I'm afraid I have to disagree with you. You are incorrectly attempting to link "good, engaging story/narrative" with "ERSB Rating". I have grounds in this respect, being a storywrite myself. According to the ERSB.org database, a game is labeled "M for Mature" under the conditions that a video game contains "intense violence, blood and gore, sexual content and/or strong language." Whereas a meaningful and engaging story needs not these things, rather they require conveyance, emotion, narrative, motivation, context, interaction, themeing, and an understanding of the human psyche.
Let's take a look at some example of games with timeless stories that weren't rated M.
- Final Fantasy (The Franchise)
- Earthbound
- Prince of Persia: Sands of Time
- Chrono Trigger
So while a game with a good story can be rated M, do not fall under the fallacy that a game must be rated M for there to be a good story in it. It is misconceptions like these that will only further take the game industry down the path it is currently on with regards to story elements. The industry, in its current state, seems to equate good story to "lots of cool/violent action scenes" and/or "shock value". For someone like myself, I find their mentality on the subject to be borderline offensive.
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Don't forget Uncharted!
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I'm surprised ffvii was T. There is cussing, sexual references, gore (shotty graphics gore but gore nonetheless), dark plots, implied nudity. So much.
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Earthbound should have been m. Did you see the stuff in there?
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Oh god... Earthbound...
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Well, bungie had to scrap the good story where the traveler betrays us because of the T rating. [spoiler]So there.[/spoiler]
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Would that of made it rated m?? If so that just plain stupid I can even grasp that concept