Check out those wrinkles!
Dragon's Dogma 2 Character Creation is INSANE – BEST community creations
I've just completed my character for Dragon's Dogma 2 thanks to the free character creator demo that was released before the game, and I'm over the moon at how delightfully, convincingly old I can be in this game. I feel very seen and very represented.
I know this may sound a little rich coming from a bearded, straight white man. But as a member of Generation X – I'm turning 50 this year – I'm arguably the first generation to grow up with video games. And as we age, it sometimes feels like we're being silenced, or at least ignored, by the media we love. However, a 2020 study by the Interactive Software Federation of Europe found that 31% of 45- to 64-year-olds play video games; our numbers are growing, and the demographic tsunami of retirement age gamers is slowly building and will probably hit the industry in the next decade or so.
Video games may no longer be seen as literal child's play, but they are still perceived as a young person's pastime. Some game design innovations have made it easier to keep up – especially the advent of handhelds like the Nintendo Switch and Steam Deck, which are so much more compatible with a busy family life than a PC or console. However, when it comes to playable characters in games, the representation of older people has been somewhat limited. In regular action adventures, you can be a grizzly silver fox like Geralt in The Witcher or Joel in The Last of Us, or you can be hot and young. When it comes to character creators, you can be hot and young, or you can be hot and young with bright white hair and wrinkles that look like they've been painted on.
