Mature Games That Cater to Adults

[NerfedFalcon]

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, proof that both mature games exist (even in non-M-rated games) and that Japan always keeps the best stuff to itself:

Spoiler: Spoilered to avoid mod wrath

You will laugh, you will cry, you will never get to legally play this game in English because it was released right at the end of the GBA's life and Nintendo hates Mother fans anyway.

 

[verdant monkai]

A level student here.
All depends on what your idea of maturity is I guess but, there are definitely mature games for Adults like Bioshock and Deus Ex for example this thread has other good examples already.

 

[Dandark]

I would suggest playing Call of Duty multiplayer on Xbox live, it is filled with incredibly mature players and good sportsmanship.
/sarcasm

I found Dark souls to be pretty mature even though I haven't finished it yet. I didn't notice a lot of the side stories at first since I was trying to learn how to play the game while cursing the gargoyles. However I ended up looking at how a lot of the other characters stories turn out on the wiki and it's pretty ,well, dark.

 

[LiquidGrape]

I was under the impression that The Witcher catered to spotty teenage boys.

Personal pick would be Far Cry 2, I think. That game definitely aimed high in that regard with an overwhelmingly relevant political backdrop.

 

[Mr Pantomime]

Well this give me the chance to talk about Gravity Bone

Play Gravity Bone [http://blendogames.com/]

Thats my good deed for today.

 

[zefiris]

The Witcher 2

Hardly mature. Falls more in the teenage hardcore part than actually mature part.

Lots of gratituous female nudity doesn't make something actually mature.

There aren't many truly mature games around. Xenogears, Planescape Torment, Valkyrie Profile and some of the Ultimas come to mind, but that's about it.

Edit: Obviously my list is for role-playing games. My experience is limited outside this genre.

 

[Mr Somewhere]

If you need to validate your maturity by playing an "adult" game then you've got it wrong. You can be an adult and play Super Mario Galaxy, you can be an adult and make poop jokes, as long as you're responsible and not harming others there isn't anything wrong with it.

 

[zefiris]

If you need to validate your maturity by playing an "adult" game then you've got it wrong. You can be an adult and play Super Mario Galaxy, you can be an adult and make poop jokes, as long as you're responsible and not harming others there isn't anything wrong with it.

That would be the truly mature realisation, yes.

 

[wolf thing]

star war knights of the old republic 2 the sith lords and planescape torment. both deal with subjects like war, love, human nature, trust and many more and they both do it in a detailed world with some of the best characters in gaming.

 

[Gabanuka]

Red Dead redemption. John Marston is the manliest man every but not on the 13 year old Gears of War way.

 

[krazykidd]

"But we already have those!"

No, no we don't. If we did, than the game I bought that's supposedly for people over the age of 18 wouldn't be screened for graphic content on the grounds that kids might see it (pants on sex scenes anyone?). And if we did, romantic relationships in games wouldn't culminate with an orgasm. And if we did we'd have complex story driven games whose core gameplay *didn't* consist of shooting terrorists in the face. And I imagine that if we did, than every game wouldn't have a 20-50 minute hand holding section in which the publishers politely explain to you how video games work.

Agree/disagree?

Wait what . The Mature rating is only for the content . Meaning there is adult content not suitable for children . Sure kids know about sex younger now. But i think legally if a game has certain elements ( like gore and sex ) even if it's brief on partial , they need to be rated a certain age . It's about what they show , nothow they show it .

 

[BloatedGuppy]

I was under the impression that The Witcher catered to spotty teenage boys.

The first one definitely did.

The Witcher 2

Hardly mature. Falls more in the teenage hardcore part than actually mature part.

Lots of gratituous female nudity doesn't make something actually mature.

There's definitely some nudity in Witcher 2, and it's debatable on which side of the "acceptable in context/fan service" side of the ledger it falls. It's miles better than the "OMG TITTIES" card collecting mini game for the sweaty palmed that (dis)graced the first title.

What makes the Witcher 2 an acceptable candidate for the familiar roster of "adult" games (and I see the usual notables making the rounds...Planescape, Silent Hill 2, Mother 3, Bioshock, Bastion, etc, etc) is the storytelling, not the nudity. There's a lot of political wrangling going on in Witcher 2, and very little hand holding offered to the player. There are no "politics for dumbasses" interludes carefully spelling out what is going on for the mouth breathers in the audience, there are few if any true villains, and there is a lot of socio-political context to wade through and consider. It's not the greatest work of fiction ever told, but it's miles ahead of most of its contemporaries, and doesn't deserve to be maligned because it brushes up against sexuality. I'd argue that the relatively staid and earnest Mass Effect is demonstrably more aggressive with its fan servicing than Witcher 2. The fact that Witcher 2 shows nipples shouldn't count for OR against it when determining how "mature" it is.

 

[Irridium]

Again we present to you: Planescape Torment.

Agreed.

Or, if you want the same story in a more familiar setting, which as a result makes the setting infinitely more interesting, I suggest KOTOR 2.

Or hell, get both. Yeah both have pretty much the same story, but the different settings make each interesting in their own special way.

 

[MetalMagpie]

But but but...

But I like shooting terrorists in the face! They won't let me do it in real life...

Anyway, I thought the stats were that the under-18 bracket still buys the most games. I know I spent a lot more time in happy bullet-filled virtual worlds before I had a full-time job, bills to pay, a flat to keep clean, etc.

 

[Wintermoot]

the later Rock Star games like GTA IV and LA Noir have a more serious tone IMHO I haven,t played LA Noir but it looks less funny and more serious. GTA IV feels less funny then GTA VC or III going for a more urban feel.
Maybe Katherine? from what I read/seen of it it seems to take a mature stance on relation ships (I regret not having played it)

 

[MetalMagpie]

Bastion - That had the emotional weight of a freight train, I would call it mature and it didn't have any blood or boobs.

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.

 

[Kahunaburger]

A lot of text adventures fall into OP's category in addition to the examples already mentioned.