Pokemon players lament the loss of Gen 6 character customization years later
The Pokemon CompanyOver a decade after its release, Pokemon fans are lamenting the loss of character customization that was present in the Generation 6 titles, X & Y.
While trainers could choose between a male or female avatar starting with Pokemon Crystal, full character customization was not introduced to the series until Gen 6.
In Pokemon X & Y, players had a wide variety of cosmetic options at their disposal to create their own avatars, including skin tone, hair color, hairstyles, and an abundance of clothing options.
While character customization has returned in later Gens, it’s sporadic in its overall quality and breadth compared to X & Y. Now, trainers have started to mourn the loss of what once was in Gen 6.
Competitive VGC player ChuppaVGC sparked a discussion on X after they posted: “Remember when Pokemon released player customization for the first time and then took it away 1 year later in ORAS.”
Alongside the tweet, they shared images of a customized character in X & Y next to Brendan from ORAS, which cut avatar customization altogether.
Many fans agreed in the comments and expressed disappointment that the same level of quality hasn’t returned since.
“Remember when they finally brought it back in SM and it had LESS options than in XY? And how in every gen after, they gave us even less options until they outright removed the ability to your shirt n bottoms? Progress! … No, wait whats the opposite of that,” said one trainer.
Another fan said, “The worst offender was the transition between Sword & Shield to Scarlet & Violet. It was a buffet of British style clothing to 4 different types of school uniforms in different colors.”
The lack of true character customization in Pokemon Scarlet & Violet was a hot-button topic among players.
While fans could customize their avatar’s physical characteristics, clothing options were limited to a small set of uniforms.
With Pokemon Legends Z-A taking fans back to Kalos, hopefully, trainers will once again find a robust avatar customization system in the region where it all began.