A game blog for grown ups (sorta).

Saturday, May 21, 2011

"Mature" Games and the first couple hours of The Witcher 2

I may sound like a broken record, and I know I am far from the first person to say this, but I think our industry has mistaken colorful language and the human form for mature subject matter. I would, and have, argued time and time again that cuss words and naked women aren't mature and I think I have figured out, thanks in part to the first couple hours of the Witcher 2, how I would and wouldn't define a mature title.

I would define a "mature" subject matter as writing that a 10 year old wouldn't understand due to the fact she/he isn't mature. A normal 10 year old boy understands boobs and swears. A 10 year old boy doesn't understand politics, foreign affairs, ethics (that aren't black and white), cultural differences, taboo behavior, etc.

I can already tell W2 is shaping up to be both scenarios I described above. In the tutorial there is certainly a lot of swearing, nudity, and blood. Towards the end of the tutorial missions there is also a lot of discussion about the politics of the land and the intricacies of the relationships between factions.

All I know is, despite the PUNISHING difficulty of the flippin' tutorial levels (seriously, someone on the forum was right when they said that normal is the new hard) I am shaping up to enjoy this game a lot more then the first.

1 comment:

  1. I can't wait for Mem day weekend when I can finish Witcher 1 and dive into this.

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