There were two possible approaches that could have been taken regarding playable characters:
I decided to go with pre-set characters.
While character creation is something common in roleplaying games, having pre-set characters allows us to attach fun and interesting personalities to them and thus making them more appealing. I believe this was one of the key elements in making Hades so successful. Having pre-set characters also reduces vastly the number of art assets needed, something to keep in mind while working with limited resources.
While the end goal of this project isn't to fix social issues, I would still like to do my part. Not just because of that but also from a pure entertainment point of view, it is much more visually interesting if the characters are all different. I aim to tell a story where everyone can be a hero, independent of their sex, race or sexual orientation.
I am not sure this will be evident on the experience we will produce during next semester (due to time constraints) but is our ambition to have it clear in the final product.
Due to the way character progression works, the same character can perform in a multitude of different ways and fill different roles, all depending on player choices.
This doesn't mean that when designing a character I will not have in mind an optimal role and playstyle for them. I believe it is important to give players some sort of guidelines before they become comfortable start exploring and trying different things.
For example, a character like a Fire Mage, that would ideally be played as a Magic Damage Dealer could perhaps play the role of a Tank if the player decides increase its Strength and give it equipment that increases health and resistance to damage.