Lets talk about games maturing

Well to set the record straight, I'm not talking about the rating or any level of violence. By talking about mature games I mean the ones that get all the evolutionary praise often based on how big of a deal the game makes out of mocap cut-scenes or hired writers filling out some "deep" narrative. I've been needing to get this type of discussion out of the way for a while. I'm a bit sour whenever someone brings up the idea of "how games are maturing" as people point to one or two oddly specific and overly cinematic examples for it. Some of these games people hype up as a step towards "maturing" are pretty deprived of either gameplay, replayable content, the content length itself, or just plain lacking in the general feeling or intention of fun as a result of the previous things adding up. Usually its a sacrifice made to ham fist in cinematic presentation with big budget scenes and a disconnected attempt at some story in between bits of gameplay segments, or its a super linear game with the purpose focused around a story but the hype and credit just gets overblown. I suppose its a bit subjective, but that sounds more like missing the point to gaming rather than upgrading it. Look contrary to whatever pretentious artsy directors are telling you, a game's goal really is to hit the mark as "fun" and anything else is a bonus. Here's an example of some of the "too cool for fun" games being fun.... Braid is fun to puzzle platformer guys, Last of Us is a fun linear survival shooter with a great plot, Dark Souls is an insanely deep RPG making it fun no matter how sadistic it can be, and Gone home was fun to explore and piece together. These games all strike many emotions and maybe you wouldn't think they were planned to be "fun" with things like the freakin' apocalypse, a lesbian family drama story, or a plot about kidnapping to be fun but the truth is they're all held up through fun mechanics that would appeal to someone somewhere as entertaining. If it didn't, it wouldn't sell. You can tell me Journey made you cry and felt sad about the death-like feeling towards the end, but honestly if you never had any sense of fun or enjoyment you would never reach that emotionally invested status because you would have thrown the controller down out of boredom. Its just like horror games, sure you can try and tell yourself you do it for fright more than fun but the truth is if you were really just a big chicken about it you would be outside of the horror fan niche. Horror fans get enjoyment and fun out of the fear inducing media, trying to tell me you can't enjoy that would be like trying to stop the romatic comedy genre from existing because you don't think such a thing could exist either.

Actually its funny I should mention horror. We've reached a state in the market where they refuse to make them the triple A way now, yet they played on emotion far, far before any of these linear artsy indie games or big production cinema games hit the market.... but only now you guys want to recognize the media as "growing up". Seriously, just think about that a moment. Heck, why stop there? Ever here of a little game called Metal Gear Solid? Big cinematic title that managed to craft a game very heavily detailed in every single regard, ranging from easter eggs, small interesting details that brought in immersion and fun, a very strong practically genre defining sense of gameplay and tension unlike anything else before, and it also had a lengthy interesting dramatic story with a subtle nod towards anti-war and nuke morals. That was done over a decade ago, and then brought up even better by practically each release in the series while developers today still make and sell easy copies on games that do far less and get more of this "mature" praise. Tomb Raider reboot, I'm looking at you and your extremely disconnected story and minimal input gameplay that somehow "raised the bar" with critics and gamers. I just don't get that.

Nice story, now when does the game actually let you participate?

Honestly games are as mature as they should ever need to be. We've had our "strong female leads" in plenty of good casual PC games that get overlooked all the time. Yet that doesn't actually make a game better, so that's not a good focus point. Games like Journey, Dragon age, Dark Souls, and anything that uses the W40K license right use religious tones to a big part of their lore. We have games like Spec Ops, Metal Gear Solid, and arguably even Hotline Miami taking violence or military tones and puts out moral spins in some form. Way before Last of Us we've had well crafted emotional character driven stories before. Before you wonder where your story driven or "mature" games are and cry about the oversaturated FPS market for your scapegoat, how about stopping to look at what has been around you this whole time. We have plenty of interesting story, character, and thought provoking games produced for about as long as development for the media has existed, even if it was just in primitive point and click or text adventures at some time or another. Meanwhile I'm getting a bit sick of the overpraised holly-wood direction games are going in, and that is not even close to what the true point of maturity in the games should probably look like. Telling me the Last of Us is the only way to progress.... or uncharted, or even worse: Tomb Raider is the way just because it has some well done writing or some hired author is just a terrible influence on the media. Not that those games are bad, but its not the only way to progress or cheer on gaming and by trying to put those games on their flashy ivory towers you're neglecting the games that capitalize on amazing gameplay but didn't bother with the unnecessary fluff. Why is The Last of Us a better future than something deeper like Dark Souls? Why is Tomb Raider worth your attention more than something in need and a longer more interactive experience as Sly Cooper 4? Why is Limbo so much greater than the endless replay, better supported, content packed, wonderfully unique and deep, and heavily community driven game like Chivalry? You see what I'm saying here, the games as followed not only have you doing more and interacting more as a real player and gamer but all (except dark souls, though on a comparison basis it still fits perfectly) are miserably overshadowed in the media over some extra flash and in your face production value feeling. You don't need some mega hit story. You don't need to make a tear-jerker to sell a big budget title. You shouldn't have to jerk control away from the player or shoe horn in forced cut-scenes everywhere to call your game (which is supposed to be centered around actually playing it) mature or up to standards. We still need a casual fun game like Call of Duty or Peggle. We still need something intentionally silly and crazy like BulletStorm or Deadpool. We still need a game that just gives you a big sandbox world to tackle and paint over as a canvas of interactive fun like Gmod and Minecraft. These are games that do their job, please their fans, and provide a great thing to the media.... and it doesn't need stars, dramatic stories, nor does it even need to pay attention to feminist protesting (which has become a surprisingly hot topic lately) to do it right. At the end of the day these are video games. Its doesn't need to be presented in an epic, it just needs to be fun and interactive and enjoyable to its intended audience.

It doesn't need a "deep" or Hollywood level scope to fulfill its duty as a game

So what constitutes a mature or masterful game though? Well certainly not something that seeks to only copy other mediums. Honestly a  game that truly masters itself is one that wont force you through a ton of cut-scenes, or put the player through a window looking onto something... a game does its job right when it sucks you into it as a player and as someone interacting, and tells us a story through that. Games that focus too hard on a Hollywood appeal are missing the point, gaming isn't something that needs to look like Hollywood anymore than movies need books to them. Instead Journey is actually a bit more in the right direction, but yet don't you think its kind of lacking a bit... for something that masters the medium and its traits and uses that to convey powerful highs and lows all while keeping the player immersed and telling the story through gameplay, shouldn't it all be a bit.... well more? Well honestly not if it accomplishes its goals and uses its length well, but when people think of the ultimate game they want more content and that is pretty easily justified. If something like Journey was the sole icon and highest point of the medium, it would be pretty sad. That's why again I'll restate that this isn't something to get all worked up on about. Gaming is what it is, and there has been nothing wrong with the mindless fun of it and its silly attitudes because its been fantastic and well worth playing games like Unreal Tournament and mario bros. Gamers don't need Sonic, Mario, Spyro, Gex, and others to be pushed aside for something like Last of Us and I certainly hope they don't start attempting to copy it. Neither does Last of Us or Mario need to go chasing after Journey. Games deserve to be what they are: fun. I hope we continue seeing awesome games of all kinds, and I do not dare ever want some type to overshadow the other nor are any of them. Dark Souls, Journey, Metal Gear Solid, Spyro, and even Last of Us has impacted me big on their runs, but honestly that doesn't make Mario, Torchlight, or killzone any less of a game or a toddler experience. They were all an outstanding achievement in entertainment and made a great effort to give me some joy in their silly and fun ways. I don't need every game to strive for some odd level of "maturity" by chasing after big writers, stars, or even revolutionizing the gameplay experience. I just ask that a game is fun, everything else is a bonus.... and yes of course the best will be way more than that, but honestly there is no universal way to go about being the best. I will be very happy when the world of Game Journalism can agree upon that and they stop making these discussions over how Uncharted and whatnot should be the standard.... that's just not right and its because of drives to get things unified into one narrow minded direction that we have some of the messes we do today. I don't think narrative direction will ever be unified, but lets no encourage that sort of thing. I'd much rather have fun than see a market flooded in self-critical games with a surprising lack in gameplay and "experiences" only.

Nothing wrong with this co-existing with the deeper narratives