r/gaming • u/Asianboiforwhitedad • 10h ago

Kingdom Come Deliverance studio co-founder says a lot of RPGs are 'still games for teenagers,' and that he's 'tired of all the RPGs where you are this chosen one'

https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/kingdom-come-deliverance-studio-co-founder-says-a-lot-of-rpgs-are-still-games-for-teenagers-and-that-hes-tired-of-all-the-rpgs-where-you-are-this-chosen-one/
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u/slip_and_fall_school 9h ago

In a way, he's not wrong.

However, even in games like KCD 1&2 where it is explicitly and repeatedly made clear that you're a nothing and nobody you still get to a point where Henry is a terminator.

Not really sure how to balance the "just a regular guy" ethos and the wish fulfillment and player agency that most gamers desire, or at least I haven't found a game that hits the sweet spot.

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u/alezul 9h ago

However, even in games like KCD 1&2 where it is explicitly and repeatedly made clear that you're a nothing and nobody

Reminds of witcher, where you're constantly told you're an ugly freak while looking like a model with a sexy scar that can take on anything, including kinda the devil himself.

Not really sure how to balance the "just a regular guy" ethos

I'm sure there might be others but the only one i can think of right now is the walkin sim Road 96.

There you play as some random teenager trying to escape your country. The trick is that you're not "the chosen one" because once you reach the border, the game ends and you have a roguelike element where you can start a new run with a new kid to experience other adventures along the way.

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u/Gregregious 8h ago

Reminds of witcher, where you're constantly told you're an ugly freak while looking like a model with a sexy scar that can take on anything, including kinda the devil himself.

Witcher is really corny like this, there's a lot of complexity in the worldbuilding but you're still a sexy hypermasculine badass with a harem of supernaturally hot women who wanna fuck you. A lot of games think that the protagonist being gruff and stoic makes it more gritty but it's really just the easiest cipher for a certain power fantasy.

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u/Sugarbombs 5h ago

In the books Geralt and witchers are described as incredibly ugly which is partly why they are despised along with all the magic usage and monster hunting stuff. I get why they made him hot in the game but it really annoyed me that they still wrote dialogue suggesting he was some hideous freak. It was also why the Yennifer relationship was so interesting, because they are both ugly outcasts who grew up isolated and while Yennifer can change her appearance now she still loves that ugly little witchy boi, but no fuck her best friend because god forbid a female character is on screen and you can’t see boobs.

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u/xueloz 5h ago

Can you find a quote of Geralt being described as incredibly ugly in the books?

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u/Sugarbombs 4h ago

There’s not really a part where someone directly calls him ‘ugly’, he’s generally described as more intimidating/scary. A lot of the mentions of him being ugly come from Geralt himself but that can be attributed to self consciousness. Maybe I shouldn’t say ugly, I guess I mean more scary/off putting to your average villager. I guess ugliness is up to interpretation with the books

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u/MassiveRatKing 3h ago

He's also moody, sometimes whiny and unpleasant (not in a bad way, he's very human and relatable). And broke, because monsters are nearly extinct in this world and humanity has evolved enough to be able to deal with most threats by themselves.

I'm not sure if that setting could really be translated into a fun RPG.