Pokemon reborn suitability

[Harryp]

How old do you guys believe a person should be at least to play Pokemon reborn? I believe a person should be at least a preteen or a teen to play Pokemon reborn (11-13).

[seki108]

Probably in that range but not higher.  You won't find that much more violence in here than most PG-13 action flicks  or any suggestions that a teen won't have already heard at some point........  

[kithas]

I think the limiter is more the skill (I wouldn't have enjoyed Reborn when I was 11 because I wouldn't have been able to advance) than the "darker" content, because a surprising amount of media aimed to that range is actually pretty dark.

[Juice]

I think Terra alone puts this game in upper PG-13 land. 

[Chase]

In my view, Pokémon Reborn falls somewhere between "E for Everyone 10+" and "T for Teens" - with my lean currently toward making the game suitable for teenagers and upward due to the nature of the following content.

 

• Violence: Reborn differs from the main series Pokémon titles in that there are scenes within the game that feature hints of "strong" violence, with a few of them insinuating death. The most profound violent scenes that come to mind are the deaths of Kiki and Ame, with Ame's death in particular featuring blood spatter (if I recall). Both attacks on Kiki and Ame are witnessed by the player firsthand. On top of that, Titania slaughters a few Meteor grunts with Aegislash off-screen, but the player encounters the fallen grunts when they arrive at the Water Treatment Center. Erring on the side of caution - the minimum rating that can be expected on account of the theme of violence should probably be "T" - mostly due to the presence of blood and the insinuation of fatality that can be found.

 

• Crude Humor: Reborn also alludes to suggestive themes and makes light of them. It is important to distinguish that crude humor and sexual themes are not one in the same however, so when someone mentions Terra's incredibly graphic language, it should probably fall here, as opposed to sexual themes, which would seemingly be more in line with things like partial nudity and the act itself. After all, Terra and to a lesser extent Cain speak the way they do with at the very least a secondary function of trying to provide levity. I'll cover Cain in another segment, but Terra's incredibly blunt description of things she claims to do with Ciel could be debated as an instance of crude humor. Other areas are not sexual in nature but allude to violence. Solaris mocking Cal over Kiki's death. Fern talking about Corey after his. These instances are all varying degrees of where Reborn uses crude objects to inject somewhat funny moments into the story. Again, erring on the side of caution, the rating on account of crude humor should probably be "T" - 13 years is the expected age for crude humor to begin being acceptable in the VG industry currently.

 

• Sexual Themes: Reborn isn't particularly shy about mentioning sexual acts, and has a few characters that even deviate from norms (either for comedic effect or for the sake of progressive views on sex many other games don't particularly share currently.) It also doesn't offer straight cheesecake. While Terra and Cain run their mouths on the matter, there isn't any instances where the imagination is totally thrown out the window. Players are left to imagine for themselves Ciel covered in ketchup or if it is really better with the lights off or not. The game doesn't offer graphic nudity, and there definitely isn't any actual sex. I think when you boil it down - innuendo is highly present, but Terra leaps from innuendo to a verbal mention of exactly what she means. This makes it a debate on if Terra herself is strong enough to push Reborn - solely on account of sexual themes - from "E for everyone 10+" (where innuendo is fair game) to "T for Teen" (where more concrete mentioning is fair game.) I would say that Cain is an "E for everyone 10+" character. With a libido yes, but most of his dialogue is dependent on suggestion, not straight talk.

 

• Strong Language: Reborn's outright worst content offense in my humble opinion is the amount of characters that use profanity. I believe there's at least a couple more than Saphira and Charlotte Belrose, Terra, Blake, and Titania (perhaps her brother Hardy when he's visibly upset?). Regardless on whether or not people agree with me on that statement, the kind of content that is most liable to push Pokémon Reborn towards a Mature rating isn't the violence or the sexual allusion, but its use of strong language. There are multiple characters in the game who employ it, with a few somewhat regularly. If I were to advise any revision for a ratings board - toning the language down would be the it.

 

On top of those things, there are a few more matters of interest. Team Meteor is a terrorist organization that makes use of explosives and causes extreme pain to people and Pokémon alike - which is a step up from most main-series evil organizations in level of severity. The game actively encourages the player to join a street gang to progress the plot. The game features simulated gambling - which is seemingly benign - but has resulted in the closure of the Mauville City Game Corner in OR/AS and the lack of one in later generations of Pokémon games. There's also the allusion to illegal/harmful (take your pick) drug use prevalent in Reborn City and the player able to find said paraphernalia and exchange it for a side-quest. Theft is encouraged.

 

At the very least, Pokémon Reborn is a game one should not pick up until they are at least 13 years old - with a high suggestion that parents make their children aware of the kinds of things Reborn offers beforehand. If not, it's a game for high-schoolers, that deals with high-school level issues such as stress, depression, drug addiction, loneliness, broken families, fatal violence, and sexual content. I wouldn't say that it's a majority "M-rating" game, but the language used along with the envelopes being pushed can be shocking for unprepared parents and players.

[Lil' Sunny]

if you're talking purely age rating based on content, then E10+ or T would be ideal there's nothing to warrant a higher rating (no extreme violence, no nudity implied or otherwise, no heavy sexual content)

 

But as said before, Skill is the main factor, i know when i first started pokemon back in diamond soloing through the game like the naieve kid i was with just an infernape i certainly wouldnt have enjoyed a game as punishingly difficult as Reborn. it requires thorough knowledge of the ins and outs of pokemon to a borderline competitive degree as well as making the best of limited resources (in this case limited pokemon availability for a good chunk of the game) and studying the field guide to strategise against it as well as the enemy pokemon.