Minecraft: Story Mode will let players select gender and skin tone

Minecraft: Story Mode

The first trailer for Telltale's Minecraft: Story Mode, released in July at Minecon, revealed that players would control a character named Jesse, portrayed by actor Patton Oswalt. "Jesse and his group of friends revere the legendary Order of the Stone; four adventurers who slayed an Ender Dragon," it said. "While at EnderCon, Jesse and his friends discover that something is wrong... something dreadful. Terror is unleashed, and they must set out on a journey to find The Order of the Stone if they are to save their world from oblivion "

Now, Patton Oswalt is a pretty cool guy, but what if you don't want to play as him? What if you don't want to play as a "guy" at all, but would rather be—gasp!—a girl? Well, okay then. "Today we can announce that Minecraft: Story Mode will be the first Telltale game series to feature a player character where YOU choose their appearance," Telltale said today on its blog. "Players will be able to select from several different options for both male and female versions of our hero Jesse."

Oswalt is still providing the voice of male Jesse, but female Jesse will be voiced by Catherine Taber, who's been in the voice acting business since 2003, with credits including Knights of the Old Republic, Final Fantasy XII, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, The Secret World, and a whole bunch of others. Other cast members include Brian Posehn, Ashley Johnson, Scott Porter, Martha Plimpton, Dave Fennoy, Corey Feldman, Billy West, and Paul Reubens.

A handful of new screens illustrate both Jesse and Jesse—FemJesse? No, probably not—in action, as well as a couple of the available skin tone options. From the looks of it, you'll be able to play as any kind of character you like, which is a really great move by Telltale.

Minecraft: Story Mode is set to come out this fall. Find out more at Telltalegames.com.

Minecraft: Story Mode

Minecraft: Story Mode

Minecraft: Story Mode

Minecraft: Story Mode

Minecraft: Story Mode

Andy Chalk

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.