Most JRPGs tend to have premade protagonists. It’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 5, are beloved because of the protagonists and party members. For Final Fantasy 7, the characters have stuck with fans so much that Square Enix even expanded the universe.
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For Persona 5, players have an even deeper bond with their party as they can go on dates or hang out sessions, which can lead to romances. Premade JRPGs aside, 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 whole other breed from the following examples.
Pokemon Legends: Z-A
The City Of Champions
Pokemon Legends: Z-A
- Released
- October 16, 2025
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Game Freak, Creatures Inc.
- Platform(s)
- Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2
Pokemon Legends: Z-A is a newer example and the latest Pokemon game, and like most recent examples, players can fully customize their male or female avatar, including their basic face structure from their hair to their eyes. Afterward, players can continue to tweak their character by visiting barbers to get new haircuts and lots of shops to change clothes to fit the latest fashion.
Online, players get to show off their characters to opponents in battle, which is one of the reasons why anyone puts so much time into a character to begin with. Otherwise, the game itself is great as players can go around collecting Pokemon in certain areas within the city, along with facing opponents at night to ride in the city tournament. The battle system is still turn-based, but as players can spam attacks while they wait for cooldowns, it feels more active than most.
Dragon Quest 9: Sentinels Of The Starry Sky
A Big Step For DQ
Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies
- Released
- July 15, 2009
- ESRB
- t
- Developer(s)
- Level 5, Square Enix
- Genre(s)
- JRPG
- Platform(s)
- Nintendo DS
Dragon Quest 9: Sentinels of the Starry Sky is an older example and a big deal for the Dragon Quest series. Players could customize their male or female hero for the first time in a mainline entry, which is a trend that carried over into the next game, Dragon Quest 10: Rise of the Five Tribes Online, which was an MMO, so it was more expected.
The cosmetic changes aren’t vast, but the best thing about the overall adventure is that players also get to hire and change up their party, too, which not many JRPGs tend to do. Later, players can get into the class system, called Vocations, to further customize their party to make it more powerful in turn-based combat. Finally, there is four-player co-op, meaning players can explore with friends and see how their heroes look.
Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time
Your Life, Your Rules
Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time
- Released
- May 21, 2025
WHERE TO PLAY
Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time is the best game for any JRPG action fan who values customization beyond all else. They can’t sculpt their hero intricately to make them look like famous people, but they can at least decide how they want their male or female hero to look, along with their starting class. Classes are called Lives in this game, and they fall into different categories. Combat Lives has more traditional JRPG roles like attacking enemies, and includes a Life like the Paladin. Gathering Lives go out and gather materials like wood as a Woodcutter.
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Finally, there are Crafting Lives who make things, like the Cook. All three Life types can level up and build that hero overall, meaning that players can eventually swap out Lives. The more they get, the more activities they can perform. Without a big end-of-the-world story, Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time can be played more casually, too, including jumping into dungeons with friends online for some side adventures.
Octopath Traveler 0
Rebuilding Tomorrow
Octopath Traveler 0
- Released
- December 4, 2025
WHERE TO PLAY
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 genders and some different hairstyles. Still, it was more than the previous titles. The gameplay is overall slightly different, as players will still go into turn-based battles where they can choose to defend and build up points or act multiple times in one turn based on these allotted points.
Before, it was divided into four-member parties, but in Octopath Traveler 0, players can take eight characters into battle, with each row being autonomous from the other. There’s also a town-building element to the game, which allows for more creativity beyond character customization.
Xenoblade Chronicles X
Fish Out Of Water
Xenoblade Chronicles X
- Released
- December 4, 2015
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Monolith Soft, Nintendo SPD
- Genre(s)
- Action RPG, Open-World
- Platform(s)
- Nintendo Wii U
Xenoblade Chronicles X is the only game of the four Xenoblade Chronicles titles that lets players customize their character with the usual options of gender and face formations. There is also a class system that can further player customization, and swapping between them is the best way to get stronger.
Beyond that, Xenoblade Chronicles X is a big open-world game with MMO-style combat. Together with their party, players can explore and fight monsters, combining different skills to affect them in battle. It’s a vast and complex world that can be challenging at first, but dedicated players will eventually find that it gets easier once their mech, called a Skell, gets unlocked.
Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings Of Ruin
Running With Eggs
Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin
- Released
- July 9, 2021
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Capcom, Marvelous
- Genre(s)
- RPG, JRPG, Exploration, Creature Collector
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC
Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin, like most Monster Hunter games, gives players quite a few character customization options. While the graphics are cel-shaded and thus much more cartoony than the main games, players are still free to make their character a reflection of themselves.
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Instead of hunting monsters with action combat, Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin is a turn-based RPG about raising monsters and making them allies. Players will still slay plenty as they explore the semi-open-world looking for monster nests. 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 Pokemon games.
Kingdom Hearts X
Keyblade Wars
Kingdom Hearts X[Chi]
- Released
- July 18, 2013
WHERE TO PLAY
Kingdom Hearts X has changed names and play styles several times, as it began as a browser game in Japan. No matter the name, players were allowed to create their Keyblade wielder, complete with a few preset faces, hairstyles, and clothing options. In the current version of the game, before it shut down, players could collect medals that represented various characters from Kingdom Hearts, including original characters, Disney characters, and Final Fantasy characters.
Each medal had an attack, and the power would increase through rarity and by boosting its power through fusion. It was like a collectible card game, but with medals, featuring original stories told through familiar worlds in turn-based combat. Unfortunately, new fans interested in Kingdom Hearts X will not be able to download it as the online services were shut down in 2021, and the game was delisted in 2024.
Miitopia
More You Than Normal
Miitopia
- Released
- July 28, 2017
WHERE TO PLAY
Miitopia is not the best turn-based RPG, as players have little say in how battles play out. That said, the 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 world would then be enriched with these people in random ways, mostly through monster faces.
The protagonist could be the player’s Mii avatar for the 3DS, or they could make a new Mii to import. In the Switch version, there was less customization in the adventure since the console didn’t have the cool SpotPass and StreetPass functionality beyond players making a Mii, which is still cool, but the randomization is what made the 3DS version so fun. So, anyone who wants to check this game out should try to find a 3DS copy if they care about making an original adventure.
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