These days I have been playing the catalog of the PlayStation 1 and 2 games that marked me when I was young or at the time I couldn’t play: the trilogy of Crash Bandicoot, Spyro, Rayman, Jak and Daxter, Sly Cooper, Ratchet and Clank, etc… And I realized that nowadays you practically don’t see characters like that in video games anymore.

Just as there was a time when all games were made for children, nowadays it seems that all games are made for teenagers and adults. Even those that don’t seem to be, such as Astrobot, appeal to the nostalgia of the more adult public.

What kind of heroes does my nephew have, for example? There’s Sonic, and it’s something in which we have a connection, but Sonic and other heroes that still remain current, like Mario or Link, are from an era that long predates him and perhaps for him they feel more like a thing of the past, similar to how I feel about Sailor Moon or Mazinger Z, which were heroes of my older siblings and parents respectively.

I don’t know of any heroes that are specifically intended to appeal to young people like my nephew, at least not in a “wholesome” way. Much of what he likes was not made with the child audience in mind, such as Five Nights At Freddy’s or Among Us; and what does, was made for more predatory motives, such as Poppy Playtime or Garten of Banban. The only thing I can think of is Minecraft and… I don’t know, it just doesn’t add up for me.

My nephew doesn’t have a Crash, a Spyro, a Sly to be nostalgic about when he gets to my age.

It’s a little… Bleak…

    • NONE@lemmy.worldOP
      81·
      4 days ago

      Steve is a blank canvas, even more devoid of autonomy than, say, Link. Even though Link never speaks or expresses ideas of his own, one can get an idea of what he’s like based on certain clues given in the games, and we know at the very least that he’s a classic hero who sacrifices himself for the common good.

      Steve is a pure avatar, if he has his own name just because even objects have one. Steve is everything the player wants him to be, hero, explorer, slaver, exploiter… and there will never be a conflict; contrary to Link, who cannot stop being a hero.

      My point is that, in my opinion, a hero must have his own character and autonomy, however minimal it may be, so that one can see in them an ideal to which to point to (Link’s bravery, Sonic’s love of freedom, etc.).

      • 🇰 🌀 🇱 🇦 🇳 🇦 🇰 🇮 @pawb.socialEnglish
        8·
        4 days ago

        Link also has a personality via other media. (Which, I suppose Steve now has, too, what with the movie and other story based games that aren’t the main game itself)

        “Excuuuuuuuse me, Princess!”

        One of my favorite things in TOTK is how several NPCs talk about Link’s activities and life from between BOTW and TOTK and they very much make it seem like the one in the games has the same kind of personality as the one from the TV series.

      • ElectricMachman@lemmy.sdf.orgEnglish
        7·
        4 days ago

        Just to add to this, for a very long time, he wasn’t even called Steve - he was called “Steve?” for the precise reason that they’re not really a character at all.