Final Fantasy XVI gets Mature rating for sex, drugs and hate crimes

Square Enix’s upcoming RPG Final Fantasy XVI received a Mature rating in Brazil. According to the Sistema de Classificação Indicativa Brasileiro, the game received the rating for its sex scenes, drug use and fantasy hate crimes.

The information comes from a Reddit post that shared and translated a post from the game’s rating page on the Brazilian Ministério da Justiça (Ministry of Justice and Public Security) website.

According to the site, Final FantasyXVI features a number of “extenuating circumstances.” These include sex scenes (not fully shown), “intentional death,” torture scenes, drug use, prostitution, sexual content (both shown and discussed) and hate crimes. (Read: Final Fantasy XVI finally has a release window)

The presence of such content lines up with FFXVI producer Naoki Yoshida has previously stated.

“When trying to tell a story with difficult adult themes, these ratings can end up becoming somewhat of a hindrance. And you find yourself changing things that you wanted to do in the game based on that rating,” Yoshida stated in an interview with Gamespot.

“This time, to make sure that we could tell the story that we wanted in the way that we wanted to, we decided to pursue a Mature rating in most of the regions that will be releasing the game,” he added.

Of course, this isn’t the first time that these themes and topics have appeared in the franchise. Despite having a Teen rating in most regions, Final Fantasy VII Remake also had a fair amount of mature content with its language, suggestive themes, as well as alcohol and tobacco use. That game also featured the protagonists being tortured, involved in sex trafficking and witnessing and taking part in terrorism.

Meanwhile, Square Enix updated the guidelines for the hit MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV (also under Yoshida) last year, allowing players to partake in consensual and private erotic roleplaying. The caveat was that these could only be “conducted in a private area.”

With Final Fantasy XVI getting a Mature rating, it seems that Square Enix is now open to these topics being discussed more openly and taking a bigger stage in its flagship RPG franchise.
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