What's "mature"?
 

Reading an article at IGN about what they think would make a good Kingdom Hearts 3, i came across some lines that... well... to be honest, it felt kinda stupid.

here is the article: http://ps3.ign.com/articles/100/1008582p1.html
But i just want to show you these lines:

"Clearly Square Enix is interested in telling a mature, edgier tale, "
"a strikingly mature atmosphere"
"is a necessity for Kingdom Hearts III. "

"(Sora) needs to grow up even more"
"we need to see a real romance blossom between Sora and Kairi. It's what everyone wants, right? "

"The antagonists need to be darker, more vicious and hell-bent on accomplishing their goals. The Heartless and Nobodies were just the beginning -- I want to see some truly nefarious forces at work"

"Kingdom Hearts III must have a more serious plot than its predecessors."
"I want to see a culmination of the emotion and conflict that players have experienced previously,"
"the plot needs to mature"

"even serious topics like heartbreak, betrayal and death can be handled in a respectable manner."

"Does Sora really need to save a hundred worlds again? What if he's just pushing forward to help his friends? Or even a single person? Imagine how much pressure the player would feel if only Kairi's life was on the line and nothing else. "

Seriously. What's up with this crap? Everything has to be "edgier" "darkier" "pointier" "gorier"... t'hell?!

Stuff like this, and then we have the entirety of Dante's inferno, and now the not-subtle-at-all idea that in the next Gears of War you can play as a Girl... seriously? Why?! Tits is a secret-worthy feature in games now?

Maybe i'm just really off, but i don't share at all these ideas of what Mature gaming is supposed to be all about.

Hey, remember Baldur's gate? Yeah... that plot has some serious themes and characters touching in severe cruelty and madness... but you know what else i noticed? Most of your playable characters talk about the "Power of Friendship, love and justice" 24/7. Hey! What'bout that...?! You know Minsc from Baldur's gate 2? He is basically 8-bit theater's Fighter! ... how is that for mature storytelling?

i'm starting to think i'm getting too old for this crap...

oh gawd

This is the same ridiculous mentality that's why I can't read 99% of comics that come out anymore. The KH series needs a Serious For Real Death like it needs extra zippers. But w/ev that's about what you'd expect when we generally as a culture define "mature" entertainment exclusively as juvenile bullshit.

Yeah I'm throwing in with this opinion as well.

The reviewer is welcome to his opinion but the series is 100% fine without any of what he wanted to add on. Sora... older? Ok so we have campy 25-year Old Lambo version of Sora, or what?

Gritty realism and post-apocalyptic backdrops belong in this seires in sparse portions only. I mean, you're not going to put FPS style chainsaw guns n' stuff in Wii Tennis are you? So why in Kingdom Hearts which already introduces realativly dark themes inasmuch as a game with Donald Duck could handle said themes, would you want to put in a 'more nafarious' villian or a 'real' death?

Making KH more mature is what made KH2 all emo and shit. Two reasons for this:

1. Square doesn't know the difference between emo and dark. (See: Cloud, Sephiroth, Squall, etc.)

2. You are trying to combine happy funtime family cheerful Disney movies with dark. Do they not see how retarded that is?

All I have to say is this guy can leave his opinions with Epic Mickey and let KH be what it's always been. The two are totally different and KH isn't meant to be mature. Mature should never rain on fun.


Edit: Okay, that just came out nasty. What I meant was more that if the guy wants mature, there are a helluva lot better places to get it than KH, one being Epic Mickey. If KH went "mature," it would lose its entire audience because that's specifically not what they're there for.

Torchwood isn't a mature take on the Doctor Who universe.

The reason they keep teasing this kind of stuff with Kingdom Hearts is because they want to tantalize people with the darker and edgier universe that everyone wants but never will deliver, because it would do nothing but be a deathblow for Kingdom Hearts.

Well, more of a deathblow anyway.

So yeah, seventh'd.

"Needs more chainsaws."

Sorry, Disney already said no.

Eight'd.

Having a mature game doesn't meant it has to be rated Mature.

Take Final Fantasy Tactics for example. The story itself is rather a dark departure from the usual fare but it is handled, pardon the pun, tactfully.

I do not like how, in my opinion, it seems all mature games are an overabundance of gore, sexuality, whatever and the story takes a backseat. Granted there are some games that are exceptions (GTA series) but those games are few and far between.