Not the biggest, but twilight princess should fit, trying too much to be dark and edgy, but never really achieving it!
-
Ever wanted an RSS feed of all your favorite gaming news sites? Go check out our new Gaming Headlines feed! Read more about it here.
-
We have made minor adjustments to how the search bar works on ResetEra. You can read about the changes here.
Worst "Teen Phases" You've Seen One of Your Favourite Game Series or Fandom (or Both) Go Through?
- Thread starter TheEchosOfTheCyborg
- Start date
I don't care, Jack II was amazing to me as a kid. They changed this loveable mute into a badass. I was hyped!
(I was also probably 8 when I played it so that's probably why)
(I was also probably 8 when I played it so that's probably why)
David Cox outright said he wanted Castlevania: Lords of Shadow to be "dark and gritty." The artist and composer even trash talked Ayami Kojima ("yeah, she can draw") and Michiru Yamane (saying her music was too girly for the series). I don't have sources for those so they're from memory.
There's an industry-wide teen phase. Feels like a lot of games are trying really hard to show how mature and sensitive they are these days.
The whole Digimon IP is a teenphase if you look at the really tryharding designs. Especially Digimon like LadyDevimon are a walking, never ending cliché
Devil May Cry 3/4.
3 is my second favourite game in the series but I'd be embarrassed to play it in front of someone. 4 I just want to forget.
3 is my second favourite game in the series but I'd be embarrassed to play it in front of someone. 4 I just want to forget.
The upcoming Beyond Good & Evil 2 is really channeling Jak II.
Tekken has been going through this kind of phase since I guess 4 and it has been going strong ever since. Honestly? I find it kind of endearing.
Tekken has been going through this kind of phase since I guess 4 and it has been going strong ever since. Honestly? I find it kind of endearing.
Would those really fit what the OP is asking for though? RE 4-6 went more into the fast and the furious "This is so cool guys" style than trying to be dark and edgy.
It was definitely a shift regardless though.
DMC series is perpetually in its teen phase now that I think about it.
DMC 2 made Dante more gruff and silent.
DMC 3 cranked up the silly and was the most bloodiest and violent entry at the time.
DMC 4 had jiggle physics Trish & Lady and a mopey teenaged Nero as a protagonist.
DmC is FUCK YOU YOU SON OF A WHORE and miscarriage through sniper.
Haven't played DMC5 but I heard half the game takes place in a demon's anus.
There's really no baseline experience. The games escalate the silliness or edginess.
Last edited:
This could either have been the edgiest thing ever, or it could've been Mega Man's Metroid Prime moment.How about Maverick Hunter, that cancelled Mega Man FPS?
MGSV: Ground Zeroes was Kojima's extra clumsy attempt at depicting "serious and mature" subject matter (child torture/rape, vagina bombs, extra gore). Way outside of his usual PG-13 comfort zone.
Remember when he said he'd have to leave the industry for the controversial topics he'd be tackling in these entries? I'm guessing he had the same type of shit (or worse) planned for The Phantom Pain, but backpedaled pretty hard after people kindly asked "the FUCK you doing bro?!"
Remember when he said he'd have to leave the industry for the controversial topics he'd be tackling in these entries? I'm guessing he had the same type of shit (or worse) planned for The Phantom Pain, but backpedaled pretty hard after people kindly asked "the FUCK you doing bro?!"
Going from Mass effect 1 to Mass effect 2/3 is kinda this, I stil love Me2 but I can remember the marketing talking about ME2 being 'darker, grittier and sexier' than Me1, how it was the Blade Runner or Empire Strikes back of the trilogy, which was reflected in the narrative, tone, art direction and character design in particular.
There were certain character designs and narrative decisions that were aiming at what was thought to be dark, edgy and mature for a 2010s shooter (Shepard's Death and revival in me2, the kids death in me3 (remember some previews talking this up as the maturing of series and subject matter games can handle). The AI character Edi going from a holo-blob avatar into a Sexbot body and Kai Leng the Cerberus cyber ninja being presented as a serious nemesis to Shepard coming to mind). In spite of its other failings I kinda appreciate Andromeda moving away from stuff like that.
There were certain character designs and narrative decisions that were aiming at what was thought to be dark, edgy and mature for a 2010s shooter (Shepard's Death and revival in me2, the kids death in me3 (remember some previews talking this up as the maturing of series and subject matter games can handle). The AI character Edi going from a holo-blob avatar into a Sexbot body and Kai Leng the Cerberus cyber ninja being presented as a serious nemesis to Shepard coming to mind). In spite of its other failings I kinda appreciate Andromeda moving away from stuff like that.
MGS4. Like this angsty, overwrought attempt to answer and account for everything in the whole series up to that point, rather than just making a tight and well paced experience
Haha, good post, although I think DMC5 is pretty far past the teen phase. Well, V is pretty cringe and edgelord which is very teen, but Nero is pretty sound and Dante is pretty old at this point. The demonic stuff is pretty chill and underplayed, even though yes it's technically anus
God I wish this got made.How about Maverick Hunter, that cancelled Mega Man FPS?
Bring it back damn it
If it's possible for Super Smash Bros. to have a "Teen Phase", then Brawl probably fits the bill.
The colors are much more muted than in the previous and subsequent games, the main theme sounds more serious and has more gravity to it then what we got in Smash 4 and Ultimate, especially in the main menu where you'll hear it the most, and I'd argue that even though Smash Ultimate also has a story mode about fighting back against a world destroying threat and saving characters that have been turned into trophies, the environments for SSE often feature what I would call darker areas (like the lab or the ruined castle) and the army of horrifying proto-KIU monsters are certainly creepier than the copies of characters you fight in World of Light.
Just compare Mario's render:
The colors are much more muted than in the previous and subsequent games, the main theme sounds more serious and has more gravity to it then what we got in Smash 4 and Ultimate, especially in the main menu where you'll hear it the most, and I'd argue that even though Smash Ultimate also has a story mode about fighting back against a world destroying threat and saving characters that have been turned into trophies, the environments for SSE often feature what I would call darker areas (like the lab or the ruined castle) and the army of horrifying proto-KIU monsters are certainly creepier than the copies of characters you fight in World of Light.
Just compare Mario's render:
I think Donkey Kong had this phase where they wanted to run away from anything related to DKC2-3 and 64, but they turned around for Tropical Freeze and I hope the next game, whatever it is, hits that sweet spot of old and new without limiting the old to just 1 game.
Mario seems to be stuck in this loop as well, so I hope they get out somehow for both Paper Mario and Mario & Luigi 6.
I don't have many hopes for the Super Mario movie because of this, but hopefully the director knows about the old rpgs to look for reference instead of just taking the SMW storyline and going with that.
(The saddest thing is that most of the original Paper Mario did just come from SMW. They just added a couple new species and worked around the limitations they had, instead of just accepting they could not)
[I know that by teen you probably meant just dark, edgy, or too serious stuff, and for that maybe Super Paper Mario would qualify. But I think running away from aspects of yourself or your past feels like a very teen thing to do as well]
It happened again from Smash 4 to Ultimate. In Smash 4 the textures were less prominent in favour of colours, but they went back to texturing more for Ultimate.
Mario seems to be stuck in this loop as well, so I hope they get out somehow for both Paper Mario and Mario & Luigi 6.
I don't have many hopes for the Super Mario movie because of this, but hopefully the director knows about the old rpgs to look for reference instead of just taking the SMW storyline and going with that.
(The saddest thing is that most of the original Paper Mario did just come from SMW. They just added a couple new species and worked around the limitations they had, instead of just accepting they could not)
[I know that by teen you probably meant just dark, edgy, or too serious stuff, and for that maybe Super Paper Mario would qualify. But I think running away from aspects of yourself or your past feels like a very teen thing to do as well]
In the case of Brawl I saw it as a way to make the game's graphics seem better from the last entry while there wasn't that big of a jump tech-wise. Also to fit in better with the new human characters like Snake.If it's possible for Super Smash Bros. to have a "Teen Phase", then Brawl probably fits the bill.
The colors are much more muted than in the previous and subsequent games, the main theme sounds more serious and has more gravity to it then what we got in Smash 4 and Ultimate, especially in the main menu where you'll hear it the most, and I'd argue that even though Smash Ultimate also has a story mode about fighting back against a world destroying threat and saving characters that have been turned into trophies, the environments for SSE often feature what I would call darker areas (like the lab or the ruined castle) and the army of horrifying proto-KIU monsters are certainly creepier than the copies of characters you fight in World of Light.
Just compare Mario's render:
It happened again from Smash 4 to Ultimate. In Smash 4 the textures were less prominent in favour of colours, but they went back to texturing more for Ultimate.
Bowser looks GROSS due to this in Ulimate, I miss his bright coloursI think Donkey Kong had this phase where they wanted to run away from anything related to DKC2-3 and 64, but they turned around for Tropical Freeze and I hope the next game, whatever it is, hits that sweet spot of old and new without limiting the old to just 1 game.
Mario seems to be stuck in this loop as well, so I hope they get out somehow for both Paper Mario and Mario & Luigi 6.
I don't have many hopes for the Super Mario movie because of this, but hopefully the director knows about the old rpgs to look for reference instead of just taking the SMW storyline and going with that.
(The saddest thing is that most of the original Paper Mario did just come from SMW. They just added a couple new species and worked around the limitations they had, instead of just accepting they could not)
[I know that by teen you probably meant just dark, edgy, or too serious stuff, and for that maybe Super Paper Mario would qualify. But I think running away from aspects of yourself or your past feels like a very teen thing to do as well]
In the case of Brawl I saw it as a way to make the game's graphics seem better from the last entry while there wasn't that big of a jump tech-wise. Also to fit in better with the new human characters like Snake.
It happened again from Smash 4 to Ultimate. In Smash 4 the textures were less prominent in favour of colours, but they went back to texturing more for Ultimate.
Well, it's debatable, but in my opinion OP limited the term "teen phase" quite a bit, not every teen is edgy or darker, but maybe there are some that prefer things louder and dumber. Like you said, F&F, or the action Resident Evils would fit more on that description.
Hitman Absolution.
The whole story is like some crazy Grindhouse movie
KOTOR 2 for me.
KOTOR 1 was pretty much exactly what I wanted from Star Wars when it came out (I think it came out just after AOTC). It felt like a return to the tone and adventure of the original trilogy of movies that had a lot of great planets to explore with their own fun conclusions.
But KOTOR 2 took a way darker approach to everything that I know some people love, but I couldn't stand it. Every time you try to do a "lightside" choice that game goes out of its way to shit on you for being a goodey-two-shoes.
"Don't give that homeless person money, they're just going to get mugged because of you!"
"Don't help resolve these people's conflict, our mission is too important to worry about other stuff."
"Why did you try to rescue me you idiot, I got captured because I WANTED to be captured, now you've ruined everything!"
Even the world's you go to lost their charm in favor of being grimdark. Dantooine became half destroyed and brown, you go to skeezy dark city areas, or just bland space station type areas.
I only made it 20 hours in (got a game breaking bug after 20 hours that I couldn't fix, even after all the PC patches), but I barely had any urge to continue even if the game hadn't broken.
KOTOR 1 was pretty much exactly what I wanted from Star Wars when it came out (I think it came out just after AOTC). It felt like a return to the tone and adventure of the original trilogy of movies that had a lot of great planets to explore with their own fun conclusions.
But KOTOR 2 took a way darker approach to everything that I know some people love, but I couldn't stand it. Every time you try to do a "lightside" choice that game goes out of its way to shit on you for being a goodey-two-shoes.
"Don't give that homeless person money, they're just going to get mugged because of you!"
"Don't help resolve these people's conflict, our mission is too important to worry about other stuff."
"Why did you try to rescue me you idiot, I got captured because I WANTED to be captured, now you've ruined everything!"
Even the world's you go to lost their charm in favor of being grimdark. Dantooine became half destroyed and brown, you go to skeezy dark city areas, or just bland space station type areas.
I only made it 20 hours in (got a game breaking bug after 20 hours that I couldn't fix, even after all the PC patches), but I barely had any urge to continue even if the game hadn't broken.
I like .Hack//GU story, but I can't deny that they up the dark edge factor by quite a lot. It says something when the main character is known as a PKK (Player Killer Killer), and wields a chainsaw sword. Even the previous MC wasn't spare from this as his avatar got reconfigure to look like this, with him also getting shark teeth.
Last edited:
Pokémon Gen 6 had other problems, some of which still persisted or even got amplified in Gen 7, but man did they really try to make it dark and edgy in a really dumb way. They were pretty clearly trying to replicate Gen 5, but the writing quality just wasn't there and they went way over the top. Lysander's plan basically boils down to "I'm gonna kill everyone but me" and he's going to do so with a superweapon powered by the souls of Pokémon. A superweapon that ended a war 3000 years ago. It even sort of leaked into ORAS a bit with the Delta Episode and the heavily revised Sea Mauville bit.
It's sort of fitting that when Mega Evolutions got Pokédex entries in Gen 7, they all ended up pretty grimdark. The whole generation they're from has issues with tone.
It's sort of fitting that when Mega Evolutions got Pokédex entries in Gen 7, they all ended up pretty grimdark. The whole generation they're from has issues with tone.
That's a pretty sweet Cobra Commander.How about Maverick Hunter, that cancelled Mega Man FPS?
Exactly what I thought of when I saw this thread. I was mega hyped from that first reveal trailer at E3, it was clear we were in for a chainsaw full of edginess.