Religious faith in videogames

[J T]

I just read through this article at kotaku and it got me thinking. What games have really tackled the issue of religious faith? I'm not a religious man, but I think the issue of struggling with wether or not to place faith in a belief system is an interesting topic. Actually, I don't even care if that belief system is necessarily religious or not, it may be philosophical or scientific or personal. I'm just interested in finding games that have a theme of questioning how we interpret reality and struggle to find truth. Any suggestions of games that deal with this topic?

And, no, Bible Adventures doesn't count, even though it's bad enough to make a die-hard Christian question their faith.

[MrPopo]

Many JRPGs tend to have an evil church, which can probably be tied to the history of Japan and outside religious influences. I can't recall a single "church" that was relatively benign or benevolent... maybe Xenogears.

[J T]

Many JRPGs tend to have an evil church, which can probably be tied to the history of Japan and outside religious influences.

That's an interesting point. I'd never quite thought about it that way, but religion in videogame worlds often does get filtered through a Japanese cultural lens.

[Luke]

Many games tackle faith, not many really tackle a specific religion.

This thread makes me want to play a little Actraiser.

[J T]

A few games come to mind for me.

Actraiser on the SNES was a game where you basically were a God. You had to cultivate your civilization and take on a human warrior form to protect your people. Your strength in battle was contingent upon the faith of your following. This sort of suggests a struggle with faith in the town's inhabitants. Unless their God does is beneficent and protects them from evil, they will start to lose faith in his existence. Interestingly, the God's power also depends on the people's faith. Who creates who?

Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne on the PS2 is another game with a lot of religious aspects to it, except it's not exactly holy since everyone is a demon fighting for power in a post-apocalyptic society. You still have to decide which philosophical Reason you most identify with as move along in your adventure. Do you believe in Oneness? The Self? Or Dominance and Survival-of-the-Fittest?

[Limewater]

A few games come to mind for me.

Actraiser on the SNES was a game where you basically were a God. You had to cultivate your civilization and take on a human warrior form to protect your people. Your strength in battle was contingent upon the faith of your following. This sort of suggests a struggle with faith in the town's inhabitants. Unless their God does is beneficent and protects them from evil, they will start to lose faith in his existence. Interestingly, the God's power also depends on the people's faith. Who creates who?

I don't think "who creates who" is really the question here, since the original inhabitants of each land appear to be placed there by the "Master." I think the more interesting aspect of Actraiser is the way the human characters react to the "Master." The ending, in particular, was a great reflection of the human view of the relationship between G_d and man. I'll hold off from spoiling it here, though.

[Reverend]

The only religion I want from my games (or life) is from Castlevania.

[Merz]

Let's join the Cult of Kefka.

or the Mormon's in Earthbound?

[Anayo]

Shining Force III had an evil cult in it. Bulzome, I think they were called?

[Luke]

I thought FFX was full of religious undertones and references, although it didn't associate the religion to a specific sect.

Spoiler:
I thought the ending to Mario Galaxy was kind of religiously creepy.