Final Fantasy XVI may be series’ first mainline game with a mature rating

digitaltrends.com:

Final Fantasy XVI may be the first entry in the mainline Final Fantasy series to get a Mature rating from the Entertainment Software Rating Board.

At least, that’s what series producer Naoki Yoshida (aka Yoshi-P) is aiming for. In an interview with GameSpot, Yoshida responded to the question about the implied nudity in the trailer shown during Sony’s recent State of Play showcase.

He noted that Square Enix is not trying to secure an M-rating for the sake of making Final Fantasy XVI more violent or explicit than previous entries, but rather he deems the game getting a higher age rating as necessary to be able to weave mature themes into the story.

Although he acknowledged game ratings are in place to protect younger gamers from age-inappropriate material, he lamented that those ratings are becoming too restrictive with what can or can’t be shown on screen. “You find yourself changing things that you wanted to do in the game based on that rating,” Yoshida said. “You wanted to show something, but because you have this certain rating that you need to go to — you need to move the camera away.