The topic of religion came up in the "What Video Games Have You Been Playing" thread, and I thought it was a topic worth exploring a bit more. I'd like to see a constructive conversation, so if we have to bring up cases where it's handled particularly badly, let's also try to think of ways it could be handled better. Otherwise, I'd suggest looking at those cases where it's handled relatively well and why those cases work.
We're probably going to have to deal a lot of plot spoilers here, but let's still give a little warning.
I haven't put a ton of thought into this as yet, but I guess I'll offer one example of when a game uses elements of religion relatively respectfully. I don't know if it's a particularly good approach, but if none of y'all have better examples, at least we'll have this one:
One approach I've noticed tries to be inoffensive while still making use of the church as a part of the game's world. In games like Tales of Symphonia and Dragon Quest VIII [SPOILER ALERT], you run into a number of people affiliated with the game's church, a good number of whom are clearly good, but the corruption and corruptibility of that church also play a significant role in the plot's development. In Dragon Quest VIII, for example, both Abbot and later the Pope figures have a vaguely defined faith in the goddess that is the sole member of the game's pantheon, invoke that faith when confronted by the game's villain, and overall seem to be very good people, but there are also corrupt characters around them, one of whom usurps first the Abbot's position and then the Pope's. There are also bits about torture and indulgences and bribes and such, but those are mostly centered around the one or two clearly corrupt religious authority figures, and you run into so many priests/sisters over the course of the game (they are the game's save points) in addition to the clearly good religious authorities that it's hard to say the overall portrayal of religion is bad, but it's also not a particularly deep treatment.
We're probably going to have to deal a lot of plot spoilers here, but let's still give a little warning.
I haven't put a ton of thought into this as yet, but I guess I'll offer one example of when a game uses elements of religion relatively respectfully. I don't know if it's a particularly good approach, but if none of y'all have better examples, at least we'll have this one:
One approach I've noticed tries to be inoffensive while still making use of the church as a part of the game's world. In games like Tales of Symphonia and Dragon Quest VIII [SPOILER ALERT], you run into a number of people affiliated with the game's church, a good number of whom are clearly good, but the corruption and corruptibility of that church also play a significant role in the plot's development. In Dragon Quest VIII, for example, both Abbot and later the Pope figures have a vaguely defined faith in the goddess that is the sole member of the game's pantheon, invoke that faith when confronted by the game's villain, and overall seem to be very good people, but there are also corrupt characters around them, one of whom usurps first the Abbot's position and then the Pope's. There are also bits about torture and indulgences and bribes and such, but those are mostly centered around the one or two clearly corrupt religious authority figures, and you run into so many priests/sisters over the course of the game (they are the game's save points) in addition to the clearly good religious authorities that it's hard to say the overall portrayal of religion is bad, but it's also not a particularly deep treatment.
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