Would you be interested in a game with a 40-something protagonist?

[frap]

Given:

• There are a ton of games where the protagonist is "18" and still in high school with his older sister and his younger sister who is also "18."
• There are a ton of games where the protagonist is just over 18 and in college.
• There are a ton of games where the protagonist is in their 20's.

How would you feel about a game with a protagonist in their 40's? They've had life experiences, they're not sexually inexperienced or incompetent, and they have an actual life? Not like going after your own son/daughter (who is "18") but interacting with, and pursuing other adults with their own experiences and lives?

Is it a bridge too far? Or are there more grown men/women out there playing these games feeling a bit like something is missing from the protagonists?

 

[Tranquil Rain]

Well I am 21 and would love to see more older protags, the only reason I would avoid it if its the whole horribly fat tumor face type (yeah I am talking to you jap ntr dudes). The romance would make sense, woman generally want older men since they have more resources, more confident and overall experiences(though thots are another story). And the biggest beef I have with japanese stories is their obsession with high school protags/settings, you get sick of it real fast and only unique ones like (the irregular at magic HS) get my attention these days.

You can do a lot and really flesh out a character with the years to work with, and super soldier or millionaire plot doesn't work with young characters but does with older. Super dark backstory? Yep older protags probably have a few. The only genre the older protag doesn't mix too well with is Harem, while sure if hes a millionaire dude it might work but pleasing multiple young woman and with lower income is unlikely. Of course you could just give him horse stamina and him being fit I guess.

Anyways kinda losing my train of thought so I will leave it there, while older protags would be nice there are a lot of genres and things I would like to see, maybe if enough people want/talk about them it could happen.

 

[frap]

Well I am 21 and would love to see more older protags, ... [snip]

I makes me feel good that the first response is someone young who wants to see this. (Disclaimer: I am in the early writing phase of a VN with a 40+ year-old protag - will be at least a year before anything is ready to be released - I don't even have a machine I can render a decent scene on yet )

I wasn't thinking of the standard "fat uncle" or "gross boss" type over 40, thinking of the "I bathe daily, eat healthy and take care of myself because I'm an adult" type.

I doubt any game with a trollishly ugly protag would get very far... unless... crap - that's another game idea: deformed protag, hyper-intelligent and caring, trying to get the object of his/her affection to see past the physical deformities. Or is this just another go at the Hunchback of Notre Dame?

 

[prrt]

MC in live with Mary is about that age .Game is pretty popular , so it can be done.

 

[Tranquil Rain]

I makes me feel good that the first response is someone young who wants to see this. (Disclaimer: I am in the early writing phase of a VN with a 40+ year-old protag - will be at least a year before anything is ready to be released - I don't even have a machine I can render a decent scene on yet )

I wasn't thinking of the standard "fat uncle" or "gross boss" type over 40, thinking of the "I bathe daily, eat healthy and take care of myself because I'm an adult" type.

I doubt any game with a trollishly ugly protag would get very far... unless... crap - that's another game idea: deformed protag, hyper-intelligent and caring, trying to get the object of his/her affection to see past the physical deformities. Or is this just another go at the Hunchback of Notre Dame?

Actually wouldn't mind a game similar to that but the protag tries to get "real" woman to like him but gives up and buys a bunch of waifu sex dolls that he ends up loving, of course they end up coming to life and boom hes living the dream. While all the grills that rejected him want a piece now but he knows better, he has all the loyal waifus he needs.

Or just a robot with AI that wants to feel love and lonely ugly dude comes along and they go bump in the night, idk (endless possibilities).

 

[polywog]

 

[Ataios]

I'm 40 in real life and partly because of that, rather no, if the question about a male protagonist in a present day setting. A protagonist around 40 is better than a teenage loser or creepy grandpa, but if I made a game with a male protagonist, I'd make him around 25, so that the age difference to "milf" aged women is still significant but he is already clearly a man and not a boy.

For female protagonists clearly yes, if she is lesbian or can be turned lesbian.

 

[I'm Not Thea Lundgren!]

Yes, if the story is good!
Life with Mary and Dr Amana are both examples of games with an older protag that work well.
I would definitely play something like this!

 

[jamdan]

Sure, some good games already have a 30-40 something protag.


Life With Mary
Melody
City of Broken Dreamers
Depraved Awakening
Family Man
Midlife Crisis

etc.

 

[darlic]

Midlife crisis is all about the story of a mid-aged man (you don't say?) and I like it very much.

But the truth is I really don't care about the game's initial setting. What really matters is having good dialogues (not too long, not too silly), good scenes and possibly the whole plot already written (or in the creator's mind, at least).

 

[R3kT]

There are a few games with 40+ protagonists. A lot of them are successful. If your story, models and Renders are good then there a good chance you will succeed. There's not much competition for 40+ protag games...

 

[Rythan25]

Depends on his look... I just turned 40 and most girls still think I am in my mid to late 20s... so if the protagonist is attractive I am all for it... if you use the garbage "Russel" model than no thanks... that model doesnt look in his 40's, he looks like he is in his late 60s at best...

 

[Ataios]

For a male protagonist I think, the game would need a setting and backstory to make it work for me, because otherwise, it would be to close to real life to make any sense as a game. I'd prefer either a mad scientist in a steampunk or cyberpunk setting or a maybe a wizard or alchemist in a fantasy setting. For me it would also be important, that he doesn't become some kind of sugar daddy.

For a female protagonist for me the range of attractive scenarios is far broader and I wouldn't even mind if she started with a more or less ordinary background. I would play only lesbian routes here, but I think, a developer may well be able to add both lesbian and straight encounters. Personally I wouldn't mind as long I don't have to play the straight stuff to get to the lesbian stuff. At any rate playing a first lesbian encounter with a middle aged milf would be far hotter than playing one with a barely legal school girl.

 

[frap]

Depends on his look... I just turned 40 and most girls still think I am in my mid to late 20s... so if the protagonist is attractive I am all for it... if you use the garbage "Russel" model than no thanks... that model doesnt look in his 40's, he looks like he is in his late 60s at best...

I hear you. I had a full beard at 17, looked mid-twenties; started going grey in my late twenties but still looked mid-twenties, now when I go somewhere with one of my adult daughters people ask things like "would your wife like a..." when talking to us. She'll laugh and look at me and ask "I don't know, you think Mom would like that?"

I think we have a warped view of what a 40 or 50 year old man looks like (unless he's ravaged himself with booze or other drugs.) I blame Hollywood casting 60-year-old men to play 40-year-old roles, and goes all the way down the line to casting 20-something men to play high school kids. You notice they don't tend to do the same for women's roles. They'll pair up an actor at age 50 with an actress who's 22, and pass over the 30-year-old actresses for being "too old" for the part.

 

[I'm Not Thea Lundgren!]

I hear you. I had a full beard at 17, looked mid-twenties; started going grey in my late twenties but still looked mid-twenties

I'm partly the other way round. I couldn't grow facial hair properly until well into my 20's, by then I was starting to go bald, so not a good look for me. I started shaving my head, because I thought, fuck it, why bother trying to hide it, let's just go all in!
Now I'm in my 40's and actually look like I'm in my 40's!

 

[prrt]

I don't mind to play a 40yrs old mc , a bit young but can live with that.

 

[Rythan25]

I hear you. I had a full beard at 17, looked mid-twenties; started going grey in my late twenties but still looked mid-twenties, now when I go somewhere with one of my adult daughters people ask things like "would your wife like a..." when talking to us. She'll laugh and look at me and ask "I don't know, you think Mom would like that?"

I think we have a warped view of what a 40 or 50 year old man looks like (unless he's ravaged himself with booze or other drugs.) I blame Hollywood casting 60-year-old men to play 40-year-old roles, and goes all the way down the line to casting 20-something men to play high school kids. You notice they don't tend to do the same for women's roles. They'll pair up an actor at age 50 with an actress who's 22, and pass over the 30-year-old actresses for being "too old" for the part.

Indeed its very annoying for Hollywood to do that, but in games Fem Protagonists get it just as bad if not worse...

I dont know how many times I've developed cancer due to some posters crying to a dev to change a MILF model because in their one-horse town women who are 30 look like someone's 70yr old grandma... It pisses me off beyond believe when people shit on characters like:

Ann - Big Brother
Linda - Milfy City
Mom - Second Chance
Mom and Aunt - Away From Home

and many, many more...saying they look like older sisters when they fucking dont... Ann looks 36-38 easily !! She looks definitely old enough to be the mother of Max (15-17 years old), Lisa (14 years old), and even Alice (19-21) years old... yeah she may have been 15-16 herself when she had Alice, but shit like that happens in real life... way too often for people to claim "its not the norm"...

If anything characters like the mom from Where the Heart Is look more like outliers to me... She is definitely still HOT, but I'd call anyone a liar if they told me to my face she was mid thirties... I'd peg her at mid forties, and thats's being generous... as she seems low 50's to me...She either had Katie when she was in her high 20's or early 30's...

 

[frap]

Indeed its very annoying for Hollywood to do that, but in games Fem Protagonists get it just as bad if not worse...

I dont know how many times I've developed cancer due to some posters crying to a dev to change a MILF model because in their one-horse town women who are 30 look like someone's 70yr old grandma... It pisses me off beyond believe when people shit on characters like:

Ann - Big Brother
Linda - Milfy City
Mom - Second Chance
Mom and Aunt - Away From Home

and many, many more...saying they look liem older sisters when they fucking dont... Ann looks 36-38 easily !! She looks definitely old enough to be the mother of Max (15-17 years old), Lisa (14 years old), and even Alice (19-21) years old... yeah she may have been 15-16 herself when she had Alice, but shit like that happens in real life... way too often for people to claim "its not the norm"...

If anything characters like the mom from Where the Heart Is look more like outliers to me... She is definitely still HOT, but I'd call anyone a liar if they told me to my face she was mid thirties... I'd peg her at mid forties, and thats's being generous... as she seems low 50's to me...She either had Katie when she was in her high 20's or early 30's...

Yeah, I kind of felt like both Monica and Zarah were in the 50ish range. Still reasonable for someone with 3 adult children. Not everyone starts early.

 

[I'm Not Thea Lundgren!]

Yeah, I kind of felt like both Monica and Zarah were in the 50ish range. Still reasonable for someone with 3 adult children. Not everyone starts early.

They are easily 50+, but Monica is still bangable, if only she would let us! Not that sure about Zarah though.

 

[Rythan25]

I had an idea for a thread long ago to "Put an Age to This Female Character"... the thread starter posts one picture of a female character, after 4 of 5 posts to see what the general consensus was we move on the next person, and repeat the process...

However I am trying to limit my posting here as I have become disillusioned with a couple of the posters here that I use to like a lot, and with the staff that deletes comments in a biased manner, saying " you attacked the beliefs of some posters" and yet the post above that was overly aggressive remains untouched... leaving me to think this is a site for mostly downloading games, and not to form a sense of community...