Nirth: if I understood what you want you'll likely have to put a lot of time to seek the right game, seems like a chore considering how few must fit your bill.
You probably did understand me correctly and it is (or was) a chore. I tend to buy anything now and not expect much. I make games, so I'm not necessarily looking at the whole experience of each game (I don't even finish many), but for little bits of inspiration.
I think
this is how I feel about games.
Nirth: Speaking of which, any games that you've found that you considered mature enough to be on your list of masterpieces? I'm genuinely curious.
Zacron: As am I. What games are on your List?
I don't really have a list - sorry. I wish I did.
If I had to choose some that fit the mature category, I suppose I'd be looking more at the narrative qualities of the game.
I felt the Witcher games were well written, but the fantasy setting (albeit low fantasy) isn't my cup of tea. Interestingly, Sapkowski said he wasn't that keen on the games and that stories can only exist in books.
The Last Express (you can get it on here) has a wonderful visual narrative that I'd never seen before and have never seen since (this is a 1996 game). It uses
rotoscopy and animates at around a frame or two a second, with the game director having chosen key frames from the live film to tell the visual narrative. The result is the best visual representation of people I've seen in a game. The story is crap.
Overall, Grim Fandango was pretty high on the narrative front without throwing 'mature' themes in your face. I can't say much about it because it must be 15 years since I played it, so I've forgotten a lot. It looks a bit childish on the surface, but I thought it was a beautifully rendered story.
Mafia (the first one) was one of the best Mob Films I ever watched, except I got to play it.
If you want to go a bit left-field, Tale-Of-Tales' games have some interesting narrative experiments. The Path was their famous one: that was the one that everyone said was about rape, which was interesting as it didn't have a story, just narrative modules (kind of like ink blot test). Their games can be a bit hit or miss - I wouldn't advise playing any of them unless you really were being sincere ;)
I feel there is a real dearth of good narrative in games - many of the writers wouldn't even get a Hollywood b-movie role, the good ones haven't yet figured it out (in my opinion). Too often, the technology's role in the narrative is overlooked and what the writers write is completely disjointed from what is presented (visually and gameplay-wise).
Well, there's 40 minutes I won't get back. I really do hope you were sincere, and take that list with a pinch of salt.
