Is CERO secretly incredibly lax? I thought they've been pretty strict on violence and gore in the past (like in zombie games), but I guess Ace Attorney games usually just show the aftermath, and at best you see a pool of blood.

On the other hand, I know the ESRB is really weird about blood (a shooter gets a T for Teen rating, as long as no blood comes out and there is no dismemberment, even if you're blasting dudes in the face for the entire game) and any nudity whatsoever is automatically an M pretty much, but it still baffles me that this game is getting an M for Mature rating.

Unless the last case in the game is some super intense rape-murder trial, I really can't imagine that anything in an Ace Attorney game would be at all inappropriate for a 13-year-old.

What are you talking about? This game is rated C in Japan. Previous games were rated either B (Ace Attorney 1 and 3) or A (Ace Attorney 2, 4)

It could be that the game has some anime esic fan service. Like you said sexuality is like an auto M rating

@taku128 said:

Alright, my bad, basing this entirely on the Giant Bomb wiki. It lies!

The wiki currently says it is A.

Edit: And now this post is a lie, because it has been corrected.

Without going into spoiler territory, there's a certain plot point that's a much more sensitive topic for Americans than Japanese.

@bocam said:

THEY TRY TO TAKE AWAY PHOENIX'S GUNS!?!?!

I do know Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne was rated CERO A in Japan and M in America, so it has happened.

You know it.

Seriously: It's because the plot features terrorism

@bocam: That may be so, but hasn't it already been established that the ratings -aren't- really that different for this game? It's a difference between an American M and a Japanese C. Both America and Japan rated it a bit harder this time.

A C is for 15 and up. It's a darker Ace Attorney game

Exactly. It's getting a higher rating than previous titles in every region. So, Japan goes from B to C 15+ and the US goes from Teen to M 17+. Even Europe goes up to PEGI 16+.

It isn't just an instance of the US being especially touchy on something in the game; every region rating the game has given it a step above the previous games. It's simply an acknowledgement of the fact that it's darker than the previous titles.

There are a couple of scenes in this game that are a bit more intense than the previous titles, and they also have animated cutscenes, including one where you see the guy getting killed, though it doesn't show anything harsh there.

I mean, it could be that? Though I think it has more to do with the gruesome scene from the final case.I could see the small kid being covered in blood, and all the related inferences that sprouted up around it, being just disturbing enough to make the violence rating more severe. Not to overplay it, but it's definitely more graphic than past games have gotten.