They have a lot to do with religion. Or did you mean, "What do Bloodborne and Dark Souls have to do with Christianity?"
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Advise me a good game about religion
- Thread starter Jingo
- Start date
They have a lot to do with religion. Or did you mean, "What do Bloodborne and Dark Souls have to do with Christianity?"
MetalGearZed
Member
Does The Witness count?
Haven't finished yet though.
Haven't finished yet though.
Bayo is kind of a weird one, but I have to admit the moment I was sold on the game was in the beginning sequence when the "good vs. evil" trope is revealed to be flipped. Considering you're a witch murdering angels and all.
Kind of a plot-hole heavy series but it approaches the whole demons vs. angels things in a really fun way.
Reckheim
Member
Ehh, unpopular opinion, it was my favorite bioshock game because they went there.
Loved the story.
Most of the games in this thread aren't really about religion itself. They are either about ecclesiastical structures or use religious mythologies as an aesthetic theme.
A game that actually does a good job of incorporating a religious subjectivity is King of Dragon Pass.
Civ and Europa Universalis do a good job of looking at religious choices from a more macro sense. Specifically EU does a good job of emulating how states chose religion in the aftermath of the reformation.
A game that actually does a good job of incorporating a religious subjectivity is King of Dragon Pass.
Civ and Europa Universalis do a good job of looking at religious choices from a more macro sense. Specifically EU does a good job of emulating how states chose religion in the aftermath of the reformation.
Elitist1945
Member
Zoo Race
I would say both have more to do with myths which is only the most superficial element of religion. The real subversive part of Dark Souls isn't in any religious epistemology but instead in taking prophecies at face value. Darksoul questions how we play games and how we understand our relationship to the world and story we are interacting with.
x Dredgen Yor x
Member
Grim Fandango is the only answer.
MetalGearZed
Member
yeah, thats what i was thinking
It's a real pity that games don't tackle the subject well. I think interactive art is the best medium for actually addressing religious subjectivity because its the best medium for exploring decision making within epistemological frameworks. I mean that's essentially what game systems make.
I love SMT games but outside of the ending of Nocturne I don't think any of them actually deal with religion itself very well. That's fine as I don't think they are particularly interested in that subject so much as religious organizations being committed to certain world views and the folly of ideology in general.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resistance_theory_in_the_Early_Modern_period
This is the other problem with games addressing the topic. It's still too much of a contentious subject. Religious people generally aren't very good at abstracting a step out from their religion and looking at a bigger picture unless they are scholars, and non religious people generally aren't very good at accepting religion as something that can be an internally consistent and reasonable worldview.
I love SMT games but outside of the ending of Nocturne I don't think any of them actually deal with religion itself very well. That's fine as I don't think they are particularly interested in that subject so much as religious organizations being committed to certain world views and the folly of ideology in general.
So, just like in real life?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resistance_theory_in_the_Early_Modern_period
This is the other problem with games addressing the topic. It's still too much of a contentious subject. Religious people generally aren't very good at abstracting a step out from their religion and looking at a bigger picture unless they are scholars, and non religious people generally aren't very good at accepting religion as something that can be an internally consistent and reasonable worldview.
This sounds super cool.
It's interesting that you would say that because Nocturne is in my opinion the only SMT that actually deals with religious thinking in a meaningful way instead of just churches.
SixStringPsycho
Member
I have not seen a Darksiders recomendation here.
And OP are you talking about any religion?
God of War is about Greek Mythology or their religion for that time.
Im currently writing one that involves Scientology, hopefully I get it out
And OP are you talking about any religion?
God of War is about Greek Mythology or their religion for that time.
Im currently writing one that involves Scientology, hopefully I get it out
Mythologies and religions aren't the same thing. Greek myth is simply the most superficial level of what Greek religion was.
Bayo seems like a stretch to me unless you consider anything featuring angels and/or demons "about religion". Fantastic game, but not really qualifying if you ask me.
I could definitely be wrong since it's been a long while since I last played it, but I was under the impression that Nocturne focuses more on personal philosophies than actual religion. Hell, I think christianity proper wasn't even present outside of Metatron.
I think the cataclysm was caused by a cult, but my memory of its influence in the new world is fussy.
I could definitely be wrong since it's been a long while since I last played it, but I was under the impression that Nocturne focuses more on personal philosophies than actual religion. Hell, I think christianity proper wasn't even present outside of Metatron.
I think the cataclysm was caused by a cult, but my memory of its influence in the new world is fussy.
Morrigan Stark
Arrogant Smirk
Well of course, by definition it can't be those things. Internally consistent, I guess in theory it could (the Abrahamic religions sure ain't), but reasonable, lol no.
I mean it absolutely can be. I have a feeling you haven't read much in religious studies or theology. The ease with which you are dismissing this doesn't suggest you've ever given it a fair shake. And I'm saying that as someone who has not been religious since I was a small child.
Your use of by definition is particularly troubling. Nothing about any sensible definition of religion means that they cannot be consistent and reasonable within themselves.
The attitude here is exactly the one that makes serious inquiry into religious thought very difficult. I teach early modern history and by far the most difficult thing to get across is taking religion seriously.Religious students tend to assume that everyone in the past conceived of religion in their, actually relatively extremely secular way. Non-religious students start with the assumption that people were either dumb or vulgarly using religion merely to further their own secular ends.
Each of the paths is a distinct religious understanding of the place of the individual and the world around them. That's true in pretty much every smt but Nocturne is the only game that actually investigates those world views themselves with any depth. Though that's most because the support characters actually have depth. The paradigms involved are also more nuanced than Law, Chaos, True Neutral, and Humanism.
Pancake Mix
Copied someone else's pancake recipe
Tales of Zestiria and Tales of Berseria have religious undertones and terminology.
JimmyRustler
Member
Everything maybe? I mean, very soon you discover that there is a Healing Church and your first goal is to get to the Grand Cathedral in Cathedral Ward where Vicar Amelia is praying when you meet her.
Have you even played the game?
The game does the normal JRPG thing of focusing more on ecclesiastical structure and the relationship of church to society than religion as an epistemology or subjective experience. Religion is more of a setting and aesthetic than a subject of investigation.
CraigerGamer
Member
Crusader Kings II
GoldenCrow
Member
if that was the question (which it wasn't) then the healing church in Bloodborne has a lot of parallels with catholicism. Besides the names such as vicar, father, cleric, church, cathedral, etc, it is a religion that uses blood in ritualistic ceremony, it has a bad relationship with intellectuals yet a strong connection, images of crucifixion throughout, and a violent tendency towards another group that use the same foundation for different teaching that is begins at a castle and is supported by royalty.
Kent
Member
Ikaruga is highly metaphorical of the journey to achieving Nirvana. The poetic intros of each stage can be more clearly read in the HD re-releases on Steam/XBLA.
DOOM is certainly something relating to the occult, and such things get more significant and relevant as you progress further into the game.
BioShock Infinite is an okay game (but not a great one, for a few reasons), but the religion aspect of the story and setting (as well as the extreme racism that coincide with it) hit uncomfortably close to home as someone that spent about a decade living in the southern US.
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow is a great game (and very meaty, as well) that deals with some issues relating to in-universe religions. The series overall generally has pretty religious overtones in a lot of ways, but generally keeps it fairly light and used primarily as theming, rather than any sort of substantial story focus (e.g. anointed weaponry, throwing crucifixes, bibles, and apparently-highly-combustible holy water).
Xeno-anything tackles religious concepts to some degree, and Xenoblade Chronicles is definitely the best game in the meta-series (and, really, a game you should probably play anyway, simply because it's so good).
NieR: Automata touches on the concept of religion in a couple places, including one story arc involving the development of a religion to a group that wasn't previously invested into the concept. This is on top of all of the philosophical concepts it gets into.
Black and White was a game about you actually being a god, and inspiring people to believe in you as such. Believers are a resource that you need in order to continue to be a god, and a god without believers ceases to exist. It's by Peter Molyneux, however, so don't expect it to live up to its description.
Bravely Default has this as well. A major part of the setting is a contentious religious practice, the Crystal Orthodoxy, and the conflicts that arise as part of its existence, continuation, and goals for existing. It's complicated, to say the least (without spoiling it). Also noteworthy for having one of the most creatively-solid interpretations of a turn-based combat system for a JRPG.
I'm trying to generally avoid listing games where the story arc can be boiled down to basically "Hey, look, it's the deity that this religion worships... Turns out it's evil LOL better kill it," mainly because it's so cliché, and a lot of RPGs seem to go down this route as pretty much the way it touches on the subject. Any potential veracity notwithstanding, it's a pretty shallow way of handling a concept like religion, that could be explored in a far more interesting way.
DOOM is certainly something relating to the occult, and such things get more significant and relevant as you progress further into the game.
BioShock Infinite is an okay game (but not a great one, for a few reasons), but the religion aspect of the story and setting (as well as the extreme racism that coincide with it) hit uncomfortably close to home as someone that spent about a decade living in the southern US.
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow is a great game (and very meaty, as well) that deals with some issues relating to in-universe religions. The series overall generally has pretty religious overtones in a lot of ways, but generally keeps it fairly light and used primarily as theming, rather than any sort of substantial story focus (e.g. anointed weaponry, throwing crucifixes, bibles, and apparently-highly-combustible holy water).
Xeno-anything tackles religious concepts to some degree, and Xenoblade Chronicles is definitely the best game in the meta-series (and, really, a game you should probably play anyway, simply because it's so good).
NieR: Automata touches on the concept of religion in a couple places, including one story arc involving the development of a religion to a group that wasn't previously invested into the concept. This is on top of all of the philosophical concepts it gets into.
Black and White was a game about you actually being a god, and inspiring people to believe in you as such. Believers are a resource that you need in order to continue to be a god, and a god without believers ceases to exist. It's by Peter Molyneux, however, so don't expect it to live up to its description.
Bravely Default has this as well. A major part of the setting is a contentious religious practice, the Crystal Orthodoxy, and the conflicts that arise as part of its existence, continuation, and goals for existing. It's complicated, to say the least (without spoiling it). Also noteworthy for having one of the most creatively-solid interpretations of a turn-based combat system for a JRPG.
I'm trying to generally avoid listing games where the story arc can be boiled down to basically "Hey, look, it's the deity that this religion worships... Turns out it's evil LOL better kill it," mainly because it's so cliché, and a lot of RPGs seem to go down this route as pretty much the way it touches on the subject. Any potential veracity notwithstanding, it's a pretty shallow way of handling a concept like religion, that could be explored in a far more interesting way.
Religion can definitely be entirely reasonable based on personal experience and available information. Whether most expressions of religion in a modern, western context can be described as that is another conversation.
Not everything that is true is reasonable, and not everything that seems reasonable turns out to be fact. Of all things it's science that has shown us that.
My vote goes to Shivah as well.
Its a short point and click game.
Can't really think of any other game that treated religion in a serious manner.
Games like bioshock and dead space are more about cults than religion. And I would argue they simply use those as the archetypal evil rather as an actual religion.
Its a short point and click game.
Can't really think of any other game that treated religion in a serious manner.
Games like bioshock and dead space are more about cults than religion. And I would argue they simply use those as the archetypal evil rather as an actual religion.
SolicitorPirate
Member
From the bolded, I'm assuming you are looking for games critical of organised religion. If so, Final Fantasy Tactics is basically all about the politicized church.
If you are looking for games that are more concerned thinking about the nature of faith and religious belief, I strongly recommend Dragon Age Inquisition
Muffdraul
Member
First game that comes to mind is Xenogears. I remember when Square announced it in Japan, they said they probably wouldn't release it in the west because it had religious themes that would be considered way too controversial. And that it was also about awesome super robots. Instantly went to the top of my 'must import' list. If you play it, know that in the English localization they changed "the Church" to "Ethos."
PeskyToaster
Member
Medieval II Total War has some decent religion mechanics.
Dragon Quest? Well, you can fight God in 7 but it's more of a friendly challenge...
birthbystars
Member
El Shaddai
BobNewbert31
Member
Oh thanks, did not realize that, thought I remembered it not getting great reviews at the time. I enjoyed playing it and was sure there would be a sequel with the way it ended.
This is true. Any Tales game us proof of this.
mcz117chief
Member
This. Most of the games mentioned only have religion as one of it's many aspects of lore but That Dragon, Cancer is all about how a religious family copes with a terrible tragedy.
This was gonna be my vote. Slightly overbearing at times but if you're looking for a game about faith, this is it.
The Emperor's tarot, and you better take it seriously lest the Inquisition comes to visit!
Nah all kidding aside the Warhammer Universe, especially 40k, has some great religious critique and is a lot deeper than people think. From nature religions of the gaelic (Wood Elves) until Norks Religions and Germanic Traditions (Dwarves and Norsemen).. until the Catholic Church and all the facets that it comes in (The Emperor Cult, and all the different primarchs and how they can have different followers.).
They often lampoon it, but most of the stuff about the Emperor cult is actually based on historical events al be it a bit over the top
. But for instance that your descendants can be seen as guilty of a crime you committed? Yes that was a thing, heck in North Korea that is still a thing!Even the Chaos factions aren't that evil when you read up on it, and Chaos undivided is actually a group that believes in moderation
. The funniest thing is like Jesus, the Emperor in 40k is misunderstood. He wanted scientific progress, Logical thinking and compassion as a path for humanity . Not much of that is left is there 
. It also shows that much of Christianity is actually inspired from Sun worshippers in both Rome and Egypt before Rome ...All with all it's a good laugh, so load up your Dawn of War or whatever Warhammer Fantasy battle game, and if you find something like a penitent engine, or flagellation? Look it up, much of it is actually historical based
.klabautermann
Member
Almost the entire mainline Shin Megami Tensei games and a good portion of their spin-offs are about several religions and different contradicting views and themes of Law and Chaos. No one really does it better, imo.