No matter your gender, for those who’ve ever created a feminine or femme-presenting player-character–especially in an RPG–you’ve nearly actually encountered a problem that has been plaguing the style since video games first made the leap from 2D to 3D: actually, actually, actually unhealthy coiffure choices for feminine characters. And look, I get it. Animating one million little strands of hair is troublesome and time-consuming, and devs do not all the time have the funding to make a ton of flowing coiffure choices with lengthy, luscious locks.
However that does not cease them from making an attempt to painting longer hair–it simply tends to be styled in a convoluted up-do that claims, “See, this character completely has plenty of hair, she simply spends six hours each morning following intricate Ye Olde Hair Tutorials to make sure her locks is not going to transfer irrespective of what number of heavy assaults she takes.”
Now, RPG gamers are bringing these off-the-wall hairstyles to life by way of tongue-in-cheek movies depicting the battle gamers face when attempting to create a feminine character with lengthy hair. From lengthy ponytails that don’t react to physics in any respect to visitors cone-shaped up-dos, listed here are a few of our favourite player-made takes on feminine online game hairstyles.
1. Cursed pigtails
Irrespective of when or the place an RPG is about, for some cause there all the time appear to be at the very least six completely different pigtail-style hair choices, all of which by some means handle to each suck and look wildly misplaced, particularly when your character is absolutely decked out in heavy armor.
2. Messy buns
Nothing says, “I’m the chosen one, right here to save lots of the realm!” like rocking as much as the battle wanting like an Owlbear simply tried to construct a nest in your hair. Why precisely emulate the look of historic hairstyles when you may simply give ’em the ol’ “haircut courtesy of my five-year-old sister” particular?
3. Lengthy, but impervious to physics
Should you do discover a lengthy coiffure, make no mistake: It completely is not going to transfer. If, by some miracle, it does transfer, it can transfer as one singular mega-hair slightly than a head of particular person strands.
4. These frickass bangs with a random braid
Nothing says “elegant badass” like a single, tiny braid in the course of your brow.
5. Lengthy hair, however make it look brief
Inevitably, if you do discover a longer hair fashion, devs may have gone out of their manner to verify it seems bizarre from nearly each angle, with strands which were twisted, braided, and wrapped round themselves to the purpose that even getting hit with Storm of Vengeance would not blow a single hair misplaced. These types are sometimes very tall or huge, to present the looks of size, whereas making certain no one truly has to animate it.
On the brilliant aspect, issues are positively getting better–as a lot as I struggled to get pleasure from Dragon Age: The Veilguard, I do have to present credit score the place credit score is due: My character could have seemed like a half-melted Bratz doll, however each single strand of her hip-length hair moved individually, and responded appropriately to wind, physique motion, and adjustments in inertia. Probably the most enjoyable I had with that sport was watching my Rook’s hair flip round as she dove and dodged in fight. Veilguard additionally had an exceptional number of POC hairstyles, going far past the standard “generic fade for males, afro or brief braids for girls” choices present in most video games. (EA’s Frostbite Engine is the supply of the magic behind Veilguard’s nice hair physics.)
Nonetheless, there’s positively room for enchancment on the subject of hair animation within the video games business. As a lot as I get a kick out of seeing what lengths studios will go to to be able to keep away from having to animate lengthy hair, I do hope that extra studios–especially these engaged on RPGs with customized player-characters–take the time to animate hair with the care it deserves.
Within the meantime, I will be over right here attempting to determine the place I can get my arms on a few of this magical, gravity-defying hairspray that appears to be out there to each feminine NPC in each RPG sport ever.
