deleted

I just feel that the game, by virtue of being gamey, tends to render its subject a tad ridiculous. Or maybe due to graphic limitations. There's no real reason for that (you can go far with animated movies, and interaction can drag the spectator in), but in practice... some stuff just get killed by the medium.

It's still good that people try, I guess. It's a medium to explore and expand. But my gaming experience always prevents me from betting on success there. It usually ends in embarrassed laughters and awkwardness, a bit like when star trek attempts to get deep and philosophical. Sci-fi can be, but maybe not in that setting, with that background. Videogames are, by design, too close to saturday morning cartoons, for their big themes to feel serious. And nearing uncanny valleys doesn't help.

Or maybe, paradoxically, when they go the opposite route, towards pure abstraction, they have more chances to get somewhere.

deleted

My favourite games have always been those which create an emotional reaction, or attachment to characters, as would any good book, movie, or TV show.

The best way to describe that is the most recent episode of Westworld. (Warning: Spoilers)

It featured a character who has, thus far, been in a minor role and mostly in the background. The narrative and the story for that character, in that episode, is amongst the best fictional TV I think I've ever watched.

In many games, the main stories are often somewhat shallow and disappointing, although I thoroughly enjoyed walking in the boots of Geralt in the Witcher games, especially the 'Bloody Baron' story arc. That said, there are occasionally other games with moments that stand out and stay in mind.

One quite small side quest in Dying Light, briefly recovering some stuff for a kid, is one I remember most from the whole game. Simply because the narrative and how the characters were portrayed, was excellent and quite touching; in the midst of a game spent mostly moshing zombie heads with a lead pipe! I'm convinced that whoever wrote it, must have secretly done it while the other developers and script writers were out on a coffee break or something, haha.

As an adult capable of forming my own opinions and rarely offended by anything, one of the most frustrating aspect of game narratives is how they often pussyfoot around adult themed content, which inevitably ends up looking silly or out of place. I know age restriction and age classifications hardly help developers in that regard, when trying to maximise sales potential. However, if they're going to focus on adult themes, they should stick to their artistic vision and release the game as 'adult only', or whatever classification is required in different countries.

Let's be honest, there's far worse shown on the news each day, than there is in even the most explicit video games.

It always depends on how it's done. Personally I'm not particularly interested in or fond of seeing such topics in movies either, so I definitely wouldn't seek them out or put them on my top priority list, but I also wouldn't outright dismiss a movie just because it deals in such topics (among others). I guess the same would apply to videogames, even though, as Telika says, I believe videogame devs would have to think extra carefully about how to incorporate such themes without trivializing them or the game ending up in bad taste.

Naturally, how much these themes are accepted in games or not is also connected to how much of a taboo they are in general, e.g. rape and pedophilia are still much more of a taboo than other heavy themes like depression or suicide, in other media just as much as in games.

(I certainly wouldn't want to experience these themes in an active role, if that was implied in your question ... Probably wasn't, but you never know, there's always stuff trying to go into dark territory like that, and I guess that's where I would draw the line.)

I can think of a few games that have rather heavy plots.

* Celeste's plot is rather heavy, as it turns out. I believe the plot does tackle depression. ($20 on itch.io)
* Secret Little Haven is about a teenager who finds out she's transgender thanks to the Internet. The game takes place inside a virtual OS. The game comes with a content warning due to the protagonist's father being abusive. ($5 on itch.io)
* From what I have heard, The Cat Lady deals with topics of depression and suicide, to the point where this game really should come with a trigger warning. People who have played it have said the game is good. ($10 on GOG)

Also, if you're into trans stuff, I could also mention One Night, Hot Spring, which is a visual novel that takes place in Japan about a transgender woman who wants to go to a hot spring.

So, yes, you can get some more serious plots in games, especially if you look at visual novels or pure adventure games. (The first game I listed is an exception.)

One more tip: If you are looking for games with heavier plots, try looking for games that have content or trigger warning; generally, there's a reason such warnings are present, and it might be that the plot is really so dark it needs such a warning.

Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice has some pretty heavy plot. I can't think of a lot of other games that deal with such stuff in a way that isn't juvenile, though.
If you go into subtext, however...
Braid is about abusive relationships. Or possibly even nuclear apocalypse. I think even the old Missile Command game is about the inevitability of nuclear apocalypse.

And honestly, I found Cat Lady to be a bit goofy in tone. There was one bit that involved almost a jump scare kind of moment that had the protagonist running around on screen, lots of blood was involved, and some heavy music played in the background. I just burst out laughing. Could be I was just not in the right headspace to play it.

The cold war was over by the time I was old enough to appreciate that, so I just never thought about it that way. But wowsa! That game is WAY deeper than I ever realized.

Let's just think about that statement. XD

You mean because of the inevitability thing? I was thinking how it was impossible to win a war AFTER it starts. You know, like WarGames. If thats not what you mean, than you have to help me out. Im pretty bad with words. Numbers too. Im bad at all the things, really. XD

Oh I know what you meant, and I totally understand, I just thought it sounded funny. :P

If you want to talk about a game dealing with abusive relationships, you have to talk about Planescape: Torment.

And as far as heavy plots...there isn't a game that has a heavier plot. It's the pinnacle of RPG plot to this point in history. Change my mind.

deleted

I see what you did there.

Papo and Yo I thought did an interesting job of portraying what it's like to be the child of a violent alcoholic.