>>49789774>Who is this character design supposed to appeal to?Decrepit Japanese Suits think kids want to be kids in their games and not cool teenagers or adults.
The real demographic is lolicons.>Why are all the protagonists little kids now?>nowThe protagonists have always been kids, the difference is they usually had outfits and/or render/model proportions that made them look older than 11-15.
But it seems pretty clearly now that when a game's narrative centers around something specific or a story that doesn't seem to be the usual Gym Challenge deal, they're going to default to making the protagonist 11 at the absolute minimum so it isn't narratively awkward that a character closer to adulthood's undergoing a process for those younger than them.
Alola did it for the sake of the Rite of Passage Island Challenge, and now SV is doing it for what appears to be a school-based narrative, if the version-specific uniforms are anything to go off of.
