Summary
As technology, art, and game design have become increasingly sophisticated and mature in video games with time, their scope and storytelling also became more nuanced. Where once games focused on blobs eating blobs and then, later, jacked-up super-soldiers taking out large villages of people, games can now simulate or metaphorically convey more complex narratives, such as the relationship between parents and child,a life with mental illness, dealing with grief, the hell of war, the modern human experience, and so much more.
While art tends towards imitating life, there is one challenge common to every human, or at least those who can overcome disease, violence, and deadly accidents, which video games rarely address: old age. Entering this period of life is not the end, as these video game protagonists deftly demonstrate, but doing so comes with its changes and challenges. With age tends to come wisdom and skill, and while they may not be as spree as their younger counterparts, they still have what it takes to outsmart, persevere, and triumph against formidable odds. Beware some spoilers ahead!
While there have been many mages and magic users throughout the series,Final Fantasy 4brings one of the most memorable: Tellah, the wise, elderly sage. While he had mastered magic, some of his knowledge has withered with time. Tellah’s tragedy is that, despite having long since learned the spell he needs to take revenge on his daughter’s murderer, his mental stamina, represented in-game by his MP, or Magic Points, is always slightly too diminished to cast it.
His story oflove, tragedy, and sacrificeis made all the more potent because of his age. With time can come great learning and understanding. However, this is inevitably offset by the physical limitations of the body. In the end, Tellah bravely chooses to spend his last moments all in one go in an act that allows his allies to fight on another day.
The patriarchal head of the Mishima clan proves that, so long as the body is made strong in youth, it can remain as unyielding as steel. Granted, much of Heihachi’s life force is probably sourced from a deep well of spiteful evil and a desire to see members of his family line suffer. Heihachi has oscillated between antagonist and protagonist in theTekkenseries, but whatever his role, he is a formidable combatant and oftenone of the most powerful fighterson the roster.
He is not only a physical powerhouse but also a grand strategic thinker. Throughout the series, Heihachi has orchestrated schemes to maintain control of the Mishima Zaibatsu and manipulate events to his advantage. Even after entering his seventies, Heihachi managed to fend off contenders to his company and supremacy, even beating death itself by shrugging off a direct explosion at the finale of the fourth King of the Iron First Tournament.
Despite his ability to leap several times his own height, slay beasties, and occasionally transform into his (slightly) younger self, Henry is well into his twilight years. Part platformer, part puzzler,Henry Hatsworth In The Puzzling Adventureis the story of an elderly gentleman on his quest to find the fabled “Gentleman’s Suit,” which is not only the most dapper formal attire but a set that would imbue its wearer with powers over the “Realm of Puzzles.” This mysterious realm holds dangers, treasures, youth-restoring properties, and, most importantly, clout for those who find it.
Meanwhile, Hatsworth’s rival, Weasleby, pursues the same wealth and glory and will do anything to hinder Henry’s advancement. The Puzzling Adventure’s dual-genre gameplay was a great example of how to use theDS’s touch screen to its fullest potential. Henry runs around on the top screen, traversing old-school platforming levels and battling the monsters from the Puzzle Realm. Once monsters are slain, they can be used as pieces to complete puzzles on the lower screen, which, in turn, rejuvenate Henry, making him feel young again.
Harman’s abilities and history are mired in mystery. But besides his immortality and ability to create separate incarnations across time and space, his primary ability is absorbing the minds, memories, and even the corporeal bodies of the dead. In his physical incarnation, he appears as an elderly gentleman in a wheelchair, on the back of which rests an armor-piercing rifle. As he appears inKiller7, his advanced age does nothing to dull his effectiveness, but his centuries of experience make hima formidable killer, as evidenced by his few playable missions throughout the game.
As a young man, Harman Deltahead was driven to dark places by the sight of his murdered wife back in 1780. After such a traumatic event, he climbed the ranks of an assassin organization until he became so adept that he even knocked off the founder. After splitting off, he changed his name to Smith and created the “Smith Syndicate.” During one of his assassination missions, he killed and absorbed a man who wielded the “God Killer” power (the first persona of what would become many) but was later killed. He resurrected into the body seen inKiller7around 150 years later.
It isn’t often that players get to witness first-hand almost the entire lifespan of a video game character, but Ezio’s arc inAssassin’s Creedis just that. Even by the time ofAssassin’s Creed:Brotherhood, Ezio was getting called out for his mature years. Ezio had grown in body and mind, no longer a passionate, foolhardy youth with a burning desire for revenge. He had becomeone of the greatest assassins in history, rebuilt the Brotherhood from its ashes, and even expanded the organization across the old world through network laying, mentorship, and, of course, plenty of wetwork.
However, by the time ofAssassin’s Creed: Revelations, Ezio was 52, which many in the 16th century would have considered elderly. Despite his superhuman prowess, which gives him the ability to scramble up buildings of any height or handle entire squads of guards by himself (hookblade or no hookblade), Ezio’s story, as well as the flashbacks of Altair seen throughout the game, revolve around mortality, accepting the grace of old age, and passing the torch to the next generation.
Every living being, including humans, ages at a different rate. Some hold their youth longer than might be expected, and some gray at an accelerated pace. In Solid Snake’s case, he entered his silver years at the age of 42 due to rapid aging, a built-in defect of the cloning process that led to his birth. In contrast,The Phantom Pain’s Venom Snake, who does not have shortened telomeres in his DNA, is around 52 when he begins rebuilding Mother Base.
InMetal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, Old Snake is just as capable as a soldier on the battlefield, partly due to his stubborn will and partlythanks to technological aids and gadgets. However, he is no longer as resilient to the stresses of war. While he infiltrates each region, Old Snake’s psyche level will rise and fall depending on the level of action around him. If his stress level increases beyond an acceptable level, his effectiveness begins to break down. His hands tremble, and, pushed too far, Snake will briefly lose consciousness. It is a testament to Snake’s heroism that he continues the mission regardless of his situation.
