Final Fantasy Tactics is a double edged sword. While I do agree with you I could also say that is the usual stuff. Ramza being whiny and emo about his family and brothers and thinking about Delita and such. But given the time he has to improve his character and grow as the main lead I do also agree that he is more mature than most other FF heroes.

Drakengard would have been a lovely game if it hadn´t been for the really bad fighting mechanics :( Baroque is a game I haven´t played but from the looks of the story it gives thought to a lot of interesting stuff.

And yes. Variety is out there, but since they demand more from the player they are not as popular.

The characters evolve quite much in P4 :)

I haven´t played all Tales of games, but I can´t say that anyone but Karol in Tales of Vesperia acts like a kid. For good reasons since he is a kid. Yuri is not acting like a kid, he overthinks things.

For FFVIII I can defend Squall, being alone for so long and the whole emotional attachment is something to think of. I´ve been in the same shoes before I started opening up and it hurt like hell when I had to shut that bond of friendship down. It has taken me a long time to recover from that.

I wouldn´t say that Zidane is afraid of love. Tidus and Yuna feelt a bit fast. Oh she´s crying and I want to protect her only to get home to my own world, what do I do?

So it´s both give and take here as well.

**warning** this is a safe screen shot from an otherwise naughty site.

Maybe a better example of a game where characters act like kids is Tales. But Final Fantasy still has that sort of juvenile outlook where nobody thinks through any of their actions and everyone is terrified of romance.

I don't mind if the characters are young, but when young people are put in adult situations they tend to start thinking a little more like adults. Like, maybe when you're trying to save the world you stop whining about your daddy issues or worrying about whether you have f-f-friends.