Quote Originally Posted by Kawaii Ryűkishi
I think Tetsuya Nomura realized how stupid it was to make a guy in his early thirties look like a grizzled old man.
He didn't look all that old in FFVII... even though Yuffie was fond of calling him an old man.

Apparently, you have to reach a whopping 35 years before you get to be grizzled and grey, as shown by Auron in FFX.