Dear Japan,
Stop putting annoying children, equally annoying and strangely bratty teenagers and obnoxious mascot characters in games. No, seriously. No one likes them and no one likes playing as them because it's required to gain anything especially.
Guys, NO ONE LIKED ANY OF THESE CHARACTERS! Especially Bao! The only thing people hated more than Bao was Mignon!
Does this just tie into this weird stigma in Japan that anyone over the age of 18 suddenly becomes ridiculously old and unpopular? I can't even begin to grasp any of the reasons why these sort of characters exist where they do. I can assure you with almost complete certainty that the people who are buying these games are not in the 8-12 year old demographic (perhaps this is because CHILDREN DON'T HAVE THE SORT OF DISPOSABLE INCOME TO BUY THESE THINGS. Think of it like this, how fondly do you think people would remember the Die Hard movies if they replaced Bruce Willis with Ashton Kutcher, who spent the entirety of the movie claiming he could be a hero and make a difference despite his age (he'd have been 8-10 years old at that point in time).
THIS IS LIKE THE ONLY THING KIDS TEND TO DO IN ANY SORT OF MEDIA PORTRAYAL AND HOLY SHIT IS IT ANNOYING. IT IS NOT ENDEARING AND CUTE. IF IT IS INSPIRING TO KIDS, IT'S BECAUSE THEY'RE TOO DUMB TO GET THE POINT.While I am totally aware that apparently part of this appeal is the whole idea of overexcited youth striving to do something important while being in way over his head, it doesn't mean that most things in the media need this kind of thing to be present.
Seriously Japan, knock it off. Especially if you want to expand your market to the west.
Guys, I seriously hate Toon Link,
Alex