I've noticed a trend lately you get a decently moderate game with a mature rating and compared to games put out about a year ago they're actually not as graphic or mature. I understand the game developers don't want to be scarred with the Adult Rating kiss of death but has fear of this started ruining the gaming industry. Sure some titles still prevail with the Mature rating and I agree with the rating but some titles seem like their bumped up for a game that really should probably be targeting a younger demographic.
Example: X- Men Destiny
ESRB Rating: Teen
time it takes to complete the game: 8 hours or less
Now I partially understand the rating here you have a rally of peace be attacked and a people vs mutants war going on so I understand that some children might not be able to follow the story of this game much. But the game play mechanics start out super easy and go as far as frustrating on a single part towards the end. Maybe I've played too many games like it, but I feel like at moments the game isn't trying to challenge me but overwhelm me which cause instant glitching. Something along the lines of what alot of the Super Nintendo era games did.
Example: Dante's Inferno
ESRB Rating: Mature
Time it takes to complete game 6-10 hours
Now I understand this rating you have nudity, heaven, hell, demons, lust, mutant dead babies trying to eat you etc... The gameplay mechanics on this are a bit more elaborate and honestly made for a story I played through several times and occasionally return to just for the fun.
Now if you put these two examples side by side it's actually the same game mechanics on one level you fight foward but Dante's Inferno actually apprroached the game mechanics smartly there's a more fluid play foward. There's challenge and it doesn't try to toy with you, then give you a rather difficult jumping segment for 3 seconds and then throw a boss at you that really is difficult to attack without going overboard.
Lets look at a series to see if I can give a better example
Series: Resistance
Rating for all titles in series : Mature
Game 1
Resistance Fall of Man
It took me a while to get ahold of what was coming at me next in this game with the mature rating I was understanding since my job was to kill chimeran forces that were hunting man and kill them. The story followed one man who somehow survived and became a fighting force foward in the name of man. There were a variety of enemy machinery and gunners they even had odd mutations that I went "OH SHIT" when I first saw because I had no Idea how to approach such a creature. The game was creative and honestly one of the best PS3 Release titles ever made.
Game 2
Resistance 2
This one went more smoothly as I had an Idea of what to expect from the first game. They still threw curveballs at me that I literally jumped at because it threw me off guard. The bosses that you came across really seemed more like ok how do I tackle this creature and oh my god where is going to come from next. The mechanics seemed to anticipate your playing to try and keep you on your toes and with some new weapons at your disposal it was worth playing.
Game 3
Resistance 3
After the first two I was ready again for war but annoyed as they end of two killed the man who was fighting for man kind because he was about to turn against us and his killer was now the hero? I decided to hold back my judgement and take on the waves of monsters and with further new toys I thought this should make life interesting. This is where either Insomniac games got lazy or they held back due to fear of a higher ESRB rating and since we are already at mature next is the dreaded ADULT. I really want an answer here. Yes new bosses, yes it's a challenge and yes I played through like a man on a mission but storywise it went really cliche and you don't feel as in depth and caring for the hero, nor do you come across anything that should keep this in the Mature rating as much as previous games. Enemies fall over when you shoot them not explode (except from headshots and a cheat from beating the game) you're not being hunted your holding a position and trying to make sure you can hold them off for 10 minutes so someone can decide where you go next. There was NO last boss but a falling to your doom minigame that was difficult to fail. Then it seems like everything in this hero's life goes back to normal.
WTF!?
I battled foward and even bragged about rankings amongst freinds for ingame and online play and the final story is everything appears to be going back to normal. In the first one I killed and Angel who almost ripped me to shreads, then I fought Daedelus who was far more mutated than where I was heading to obtain some power from him to be shot in the head by some annoying asshole who you made the hero and then life goes normal for this loser?
Is this ESRB threats of and Adult rating scar or are game designers getting lazy?
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