List of Catholic Themed Video Games

[SergioRJ]

The other thread became kind of convoluted. Dava4444 suggested starting a list and I think it is a good idea for people who are interested in such games and don’t want to skim through a 5 page thread.

Anyway, I am listing games that showcase the Catholic faith as a part of its theme and setting, and off course, portray it in a friendly and positive light. Please contribute to the thread if you know of such games that qualify, I will update the list when possible. Games with such themes are actually quite unusual…

- Castlevania series: These games contain a lot of Catholic imagery and themes. In Castlevania III Belmont prays before a cross before chasing after Dracula, Frankenstein and the classic villains of the series. All games in the series contain such imagery. Catholic sacraments are used by characters as weapons, power-ups and etc.
** - Fahrenheit (aka: Indigo Prophecy)**: One of the main characters of the game is a Catholic priest. This character serves as the main moral compass as the story plays out and the section of the game where you control him is full of religious themes.
- Dracula: Path of the Dragon: The main character is an italian priest sent by the Vatican to post-WWI Romenia to investigate the case of local miracles. Needless to say, he ends up facing up against good old Dracula. A full version of the Latin Vulgate can be acessed and read through the character’s inventory through most of the game.(Warning: there are two versions of this game with differing qualities. Play the original one)
- Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers: Failed pulp writer discovers he is heir to a centuries old bloodline of catholic inquisitors and witchunters, ends up facing a murderous voodoo cult in New Orleans. The game is full of Catholic imagery and themes and quite certainly one of the best point and click adventures ever made.
- The Black Mirror Trilogy: Tells the saga of the Gordons, the cursed descendants of a medieval crusader that struck a deal with the devil. Religious themes abound specially in the third and final game, with exorcisms and the Vatican playing a role in the plot. Both protagonists are(or eventually become) Catholics.
- Adam’s Venture: A series of episodic games developed as family-friendly Christian games.

 

[SergioRJ]

Many of the games mentioned in that thread were “anti-secular” or “had christian values”, without actually showcasing religious themes. I am not sure if I should list them. What do you think?

 

[RicardoSene]

It’s a great surprise to know Indigo Prophecy and The Black Mirror Trilogy contains Catholics references in a good way.

I have these games listed in my wishlist (Indigo Prophecy actualy I have it already, but didn’t play yet), but never knew they carry something good related to our faith.

I have one Gabriel Knight game, but not this one you mentioned. I couldn’t get much far from the begining of the game, but for what i’ve seen at the time, it doesn’t looks like the game would portray a positive view of the Catholicism.

Anyway, I’ll follow this thread for any possible adition.
Regards.

 

[SergioRJ]

Hey Ricardo,

There are 3 Gabriel Knight games. The first and the second(“Sins of the Fathers” and “The Beast Within”) are filled with Catholic themes and imagery, and portray the Catholic faith very positively. Both games have scenes in churches and cathedrals, and scenes where the main characters pray. That is itself quite uncommon in games.

You must be talking about the third and last one(“Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned”). It doesn’t necessarily portray Catholicism in a bad light and it is once again filled with Catholic themes. But I wouldn’t put it into the list or call it Catholic friendly because it contains the run of the mill conspiracy theories about the “bloodline of Christ”. It was released before the Davinci Code and it was one of the first works of fiction to be influenced by the many publications with such theories that came about in the 80’s.

While I actually liked the 3rd game, that one aspect of it obviously made me cringe, and might ruin the game for some catholics. Don’t let it keep you off from the first and second games though, they are really good adventure games and contain no such nonsense.

Jane Jensen, the author and designer of the games, is an agnostic fascinated with european history, religion and occultism. So I guess we need to give her a break on the third game, specially since it is well acknowledged to be the least good of the series and was THE commercial flop that made sure Sierra never made point and click adventure games again. Jensen also fell on hard times since then. She published only one game in the last 12 years and is struggling to make a comeback with her own studio now.

I think I remember an interview of hers from a few years back where she said she actually regretted using that as a fiction artifice, because after the Davinci code it became somewhat of a cliché.and the comparison always comes up when people remember that game.

 

[RicardoSene]

Yes, the one I was talking about must be the 3rd (I have a Portuguese version box, which contains the subtitle “Sangue Profano”)

I remember the game having something related to a conspiracy about to the Saint Graal, but again, didn’t went too much far, and I’ll play it again sometime in the future.

Also, it’s interesting how you have knowledge, and how you bring information about the authors of the games. I believe this is important for us to know, It helps us understand why a game turns into a specific direction or not. Games are nothing more that a creation of ppl with personal ideas, and this can turn into a good or a bad game, morally speaking.

 

[SergioRJ]

You should play Gabriel Knight 1 first. It is the best game of the series by far and if you start by 2 or 3 you won’t understand a lot of what is going on.

Gk1 is avaiable in several abandonware sites, and if you can’t get it to run on dosbox, you can buy a version compatible with windows 7 and xp on gog(www.gog.com) for 5 dollars.

 

[dava4444]

Sorry to bump this…sorry

but it has annoyed me for a while, this person started a new thread using my name in his post, and while I was talking to him at the time about what he should do, he took NONE of my suggestions, but still put my name in his post.

I do not endorse might and magic games.

The original thread is here: forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?p=9202020#post9202020

I still would like a list of Catholic/Christian games, perhaps even Muslim or Abrahamic

David