Faith and deity writing in games

[J1M]

It is weird to me that with so many games taking place in settings with active deities, they are all written from a standpoint of modern day atheism or, at best, deism. BG3 is forced to lampshade this a few times given the stakes it deals with, but few games even bother to do that.

Are there any games where characters who, according to the lore, have direct access to communicate with their gods actually do so in a non-deist framing?

Examples:

A god directly instructs someone to embark on a quest.
A cleric asks their deity if the villain went north or south.
Divine spells or interventions don't function like arcane magic.
Character's deity is a main character in the story, not a cameo to explain why they didn't help.
Strength of faith implemented as a stat or game mechanic.

[Acrux]

Darklands
Inquisitor
Maybe Lionheart if i'm generous.

[Emphyrio]

i think this might be the plot of divinity original sin but i dropped both in the 2nd act and never found out

[Dorateen]

Lathander appears in Eye of the Beholder III and gives the party instructions.

[Val the Moofia Boss]

Early Warcraft had paladins getting visions from The Light. The Draenei was story was the Exodus but in space, with them wandering the wilderness for 25,000 years being led by their prophet Velen and signs from the Light. The ending of TBC has The Light redeem the Blood Elves and restore them. The climax of Wrath of the Lich King is a eucatastrophe where The Light resurrects everyone and disarms the villain. Then the writers changed and the divinity of the Light was downplayed, and eventually it was retconned into "just being another side of the same coin" as the forces of evil.

Early FF14 had you get a vision from the goddess and become her chosen warrior, but then the writers changed and the goddess was retconned into actually just being a wizard who drank a lot of magic.

[Decline]

It is weird to me that with so many games taking place in settings with active deities, they are all written from a standpoint of modern day atheism or, at best, deism.

Late antiquity and medieval thought is largely forgotten because it is deemed 'uneducated' in today's standards. Thus 'educated' opinions is what you get.

[Emphyrio]

It is weird to me that with so many games taking place in settings with active deities, they are all written from a standpoint of modern day atheism or, at best, deism. BG3 is forced to lampshade this a few times given the stakes it deals with, but few games even bother to do that.

I have been chewing on this and still don't know what it means. What are these "so many games" that are written from the "standpoint of modern day atheism"? What is "deist framing"? Why is portraying divine and arcane magic as the same thing a problem?

[J1M]

It is weird to me that with so many games taking place in settings with active deities, they are all written from a standpoint of modern day atheism or, at best, deism. BG3 is forced to lampshade this a few times given the stakes it deals with, but few games even bother to do that.

I have been chewing on this and still don't know what it means. What are these "so many games" that are written from the "standpoint of modern day atheism"? What is "deist framing"? Why is portraying divine and arcane magic as the same thing a problem?

I didn't say it was bad to have games written from deist assumptions. Some of them are quite good. I find it unfortunate that there aren't also games that are different. The thread is about wasted potential and the limited imagination of the trust fund children who are willing to work for game writer salaries.

Deism is the belief that a god exists, but has no direct influence on mortal life. Most games are written either with that assumption or the assumption that no gods exist.

[Emphyrio]

It is weird to me that with so many games taking place in settings with active deities, they are all written from a standpoint of modern day atheism or, at best, deism. BG3 is forced to lampshade this a few times given the stakes it deals with, but few games even bother to do that.

I have been chewing on this and still don't know what it means. What are these "so many games" that are written from the "standpoint of modern day atheism"? What is "deist framing"? Why is portraying divine and arcane magic as the same thing a problem?

I didn't say it was bad to have games written from deist assumptions. Some of them are quite good. I find it unfortunate that there aren't also games that are different. The thread is about wasted potential and the limited imagination of the trust fund children who are willing to work for game writer salaries.

Deism is the belief that a god exists, but has no direct influence on mortal life. Most games are written either with that assumption or the assumption that no gods exist.

Which games are you thinking of? You say "most" but I can only think of a couple that are like what you're describing. (I am assuming that a game doesn't qualify as atheistic just because gods and religion are not mentioned)

[rusty_shackleford]

A god directly instructs someone to embark on a quest.
A cleric asks their deity if the villain went north or south.
Divine spells or interventions don't function like arcane magic.
Character's deity is a main character in the story, not a cameo to explain why they didn't help.
Strength of faith implemented as a stat or game mechanic.

Most of these won't be present in western games because they're inconsistent with both Christianity and atheism. Regardless if one is an atheist, they were still raised in a society that is culturally Christian and will shape almost their entire worldview on religion.
It's very hard to write what you don't know or ever experienced.

Perhaps try some Chinese RPGs, I guess? @Lhynn is a chinkaboo, he might know some.

[asf]

imagine being surprised larian writing is total and complete ****