I don't think this is the best attitude for game design. It implies that complexity is per se a virtue in an adult game.Somebody would rather a little number of attributes and this is right for board games or TTRPGs for +7 children
But there are adult-oriented RPGs that have simple attribute arrangements. PCs in Cthulhu Dark have a profession (free descriptor) and Insanity. That's the sum total of its PC build system.
PCs in Wuthering Heights have Rage, Despair and Age/Decrepitude (it's called "Oldness" by the author, whose first language is French)
Prince Valiant supports adult as much as (maybe better than) juvenile play. PCs have Brawn and Presence as their two attributes, and then skills chosen from a list of about 30.
If you're going to have a complex PC build system in a RPG, I think you want a clearer sense of your design goals than "not for children".
In A Wicked Age use 6 attributes: Covertly, Directly, For Others, For Myself, With Love, With Violence. When we played it the zombie's highest attribute was With Love - the walking corpse was driven by a longing to find it's forgotten lover.Go the route of Fate Accelerated. Use "modes" instead of ability scores. (Forceful, Clever, Quick, Sneaky, Flashy, Careful or pick another set of descriptors.) Which is also used in some Cortex+ implementations. This may seem like an odd direction, but it really does open up things like the Clever Fighter.
Choosing the right set of descriptors goes right back to the question what is the design goal?
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