Religion in Video Games

[Kiju]

Religion is at best a touchy subject overall. Some people dislike it to a level that talking about it is terribly offensive, and same goes vice-versa for people who follow a religion. There's definitely a fine line where places could actually put religion into a game, and usually they make up a religion based off of a real-world one that's existent.

Okami, by Clover Studios is based off the Japanese religion of Shinto, very heavily in fact. But, they make it fun and even got me a little interested in the religion, to the point that I've started researching it. I believe religion in games normally takes an undertone to the primary game elements, usually just using it in certain sayings and exclamations; like how some people will say "Oh God..." when looking at something that horrifies/surprises them in some games, even if the character/world's actual religion is never detailed.

Myself...I'm Agnostic (look it up ), so...I'm pretty 'sure, whatever' about it, so long as they don't force-feed me what religion is best in their opinion.

 

[Matt_LRR]

what is your guys opinion about Religion in video games? Do you believe that developers should be able to put their own religion into their games or do you think they shouldnt be allowed to becuase it would stir controverous.

I mean,I am christian and I dont like the evolution theory and it was in the bio for Humans in ME2/1(I believe so) but yet I dont feel offended or anything, if thats what the creators think is the truth that is fine I dont care and the game series is still one of my favorite ever.

with respect, evolution is one of the most thoroughly scientifically documentented processes on record. It is tanamount to scientific fact. It is not an example of religion in games.

That you would consider it worthy of mentioning is an example of your reading the game in context with your own religion, not of the developers placing their religion in the game.

That said, I'm all for exploration of religious themes in gaming. go to it.

-m

 

[RJ Dalton]

Religion exists in the real world, so it has a place in games as character background and world detail elements. Even as devout a Christian as I am, however, I strongly feel that games (and other forms of entertainment media) should not be used as a way to try to convert people. Such attempts always fall into the trap of being overly-didactic, which causes it to lose a great deal of its merit; it become more about trying to convert people than any actual ideas it may have had.
And, really, you can't convert people through movies and games anyway. If someone doesn't want to believe in something, a movie about the glories of one religion or another isn't going to convert them. It will be dismissed by those who don't believe the religion and those who do will gain a shallow pleasure at best.

 

[Sjakie]

I dont care what religion they are but zealots always make for fun killings in games.

suddenly im thinking about the church level from Postal...fun times

 

[tklivory]

One of my favorite modern uses of 'religion' was Cursed Mountain on the Wii. Really tried to evoke the whole Tibetan monk/Buddhist aspect without making it a game only about mantras.

(Oh, and Okami. But then, Shinto appears in a lot of Japanese games without us realizing it.)

And don't forget the constant allusions to Indian mythology in the Final Fantasy series.

I am all for using religion/spirituality as an aspect of gameplay and/or story. Proselytizing? Not so much.

 

[waxwingslain]

Seems to me that when anything religious appears in a game, it's just for imagery or mystique (Xenosaga took this pretty far). In cases like that the "religous" elements are pretty innocuous. On the other hand, it's also possible to engage religion seriously - Final Fantasy X, for instance, it incorporated the themes of sin, atonement, and a chosen caste (and the light and dark spots within their ranks). I'm all for that; I think that regardless of your religious persuasion, exploring these ideas artistically is a valuable thing.

I wonder what a Shinto would think of Okami.

 

[Del-Toro]

I'm personally fond of the use of ancient religious or current mythos in videogames, if it's done well. Not big on preachy tangent about why the pope is evil or religion is yadda yadda yadda just regurgitating Richard Dawkins blah blah blah. As an agnostic I can't say I share the anti religious views commonly expressed on all forums. I mean I'm not directly on the other side of that arguement but you see where I'm going with this.

 

[SonicKoala]

As long as it isn't preaching anything, then I have no problem with it. The mere prescence of religion shouldn't offend anybody, and if it does, they are being way too uptight.

 

[Del-Toro]

.

I wonder what a Shinto would think of Okami.

These are people who are diametrically opposed to enforcing their religion, and given that it features their primary diety kicking ass and tearing out tracheas with her razor sharp wolf teeth, I don't think they would mind too much.

 

[Flames66]

I have no problem with religion being involved in games as long as the main character can choose not to be involved with it.

As long as they don't throw it in my face and say "YOU SHOULD BE THIS RELIGION OR YOU'RE GOING TO HELL!!!!ELEVEN!!" Then I'm fine.

On a related note, I loved the 'Jesus loves me' rhyme from Bioshock. I wish they had kept it in the second...

What rhyme was that?

I threw it into my original post

Jesus loves me this I know,
For the Bible tells me so,
If he hollars let him go,
And bingo was his name-o!

Congratulations sir, that was hilarious. Here, have a cookie

Spoiler

^_^

 

[SupabadMan]

It can be there, but I wouldn't mind it at all.

 

[grimsprice]

GAH, you don't believe in evolusionism! your moron!!!1! Creatsionismers R stupider then Peter Griffin... lolz.

Just kidding. So long as any religious opinions are kept below the "propaganda line" i'm totally cool with it. We're thinking beings, and the only sovereign thing we have is our minds. Think what you want, but don't push it on anyone else. Not even your kids, and especially not others through mediums like movies and games.

 

[Prof.Wood]

If it is used well and not like "ohh no the main character is dead don't worry we still have the power of prayer/god/god's/spirits" (delete as applicable) then they come back to life better and holier than ever its ok.
(I'm not the biggest fan of religion but I don't get offended by its existence so why shun it entirely, ya know?)

 

[Arachon]

I wonder what a Shinto would think of Okami.

Well... Okami does suffer a bit from... Adaption Decay [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AdaptationDecay]... If you will. For example, Amaterasu never fights Orochi, in fact, Susanoo was the one who killed Orochi, after being expelled from heaven for messing with his sister, the sun-godess... Amaterasu.

So yeah... Okami does draw on a lot of names and such from Shinto, but isn't really reflective of Shinto myths... But it's ok... because Okami was awesome!

 

[XMark]

I'm an atheist, although I do think that religion has its place in games. The best examples I can see recently are in Bioshock and the Assassin's Creed games.

One part of Bioshock's storyline was a conflict between religion and objectivism, as evidenced by the bibles and other religious items that had to be smuggled in.

And Assassin's Creed 1 and 2 were set during time periods where religion played a huge role in politics, architecture, war, and daily life.

You could also think of things like God of War as having a religious background, albeit a dead religion currently thought of as mythology. I'm wondering what it would be like if current-day religions were treated as mythology to build a narrative from. I'd love to see a game that takes place in the holy land around year 0. Something like the old Hollywood biblical epics (Ben-Hur, Barabbas, etc)

 

[Ekonk]

It adds to the experience obviously. Wether it is depth or hilarity. (See the Children of Atom)

 

[Nuke_em_05]

Whatever religion, sure. It is fiction. Even if you play a crusader, there are also games where you play nazis, games where you play gansters, and games where you play journalists. In every game, you play a role, and you accept the realties of that role.

That applies as far as a game as literature or entertainment. A game that is pure propaganda, well, it isn't a game anyway.

 

[Bored Tomatoe]

I didn't like how in Dragon Age: Origins, I couldn't play a human who openly renounced the maker. That was just one little thing that bugged me...