Religion in Video Games [Research Collection]

[Tepp-a]

Some of you might already know what this will be about.

 

Background information

In the course of my degree,I am going to write a paper this semester about the use of religion in video games with a priority on japanese mythology. It will probably be around 20-40 pages, depending on what my secondary tutor approves - but this area could very well go towards my master thesis and because the topic is actually very interesting I will just collect every research on here, regardless of if I can use it for my thesis or not.

I am still at the very beginning of this all, basically I woke up and thought "this is cool" and that's it. I have no thesis, no structure, nothing. This might change. Hopefully.

 

Before people start critizising on something unrelated: this post does not qualify as an academic research. I will not use this as a basis for my research. This is mainly to spark ideas,  create interest, and be a point of info for anyone who wants to learn more.

 

Status-log

Spoiler

05.31.2018: need to cut this short for now because my battery is running low

06.06.2018: updated to recent posts

 

The Aim of this Post

My goal is to make this post a collection of information for anyone who is interested, with your help because obviously as a community you have much more knowledge and range than I do as a single person and I can't play every game there is. So the idea is, you post what you can think of and I will summarize everything I/you/we find in this post. I'll keep this updated as long as anyone is interested.

 

Your ideas can be literally anything. It can be related to plot, setting, characters, design/outfits/scenery, anything as long as it has a reference to religion. There will be seperate sections for non-fictional and fictional religions. (will probably end up in a lot of collapsibles)

 

References

For reading:

Spoiler

• Playing with religion in video games (2014) "https://books.google.dk/books?hl=en&lr=&id=UKBrAwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=video+games+religion&ots=zNPsmGrMLk&sig=_ot71ISMTPNFjDIMvD81MARB_ns&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=video games religion&f=false "
• Studying Religion in Digital Gaming. A Critical Review of an Emerging Field by Grieve, Gregory Price; Campbell, Heidi (2014) "https://heiup.uni-heidelberg.de/journals/index.php/religions/article/view/12183"

• Religion in Digital Games. Multiperspective and Interdisciplinary Approaches (2014) "https://heiup.uni-heidelberg.de/journals/index.php/religions/issue/view/1449/showToc"

• Video Games and Religion by Rachel Wagner (2015) "http://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199935420.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199935420-e-8

For listening/watching:

Spoiler

• Podcast: The religious studies project by DAVID MCCONEGHY (february 14, 2016) "http://www.religiousstudiesproject.com/podcast/video-games-and-religious-studies/"
• How is religion portrayed in video games? http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2012/04/10/how-is-religion-portrayed-in-video-games/
• Several Gaijin Gonbaah videos of this playlist

 

Religious references in Video Games

 

Non-fictional references

Spoiler

• Persona
  • Persona 4: Starter-persona Izanagi refers to the gof of creation in japanese mythology, izanagi(no kami/no mikoto)
  • Praying at the shrine leads to stat or confidant boosts 
  • Persona 4: the Fox as a kitsune messenger, who pleads in front of Inari on the worshipper's behalf
  • Shin Megami Tensei - Shin means "New" , Megami means "Godness", and Tensei means Reincarnate, which is a religious title in itself
• Naruto games
  not sure yet if I will add this because it's anime-based. But several jutsu's are based on japanese mythology (the list is long)
  • Susanoo - the god of the underworld
  • Amaterasu - the goddess of the sun and emperor over life on earth/day (dependant on source and interpretation)
• Okami
  • Amaterasu - goddess of the sun
• ActRaiser
  • The bosses are based on real-world religion or mythology, such as greek mythology and hinduism
• Dante's Inferno
• Castlevania Lord of Shadows
• God of War
  • greek pantheos
• Final Fantasy

  • Shiva is based on a Hindu God Lord Shiva, 

    Odin (Summon in FF series, Odin sphere video game): God in Germanic mythology

    Lakshmi in FF VI, XIV, XV: Hindu goddess of wealth

    Ifrit: Islamic mythology

  • FFX: Has temples (Hindu, Buddhist) , Summoners pilgrimage (Christianity), prayers, the Hymn of the Faith, "Sin" in reference to sin in Christianity, the sign of Yevon and the way people greet and bow... the whole story, Aeons and concept are all based on Buddhism and Hinduism.  Yevon also seems to be a form of fictional religion thats very strict.

  • References to god in FFXIII series, such as Bhunivelze as the god of light that gives birth to all living things, goddess Etro etc. In Lightning Returns there was a new religion Vanille was leading called the Order of Salvation, with traitors being called Heretics. It seemed like an extremist group to me.

• Tales series

  • Innocence has religious concepts such as reincarnation based on Hindu beliefs, Anju one of the main characters being a Sister with churches noted throughout the game, and the concept of Divine World.

  • Many other Tales games feature churches, where you can even have your characters do a confession of their sins to the Priest inside. Hearts R, Innocence R, Symphonia, Zestiria and Berseria all have churches and a religion in the game, probably based on Christianity judging from the confession principle, design of the churches and priests. 

• ...

 

Fictional references

Spoiler

• Zelda games
• Populous
  • (first) god-mode game
• Black and White
• Mass Effect (Andromeda)
• Bloodborn
• ...

 

Unsolved

these are games I am not sure yet, mostly because I haven't found out what they refer to yet (because I haven't played the games myself?)

Spoiler

• Overwatch
  • character skins and background stories
• Asura's Wrath
• Nioh
• Final Fantasy series
• Darksiders
• Skyrim
• Dragon Age

• Disgaea games feature Heaven called Celestia, Netherworld, demons, angels and reincarnation.

• Pokemon games

  • shinto-sytled shrine

• ...

 

Edited June 6, 2018 by Tepp-a

[StrickenBiged]

On Persona (and bearing in mind that I've only played P4 and P5), you could reference how both games have a shrine that the player character can visit, and how this is a gameplay mechanic which can boost stats or social/confidant links. I would guess that this has some link back to the real-world effects and value that such places and rituals are understood to have in Japan?

 

I was just wondering if that could be more significant as an example of a real-world religious practice actually informing the gameplay, rather than just the iconography or art of a game...?

[Tepp-a]

10 minutes ago, StrickenBiged said:

On Persona (and bearing in mind that I've only played P4 and P5), you could reference how both games have a shrine that the player character can visit, and how this is a gameplay mechanic which can boost stats or social/confidant links. I would guess that this has some link back to the real-world effects and value that such places and rituals are understood to have in Japan?

 

I was just wondering if that could be more significant as an example of a real-world religious practice actually informing the gameplay, rather than just the iconography or art of a game...?

Yes this is perfect, it obviously is a reference to shintoism, not even a subtle one!

 

I also remember the Hermit confidant being a fox, who shows up at the shrine with messages(quests). This could very well mean that the shrine is a Inari shrine, where fox statues usually represent kitsune messengers. They're said to plead in front of Inari in behalf of the worshipper's requests. They also usually have a little neckerchief never thought about that before.

Tbh I think there will be a lot in Persona. Just have to think about it a little haha

[MMDE]

Final Fantasy X is pretty much all about criticism of organized religion.

[Durandal]

Well, I am somewhat of an atheist first of all. I do have some weird concept of religion and entities that govern the existence of everything. Not that it matters much for you topic. Anyway I always understood religion in games or fantasy fiction as a concept to ground the story or world in, at least partially. Or at least to give it context somehow. There are games where religion plays a more or less important role, other just make use of it to grand the player some skill or temporary buffs. Some games just put religion in to give the world some meaning. But it usually is random stuff that has been said again and again. Like Skyrim, or a lot of other RPGs, where religion is basically a copy of the ancient religious system we had, or still have according to some. Anyway, the only reason is to have some sort of lore or add another chapter to it. Beside that it is just meaningless nonsense if you look at it closely. A god or a bunch of them did this and that and they usually fight each other bla bla bla. Oh and of course they are always there to explain the world somehow. That's probably the majority of games that have religion in it. Why? Well there is never a consequence for your action. That's the strange thing really. Even with games where you have a lot of gods and they obviously play some active part in it you can still things that clearly are against their doctrine or dogma and nothing ever happens! For instance if you can kill innocent people in a game and there is a god that condemns this why is it you can still do it without being punished? Then there are games that turn religion into a skill system. Or they grant you spells based on the class you choose. The typical light spell for example. Or you can choose to pray to a god at altars in the game world to receive a buff. That's not religion in my view. That's just game mechanics with another name.

 

The only game I played where religion itself had a strong meaning was Dragon Age. Especially the last one but the first one made strong use of it too. Anyway what makes this game actually a partially religious game is the world and lore was very well crafted. Of course it is basically a copy of the same old story and heavily inspired of our believes and mythology. But what separates these two games from the ones above is that you actually experience a world where people really believe in this god or the other. It also plays an important role of the story, mostly in the last one. And to be honest it is a bunch of crap. Not because it is badly written but because it badly implemented. Right from the start you have no choice but to become the messiahs of the whole world even though you can actually say a few times you don't want to be it. You can even say that you don't care! It doesn't change the story one bit. I do realise that this would have been a huge undertaking for the developers to come up with such a huge story that changes on these big decisions. But why bother to give me a choice in the first place? Anyway, the game still does a good job to come up with a believable religious system or background.

 

Then there games that turn this into the main story. Like Baldur's Gate or Divinty, the enitre series is the same in this regard, where you are either an offspring of that god and can become one yourself or become the next I don't know ... half-god? But that's basically the same concept behind most games anyway. Win the game!

 

So in the end I don't think there is any game that actually has religion in it. Just some form of lore or explanation for why this or that exist. Or why you fight at all. But that's not religion that's just choice with another name or simply fairy tale. Why? Because no game that I have played has ever questioned the things I do. Or made myself questioned the things I do. Nor was there ever a situation where I felt there was some meaningful impact from these religious point of view. Movies do this much better even if they deal with a fictional religion. For instance, and that is just of the top of my head. Serenity which is the end of the Sci-Fi TV show Firefly. They had a preacher on board and his role was to question some of the things someone did or provide some sort of stability or just to put things into context. I never experienced this in any game ever. Even if you had a priest in your party. There was never really a discussion with this character about god or religion in general. I think that's because the game industry is simply to scared. Maybe to loose customers or become entangled in some form of scandal.

 

There are games that question your action in one way or another or at least let you experience the game somewhat differently then just the usual fun experience. Best example is NieR:Automata. But this is not because it made use of religion, it simply challenges you to think about what you are doing or did. Of course that's basically philosophy and not religion. Which in my view is the better form of religion anyway. And I would welcome it if games would do this on a regular basis. Of course there are quite a few games already that do that but there could be more.

 

Not sure if that rambling of mine helps you in anyway but here we are.

 

P.S. Maybe I should add that this my general view of the topic as I hardly have any real or in depth knowledge of any actual real world religion.

Edited May 31, 2018 by Durandal

[Metal Slime King]

Not sure how far back you plan on going but Populous was an old PC strategy game that introduced (?) a god simulator mechanic where you have to maintain your believers and their faith in you was your currency to use against competing god entities. This game spawned some similar type games, I remember hearing about Good and Evil, I'm sure there are others. A game called Actraiser for the SNES had simplified god simulator gameplay sandwiched between side scrolling action levels. Actraiser 2 did away with the sim bits and the overworld was just a level select but the idea that you were playing as a god who would animate statues on the ground was kept. The levels were patterned on the seven deadly sins. More recently Dante's Inferno was an action game with heavy christian influence and also involved the seven deadly sins. The Castlevania reboot series Lords of Shadow have a strong christian connection. The Darksiders series are most comparable to christian religion but with so many additions as to be it's own fabricated religion. There are angels and demons which are two distinct races so presumably there is a God and a Satan but there is also Counsel of Balance which somehow has more power than either faction and a race of Nephilim (?) which are angel/demon cross-breeds. I haven't played the third game but it patterns itself after the seven deadly sins and I'm interested to see how they are implemented since the game universe took liberty with the four horsemen of the apocalypse, to be fair though, pestilence and famine would've been horrible video game protagonists.

 

Of course there's God of War, where Sony's fan-fic insert demi-god Kratos kills the entire Greek pantheon of Gods then in the latest game moves over to killing the Norse pantheon (?) haven't played the latest game so I don't know anything about it.

Edited May 31, 2018 by Metal Slime King

[Lava_Yuki]

i don't have a religion, would probably classify myself as Athiest but have come accross religious stuff in many FF games in particular.  

FF Series:

Shiva is based on a Hindu God Lord Shiva, 

Odin (Summon in FF series, Odin sphere video game): God in Germanic mythology

Lakshmi in FF VI, XIV, XV: Hindu goddess of wealth

Ifrit: Islamic mythology

 

FFX: Has temples (Hindu, Buddhist) , Summoners pilgrimage (Christianity), prayers, the Hymn of the Faith, "Sin" in reference to sin in Christianity, the sign of Yevon and the way people greet and bow... the whole story, Aeons and concept are all based on Buddhism and Hinduism.  Yevon also seems to be a form of fictional religion thats very strict.

 

References to god in FFXIII series, such as Bhunivelze as the god of light that gives birth to all living things, goddess Etro etc. In Lightning Returns there was a new religion Vanille was leading called the Order of Salvation, with traitors being called Heretics. It seemed like an extremist group to me. 

 

Amaterasu, in Ookami and also FF is the Japanese sun goddess.

 

In the Tales series, Innocence has religious concepts such as reincarnation based on Hindu beliefs, Anju one of the main characters being a Sister with churches noted throughout the game, and the concept of Divine World. 

Many other Tales games feature churches, where you can even have your characters do a confession of their sins to the Priest inside. Hearts R, Innocence R, Symphonia, Zestiria and Berseria all have churches and a religion in the game, probably based on Christianity judging from the confession principle, design of the churches and priests. 

 

Disgaea games feature Heaven called Celestia, Netherworld, demons, angels and reincarnation. 

 

Shinto Shrines feature in Persona 4 Golden, since its based in Japan where Shinto shrines are a common site. Izanagi is also Shinto Diety. 

 

Shin Megami Tensei: Shin means "New" , Megami means "Godness", and Tensei means Reincarnate, which is a religious title in itself. 

 

There are shrines and Shinto style architecture in Pokemon games, notable Bell Tower in Ecruteak city, and Celebi's shrine. 

 

 

[Bloodytears1666]

The best look on religion in game I ever knew in Castlevania Lords of Shadow. 

[RevengeancePrime]

Bloodborne has religious undertones. I believe Dark Souls does as well to a degree, although they don't have to do with Japanese mythology.

[Tepp-a]

On 31/05/2018 at 7:06 PM, Metal Slime King said:

Not sure how far back you plan on going but Populous was an old PC strategy game that introduced (?) a god simulator mechanic where you have to maintain your believers and their faith in you was your currency to use against competing god entities. This game spawned some similar type games, I remember hearing about Good and Evil, I'm sure there are others. A game called Actraiser for the SNES had simplified god simulator gameplay sandwiched between side scrolling action levels. Actraiser 2 did away with the sim bits and the overworld was just a level select but the idea that you were playing as a god who would animate statues on the ground was kept. The levels were patterned on the seven deadly sins. More recently Dante's Inferno was an action game with heavy christian influence and also involved the seven deadly sins. The Castlevania reboot series Lords of Shadow have a strong christian connection. The Darksiders series are most comparable to christian religion but with so many additions as to be it's own fabricated religion. There are angels and demons which are two distinct races so presumably there is a God and a Satan but there is also Counsel of Balance which somehow has more power than either faction and a race of Nephilim (?) which are angel/demon cross-breeds. I haven't played the third game but it patterns itself after the seven deadly sins and I'm interested to see how they are implemented since the game universe took liberty with the four horsemen of the apocalypse, to be fair though, pestilence and famine would've been horrible video game protagonists.

 

Of course there's God of War, where Sony's fan-fic insert demi-god Kratos kills the entire Greek pantheon of Gods then in the latest game moves over to killing the Norse pantheon (?) haven't played the latest game so I don't know anything about it.

wow thanks a lot, this sparked a lot of ideas. I don't have a time-period i wanna focus on, so anything from any time on any console or pc is welcome.

I haven't found anything on Good & Evil, but i remember Black & White. The aspect of a god-mode is actually super interesting.

how could i forget dante's inferno omg..

 

On 31/05/2018 at 6:56 PM, Durandal said:

1. Anyway I always understood religion in games or fantasy fiction as a concept to ground the story or world in, at least partially. Or at least to give it context somehow. [...]
2. There are games where religion plays a more or less important role, other just make use of it to grand the player some skill or temporary buffs. Some games just put religion in to give the world some meaning. But it usually is random stuff that has been said again and again. [...]
3. Well there is never a consequence for your action. That's the strange thing really. Even with games where you have a lot of gods and they obviously play some active part in it you can still things that clearly are against their doctrine or dogma and nothing ever happens! [...]
4. Then there games that turn this into the main story. Like Baldur's Gate or Divinty, the enitre series is the same in this regard, where you are either an offspring of that god and can become one yourself or become the next I don't know ... half-god? But that's basically the same concept behind most games anyway. Win the game!
5. I think that's because the game industry is simply to scared. Maybe to loose customers or become entangled in some form of scandal. [...]
6. There are games that question your action in one way or another or at least let you experience the game somewhat differently then just the usual fun experience.

Happy to see you have such a strong opinion on this! Hope you don't mind that I cut down your post a bit for the sake of making clear what I'm answering to.

 

I don't completely disagree but here are some points I noted

1. I think this is one of the main purposes religious concepts have in video games: to give a frame, a context. It creates a univerese that we (usually) know and understand without having to indulge in big introductions. I'm not a religious person myself, but I do think that having a religious background makes it easier to judge a charakter, situation, etc.
2. I'd call this the secondary function, again you are completely right. As you noted, these two serve the game mechanic and gamplay aspect of video games.
3. This is where I'd say things get complicated. Rather than just noting down how religion is used in video games, we should ask the question 'why are they portrayed the way they are?'
   The simplest question for the lack of consequences would be: it's complicated to implement. However, I'd go as far as say that every decision developers make is an choice, be in conscious or subconscious. Why did developers deem in unnecessary to build in consequences?
4. "Win the game" - that's usually what makes a video game a video game most of the time tho. However, there are god-mode games that leave you open to all choices and consequences and don't really have a goal. I don't remember the name anymore, but I remember playing a game on PC where you could choose stuff like demanding sacrificies and in consequence people would be scared of you, or do nothing and people would stop workshipping you etc. Maybe I can find the game name somewhere at some point....
5. YES. obviously the game industry has the mass as an audience. I'll look into some indie games regarding this but with commercial games, it's definitely a matter of not wanting to offend anyone. America even had a law well into the 90s that prohibited releasing a video game if it was deemed "offensive" - from a white, male, american perspective obviously!
   But then there are religions that are not at all treated well in video games. Just look how muslim (or eastern) religions are portrayed...
6. On a sidenote i am playing mass effect andromeda rn and I think i offended some characters because i don't believe LOL

this is a big topic, and one could argue it into oblivion LOL but tbh the fact that most of the commercial games are built from a western or east-asian perspective should be kept in mind when it comes to representation.

 

 

Also, thank you for any other comments!!

[Durandal]

Thanks for answering my post.

 

You raised some interesting questions and points there. I think most developers just shy away from portraying religion in a game other then just a tool or lore. And it is fair to say that most people in general don't really care about the topic. The developers in response don't bother because it would use up too much resources. But it could make some interesting new aspects and not just some cool things like it usually is. Take the four horsemen for example. They are among the most favorite mythology depicted in games or even any other story, at least I think so. Unfortunately this is all just a cool thing to put in a game without much meaning. Of course a game is primarily an entertaining product and therefor not something that can be used to teach or introduce something as complex as religion or even philosophy.

 

However there are games that do go beyond this. One is Dragon Age, as I mentioned before, and the religion depicted there goes way beyond the usual background lore. It is actually necessary to understand it in order to comprehend the game. And it does this in a way that is both entertaining and informative. BioWare actually created a fully functional religion if you will, and you can feel it because it is present throughout the game. They didn't even shy away from confronting the player with many aspects of it when you interact with the world and it's people. In any case what sets this apart from many other games is that you can choose to integrate this in your gameplay and play a religious character, at least partially. But what I find most impressive is how they integrated this religion into the story. In Origins for example you meet Leliana who is very religious for her own reasons. At one point you can destroy or safe a very important item and her reaction is far more profound than I would have expected. There are many such examples in all three games, but the first one is definitely the best in terms of religious concepts in games. Unfortunately they did a poor job with Inquisition because they failed to respect the most obvious choice you could have picked, namely not to become this messiah. Anyway, I think this is a very good example how a fictional religion in a game should be depicted.

 

As for real life religion, you are right it is basically the christian aspect that is present in most games. But for most games it is again just some extra lore or a symbol to justify a cool game concept, take Darksiders for example. There are of course games that do this right but I haven't played any because they are usually not on my radar. However I found two that might be interesting to look at. The first is The Shivah in which you play a Rabbi and explore themes related to the Jewish faith. The second is a game based on the Greek Mythology and is one of the few games I actually noticed when it was released and it is still somewhat on my wishlist, the game is called Apotheon.

[Stardroid]

Outlast II is a game that has religion in it very heavily. It may also be a game of interest to you as you can find scripture and notes from villages as collectibles. It's not one of the Abrahamic religions, but heavily relies on them. It's a custom religion based on te prophet Knoth (in game). The game is very graphic, though, but it may be worth checking out.

 

Everybody's Gone to the Rapture also has a religious viewpoint that may be worth exploring.

 

Shadow of the Colossus Wiki: "Dormin is "Nimrod" backwards, which could possibly refer to the Biblical king Nimrod who was said to be the originator of false worship. Also, Nimrod was to be credited with the creation of the Tower of Babel, a tower which led mortals into forbidden territory, the territory of God. King Nimrod's death resulted in his body being cut into multiple pieces and dispersed, similar to parts of Dormin's soul being held within the colossi. "

 

Jotun is a game based on Norse mythology and features Norse gods.

 

Journey seems to have religious influences

 

 

Edited June 7, 2018 by Starlove-

[Caju_94]

Curious that nobody talked about Assassin's Creed, which is a game with strong religious references in many ways, at least, in the Ezio triology, which are the games I'm mostly familiar with. I love the fact that they get real-life characters of history and then develop a fictional story around them. It made me curious got I researched a little about the Borgia in real life for example. It seems the game was somehow controversial to the Church, due to not only having religious references but for the Church being the antagonists of the series (yeah, let's just assassinate a pope!). I am Christian and have a friend who is way more into christianism than me. When I found he had Assassin's Creed I was like "Wow! That's cool!" and he asked me to not say anything because of the local priests and christians, because at the time, they the hatred towards Assassin's Creed was real!

 

Other curiousities involving Islamic references. LittleBigPlanet had a soundtrack where you could hear passages from the Qu'ran. Later, the game was patched and now you can't hear the vocals saying the passages, because they said the lyrics could be offensive to Muslims. Well... Some muslims proclaimed they were offended because of the lack of freedom of speech and did not agree with the removal of the lyrics.