Mature Games that are actually Mature

[vato_loco]

Heavy Rain
Persona 4
Silent Hill 1-3
God of War I (yes, it got me through a very long thought process, believe it or not)
Xenosaga Episodes 1-3 (longest history EVER)
Final Fantasy XIII (was it M rated? Anyways, it really gave me a look at how "bad guys" think and how they don't consider their actions to be wrong or evil)

I'm probably forgetting some RPGs...

 

[omega_peaches]

I thought GTA IV was mature.

 

[subject_87]

Half-Life 2 is a good example of this, and as a side note, don't be afraid to use question marks. They are your friend.

 

[wolf thing]

stalker was kind of mature. it was dark and gloomy but never distractingly so. the fallout series have explored drug slavery and other topics.

 

[LaMer]

Red Dead Redemption was pretty mature in it's execution and storytelling.

 

[BENZOOKA]

I want to say Civilization V.

 

[Ironman126]

stalker was kind of mature. it was dark and gloomy but never distractingly so. the fallout series have explored drug slavery and other topics.

STALKER was totally a mature game. It handles itself very well and never stoops to a "oh just fucking shoot everything you want" phase. Plus it terrified me.

Fallout... No. While it did delve into slavery, drugs, and prostitution, there was rarely anything remotely mature about it. Especially Fallout 2 and New Vegas. Both games were excellent, but both games were rather juvenile for the most part.

I'd venture to say that Mass Effect as a whole is mature. Sure, it has blood, sex, and drugs, but it was always tastefully handled.

For the most part, only RPGs or games that have lots of RPG elements in them (like STALKER) manage to actually make Mature games contain mature content. Especially when compared to Halo, Duke Nukem, or GTA.

 

[senataur]

Amnesia: The Dark Decent

 

[lacktheknack]

I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream

Holy crow, how'd I get ninja'd on THAT?

Anyways, that one.

And Silent Hill 2.

And maybe the Myst games.

 

[Solo-Wing]

This far in and no mentions of God of War? For shame escapists.
EDIT

Heavy Rain
Persona 4
Silent Hill 1-3
God of War I (yes, it got me through a very long thought process, believe it or not)
Xenosaga Episodes 1-3 (longest history EVER)
Final Fantasy XIII (was it M rated? Anyways, it really gave me a look at how "bad guys" think and how they don't consider their actions to be wrong or evil)

I'm probably forgetting some RPGs...

Opps nvm.

 

[octafish]

Setting aside the *ahem* postcards, the story telling in The Witcher is full of grey morality, I always thought it was a mix of immature (postcards, Geralt's cliché characterisation) and mature (morality and outcomes of your choices).

 

[RatRace123]

Mass Effct (Racial relations, poilitical relations. Mass Effect is a space opera at heart, but those issues are brought out a lot.)
Heavy Rain (Father trying to save his son, how far will you go to save someone you love.)
Bioshock (Ayn Rand + Atlantis)
Metal Gear Solid (Ignoring the extreme silliness at certain points and the bloated nature of some story points, the series actually does have some heavy themese surrounding it.)

 

[Drakmeire]

Persona 4 is mature in the sense that even the immature bits are amazing character development moments
if I may bring up kanji (hope I'm not spoiling anything) who is struggling with the fact that he is a homosexual so when he is trapped in the other world his shadow is a blatant gay stereotype, which could be seen as offensive but he is only that way because that is what kanji fears he will become if he gives into what his true feelings. by the end he accepts that he should be himself, not what society tells him he must be and that nothing is ever black and white.
I just wish more mediums could tell a story as deep as persona does

oh, also depending on your choices, children can be killed.

 

[Solo-Wing]

Half-Life 2 is a good example of this, and as a side note, don't be afraid to use question marks. They are your friend.

Actually I didn't really feel like HL2 was M. Sure there was blood but that was from bullet spay and even then their was not that much.

 

[lacktheknack]

For the most part, only RPGs or games that have lots of RPG elements in them (like STALKER) manage to actually make Mature games contain mature content. Especially when compared to Halo, Duke Nukem, or GTA.

What about adventure games? See my above post. And toss in others, like Beneath a Steel Sky. Cripes. Beneath a Steel Sky had a slightly schizophrenic tone in terms of maturity, but when it got mature, IT GOT MATURE.

Blood vessels in the subways, anyone?

 

[Drakmeire]

I thought GTA IV was mature.

I felt that the game was insulting to my intelligence. sure it have a sympathetic main character but everyone else seems like they were one-dimentional card board cut-outs. Also I found all of the "humor" to be very infantile.

 

[radioactive lemur]

The Assassins Creed series had a complicated ass story line you'd have to be reasonably smart to follow/understand.

 

[Cogwheel]

As I always mention in these kinds of thread, Planescape: Torment. This game isn't about some world-saving quest or rescuing the princess from distress, no, this game is about self-discovery, about who you are as a person, TNO that is. I highly, highly recommend it, it's very, very well written, an excellent story.

I agree with almost everything here - thanks for saving me the time to type it out.


Just one issue, though, which stopped me from mentioning it myself: It's actually T-rated, as far as I remember, which kinda excludes it from the OP's question.


I'd say Arcanum and STALKER also count, personally.

 

[freak__76]

eve online.
if your ship gets blown up, it's gone (to the victor go the spoils).
then if your pod is popped, you wake up in a clone vat. if you don't keep your clone updated, you lose skillpoints (exp).
the economy is amazing too.
very harsh mistress is eve.