Mature Games That Cater to Adults

[Paladin2905]

Going to have to disagree with the OP on this one, but I agree that the things you mentioned don't increase the maturity of a game. The whole concept of maturity is nebulous anyways, especially in entertainment. If you want to apply your criteria to modern entertainment standards, there are very few mature things made anywhere.

The mature piece of entertainment ends up being few and far between, and it may not always be a complete package. Case in point: the card collecting nonsense from the Witcher 1 was juvenile, but several elements of the story were very well written and had a very *mature* moral ambiguity to them. If you look past some of the more base elements in certain games, they can be very mature- but that leads to my final point:

Games are interactive. How you play them determines your experience. There is a gap between someone who jumps into MGS3 with a rocket launcher and just blows up everything in sight, and a person who carefully and painstakingly sneaks through using tricks and cunning. Games are mirrors to ourselves and the maturity comes from how you play them- I once read an article about some parents who let their kid play COD4 only after reading the Geneva Conventions and playing by them. This stuff, in my opinion, makes the difference.

 

[Vegosiux]

Again we present to you: Planescape Torment.

Why yes. Yes, we do.

Try playing evil in that one and keeping your lunch down. Come on, I dare you.

 

[platinawolf]

Maturity is over-rated But the seeds of maturity can be found everywhere... Pokemon is about how slavery is a viable way to get your goal's done. CoD is about how senseless slaughter wins the day. How about Alpha Centauri or the Civ series? Backstabbing all the day around

 

[Emiscary]

Maybe I'm mad, but it seems to me that: the better the example given (IE: Planescape, Oddworld) the older the game.

 

[Samantha Burt]

Maybe I'm mad, but it seems to me that: the better the example given (IE: Planescape, Oddworld) the older the game.

I think you might be mad. A lot of people have pointed out your flawed definition of "maturity" and you've failed to acknowledge them at all.

If you want my opinion on a "mature" game, I would say something like Forza 4 with all the driving aids turned off and played with a steering wheel. Rocksmith on the hardest difficult may also count under that category.

 

[MetalMagpie]

Complex and interesting story (though not THAT innovative) and excellent storytelling. Few but fleshed out characters with some final moral dilemmas that... bruned themselfs into my memory forever.

Spoiler

Especially the final walk where I decided to take Zulf with me. It was... SO GOOD

That bit has got to be one of my top five favourite video game moments ever. Simple, but utterly fantastic.

 

[Emiscary]

Anyone here managed to grasp that I don't consider sexual content to be the determining factor of what makes something mature? I just used that as an example because I find the handling of sexual subject matter in most games to be wildly immature.

Whether it's the Witcher 1's ludicrous card collecting game, or the fully clothed showers you get in your more recent ME games.

Oh, and can people drop L.A. Noire? L.A. Noire is a point and click adventure game in a 10000$ suit.

 

[Kahunaburger]

Maybe I'm mad, but it seems to me that: the better the example given (IE: Planescape, Oddworld) the older the game.

I dunno, I'd put Crusader Kings II as pretty mature and adult-catering. There are plenty of good examples of games like this every year - they're just not the ones that get the advertising dollars.

 

[hermes]

Heavy Rain...

Besides that, the thread is full of examples. Mature games often have sex, blood or intrigue, but so does life. Although they are not always needed, you can't rule those elements (and the games that include them) as just pandering.

 

[scorptatious]

Maturity is over-rated But the seeds of maturity can be found everywhere... Pokemon is about how slavery is a viable way to get your goal's done.

They actually do bring up that topic in Pokemon Black and White with Team Plasma and how they want Pokemon to be set free from their trainers. I found it relatively surprising for something like a Pokemon game to do that.

 

[Weaver]

I agree with OP. And I personally feel that people citing, collectively, about 15 games from the last 20 years that were what I'd deem properly mature isn't necessarily a point in favour of the games industry. For every Deus Ex there are 250 bulletstorms.

When I say mature I generally want an engaging and relatively complex story that approaches difficult/meaningful subject matter. Gears of War is not mature, for instance.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

Glad I wasn't the only one humbled to silence by that game. I sat staring at the screen for a good few minutes after I finished it, then went to find my boyfriend.

Me: "I just played the most incredible game."

Him: "Hmm?"

Me: "You know how I said all video games stories are crap? I was wrong."

Him: "Hmm."

Me: "I feel like I just took part in something beautiful."

Him: "Hmm..."

Me: "Seriously, put down the damn paint brush and go play Bastion! The plastic orc can wait!"

He still hasn't.

You should give "To the Moon" a try. I played it shortly after Bastion, and it was even more humbling and more affecting. I had a good ol' cry at several junctures.

I dunno, I'd put Crusader Kings II as pretty mature and adult-catering. There are plenty of good examples of games like this every year - they're just not the ones that get the advertising dollars.

Perhaps ironically, it was Crusader Kings 2's advertising campaign that convinced me to buy it. One of the best low-budget ad campaigns ever.

 

[3quency]

Fucking love that game. Anyone else played it?

Hell yes. Oddworld for the fucking win.

 

[Kahunaburger]

I agree with OP. And I personally feel that people citing, collectively, about 15 games from the last 20 years that were what I'd deem properly mature isn't necessarily a point in favour of the games industry. For every Deus Ex there are 250 bulletstorms.

When I say mature I generally want an engaging and relatively complex story that approaches difficult/meaningful subject matter. Gears of War is not mature, for instance.

I can do at least 10 more pretty recent ones off the top of my head that haven't been mentioned in the thread.

Fatherhood, Blue Lacuna, Europa Barbarorum, Vicious Orcs, Sword in Hand, Porta Lucis, RTR VII, Europa Universalis III, Persona [2(psp)/3(psp)/4], Alabaster.

Several of those also do something important: they reflect the "mature" elements in the game mechanics, not just the window dressing. This sort of game isn't uncommon by any means - they just tend to not have massive budgets and lots of advertising.

 

[Emiscary]

Several of those also do something important: they reflect the "mature" elements in the game mechanics, not just the window dressing. This sort of game isn't uncommon by any means - they just tend to not have massive budgets and lots of advertising.

They're uncommon if you measure their frequency against the frequency of "immature" games.

IE: the 1 Deus Ex per 250 Bulletstorms ratio.

 

[Iwata]

I already pointed out my opinion here, but need I say the obvious in that games are for fun, and maturity is often the antithesis of that same concept?

 

[MetalMagpie]

You should give "To the Moon" a try. I played it shortly after Bastion, and it was even more humbling and more affecting. I had a good ol' cry at several junctures.

Cheers. It's gone on my list. Which probably means I'll buy it (and play it) on Saturday while I'm still trying to hold my nerve on my don't-buy-Diablo-III-until-the-teething-problems-are-over plan.

A game I really want to play is Journey, but I don't have a PS3, and I can't justify buying one (even a pre-owned one) just to play one short game (however beautiful and soulful it looks). I need to make friends with a PS3 owner...

 

[Idocreating]

I'd say The Witcher 2, but not for the obvious reason that it has titties in it. It's the story.

And just to clarify, I am not a fan of the gameplay in The Witcher 2. Geralt feels exceptionally weak and the game seems to adore flinging a shitload of enemies at you all at once so your fighting style basically devolves into "Poke, Dodge, Poke, Dodge" until they (eventually) die.

But the storyline is what keeps me going, all the politics and gritty realism to it. You start the game assaulting a castle in order to find the king's bastard children. Bastard children in a storyline in any media is a pretty rare thing to see, nevermind videogames.

 

[Chemical Alia]

My idea of a mature game that caters to adults is a game that fits with my working adult lifestyle. I don't have time to play for hundreds of hours to be competitive, so I want to be able to sit down for a bit here and there and enjoy myself.

What the game is beyond that doesn't really matter, as long as it gets straight to being fun. I don't usually play games expecting to be impressed by storytelling or deep characterization.