the game’s character creator.
Enough emphasis has obviously been placed on Hogwarts itself and the open-world environment around it, which is also incredibly important. But Hogwarts Legacy’s character creator needs to be as comprehensive, inclusive, and representative as possible if it wants to meet fans’ expectations.
Hogwarts Legacy releases February 10 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. A Switch version is also in development.