tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-306713789040670188.comments2024-03-17T02:44:49.387-05:00Catholic Video GamersAndy Kirchoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06675860534294083557noreply@blogger.comBlogger792125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-306713789040670188.post-77489072969815620862022-03-22T14:14:26.797-05:002022-03-22T14:14:26.797-05:00Also, keep in mind that Christianity is a VERY min...Also, keep in mind that Christianity is a VERY minority religion in japan. Perhaps they view it similar to Greek mythology. In the video game series God of War, the greek gods are portrayed in a very negative light. This isn't because the creator's hate the greek gods. Its because they are indifferent to them. They don't believe or pray to them.<br /><br />(Which is ironic because despite the fact that the greek gods are considered mythology in this day and age, I read some article a few years back where certain people in Greece were beginning to worship greek gods again)Confused about japanese.https://www.blogger.com/profile/03318493116987580096noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-306713789040670188.post-38214569994420194122022-03-22T14:05:36.301-05:002022-03-22T14:05:36.301-05:00I dunno. Almost every tv series, movie, video game...I dunno. Almost every tv series, movie, video game have used the "corrupt religion" trope. Perhaps this is Capcom's first attempt at that type of story as this doesn't appear in any of the other Breath of Fire games.<br /><br />Hell the religion in BOF2 was actually portrayed in a positive light that did good things. Only for it to unfortunately reveal that a evil demon was behind it, that doesn't believe in all the good things the religion has done. I mean, it could have been worse.<br /><br />They could have made it that it WAS God behind the religion and that he was somehow a villain that needed to be defeated for some reason.Confused about japanese.https://www.blogger.com/profile/03318493116987580096noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-306713789040670188.post-6718922497900638272022-03-22T13:55:55.464-05:002022-03-22T13:55:55.464-05:00I've heard that the whole God or religion bein...I've heard that the whole God or religion being the villains are due to the fact that for a long time, japanese rpg's would use the whole "demon king" as the villain and they just wanted to reverse that trope.<br /><br />I could be wrong of course. The problem is that the japanese never really come out and SAY what their intentions were/are regarding the contraversial parts of their stories. I guess thats one thing we can respect about atheists, that they are more open about their intentions. (Japanese don't really classify themselves as atheists, seeing as they still pray at shrines and have ceremonies and such)Confused about japanese.https://www.blogger.com/profile/03318493116987580096noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-306713789040670188.post-55151797803010042062021-06-15T16:20:28.886-05:002021-06-15T16:20:28.886-05:00I don't think it's morally right to play v...I don't think it's morally right to play violent videogames or games with gods or inappropriatly clad people. It could be an inspiration to sin.MathewsBTheBesthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16995567367453047988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-306713789040670188.post-45787687721025752982021-04-06T12:14:35.399-05:002021-04-06T12:14:35.399-05:00Basic Christian Theodicy:
I like your comparison ...<b>Basic Christian Theodicy:</b><br /><br />I like your comparison to the Aeneid, which is particularly apt given FFXV’s Roman influence. I'm inclined to compare the Astrals to Tolkien's Valar, who are likewise angelic figures that fill the roles normally taken by mythic deities and end up in a strange middle ground.<br /><br />I think much of the seeming secularity of FFXV's world is a matter of development limitations, unfortunately. Much of what you're looking for IS present... in datalogs and NPC comments. Angelgard is sacred ground, so devotees of Ramuh offer prayers from the docks of Galdin Quay. Disciples of Titan flock to the Disc of Cauthess to pay homage to their "patron saint" for shielding them from the Meteor and providing electricity. Devout followers of Ifrit make pilgrimages to Ravatogh. Luna died at the <i>Altar</i> of the Tidemother, and it's implied that many of the statues in Altissia represent Leviathan. An NPC in Altissia refers to the St. Mark's Basilica-looking building as a church. We just... don't really get to see what worship looks like in Eos.<br /><br />With regards to Noct's ultimate fate, the Official Works book refers to Noct as "descending to the planet," a rather FFVII-like formulation. But even the Lifestream was treated as "basically heaven" since at least Advent Children (especially in the hands of Tabata, who not-so-subtlely portrayed Zack's soul carried up into the sky by an "angel" in Crisis Core) so that offhanded reference still doesn't rule out the survival of Noct's consciousness. The <a href="https://finalfantasy.fandom.com/wiki/Wedding#Phantom_Wedding" rel="nofollow">Phantom Wedding lore</a> certainly seems to suggest that Noct still exists somewhere.<br /><br />As for Ardyn... all his eternal punishment would require is to deny him both annihilation and revenge... and The Official Works book describes the Ardyn shown in the Beyond at the very end of the game as "the darkness that is the source of the scourge," which may allow for the possibility that Ardyn's consciousness wasn't what was destroyed in that final scene.<br /><br /><b>Conclusion:</b><br /><br />It's great to hear that the game has meant so much to you! I'm glad that my decision to reach out bore such fruit. ^_^<br /><br />With regards to the game's "worldview that values the essential rather than the existential- Aristotle rather than Nietzsche," this may be more intentional than you realize! <a href="https://www.eurogamer.net/amp/2019-07-19-final-fantasy-xvs-ai-is-secretly-a-grand-philosophy-experiment" rel="nofollow">The game's AI director actually spoke about the philosophical underpinnings of the game's AI systems, and it turns out that his primary influence is phenomenology.</a><br /><br />Husserl and Aristotle may differ, but they certainly have a lot more in common than either of them have with Nietzche... especially when it comes to recognizing the essence of things. (They also share an anti-dualist attitude that probably goes a good way to explaining why FFXV is so fascinated with its characters' physicality.) And incidentally, phenomenology is also associated with two 20th Century saints -- Pope St. John Paul II and St. Theresa Benedicta of the Cross.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10780370519281419102noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-306713789040670188.post-71587794660563189392021-04-06T12:14:17.873-05:002021-04-06T12:14:17.873-05:00Reality of Objective Moral Laws:
I'd never re...<b>Reality of Objective Moral Laws:</b><br /><br />I'd never really thought about how morally-upright FFXV's heroes are, but... it's pretty difficult to think of anything too bad that they did! There's one time Noct uses an expletive that would fall afoul of the Second Commandment and he's overly snippy to Regis when he leaves Insomnia, but beyond that...<br /><br /><b>Self Sacrifice for Others:</b><br /><br />Ardyn makes a comment in DotF that perfectly sums up the difference between the heroes' self-sacrificing love and his own supposed charity -- <i>"Two millennia ago, Ardyn had believed with all his heart that to save others was his calling. He'd been ready to embrace death, if it were in service to others and brought an end to suffering. He'd thought it a mission of which only he was capable, and thus he'd been prepared to sacrifice everything. </i><br /><br /><i>"But even at that time, he had not thought to lay down his life without a struggle or fight."</i><br /><br />In other words, Ardyn was only willing to sacrifice on his own terms. The heroes, in contrast, don't insist that they get to make the terms. They just make the sacrifice.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10780370519281419102noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-306713789040670188.post-60946999399774073922021-04-06T12:05:49.745-05:002021-04-06T12:05:49.745-05:00Hey, I figured I'd show up "out of the bl...Hey, I figured I'd show up "out of the blue" again, because I realized that I'd never replied to this earlier.<br /><br />Given the impressive scope of this review, I can’t respond to everything, so allow me to reply to the points where I have the most to add.<br /><br /><b>Character and Identity:</b><br /><br />You've done a great job of summing up the way in which the game presents heroes who recognize and fulfill a meaningful <i>telos.</i> I do think your comparison to FFIV's Cecil is quite apt -- likely the most apt comparison that can be made to any other FF character.<br /><br /><b>The Starscourge and Episode Ardyn:</b><br /><br />Dawn of the Future allows Ardyn to present an interesting interpretation, though the way it uses it is... not ideal. DotF Ardyn believes that people afflicted by the Starscourge lash out and eventually go mad because of the intensity of the suffering it causes. In other words, the human will still exists inside of the daemon, albeit bereft of reason and submerged beneath sub-human aggression. The game hints towards such a dynamic as well -- apart from Ravus, there's a Naga in Fociaugh Hollow who kidnaps Prompto thinking that he's her lost baby, and Iedolas-the-Foras remains consciously obsessed with the Crystal until the very end.<br /><br />What's especially compelling about the novel's interpretation is that Ardyn willfully chose to behave in a manner that he knew would transform him into an irrational, violent beast. DotF Ardyn knows that he's not immune to the mind-destroying pain of the scourge... but he's also unwilling to accept reality and persists in his doomed effort to save everyone by absorbing the scourge regardless. In fact, if there's one thing that ties "good guy" healer Ardyn together with the monster who dedicates himself to torturing Noct, it's their defiance of reality (albeit expressed by the former through magical thinking and by the latter through the desire to reduce all of existence to ash).<br /><br />...the problem with DotF, of course, is that it despises the game’s reality almost as much as Ardyn does.<br /><br /><b>The Astrals:</b><br /><br />One of the strangest things about DotF's presentation of the Astrals as "giving arbitrary vocations to characters and forcing them to do their bidding regardless of their free will and their flourishing" is that it actively contradicts the canon reference materials.<br /><br />For instance, the Official Works book heavily implies that the Astrals used the Crystal and the Ring the way they did because they didn't have the ability to carry out their mission on their own:<br /><br /><i>"The supreme mission of the legendary Six is to protect the planet. They may grant people power, or they may do people harm, but it is all to protect the planet. [...] It may be that the gods gave people the holy stone and the ring, preparing them for a coming calamity, because the calamity was outside their power to stop, and they believed it could not be overcome without human help."</i><br /><br /><i>"Foremost among the gods, in preparation for the coming calamity, [Bahamut] granted humanity special powers as well as the holy stone and the ring."</i><br /><br />Bahamut's bestiary entry in the game even suggests that he understood the need for the Chosen King before the Scourge arrived: <i>"At the end of the Astral War, when Ifrit had fallen and civilization lay in ruins, the Bladekeeper alone held vigil, awaiting the coming of the Chosen King while the other gods lay dormant."</i><br /><br />And, yes, this contradicts DotF's conceit that Bahamut decided that he had to annihilate both the Starscourge and humanity himself because Ardyn messed up his plan. Bahamut simply does not have that kind of power outside of DotF.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10780370519281419102noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-306713789040670188.post-48998338772539131812021-02-03T13:29:03.823-06:002021-02-03T13:29:03.823-06:00Jesus Lover 69 made the following comment, I had t...Jesus Lover 69 made the following comment, I had to edit it in a small way as it mentioned something too impure for the audience.<br /><br />"I think that you have made a serious error in this post. Video games were designed by non-Christian forces in order to disrupt our quest for Christ. Even so called morally-neutral games that you mention like Candy Crush are in fact the agents of the devil. I presume you did not know that Candy Crush can refer to something impure [this sentence alone has been edited by me], additionally the games development was funded by anti-Christian forces like George Soros & Saddam Hussein. Surely you would not be encouraging Catholics who are not secure in their devotion to our Lord to take part in these deeply disturbing and un-godly activities.<br /><br />My own children have often begged me to allow them to play video games, however I continue to refuse. Instead, I provide them with numerous Christian ways to play. These include "Pin-the-Tail-on-the-Sinner", "Twister with the Holy Spirit & room for Jesus", manual labour, and attempting to show their devotion to God by throwing stones at the houses of local atheists, protestants and liberals. I would encourage you to promote these activities in your parishes Children's Liturgy group.<br /><br />God bless and I shall pray for you and all of the contributors to this blog,Miles Mariaehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07577617270241675549noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-306713789040670188.post-24341681389036476002021-02-03T13:19:00.984-06:002021-02-03T13:19:00.984-06:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.JesusLover69https://www.blogger.com/profile/12072336702478044059noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-306713789040670188.post-53324147271532588332021-02-02T15:15:33.339-06:002021-02-02T15:15:33.339-06:00I fully agree that Jesus is essential for the bani...I fully agree that Jesus is essential for the banishing of spirits, however I think pokemon is a bad example as it is a deeply satanic franchise. My nephew was given pokemon cards for his birthday and only a few weeks later we found that he was going out and papier mache "pokemon balls" at local animals in an attempt to capture them. When we asked him about this, he claimed that ever since he had received the cards he had been seeing visions in the night of the pokemons, except that they all had horns and devilish wings. These visions were instructing him to "catch them" and said that he need to capture as many animals as possible in order to please some satanic demon called "Oak". Needless to say, we quickly burnt all of the pokemon cards and our parish priest kindly performed an exorcism on the poor boy. He is now right as rain and enjoying living a rewarding christan childhood. Satan is real, Jesus is our only hope against him. I shall pray for this blog and pray that the creators of pokemon will see the evil in their ways an repent. Amen. Christo Fidelis.JesusLover69https://www.blogger.com/profile/12072336702478044059noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-306713789040670188.post-84511594212991604692021-02-01T11:45:28.395-06:002021-02-01T11:45:28.395-06:00So glad to have found this and seen the Christian ...So glad to have found this and seen the Christian message being proselytised in a media that I love such as the X-Men. I hope and pray that in the future more superheroes will be shown to be devout Christians, rather than then godless postmodern heresy which the current superhero films are filled with. Would love to know if anyone on this blog has any tips for how to bring Jesus into conversations about comic books? I try all the time with both my own children and the children during Children's Liturgy, but sadly to no avail so far. God bless you all and I shall pray for this blog and brother Wolverine.JesusLover69https://www.blogger.com/profile/12072336702478044059noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-306713789040670188.post-64045077328860648402021-02-01T11:41:38.241-06:002021-02-01T11:41:38.241-06:00So glad to have watched this, wonderful to see Chr...So glad to have watched this, wonderful to see Christianity being proselytised through a medium I love so much such as the X-Men. Hopefully, we shall see more Christian superheroes rather than the godless postmodernists in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Would love to know if anyone on this blog has any tips for how to bring Jesus into conversations about comic books, I try all the time but to no avail. God bless you all I shall pray for our brother Wolverine.JesusLover69https://www.blogger.com/profile/12072336702478044059noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-306713789040670188.post-82019624862707809662020-10-27T13:15:00.430-05:002020-10-27T13:15:00.430-05:00You need to play the remake the provide your thoug...You need to play the remake the provide your thoughts! Then watch Easy Allies - Spoiler Mode video on it. damienhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12447438669353078474noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-306713789040670188.post-89782384581733114062020-08-14T01:24:09.706-05:002020-08-14T01:24:09.706-05:00I hadnt appreciated that with Kefka would come the...I hadnt appreciated that with Kefka would come the end of magic, I suppose that makes sense.<br /><br />I know Satan appeared as Our Lord to St Theresa of Avila but he did not have the wounds of Christ and so St Theresa knew it was the evil one,<br /><br />ST. Paul adds in Galatians that satan can appear as an Angel of Light, so I think he can understand satan taking the form of holy individuals to tempt them.<br /><br />You may be right that the game is saying Kefka is absorbing the 'gods' <br /><br />You are also most certainly right that without Christ and the Life of Grace through the sacraments all happiness is either transient or superficial. Miles Mariaehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07577617270241675549noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-306713789040670188.post-40798425214936466892020-08-13T19:16:36.572-05:002020-08-13T19:16:36.572-05:00I've actually played I, IV, VI, VII, IX, and X...I've actually played I, IV, VI, VII, IX, and X but have only completed I and IV. I don't want to touch X again after having learned more about the plot! I played VI in college until Kefka's castle and then just quit. I have thought about taking it back up to see if I can eventually play through, but I don't want to do anything offensive to God.<br /><br />So, when I read about the phase in the final battle (that I have never played in the game), I was greatly concerned. Having to attack a figure made to look like Mary (some sources say the woman's name is Maria in the Japanese version) is rather disturbing. Would it be sinful to play a game with an element like this, even if the image is used as a disguise or mockery by the bad guy? If so, I'd think this would negate any positive aspect of the game. Then again, I wonder if we have any accounts of any saints to whom Satan tried to appear under that disguise, and if they knew to attack or at least reject. I'd be interested in hearing your take on this.<br /><br />My other concern is that, while it probably doesn't assume that the Blessed Mother is on Kefka's team, is it trying to say that he has assumed deity and has absorbed all other "gods," who are then destroyed along with Kefka in the end. I've heard that, in the end, magic ends with the destruction of Kefka, and people learn to live without it. Could the game be implicitly saying that people learn to live lives without God and find meaning apart from him? Of course, we know that in real life that, if someone were to somehow destroy God (which, of course, is impossible), we'd have worse than "lights out." There wouldn't even be any lights to extinguish!<br /><br />However, it's my understanding that the people mourn the loss of magic even as life goes on in the end. It can kind of make a parallel to how people live today. People live their lives as though God did not exist. They claim to find their "fulfillment," but honestly, just look at personal stories from some corporate intranet, and from a Catholic perspective I can often just feel the superficiality. There may be some nice things people are doing, but, to say the least, it pales in comparison with the lives of the saints.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10946235659011079006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-306713789040670188.post-49689243110829019392020-08-13T02:26:59.591-05:002020-08-13T02:26:59.591-05:00I think you may be right in seeing it as kefkas di...I think you may be right in seeing it as kefkas diabolical attack on the blessed Virgin rather than the idea that she is on his side or part of his team.... if you haven't played ff4 I'd play that first though as the review says ff6 has some good points Miles Mariaehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07577617270241675549noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-306713789040670188.post-62205374378339621382020-08-12T19:42:48.614-05:002020-08-12T19:42:48.614-05:00There was a lot about FF6 that was well done, incl...There was a lot about FF6 that was well done, including the music and the fact that each character had a theme song. Much of the story was well-done.<br /><br />However, one of the appearances of Kefka in the final battle mimics that of the Pieta, and I would think this would be cause for great concern. Is Christianity being represented as part of the world's evil here? I have my doubts, but it is possible. I've seen other commentators that said that this is simply Kefka's twisted view of himself. However, something really bothers me about attaching a distinctively Catholic figure. This, and only this, makes me question if I should really play this game.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10946235659011079006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-306713789040670188.post-9040881799834424252020-07-30T00:27:23.689-05:002020-07-30T00:27:23.689-05:00If Wutai’s bigger, does that mean Yuffie’s ripped ...If Wutai’s bigger, does that mean Yuffie’s ripped now?<br /><br />Also, what are your thoughts on the remake overall?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-306713789040670188.post-19654218371123134392020-07-09T00:20:15.764-05:002020-07-09T00:20:15.764-05:00Thank you very much for the kind words!
I always ...Thank you very much for the kind words!<br /><br />I always find a bit of gentle snark to be an effective way to deal with frustrating elements of properties I otherwise enjoy. ;)<br /><br />With regards to FFX in particular, I actually feel rather ambivalent towards it. Back when I first played, I wasn't familiar with anti-organized-religion tropes, so I read Yevon as some weird pagan religion and wasn't inclined to question the party's rejection of it. And even now, while the presence of the modernist myth of rejecting tradition to attain freedom is impossible to overlook, the game still supports other, more interesting interpretations (most notably the rejection of the scapegoat mechanism as a tool of cultural preservation, a la Rene Girard).<br /><br />With that said, I suspect that the reason for this complexity may be due to FFX treating Catholic elements as pure window dressing and focusing its critique on Japanese religious traditions. (I ran into an interview some years back where one of the game's major creative voices effectively said as much.) Unfortunately, FF's antagonistic tendencies towards religion generally lack that sort of nuance when dealing with religious traditions that aren't native to Japan.Ikkinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10442396873346549541noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-306713789040670188.post-61998090816886871702019-09-24T08:24:05.291-05:002019-09-24T08:24:05.291-05:00I dont feel any emotion for killing alien
We ...I dont feel any emotion for killing alien <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://www.quality-western-boots.com/" rel="nofollow">We chose Work Boots</a>Steven Takehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15764374778449185722noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-306713789040670188.post-5161611764572894022019-09-20T07:08:32.390-05:002019-09-20T07:08:32.390-05:00That would be amazing!That would be amazing!Miles Mariaehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07577617270241675549noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-306713789040670188.post-61434907372609272292019-09-19T21:23:49.464-05:002019-09-19T21:23:49.464-05:00I miss old ZeldaI miss old ZeldaUnknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17090769599883369932noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-306713789040670188.post-65477982342315472542019-09-19T21:17:08.480-05:002019-09-19T21:17:08.480-05:00I can do a review if you want.I can do a review if you want.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17090769599883369932noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-306713789040670188.post-27593830859115335982019-05-14T17:59:07.859-05:002019-05-14T17:59:07.859-05:00Breath of fire 2 is even more anti Catholic/anti C...Breath of fire 2 is even more anti Catholic/anti Christian. I stick to zelda and final fantasy and chrono series fot a reason. (Ths other breath of fires are ok too.)Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17090769599883369932noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-306713789040670188.post-22826163130005760272019-04-30T11:14:13.538-05:002019-04-30T11:14:13.538-05:00My most favorite game was call of duty. I played o...My most favorite game was call of duty. I played one version multiple times. Another one is GTA. Trend for playing video games is changing now. It is not more than just a gaming adventure. Young adults and teen used to enjoy <a href="https://www.gamezstation.co.uk/" rel="nofollow">party van</a> games rather than sitting at one place. Kashifhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14685849420600576722noreply@blogger.com