Do you like when more than half of cast in game is under twenty years old?

[Shin]

I like a good mix, one would question the effectiveness of an army of teenagers.

[Topaz Light]

I generally prefer it when most of the main cast is in the area of 16~27 years old, although I have nothing against characters who are older or younger than that. Of course, for a setting like Fire Emblem's, having characters who are too much younger than 16 would probably not really work out.

[Thor Odinson]

Depends on the story, but in the case of FE or war games, really, I wouldn't want the majority of my army to be comprised of a bunch of children. Of course, I'm not saying that it should be all 20+s since each character has a different circumstance and stuff, but really, it's war. There should be more experienced soldiers on the field and the case of the teenager-joining-by-circumstance or plot skillfulness like Jaffar should be in the minority.

Also I don't like kids

I'm less concerned about age in games that doesn't focus on war.

Edited August 17, 2013 by Ezio Auditore da Firenze

[Ciarre]

sometimes the time period or setting could call for child soldiers because of lack of people so that could be a thing?

i don't mind as long as it makes sense

[Swordsalmon]

Having young characters in these types of games is really uncomfortable for me. I'd much rather have an older, rather than younger, cast.

[Rehab]

I'd endorse it if they're either green as hell (like somebody who ran away to join up) (see Donny, Ross) or the scariest people in the army (actual child soldiers are scary/sad shit, man) (see Jaffar)

The whole series would be off-limits if I really couldn't stand it, though. It isn't usually so obnoxious that I'm not willing to overlook it.

[Phoenix Wright]

i said no but sitting on that decision, i actually retract my vote.

bring on more of the child soldiers that are able to bring down continents with relative ease!

srs edit: of course not. children don't belong on the battlefield. not even for moral reasons, since this is a video game, but for war reasons. kids like ricken and ross aren't at their peaks, physically. they can't keep up. this goes for the 40-year-old still-active war heroes, too.

the cast of playable characters should be in the range of 21-39. same for enemies. other NPC's can be any age. there are exceptions, like FE6 Marcus and Niime, but for the most part I think the cast shouldn't be too young or old.

Edited August 17, 2013 by Phoenix Wright

[ZemZem]

Where is the "Indifferent" option?

This. Voted yes because bros like Wil, Colm, Boyd, and others are cool.

[Trickster]

Children are fine, so long as they don't compose the entire army.

And off topic I fairly certain the first gen awakening is in their early twenties save for gregor, while the children are well... children.

[mewyeon]

i mean, I can see why they'd have a lot of younger cast, you know, to appeal to their younger audience. PERSONALLY I always liked it when they were somewhat older than me.

[Rehab]

i said no but sitting on that decision, i actually retract my vote.

bring on more of the child soldiers that are able to bring down continents with relative ease!

srs edit: of course not. children don't belong on the battlefield. not even for moral reasons, since this is a video game, but for war reasons. kids like ricken and ross aren't at their peaks, physically. they can't keep up. this goes for the 40-year-old still-active war heroes, too.

the cast of playable characters should be in the range of 21-39. same for enemies. other NPC's can be any age. there are exceptions, like FE6 Marcus and Niime, but for the most part I think the cast shouldn't be too young or old.

Have you heard of situations like kids fighting for the Nazis even as Germany fell in ww2? Supposedly they were frighteningly fucking ferocious. And it's far from unheard-of for adolescents to run away from home to join wars.

That might not be how FE tends to portray younger characters, usually, but I wouldn't want to totally set in stone a policy of throwing the baby out with the bathwater, here.

Also RE OP in particular, not to be a jerk or to say you shouldn't be doing whatever you want or whatever, but it seems a bit ironic that this topic is coming from somebody with a Colin av :p

Edited August 17, 2013 by Rehab

[Phoenix Wright]

Have you heard of situations like kids fighting for the Nazis even as Germany fell in ww2? Supposedly they were frighteningly fucking ferocious.

Actually, no. I'd never heard of that. Well...damn.

[Darros]

I don't particularly care about the age of every character, I just like variety. There's nothing wrong with children characters, as long as they aren't your entire cast or a huge chunk of it.

Edited August 17, 2013 by Dallas Shinson

[Sasori]

I don't mind kid characters, unless they have an annoying personality. Lugh is among my favorites.

However I do like older characters as well (Niime is also among my favorites) and I thought awakening was sorely lacking in middle aged/old characters. I know it was for marriage reason, but still I was missing characters like Marcus, or Niime or other old veteran characters. Even Frederick was quite young.

[JSND Alter Dragon Boner]

Fred's problem is not that he is young, its the fact that most of the tropes that makes Older Guys interesting barely exist in him.

Throw in the game's story and his laughable behavior(Chrom support, im looking at you) and you get a character that can't really be taken seriously

I mean, imagine if Frederick is like say.... Isadora. Or FE7 Marcus(who, btw is as embarassing as Frederick, except in Marcus case, we CAN actually take it seriously). It would be MUCH easier to take him seriously.

Edited August 17, 2013 by Salesmaster MU

[BrightBow]

The game should definitely involve a wide variety of ages. War always involves everyone, so we always should get a wide variety of perspectives on it. For the same reason, I would say that kids are also necessary.

It's just a matter of how it's played. Characters like Ricken and Fa are extremely disturbing. Fa, because she doesn't even know about death and Ricken because he doesn't care.

I prefer characters like Rolf, who understand the implications of their actions and can provide a reason for why they fight anyway.

Besides, age is also a good excuse to have units with a wide array of levels. It makes no sense for some redshirt to joins as a Paladin.

And I love varying levels, because it makes them feel like they actually represent a characters skills instead of just being mere numbers.

Anyway, I guess having the majority to be younger then 20 isn't to bad. Older people would probably be more difficult to write because they would carry more baggage with them.

I mean, look at Zihark. Since he is still young it works well enough that the person he is today, is mostly shaped by his experiences in regards to his relationship with a Laguz.

But they definitely shouldn't just be missing completely.

Edited August 17, 2013 by BrightBow

[Sasori]

But Ricken did care. Its just that he prefers to think of his enemies as evil, because otherwise he wouldn't be able to fight at all. At least that's what I got from the Henry support.

And he says this in the Lissa support.

"They're trying to kill us out there, Lissa. Kill. Us. And the only thing we can do is kill them first. ...We have to take the lives of people. My hands are shaking just talking about it. It's just so...terrible"

I do agree on the Fa part though. Playable characters should at the very least be aware what death. It reflects a little badly on Roy that he lets someone kill dozens of enemies without her even knowing whats going on.

Edited August 17, 2013 by Sasori

[Loki Laufeyson]

They are easier to relate with, and shit like that

Speak for yourself. Im an old coot and its hard for me to relate to someone like Nino.

Actually, i am not terribly fond of a cast of characters all being like 17 years old. Especially since i have to suspend my disbelief that all these kids dont have serious PTSD/Child Soldier issues. The young cast of Awakening actually touches on this and this is why im pretty cool with the second generation in that game. They all have problems having to do with their lot in life.

I like characters who are 30+ to be honest. Pent, Marcus, Canas, Gregor, Duessel, Moulder, Virion (well hes probably under 30 but not very far under 30), Titania, etc. These guys are closer to my age and are more relateable for me. Cuz usually in FE, the under 20s are pretty damn plucky and i find it hard to believe that they would be given the circumstances. That doesnt mean i dont LIKE some of the young characters. I do, but i like them more..fleshed out. Soren is probably the crowning example.

Dunban is my favorite RPG character of all time next to Magus from Chrono Trigger. This has a lot to do with his age and what comes with that.

Edited August 17, 2013 by Ser Dunban

[JSND Alter Dragon Boner]

i can't exactly relate myself and older guys are sexier so >_>

Edited August 17, 2013 by Salesmaster MU

[Carter]

i can't exactly relate myself and older guys are sexier so >_>

Heehee..

I actually found that true, but only in some cases.

When the older guys have pretty smiles..

[BlueFire]

I often let older-looking characters die.

Narrowed down to 5, I didn't use/killed off the following characters in the latest games I've played because of their looks:

FE8: Moulder, Orson, Dozla, Saleh, Duessel

FE10: Nealuchi, Kyza, Bastian, Oliver, Giffca

FE11: Jagen, Draug, Wrys, Hardin, Wendell

FE13: Vaike, Panne, Gregor, Basilio, Flavia

Elders are my least favorite characters.

[Phoenix Wright]

if we care to bring history into this, the average age of a soldier was typically the lower 20's. not only is having a cast whose majority is lower than that make me feel like the soldiers are still just small, immature children, but it's also historically inaccurate. some kids are okay, but i'd say a minimum of 3, with the youngest age being 17...

i guess i've always liked elder characters, though.

Edited August 19, 2013 by Phoenix Wright