Yes, us old folk do play games! The first one I really got into was Populous on the Sega (eep!). Now I've got 84 hours on Elden Ring and still stuck in Limgrave!

Elric of Melnibone was created by Michael Moorcock, a popular fantasy writer in the 1970s, when I was a teenager, but you can still get the books on Amazon. Poor Elric - not to mention the other aspects of the Eternal Champion, Corum, Hawkmoon and the rest - never made it to video games or films. Though I think there might have been rules for some of them in Advanced Dungeons and Dragons.

I get what you mean about Shepard - they're as much the players' creation as they are the makers'. Same goes for the Grey Warden in Dragon Age: Origins. More of an avatar than a character.