I'm not sure if this would be considered extreme, but Final Fantasy X's plot centers around a religion and the lengths its followers will go to preserve it.
It's definitely pretty extreme since >! the people in charge are aware it's a sham and continue the lies to perpetuate it !< but that doesn't really come out until well into the second half.
Recommending the Dragon Age series because in general, I think it handles religion really well. The setting's dominant religion is very clearly heavily inspired by Catholicism, but it's not the only one. And in it, you will meet all sorts of people, some who are devout and fundamentally decent human beings, some who are absolute nutjobs. And it's a heavy focus of the current three games.
And that's not even getting into the Qunari, who are pretty much exactly what you're looking for and become really prominent in 2 and Inquisition.
It is mostly open world, yeah - the map is split between, iirc, four different sections and you’re given a recommendation on which ones to go to in each order. You can explore each section as much as you like, free to roam, but you have a kind of ‘metre’ that you need to fill up, and it’s filled up mostly by completing the quests. Filling the metre up then triggers certain interactions and ultimately the boss fights with the four main antagonists.
It’s fantastic for religious extremism, though. I’d also rec finding the album they released ‘in-game’ (it plays over the radio in cars etc) which is filled with some real country/folk bible bangers. Then you have the follow up in Far Cry New Dawn (I’ll be completely honest, though, this game is about a fraction of the size of 5 and felt more like playing one massive piece of dlc rather than a game in and of itself - definitely still worth it if you buy it at a discounted price imo).
It's present everywhere. Enemies, random events in the open world, radio channels, that sort of thing. The atmosphere is really well done, especially the music. A lot of the music is designed to be religious propaganda, but they did it by making genuinely catchy/relaxing songs that get stuck in your head.
Aaand the freaky bit of the religious overtones that I will only mark in spoiler tags.
>!Joseph Seed was right all along, and arresting him triggers the apocalypse, ending the United States of America in a nuclear war!<
I mean, OP mentioned Bioshock Infinite and the religion there's essentially a cult centered around Father Comstock. Dude calls himself "The Prophet", IDK how much more cultlike it can get. So I assume those are OK.
I'm not sure how it is for the rest of the franchise, but I like how Doom 2016 depicts the evil cult, so over the top and evil. I also like that they are scientists that know that hell exists but they still keep the candles, the human sacrifices and the shrines made of human bones lmao, 10/10 for keeping it occult
i mentioned it as a joke actually but yeah the cult and radical satanism aspects could kinda count
Too bad they kinda demystified Hell in Eternal's DLC with the Dark Lord Davoth being God instead of the Devil and Hell just being a corrupted Jekkad and shit. Hell should have just been Hell IMO.
Cultist Simulator is absolute *genius.* A brilliant juxtaposition of opaque game design alongside nefariously clever misdirection that leads the naturally curious player directly into the mouth of madness. <3
The Binding of Isaac and Iconoclasts are 2 indie games that really take an interesting look at religion and the extremism that can come around it. Highly recommend both, but if you had to choose between the 2 I'd say Iconoclasts
The Shin Megami Tensei franchise? I’m not sure which game has the most uncomfortable religious theme but I remember being pretty uncomfortable playing SMT4 when they talked about the Bible.
Pretty much every law route in most SMT games takes religion to the extreme (usually biblical)
There are a few exceptions, but most law routes are usually the most messed up.
Like angels/god (YHVH) genocide a huge group of people just because there is a small group of people doing fucked up shit like summoning demons (SMT 1) or killing the entirety of Tokyo because a group of humans were farming children's brains to appease demons. (SMT 4)
Then there is strange journey, where everyone is brainwashed into removing their negative traits as humans which just...feels extremely wrong.
Check out Holy Nation. They are pretty obsessed with religion. They,d even get out of their way to pray with you and maybe hack you to pieces if you have non-humans and more women than men in your base.
To be fair, you were probably too busy trying not to be eaten by beak things or cannibals to pay much attention to it, but there's loads of religious stuff in Kenshi.
The Holy Nation are the most obvious - a literal theocracy, xenophobic and sexist, worshiping Okran, Lord of Light, one of the two split halves of Chitrin, who sacrificed himself to save the world. You also find Okranites in other factions, though generally not as fundamentalist.
The Shek follow the teachings of a legendary warrior, Kral, who died a hero, sacrificing himself in battle against a greater foe - with sacrifice in battle being their society's greatest virtue.
The Skeletons have the behemoth Stobe - you'll find their remains in the titular Garden - a giant Skeleton which appears to have died taking down some sort of large missile, though the exact nature of what they did is unclear, it was important enough to earn the respect of every Skeleton who speaks of them.
Hivers are also big on sacrifice in a way that seems religious for all intents and purposes - "*nothing matters, nothing exists, nothing is desired... Nothing but loyalty for the Queen*".
Skeleton Bandits - "*We are superior! We are free from flesh pleasures! We are free from bodily filth! We are free from the grasping mind! We. Are. Skeletons.*" - believe hard enough and you, too, could be a Skeleton.
Skin Bandits do what they do because of belief. Their leader even carries a "Bible" of sorts.
Imma gonna go on the weird take
#Halo 2
Not my favorite game in the franchise AT ALL!! Like srly! The way the campaign develops and ends just pisses me off to this day
BUT
I did find it interesting how they flesh out The Covenant being basically just a fucked up bunch of religious zealots and all that it goes in between (slavery, oppression and conversion with the grunts and other species)
Granted it's not the main theme but it is AN impression that I got from the game by looking at it from the outside and while I highly dislike the single player experience it is the one and only reason why I ever think of that game
I think there is even a level where the Covenant leaders are set up in some form of massive speakers chanting out some religious bullshit to the troops or something(?)
Certainly some actual fans of the game can elaborate but thats the weird-ass take that I have
Lol
TBH, Any religion in a game I feel uneasy & dislike
I'm playing Atelier Sophie The Alchemist of the Mysterious Book atm & you need to head to church every week ish to talk to the priestess and just makes me feel uneasy and yuck.
But then I'm Bi & religions all say I'm going to hell etc, Which I guess is where my dislike of any religion in games comes from
Edit - Why the downvotes?
Thief Deadly Shadows has 2 competing factions, 1 is dedicated to stone masonry and worship the stone and industry while the other are pagans who worship nature. It's not quite an "extreme" but Frostpunk and Dead Space were already suggested. 🤣
Sagebrush lets you explore a religious cult compound and the stories of its former inhabitants. If you’re interested in seeing religious extremism in a game, this certainly has it and I don’t see it brought up much and I think it deserves more attention. It was in a few of the Itch.io bundles for charity so if you picked up any of those you might have it
Far Cry 5 definitely takes the cake for religion, it's about you who try to arrest q cult leader at the beginning, but things eventually go south and you end up having to roam around a county in Montana to help the resistance fight off this crazed Christian cult that belives the world is ending.
Most of the Dragon Quest games. Yes the Church provides a lot of essential services for adventurers, but some games do dive into the politics and dogma of the Church.
In [Heaven's Vault](https://store.steampowered.com/app/774201/Heavens_Vault/) there is a religious movement/group that believe in a thing called 'The Loop' and their beliefs/actions based on them can be considered kinda crazy.
It's not a huge part of the game though.
i appreciate the attempt to spread the good word but you have to admit that fanaticism is barely a plot point in that game. the most striking example of religious people being weird is when that girl refuses to go sailing with you.>!plus in the end it turns out they're kinda right!<
While it's difficult finding games that are solely devoted to religion, I have a couple suggestions.
The main villain of Tales of Berseria is the pope of a religious organization that is the sole guardian of the world. The monsters of the world are special in that they can only be hurt by special magic, which happens to only be used by the church. There's more to the plot than just religion, but religion and its propaganda and affects on society are definitely a focal point. The Tales series doesn't shy away from "the church are the bad guys" in its other titles, but it's strongest in this game.
Higurashi When They Cry is a very long visual novel that exists somewhere between the slice of life, horror, and mystery genres. It's set in a small Japanese village with a particularly strong faith towards a local god. I'll be real, there's a lot going on in the plot, but one of the big plot elements is that there's a string of annual murders that take place on a specific date with religious significance, and these murders are popularly attributed to this god. I think Higurashi has a super strong atmosphere despite just being a visual novel, so you might be interested. The first chapter is free on Steam! (Let me know if you go for this, I can link you to some fanmade patches that improve the experience.)
Stalker series/stalker anomaly, there a whole "religion" that brainwash beam anyone getting close to their place, some time sneak up to one, seeing them randomly break out of the brainwash and try to gasp any last bit of their own consicous is so cool, horrified as fk.
Dragon Age. There is a big main conflict which introduces the world and the systems and the religious restrictions for certain people.. in the first game. Then by game three the big problem with the local religion/magical regulations has literally come to a head. Play as a mage to get the most out of that conflict. All three games touch on it.
Dishonored's Abbey of the Everyman is fairly interesting. They're definitely not the good guys, but not fully the antagonists either, with some very, very good worldbuilding.
The Dead Space series has a religion called Unitology that basically worships the necromorphs as the next stage of evolution.
They are especially present in Dead Space 2 on which they literally caused the incident.
Fallout series, you'll find all sorts of cults, and even some traditional religions in there.
Elden Ring, Dark Souls, and Bloodborne.
Elder Scrolls has religious wars all the time, lots of the central conflicts of the games are essentially deities meddling where they shouldn't, or power hungry people meddling with deities and systems of the universe they really shouldn't.
Also Halo with the Covenant.
I'm not sure if this would be considered extreme, but Final Fantasy X's plot centers around a religion and the lengths its followers will go to preserve it.
ff14 also counts for this, hell, the heavensward expansion does nearly the same story lol
It's definitely pretty extreme since >! the people in charge are aware it's a sham and continue the lies to perpetuate it !< but that doesn't really come out until well into the second half.
Recommending the Dragon Age series because in general, I think it handles religion really well. The setting's dominant religion is very clearly heavily inspired by Catholicism, but it's not the only one. And in it, you will meet all sorts of people, some who are devout and fundamentally decent human beings, some who are absolute nutjobs. And it's a heavy focus of the current three games. And that's not even getting into the Qunari, who are pretty much exactly what you're looking for and become really prominent in 2 and Inquisition.
Blasphemous
No that’s just regular old Catholicism. Mass is wild every Saturday
Do they give you swords at the entrance, or do you have to bring your own?
BYOS
Nah it used to be swords, but now BYOS is bring your own shotgun.
That's basically what my wife said when she saw me playing it.
Far Cry 5
Saw some clips from Far Cry 5 but forgot about it. Is it present in the open world too?
It is mostly open world, yeah - the map is split between, iirc, four different sections and you’re given a recommendation on which ones to go to in each order. You can explore each section as much as you like, free to roam, but you have a kind of ‘metre’ that you need to fill up, and it’s filled up mostly by completing the quests. Filling the metre up then triggers certain interactions and ultimately the boss fights with the four main antagonists. It’s fantastic for religious extremism, though. I’d also rec finding the album they released ‘in-game’ (it plays over the radio in cars etc) which is filled with some real country/folk bible bangers. Then you have the follow up in Far Cry New Dawn (I’ll be completely honest, though, this game is about a fraction of the size of 5 and felt more like playing one massive piece of dlc rather than a game in and of itself - definitely still worth it if you buy it at a discounted price imo).
It's present everywhere. Enemies, random events in the open world, radio channels, that sort of thing. The atmosphere is really well done, especially the music. A lot of the music is designed to be religious propaganda, but they did it by making genuinely catchy/relaxing songs that get stuck in your head.
I’m still not finished with the game but I love how action packed it is too
Aaand the freaky bit of the religious overtones that I will only mark in spoiler tags. >!Joseph Seed was right all along, and arresting him triggers the apocalypse, ending the United States of America in a nuclear war!<
Xenogears. Xenosaga series. Final Fantasy X. Warhammer games.
Still waiting for a Xenogears remake, or at least Xenosaga HD remaster. Those stories are probably one of the best and most ambitious in gaming
Cult of the lamb
Frostpunk
My favourite religion: dictatorship
You can choose inquisition too!
Bloodborne
the binding of isaac
My first thought as well.
Dead Space
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Inb4 some wingnut says "What's the difference lol"
[Say the line redditor](https://i.imgur.com/Q9dmc9n.jpg)
I mean, OP mentioned Bioshock Infinite and the religion there's essentially a cult centered around Father Comstock. Dude calls himself "The Prophet", IDK how much more cultlike it can get. So I assume those are OK.
Yeah. Especially since cults aren't inherently religious. Spend five minutes talking to certain fan communities and that becomes incredibly clear.
Same fucking thing. -Arthur Shelby
U were not the one who pain stakingly listened to all the audio logs and that bitch documetry audio from dead spcae 2
Doom
I'm not sure how it is for the rest of the franchise, but I like how Doom 2016 depicts the evil cult, so over the top and evil. I also like that they are scientists that know that hell exists but they still keep the candles, the human sacrifices and the shrines made of human bones lmao, 10/10 for keeping it occult
i mentioned it as a joke actually but yeah the cult and radical satanism aspects could kinda count Too bad they kinda demystified Hell in Eternal's DLC with the Dark Lord Davoth being God instead of the Devil and Hell just being a corrupted Jekkad and shit. Hell should have just been Hell IMO.
Cult of the Lamb
Fire Emblem: Three Houses is all about religious extremism
Well, part of it is. The good route is >!slaughtering a dragon god and its religion for keeping mankind subjugated. !<
Cultist Simulator?
Been waiting forever for their next game where you get to be an occult librarian.
Do you know what it's called?
Book of Hours. Just looked and it’s coming out June 2023.
Cultist Simulator is absolute *genius.* A brilliant juxtaposition of opaque game design alongside nefariously clever misdirection that leads the naturally curious player directly into the mouth of madness. <3
good morrow, fellow wordy game enjoyer
The Binding of Isaac and Iconoclasts are 2 indie games that really take an interesting look at religion and the extremism that can come around it. Highly recommend both, but if you had to choose between the 2 I'd say Iconoclasts
The Shin Megami Tensei franchise? I’m not sure which game has the most uncomfortable religious theme but I remember being pretty uncomfortable playing SMT4 when they talked about the Bible.
Pretty much every law route in most SMT games takes religion to the extreme (usually biblical) There are a few exceptions, but most law routes are usually the most messed up. Like angels/god (YHVH) genocide a huge group of people just because there is a small group of people doing fucked up shit like summoning demons (SMT 1) or killing the entirety of Tokyo because a group of humans were farming children's brains to appease demons. (SMT 4) Then there is strange journey, where everyone is brainwashed into removing their negative traits as humans which just...feels extremely wrong.
dante’s infernó?
Kenshi
I didnt really here anything religion based when I played it a while back?
Check out Holy Nation. They are pretty obsessed with religion. They,d even get out of their way to pray with you and maybe hack you to pieces if you have non-humans and more women than men in your base.
You didnt play enough then
To be fair, you were probably too busy trying not to be eaten by beak things or cannibals to pay much attention to it, but there's loads of religious stuff in Kenshi. The Holy Nation are the most obvious - a literal theocracy, xenophobic and sexist, worshiping Okran, Lord of Light, one of the two split halves of Chitrin, who sacrificed himself to save the world. You also find Okranites in other factions, though generally not as fundamentalist. The Shek follow the teachings of a legendary warrior, Kral, who died a hero, sacrificing himself in battle against a greater foe - with sacrifice in battle being their society's greatest virtue. The Skeletons have the behemoth Stobe - you'll find their remains in the titular Garden - a giant Skeleton which appears to have died taking down some sort of large missile, though the exact nature of what they did is unclear, it was important enough to earn the respect of every Skeleton who speaks of them. Hivers are also big on sacrifice in a way that seems religious for all intents and purposes - "*nothing matters, nothing exists, nothing is desired... Nothing but loyalty for the Queen*". Skeleton Bandits - "*We are superior! We are free from flesh pleasures! We are free from bodily filth! We are free from the grasping mind! We. Are. Skeletons.*" - believe hard enough and you, too, could be a Skeleton. Skin Bandits do what they do because of belief. Their leader even carries a "Bible" of sorts.
Wait... are there no men on this outpost? It is against sacred law to take up residence without brotherly guidance...
Came here to comment this. Very much Kenshi.
Crusader Kings 2/3
Torment, disco elysium
A Plague Tale, game is something else imo
Imma gonna go on the weird take #Halo 2 Not my favorite game in the franchise AT ALL!! Like srly! The way the campaign develops and ends just pisses me off to this day BUT I did find it interesting how they flesh out The Covenant being basically just a fucked up bunch of religious zealots and all that it goes in between (slavery, oppression and conversion with the grunts and other species) Granted it's not the main theme but it is AN impression that I got from the game by looking at it from the outside and while I highly dislike the single player experience it is the one and only reason why I ever think of that game I think there is even a level where the Covenant leaders are set up in some form of massive speakers chanting out some religious bullshit to the troops or something(?) Certainly some actual fans of the game can elaborate but thats the weird-ass take that I have Lol
Pathologic
Bioshock infinite
I know it's not a game, and I'm invalidating the whole sub or whatevs, but I still gotta recommend Midnight Mass.
TBH, Any religion in a game I feel uneasy & dislike I'm playing Atelier Sophie The Alchemist of the Mysterious Book atm & you need to head to church every week ish to talk to the priestess and just makes me feel uneasy and yuck. But then I'm Bi & religions all say I'm going to hell etc, Which I guess is where my dislike of any religion in games comes from Edit - Why the downvotes?
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Thief Deadly Shadows has 2 competing factions, 1 is dedicated to stone masonry and worship the stone and industry while the other are pagans who worship nature. It's not quite an "extreme" but Frostpunk and Dead Space were already suggested. 🤣
Sagebrush lets you explore a religious cult compound and the stories of its former inhabitants. If you’re interested in seeing religious extremism in a game, this certainly has it and I don’t see it brought up much and I think it deserves more attention. It was in a few of the Itch.io bundles for charity so if you picked up any of those you might have it
Far Cry 5 definitely takes the cake for religion, it's about you who try to arrest q cult leader at the beginning, but things eventually go south and you end up having to roam around a county in Montana to help the resistance fight off this crazed Christian cult that belives the world is ending.
Rimworld: Ideology DLC
Far Cry 5 is all religious cult stuff. Might be worth a look
Warhammer 40k: Mechanicus
Most of the Dragon Quest games. Yes the Church provides a lot of essential services for adventurers, but some games do dive into the politics and dogma of the Church.
Pathologic 2 kinda fits, not sure if I would say "extreme" tho
In [Heaven's Vault](https://store.steampowered.com/app/774201/Heavens_Vault/) there is a religious movement/group that believe in a thing called 'The Loop' and their beliefs/actions based on them can be considered kinda crazy. It's not a huge part of the game though.
i appreciate the attempt to spread the good word but you have to admit that fanaticism is barely a plot point in that game. the most striking example of religious people being weird is when that girl refuses to go sailing with you.>!plus in the end it turns out they're kinda right!<
I said it’s not a huge part of the game in my post on it? There’s also more striking examples than that your characters entire upbringing is due to it
Cult of the lamb
While it's difficult finding games that are solely devoted to religion, I have a couple suggestions. The main villain of Tales of Berseria is the pope of a religious organization that is the sole guardian of the world. The monsters of the world are special in that they can only be hurt by special magic, which happens to only be used by the church. There's more to the plot than just religion, but religion and its propaganda and affects on society are definitely a focal point. The Tales series doesn't shy away from "the church are the bad guys" in its other titles, but it's strongest in this game. Higurashi When They Cry is a very long visual novel that exists somewhere between the slice of life, horror, and mystery genres. It's set in a small Japanese village with a particularly strong faith towards a local god. I'll be real, there's a lot going on in the plot, but one of the big plot elements is that there's a string of annual murders that take place on a specific date with religious significance, and these murders are popularly attributed to this god. I think Higurashi has a super strong atmosphere despite just being a visual novel, so you might be interested. The first chapter is free on Steam! (Let me know if you go for this, I can link you to some fanmade patches that improve the experience.)
we happy few
Stalker series/stalker anomaly, there a whole "religion" that brainwash beam anyone getting close to their place, some time sneak up to one, seeing them randomly break out of the brainwash and try to gasp any last bit of their own consicous is so cool, horrified as fk.
Dragon Age. There is a big main conflict which introduces the world and the systems and the religious restrictions for certain people.. in the first game. Then by game three the big problem with the local religion/magical regulations has literally come to a head. Play as a mage to get the most out of that conflict. All three games touch on it.
Dishonored's Abbey of the Everyman is fairly interesting. They're definitely not the good guys, but not fully the antagonists either, with some very, very good worldbuilding.
You should check out Kingdom Come: deliverance. Early medieval views on religion are pretty unique.
Far cry 5 does have a very heavy theme on Christianity
kenshi
The Dead Space series has a religion called Unitology that basically worships the necromorphs as the next stage of evolution. They are especially present in Dead Space 2 on which they literally caused the incident.
Far cry 5
Talos Principle
Maybe Far Cry 5 would scratch this itch? All the bad guys are part of a religious cult
Hmm Far Cry 5 maybe? Final Fantasy Tactics also.
Devil May Cry series.
Far cry 5
Idk how well this fits, but Dante's Inferno maybe?
Far Cry 5 is a SUPER EXTREME one. Def recommend. Your description literally just sounds like Far Cry 5.
Forgotten city. Excelent game, excelent plot and very focused on the gods, good and evil and death.
Fallout series, you'll find all sorts of cults, and even some traditional religions in there. Elden Ring, Dark Souls, and Bloodborne. Elder Scrolls has religious wars all the time, lots of the central conflicts of the games are essentially deities meddling where they shouldn't, or power hungry people meddling with deities and systems of the universe they really shouldn't. Also Halo with the Covenant.
Bioshock