Looking for "character centric" games.

[Animated Rope]

I'm not sure how to put this, so excuse my clumsy wording. I am looking for games that have some focus on your characters appearance and/or physical grace. I imagine most games with such a design philosophy will be martial arts/matrix/anime esque games, but I'm not restricting myself to any genre. So I guess what I'm looking for is just as much art direction as gameplay, if that makes any sense?

A good example would be S4 League. I quite enjoyed picking an outfit for my character and the not-too-over-the-top acrobatics. Jedi Knight, especially Jedi Academy was also quite there(in fact, I'm going to install it right now), although character customisation was less than impressive.

But like I said, could be any genre, even a rpg. In WoW I was playing as female dwarf priest purely for the animations.

Anyone know any such games other than the two I mentioned?

 

[Riobux]

I'm thinking of Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem. Each level holds a different character that plays differently partly due to physical characteristics and partly due to shifts in time periods the level is based in. Like one level you may be killing monsters with World War One weaponry while the next you may be going around with a far-eastern sword and ring-throwing weapons. You can then find more weapons usually, which in the case of the far-easten person, you can find a second far-eastern sword (I'm tempted to say it's a scimitar but yet I think it's called something very different) so you can duel wield and a two-handed sword.

 

[Vampire cat]

Oblivion lets you customize your character a lot, and there are a bunch of mods that add new races, clothes and hair dues to the game.

 

[Animated Rope]

Oblivion lets you customize your character a lot, and there are a bunch of mods that add new races, clothes and hair dues to the game.

Oblivion is first person though, and has very clumsy gameplay.

 

[Vampire cat]

Oblivion lets you customize your character a lot, and there are a bunch of mods that add new races, clothes and hair dues to the game.

Oblivion is first person though, and has very clumsy gameplay.

It does allow you to play in third person, and it does have clumsy gameplay, but it's still my favorite game ever^^.

 

[MrPatience]

Would Chromehounds for the 360 count?
A mecha game with huge amounts of customisability.
Takes a bit of getting used to, but nothing makes you feel more badass than tromping around in a killing machine that you built from the ground-up.

 

[DustyDrB]

There's a (admittedly not very deep) face creator for Mass Effect. Dragon Age does this a little better, and you can choose from different races and try lots of different kind of armor.

I feel like I should know more, but I'm just drawing a blank.

Oblivion lets you customize your character a lot, and there are a bunch of mods that add new races, clothes and hair dues to the game.

Oblivion is first person though, and has very clumsy gameplay.

It does allow you to play in third person, and it does have clumsy gameplay, but it's still my favorite game ever^^.

It has third person but have you actually tried to play it? It looks completely retarded and it's clumsy guesswork when you're swinging a sword. Fallout 3 had the same problem. I sympathize with the OP because I hate first person view also. Somehow I could deal with it in Oblivion, but not in Fallout 3.

 

[Jaqen Hghar]

Hmm, I'm not sure if it fits, but what about Mount and Blade? There is a demo on Steam you can try.
You can change your appearance pretty well before you start, and you can buy clothes and armor. You also have full control on how you block and stuff, and the combat is pretty cool. I don't have it myself due to money, but it is one of the games I really want on Steam. The demo really sold it for me.

 

[Animated Rope]

I forgot to mention GunZ: The Duel in the OP. Very similar to S4 League, I've been unable to play it though.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TTyE7cjDJ8

And some random thing along a similar theme.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=od36NSCFOjY

Hmm, I'm not sure if it fits, but what about Mount and Blade? There is a demo on Steam you can try.
You can change your appearance pretty well before you start, and you can buy clothes and armor. You also have full control on how you block and stuff, and the combat is pretty cool. I don't have it myself due to money, but it is one of the games I really want on Steam. The demo really sold it for me.

I tried the demo, even though it's a bit slow I really like it. The kind of controls and character customization are of the kind I'm looking for. Thank you.

 

[WanderingBiscuits]

Okami and Bayonetta are the games that immediately spring to mind when i think of art direction.

 

[DeadlyYellow]

How about Saint's Row 2?

Decent facial and body modifiers and a huge array of clothing.

 

[Snarky Username]

Oblivion lets you customize your character a lot, and there are a bunch of mods that add new races, clothes and hair dues to the game.

Oblivion is first person though, and has very clumsy gameplay.

It does allow you to play in third person, and it does have clumsy gameplay, but it's still my favorite game ever^^.

Yes, but third person is more or less an afterthought. The animations are laughably bad. I do like going into third person every now and then just to watch myself jump though.

 

[Jaqen Hghar]

I tried the demo, even though it's a bit slow I really like it. The kind of controls and character customization are of the kind I'm looking for. Thank you.

Awesome! Glad I understood what I meant.
What I like about that game is the fact that you really don't have a quest. You decide what you want to do instead of being forced to save the Princess or something. Thus you are free to customize your character in any way you want.
If you end up buying the game, you probably should get Mount and Blade: Warband. It's the same game, with some additions to the graphics and such. Oh, and a MP mode. That is the version I am getting once I got the money for it.

 

[AWAR]

Hmhm, what about Tomb Raider?

 

[Verex]

Eve Online would be a good bet. It's pay to play, but you have full control of what you want your character to be and their 'mission' if you will.