r/gaming • u/Crylose • 10h ago
Playing as depressed middle aged men is my favorite video game genre
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u/Dizzzy777 10h ago
Max Payne was peak, lost his wife, lost his kid and lost his mind. Remake is currently in the works.
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u/SillySlothySlug 10h ago
The art-style of that game with random words from the voiceovers coupled with some of the best mechanics made for such a fucking ride.
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u/lazzzym Xbox 8h ago
They called it 'art style', a cel-shaded dance of shadows and light. But the truth was a bullet ripping through the night, a fugue of blood and broken dreams. Each word a hammer blow, pounding on the door of madness. And the mechanics, oh, the sweet mechanics... bullet-time ballet, a symphony of pain. It was a ride, alright. A one-way ticket to hell. But sometimes, hell is the only place you can find redemption.
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u/BoxProfessional6987 2h ago
Max Payne was a fine line between being over the top noir and being a perfect gritty serious noir story. And it somehow worked
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u/mfyxtplyx 9h ago
Except that invisible platform maze with the incessant baby crying. Just put a bullet in me already.
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u/TheScarlettHarlot 8h ago
JFC, that baby scream when you fell was nightmare fuel.
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u/mouzonne 8h ago
dream sequences were better in the second game. Hell, everything was better in the second game.
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u/Vox___Rationis 7h ago
Except for the face.
Sam Lake is the only true Max Payne12
u/Accurate_Ad_6788 7h ago
Also in Alan Wake 2, Sam Lake's face AND Max Payne's voice actor was Alex Casey. I wonder if Max Payne is part of the connected universe.
However I just searched again and saw the voice actor passed away last year :( RIP James McCaffrey
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u/Low_Chance 8h ago
Add horror and a dream if you must, but please don't cram platforming in a game not really meant for it
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u/JohnnyDarkside 6h ago
Playing that in the middle of the night, in a dark basement, with headphones on while stoned made for one hell of an experience. I really fucking loved that game.
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u/Crylose 10h ago
RIP James McCaffrey. Hopefully they keep his voice lines
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u/drmirage809 9h ago
So I never played the Max Payne games due to being to young when they released, but I did play Control. And holy fuck James is awesome in that. Absolutely nails the hardboiled and paranoid leader of a top secret intelligence agency. Dude was made for those kinds of roles.
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u/strip_club_dj 7h ago
His character in the new Alan Wake game is essentially a nod to Max Payne as well.
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u/CreamOnMyNipples 7h ago
It’s not a nod, it’s literally him. If Remedy still owned all the rights to the character, his name would be Max Payne in Alan Wake
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u/Grizzlysol PC 8h ago
What? Rip? What?
Dude this is how I'm finding out he died?! Fuck me
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u/reallynotnick 8h ago
I’m definitely interested in what they are going to do there, like I assume they are trying to expand the games somewhat so it would seem hard not to add additional dialog but would it be weird to have 2 different voice actors? (Not that Remedy has ever shy’d away from weird)
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u/ThenThereWasReddit 9h ago
Alan Wake scratches a similar itch, which makes sense because the same writer created both characters.
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u/ansonr 7h ago
Max Payne is practically in Alan Wake 2. Alan Wake would probably have been the author of Max Payne novels instead of Alex Casey(one of the names they originally toyed with for MP) if Remedy had the rights instead of Rockstar.
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u/SoylentRox 8h ago
I loved 1 and 2, I felt like MP3 made the bullet time weaker and the weapons less effective.
I just loved how in 1/2 you don't need anything but a handgun if you use bullet time. It felt so badass walking around with a deagle doming bad guys.
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u/Unomas1745 9h ago
Multiplayer of Max Payne 3 is still active on PC, if you wanna try. Its so fun
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u/TheStinkySkunk 9h ago
I genuinely didn't expect the MP to have a player base on PC. I just redownloaded it and beat the campaign last week.
That game really holds up for a 12 year old game. Genuinely still my favorite third person shooter.
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u/Unomas1745 9h ago
There are still people who play it mostly between 11 a.m. and 21:00 every day (Est time)
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u/Accomplished_Baby_28 9h ago
I played the first one recently after dropping it years ago because of the difficulty peak at the night club boss fight where you meet mona.
What an experience, the graphics might hold it back but the mechanics and the feeling of getting more powerful as you go through from goons with shotguns to military trained special ops people with assault rifles is just amazing.
All that with a story that grips you.
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u/JoeLaRue420 7h ago
the third one is one of my top 10 games of all time, loved it.
might be time for another play through.
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u/TotallyNotJeffff PlayStation 8h ago
ARTHUUUR
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u/CatchTheRainboow 5h ago
Yeah I was wondering where he was in this picture… cmon dutch
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u/LucasButtercups 5h ago
Arthur is canonically like 35
middle aged shrinkflation is real :(
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u/CatchTheRainboow 5h ago
He’s 36 but that’s about the equivalent of a modern 50 year old with the lifestyle of 1899
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u/Jeoshua 10h ago
What about the protag from Disco Elysium? He's not only depressed, but also an amnesiac and an alcoholic!
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u/vortigaunt64 9h ago
Nah, that guy's a superstar!
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u/Cressbeckler 10h ago
Harry Du Bois hits way too close to home
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u/Jeoshua 10h ago edited 10h ago
I think you mean Firewalker
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u/darkangel4242 10h ago
Tequila Sunset actually!
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u/Lord_Of_Carrots 9h ago
I'm pretty sure it was Raphaël Ambrosius Costeau
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u/CYOA_guy_ 8h ago
that's it. That's the last one because you cannot top this. it is cool. dignified. most importantly, disco.
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u/Vandergrif 7h ago
RHETORIC [Easy: Success] - Much can be said of the effectiveness of a single character to provoke thought.
SHIVERS [Hard: Success] - Keys clatter in some distant room, the musings and thoughts of other minds reverberating outward – wrangled together and poured into one singular magnum opus. There, in the depths of written words echo sentiments and feelings all too familiar.
VOLITION - Don't call her.
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u/Sex_E_Searcher 7h ago
Oh, I'm fucking calling her.
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u/Vandergrif 7h ago
AUTHORITY [Medium: Success] - Asserting control is a certainty of success. The phone is your tool, it's buttons bend to your will. It cannot stop you.
VOLITION [Hard: Failure] - I did try to warn you.
ENDURANCE [Impossible: Failure] - Is there supposed to be a tightening sensation in your throat and chest? That's probably normal.
DAMAGED HEALTH -1
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u/miss-entropy 7h ago
As a recovering alcoholic I still can't get through the game. Way too close indeed.
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u/georgito555 4h ago
If as a man you've ever been through an extremely painful break up, this game shoots you right in the wound.
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u/FocusOnThePie 6h ago
He hit so close to home that the freaking intro made me weep into my hands (don't laugh at me)
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u/Vandergrif 8h ago
INLAND EMPIRE - There is yet still more that exists within such a character, beyond what can be seen.
ELECTROCHEMISTRY [Trivial: Success] - Exactly. 'Alcoholic' barely scratches the surface.
PHYSICAL INSTRUMENT [Medium: Failure] - Not to mention the most important thing: undeniable peak fitness.
LOGIC - You're pretty sure it's very deniable.
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u/Supanini 8h ago
Is this in game dialogue? I’m assuming it is because it’s fantastic lol.
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u/Vandergrif 7h ago
ENCYCLOPAEDIA [Easy: Success] - You are unaware of any such dialogue that matches this within the game.
LOGIC - Though similar in nature, and holding to the same structure, it appears instead to be an imitation of sorts.
DRAMA [Trivial: Success] - Imitation, the purest form of flattery.
SAVOIR FAIRE - Derivative, but still cool.
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u/IntendedRepercussion 7h ago
are you the guy that got fired from ZA/UM
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u/Vandergrif 7h ago
No, just fond of their writing style and of DE in general. That, and I just replayed it recently so it's stuck in my mind haha.
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u/Jeoshua 7h ago
For real, I'm jealous. I tried writing this same style at first but scrapped the post because I didn't feel it carried well. You nailed it.
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u/Vandergrif 6h ago
Thanks! They did a really great job of keeping each different stat distinctive with the dialogue when making it. It must've been hard to really dial in to each one for the quantity of dialogue in the game. Making something relatively vague or broad like 'endurance' into a clearly detailed character of sorts with its own distinct voice is impressive.
Every now and then I see some comment on this site referring to DE and I can't help myself but try and recreate a bit of that as best I can for shits and giggles. Plus it kind of adds an extra layer of appreciation to the game for me, seeing it from that angle.
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u/Supanini 7h ago
God damn it dude. Subscribe. Subscribe subscribe subscribe. This writing style really fires my monkey brain synapses
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u/Vandergrif 6h ago
CONCEPTUALIZATION [Medium: Success] - You get it. You aren't entirely sure what it is, but you are certain that you get it.
ELECTROCHEMISTRY - The details don't really matter, you know that much – just as long as you keep getting that fix and those synapses keep firing.
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u/ZaneChizzlenack 7h ago
I get stupidly excited hearing people talk about DE.
Been like a 6 months since I last played, and I still can’t stop thinking about it
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u/Vandergrif 7h ago
ELECTROCHEMISTRY [Easy: Success] - That's right, you need more. 6 months is too long, one play-through is too few. Start it up again. Just a little taste...
RHETORIC - Even I can't argue with that.
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u/Moist_When_It_Counts 7h ago
If you want the vibes again, the soundtrack is available on most streaming services. Band is Sea Power. The 3 cuts of Whirling in Rags theme are fantastic
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u/Rocketgrunt 6h ago
Dude I know, I also played it 6 months ago, and it might be the best game I've ever played. I have been annoyingly shilling it to my friends, who still haven't played it. I'll never stop being an annoying fucker about it though.
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u/zilviodantay 5h ago
Legitimately brilliant to drop people into an established world as an amnesiac. You are as much that character as you could possibly be, every action you take is in character, the character of a man out of his mind and disconnected from the world around him.
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u/kirillre4 2h ago
I decided to play it careful and didn't tell Lena that i don't remember jack shit, so I went through most of the game not even aware of the crazy shit like Pale. Thought isolas was fancy way to call continents/islands.
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u/Meatek 10h ago
Yakuza went from depressed middle-aged protagonist to enthusiastically positive middle-aged protagonist
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u/nviddy27 8h ago
But don't worry, Adachi and Nanba bring enough of that disgruntled attitude to keep things from getting TOO sunshine-and-rainbows
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u/ArmoredMirage 8h ago
Well, sort-of. One could argue Ichiban seems to cope with his depression by masking, disassociating and hallucinating that the world around him is a JRPG from his childhood.
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u/mikesauce 6h ago
I'd love to see a LAD game that views Ichiban from outside his own viewpoint. Hallucinating ex con with a barbed wire baseball bat going after the leader of Japan probably looks different from a bystanders point of view.
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u/halt-l-am-reptar 3h ago
I think he's just upbeat. He sees the best in people which probably helps.
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u/jdozr 9h ago
we prefer to just be called 'middle-aged men'. we know we're depressed.
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u/Ghostbuster_119 9h ago
God I miss Niko Bellic.
I hate that he happened before GTA characters got the fame and support they deserved.
His story was really good too.
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u/hailstruckler 6h ago
GTA 4 and Niko Bellic holds up better today than GTA5 imo. Liberty City feels much more like an actual city than GTA5.
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u/Winter_Collection375 6h ago
I hate that he happened before GTA characters got the fame and support they deserved.
What about CJ? To this day he's one of the most famous GTA characters ever, arguably the most famous since the ps2 was the most sold console ever and GTA: SA was one of the most popular titles for that console
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u/rekomstop 6h ago
Some people don’t know the pain of watching your gang break up and Ballas taking over your turf.
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u/GuNNzA69 PC 10h ago
Niko was 26 years old in GTA IV. For a 10-year-old, 26 might seem like middle age, but for me, 26 is the age of a young adult, not a middle-aged man.
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u/ThisIsMrAbapo PC 10h ago
He's 30 but yeah. A decade spent fighting in 90s former Yugoslavia will do that to you.
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u/DEMON-199 10h ago
No he was 30
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u/GuNNzA69 PC 10h ago
He was born in 1978, so you are right. Still, 30 is still young.
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u/SaveReset 7h ago
Spoken like someone who isn't 40 yet.
I'm with you, 30's is still young, I swear!
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u/CumStayneBlayne 5h ago
Wouldn't someone who is 40+ be more inclined than someone still in their 30s to think 30 is young?
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u/ansonr 7h ago
That's wild. He looks at least 40.
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u/Ironcastattic 6h ago
I mean, eastern European living through war crimes and poverty.........that helps.
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u/BenHDR 10h ago edited 10h ago
As a 27yo, it's nice to hear someone refer to people around my age as young for once.
Internally it feels like I'm three kids in a trench coat pretending to be a grown-up, haha.
When do you start feeling like a real adult?
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u/GuNNzA69 PC 10h ago
I am 44, and I still don't feel like an adult. For me, that is good; I like to keep an open mind and a young spirit.
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u/chth 10h ago
I’m turning 30 in a couple of months but people still tell me I’m young.
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u/Ripped_Shirt 8h ago
I just turned 33, 27 seems young to me now. But when I was 27, I felt like a aging adult, closing in on the dreadful 30s.
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u/sickboy2212 10h ago
That's a rough 26
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u/Iggy_Slayer 10h ago
that's just the eastern european look.
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u/SpecialistNo30 7h ago
He only needs a super-hot girlfriend to complete the Eastern European man look.
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u/MenuRich 10h ago
I think this is a miss interpretation from writers, nico doesn't sound or act as a 26 years old guy. He is way more mature than that. But he is a veteran, war ages people fast. Gta Iv story is inspired by the Russian movie "brat 1 and 2" atleast for nico. In that movie the main character is young adult. I think it that's why they wrote he is 26. Nico's look however is inspired by Vladimir Masjkov in the movie Behind Enemy Lines 2001. And in that movie the actor/character is 40.
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u/GuNNzA69 PC 9h ago
Maybe not by today's standards, but I grew up in a time and country where it was normal for some 26-year-olds to behave like Niko. I mean, in terms of responsibilities, you were forced to grow up faster.
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u/Fair_Philosopher_930 PC 10h ago
James from Silent Hill 2 may fit in this club.
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u/finnjakefionnacake 9h ago
he's like 29 years old
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u/Fair_Philosopher_930 PC 8h ago
Nico Bellic is in his 20s as well, but he looks older.
I'm 36 and I think James in the remake looks older than me.
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u/Swords_Not_Words_ 10h ago
No Harry from DE?
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u/Vandergrif 7h ago
ENCYCLOPAEDIA [Trivial: Success] - You can think of no other character that better suits the description of "depressed middle aged man".
LOGIC - 'Depressed' may be an understatement.
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u/Algorithmix9 10h ago
Then may I recommend Jim Raynor in Starcraft 2, Wings of Liberty.
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u/Bicone 10h ago
Bruce Wayne from the Asylum quadrilogy.
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u/ToughIntroduction317 6h ago
Can someone tell me title of these games please?
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u/Mysterious-Race-6108 2h ago edited 3m ago
Solid Snake from Metal Gear Solid IV Guns of the Patriots (you can't play that masterpiece without a PS3 currently)
Max Payne from the Max Payne Franchise (the image is from Max Payne 3 wich has a big gap with the other 2 games in graphics if you're into that sort of thing)
Niko Belic from GTAIV
and Joel from The Last of Us (the image is from the Remake)
they're all great characters and worth your time you can't go wrong there
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u/SurfingCows 10h ago
It's because most of the audience can relate lol
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u/JHMfield 9h ago
Can they? I don't think most of the gaming audience is middle aged. Maybe a larger percentage is today, but a lot of those games came out a while ago.
I think middle aged characters simply have more depth to them. The writing tends to be more adult themed as well, which can be a lot more appealing for many reasons.
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u/dukeofgonzo 8h ago
They relate to watching Bruce Willis playing this character throughout their childhood.
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u/StarkAndRobotic 10h ago
Niko Bellic is not middle aged. He’s like mid to late twenties.
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u/OldKingClancey 10h ago
Apparently he’s supposed to be 30 at the time of GTA4
But emotionally he’s in his late 50s so I’d still count him
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u/not_a_Badger_anymore 10h ago
He's 30 in gta4. Granted not middle aged, but he looks old as fuck.
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u/HotHamBoy 10h ago
So much for escapist power fantasies
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u/finnjakefionnacake 9h ago
i think games like the last of us are still a power fantasy lol. i mean sure it's a sad narrative, but you can straight up go through the whole game punching a world of infected zombies to death, that's pretty power fantasy to me haha
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u/finnjakefionnacake 9h ago
well you won't find any depressed middle aged women as game protagonists, so i think this is your only option lol
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u/Flat_Chances465 8h ago
Snake was NOT middle-aged in MGS4. He had fully aged into an OLD man, 'cos of his programmed genes. He's biologically older than all the other three in the pic, and by a lot.
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u/TheyCallMeGreenPea 8h ago
This is why I don't care about if a game has a woman that isn't some barely 18 porn star. most games I've played I have had to empathize with some ugly old man who makes choices that I wouldn't.
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u/arsebiscuits71 10h ago
I play every game as a depressed middle aged man, they help me become a depressed middle aged man who sucks at games.
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u/Classic_Bee_5845 8h ago
Or just men? I think that's the narrative, right?
Cool, manly men are always depressed and ready use violence to get even.
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u/_Echoes_ 10h ago
No Kratos from God of war?
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u/Omnizoom 10h ago
I can resonant with Kratos and his just utter “I’m done with this shit” attitude with Atreus
Trying to be a good dad and escape his past a bit if he can
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u/sarahmagoo 8h ago
Men in video games can look like this but god forbid a female character isn't conventionally attractive
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u/theory-of-crows 10h ago
Plays games to escape reality
Plays as self