Animal Crossing: New Horizons continues to be an avenue for self-expression with the addition of body inclusive custom designs by Gillette Razors. The company released an Animal Crossing lookbook as part of its Skinclusive Summer Line that allows players to give themselves realistic body types and features including stretch marks, eczema, vitiligo, and more. New Horizons was the first Animal Crossing game to allow players to choose dark skin tones from the get-go, while previous games in the series forced them to get a tan for darker skin.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is an innovative landscape for creative players, with constant developments happening within the community to bridge the gaps created by the pandemic and allow people to express themselves. Fans have used the game to pay homage to games like The Legend of Zelda and shows like It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Talk shows have popped up using the game as a soundstage and platform, and players have revealed themselves to be fashion innovators. While the game seemingly presents limitless options in terms of character customization, world-building, and decorating, one notable exclusion from the game is the presence of different body types. Characters all present with the same figure, which can feel a bit exclusionary.
Razor maker Gillette took it upon itself to offer a solution with its inclusive custom designs. The looks featured in the Skinclusive Summer Line offer players QR codes that link to designs representing realistic skin and body types, with elements like acne, wrinkles, prosthetic limbs, tattoos, and more. The lookbook has detailed descriptions of each look and specific codes for all of the eight in-game skin tones, with most of the avatars wearing swimsuits or kimonos that allow the characters to proudly show their skin. The lookbook is part of Gillette's push to feature diverse women in its advertising, and the designer of the collection, Nicole Cuddihy, noted that creative progress feels slower on the body positive front where games are concerned.
Body inclusivity has been a big topic in games this year, with the release of The Last of Us II kicking off commentary from disgruntled fans attempting to prove that Abby's body type was unrealistic, despite the glut of unexplained and unexamined muscular male body types in gaming. Games tend to present player characters and NPCs that feature flawless, muscled body types, rather than bodies representative of not only of the gaming population, but the diversity of humanity on the whole.
Other games, like Dragon Age: Inquisition, allow players to build out characters that feature wrinkles, scars, and more, and the addition of QR codes that allow players to add similar features to their Animal Crossing avatars is a positive one. Games like Magic Legends have introduced design elements that will allow players to build characters that are more representative of themselves, and also removed the male/female options from its character creator, allowing players to build out characters that eschew a gender binary. Going forward, it's likely that game studios will strive to embrace body diversity, especially in RPGs and life simulation games like Animal Crossing: New Horizons, where part of the fun for players is building out their avatars.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is available now on Nintendo Switch.
Source: Gillette