I’m a big fan of the fantasy genre, epic and otherwise, and as a genre it tends to be dominated by very young protagonists (and casts in general, but protags in particular). Like, 16-21 years range young. Most of the COG games I’ve played have had MCs tacitly or explicitly in this age range, too, but admittedly I haven’t played a huge number.
From someone who knows the COG oeuvre better than I do, can you recommend any good games that have an explicitly older protagonist? Or, if there is such a thing, let the player choose the MC’s age to an extent? Open to non-fantasy recs, but fantasy is still my favorite. Other than superheroes, I think it’s most dominated by the youthful protagonist. Which is not a bad thing, to be clear, but sometimes I want something different.
In Fallen Hero, the MC is in their 30s. In Life of a Wizard and Life of a Mobster, you go from your youth to your 80s. Those are the ones off the top of my head.
I weirdly prefer(both when playing and when writing a game) when age isn’t mentioned precisely, unless it has some significant impact on the game’s narrative.
I think most CS games leave age up to the player, although I agree that a lot of them tend to have somewhat implied age ranges. Glancing through my list of games, ones where I felt like the main character was aged older and skipping ones already mentioned (although my instincts might be off/I might be misremebering, anyone feel free to correct me) …
In Slammed, it’s not too much older than the range you provided, but the main character is a college graduate and then there are a couple time skips, so probably mid to late twenties?
In both Choice of the Deathless, the game starts off with the protagonist a fresh graduate from what’s essentially a law school, and then there are a handful of time skips, so the main character is probably 30-ish. (I also felt like the main character for Deathless: City’s Thirst was around the same age but I think that’s more my interpretation than anything concrete in the text.)
In MetaHuman Inc the main character has a professional background before coming to work at a company and ending up in a prestigious position, so I assumed they were intended to be in their 30’s at least. But again, I think that’s my interpretation more than anything too concrete. And I felt similarly about Wise Use of Time, where the main cast was all solidly in the workforce so probably mid to late 20’s at the youngest.
In Hero Unmasked the main character is a college graduate, who I think has been working their current job for a handful of years, so probably late twenties at the youngest
The protagonist in A Wise Use of Time is a bit older. I’m not sure if exact age was explicit, but you’re at professional job age, anyway
Probably similar in Hollywood Visionary, too… you’re at professionally putting on a movie.
Then there’s more supernatural stuff, like Choice of the Vampire or The Sea Eternal
Probably the oldest your character can be would be in The Iron Destinies where you’re playing as an iron atom, but I’m not sure that’s really what you meant
Hollywood Visionary could be anywhere from young on up - you’re starting your own business with some (but not necessarily much) experience working in the field.
Choice of the Dragon starts you at age 0 and lasts until your first hibernation, while Choice of Broadsides starts you at 19. Choice of Robots at 24 - but lasts for decades.
Not quite reviving this thread, I just thought it would be funny to mention that the one WIP on the boards that I recently got super invested in, also has a choice of the protagonist’s age, although it’s not given in numbers. But it definitely gives you a little bit of that grizzled veteran feel, if that’s what you’re looking for. It’s Reports from Philomela and even though it’s at an early stage, I’ve been enjoying it a lot.
