Final Fantasy XIII- Catholic review and analysis

As generally a retro gamer, it has taken me a long time to get around to playing FFXIII, and I just completed it earlier this week. My younger brother finished this game back when it was first released and from conversations with him, as well as with other Catholics, I could see that the game had a lot in its plot and underlying philosophy that was worth thinking about in the light of Catholic truth.

I've got to say I wasn't wild about a lot of the aspects of this game's gameplay- I lamented the loss of towns, NPCs, puzzles, and, overall, the presence of gameplay elements beyond fighting or watching cut-scenes! The game is clearly more ordered to a world that is dominated by FPS games and a lot of people enjoyed the movement of the series into new avenues. I thought the battle system was well crafted and whilst the crystarium system was a bit tedious to constantly update, it allowed for serious gamers to craft out clever strategies and characters with interesting stats. The upgrading of weapons and accessories worked fairly well, but it unfortunately made gil (money) farming through repeated battles a major necessity if you wanted to fully upgrade everything.

30 hours in the game and you can finally explore!

Anyway, my reviews aren't really on that kind of thing and I've probably written too much on those aspects of the game! What I really want to talk about is, can we see Christ in this game? Can we learn of Almighty God in a parable form? Do we find a worldview expounded by the characters that resembles a Christian philosophy? Does playing the game make me want to strive towards virtue and sacrifice? Do I fear hell and offending Almighty God, do I desire to pursue His will above all things? Let's have a look via the usual categories.


Character and identity
So, here we are considering, does the game acknowledge the way in which character is formed by acts of the will, making him, as a result, either good or evil. We are also considering whether the game supports a worldview of 'vocation'- that each one of us has a certain 'telos' or end written into our souls an end we need to reach in order to fully flourish in this life and to reach the beatitude of heaven. For Christians we understand that this telos or vocation is a reflection of a particular attribute of Almighty God, which we are called to embody. Bound up in embodying this attribute of God will mean 'becoming who I was born to be'.

Final Fantasy XIII features a set of demi-gods who give characters a "focus". a mission they need to fulfill, in order to achieve eternal rest and, which if they fail, leads them to transform into a zombie-like creature.

Now, this whole focus business could have been a really interesting Christian parallel, a bit like being given a vocation by Almighty God. However, the game makes it clear that having a focus, a definite mission given by these demi-gods is a cruel form of slavery and that the paradise of completing the focus is really just being frozen in a crystalised stasis.

Of course, Crystalised Serah is completely naked
(even though she had clothes on when she was changed into a crystal.)

The game therefore takes up as its main refrain "we are free, we have choice, we will not be bound by destiny or by a mission given to us by a higher power". Of course, in the case of XIII, the higher power is, in fact, in some way malevolent, but the refrain is seriously anti-Catholic in its tone. Certainly, we are uniquely endowed with freewill, but for humans free will only leads to flourishing when we use freedom in a way that accords with our fixed human nature and the fixed ultimate telos that God has given to each of us. 

But perhaps underneath the focus that the demi-gods give the characters, they recognise a more fundamental vocation? In some sense that is true, they decide among themselves that they must save Cocoon, the world they inhabit, and rescue certain friends of theirs that have been 'enslaved' in the eternal rest of crystalisation, and in particular, a girl called Serah. But the problem is their mission to save Cocoon is depicted throughout as their choice, their defiance against destiny, the triumph of their free will over a quasi-divine order (even though in this case the divine order is malevolent). Hope Estheim seems to be the main voice of the game's philosophy throughout and it is he that cries out to the demi-god "We'll decide our own destiny".

Fang- anti feminine. 

In terms of battle system, there are some positive elements for characterisation insofar as there are characters which are clearly ordered to one fighting style over another (basically like the job system in earlier ffs). However, it seemed to me slightly odd that two of the young female characters are physically the strongest, this contradicts the God given order of femininity. In RPGs female characters should ideally be most suited towards a healer/white mage/summoner role rather than the knight or sentinel. In some sense the game promotes therefore an anti-women ideology that opposes true femininity. The female lead character of Lightning is particularly cold and unfeeling, she is a little like a female Squall but without a Rinoa to soften her edges. In many ways she is an anti-woman, and another party member, Fang, is also very masculine in personality. Female characters are also generally depicted as dressed immodestly, so they are basically male personalities with immodestly revealing clothing and long hair. This situation isn't completely true as Vanille certainly has more feminine personality qualities, but then again we have a bizarre situation with Hope's parents where his mother has taken the role as a gun-wielding rebel while his dad seems to be 'mr. sensitive stay at home dad'. So, in sum, a lot of the characters present a distorted image of gender roles in a way which doesn't reflect the general reality of the created order established by Almighty God.

    

Reality of Objective Moral laws.

Does the game ultimately accept that there is a moral order and that if a character violates it he or she damages himself in some way? That's hard to say. The characters are certainly driven by the desire to do good, but what is the good for them? Hope says at one point "There's no way of knowing what's right. All we can do believe on ourselves.... I might not make all the right choices. But as long as I'm the one who decided what to do, there's nothing regret." That seems to be the message of the game regarding moral laws- so long as you are the one who decides for yourself and you do so with the right intention, that's all that matters. Ultimately, we are dealing with a very shaky grounds for a morality here that brings everything back to a fuzy feeling and the sacrosanct nature of individual autonomy. 

Snow the determined hero

The best lived out lesson in morality is in the part of the story when Hope attempts to kill Snow. In this section we see the silencing of Hope's conscience in a way that is clearly irrational and disordered, this is presented well for the audience and they are made to see how revenge is not the route to human flourishing and that hatred perverts an individual's character. Snow throughout wishes to protect Hope and even after Hope has tried to kill him remains a model of forgiveness and of being faithful to a vow he has made to keep him from harm. 

Interior Struggle to pursue the good.

So, are the characters depicted as having to overcome evils within themselves and even to go against their own advantage in order to pursue what is fundamentally good for themselves and others? In one sense the characters are going through great difficulties in order to rescue Serah, this is most evident in Snow, who is perhaps the game's most traditionally heroic character. He clearly has a deep affection for his Fiance and when she is crystalised he is completely fixed on rescuing her, he protests to Lightning saying "Serah's my bride-to-be. I promised to be her's forever.I don't care how long I have to wait".(In an early cut-scene we watch Snow and Serah engaging in a mortal sin of a romantic kiss proper only to those who a married, so maybe that whole "don't care how long I have to wait" isn't completely literal, for Snow is already taking more than he has a right to under God's law.)

There is another instance which depicts the struggle to pursue the good even when it is not followed, this is in Vanille's continued struggle to reveal to Sazh how she was responsible in part for leading his son to be turned into a crystal. She doesn't own up but we catch a glimpse of the struggle. We see a triumph over the struggle when Sazh makes the choice not to take his own life in despair but to continue onwards to help others.

Divine Providence working through free will.
FFXIII is a game which seriously opposes providence, fate, vocation and destiny with free will. The game repeats a refrain that there is no such thing as purpose, and no grand design, only free choice. A Christian philosophy would always show how evil destroys itself by it's own disordered choices, we don't really get this coming across in XIII. The Christian philosophy acknowledges that Almighty God can and does include miracles as a part of His providential unfolding of His plan for the universe, FFXIII mocks the concept of miracles, we hear Vanille saying "Miracles are things we make for ourselves", and again " Wishes can come true, but not if you wait for miracles".

Self Sacrifice for others
As has already been mentioned, we get a glimpse in Snow of a character who is willing to sacrifice himself for others. The greatest point of self sacrifice is at the end of the game when Vanille and Fang allow themselves to complete their focus and begin to destory the world only so as to become crystal and preserve it from falling out of the sky and being utterly destroyed. Their self sacrifice however is lessened however given the fact that they aren't actually sacrificing their lives, they will be crystal for some time, but it is pretty obvious that in their case they will return to normal after some time. Even so, perhaps being held in crystal for a few hundred years isn't exactly fun!

Basic Christian Theodicy- Monotheism, Goodness of creation, understanding of eternal reward/punishment based on moral behaviour.

This is where the game really scores badly, while it doesn't necessarily come across in the game, the lore around the game tells us that the universe the game exists in has a multiplicity of gods, and gods of the manner of ancient pagan deities that are at war with each other, that give birth, and that can be destroyed by humans! It should be obvious that a harmonious and law governed universe such as that which the characters of FFXIII inhabit doesn't reflect or support a polytheistic universe which, far from being harmonious, would be driven this way and that by the caprice of these conflicting deities.

The Primarch= The Pope= Bad Guy

The main bad guy of the game is the equivalent of the pope, the leader of the worship of the gods. We don't actually see any places of worship in the game or anyone actually engaging in worship of the gods, so what he actually does on a day to day basis isn't clear, what is clear though is the message religious authority= secret evil controlling despot. We don't get any glimpses of eternal life or eternal punishment in hell, which is deeply lamentable and so there is no sense in which wicked acts have eternally damaging consequences for their actors. 

Conclusion

Final Fantasy XIII as an RPG is alright, the gameplay, for me, never reaches the battle and strategy heights of X, nor the side-quest and exploring heights of VII, nor the freedom of VI. The game seemed way too linear and the story, for all its philosophical flaws, was fundamentally dull and uninspiring. 

As an embodiment of the Christian worldview it fails even more dramatically. In many ways the refrain is similar to that of X. I'm not sure which is more harmful to the faith, X is poisonous in it's de-construction of a religious and objectively moral society into a complete farce, vindicating freedom above morality. XIII makes similar points but comes at them from a different angle, with XIII there is an absolute glorification of a false understanding of human freedom cut off from human nature- as if humans could find fulfillment and flourishing by asserting themselves over the divine order, as if human free-will was the true source of what men of the past considered miracles.

X is certainly a better game and its story is told in a much more engaging manner, I think that probably makes it more dangerous. XIII never grips the player in the way that X does and never really makes the player reflect too much on his own life and world. So it isn't a great game, but in fact, from our standpoint, that might in fact be its saving grace.

The gift of Knowledge and Video Games

The gift of the Holy Spirit called the gift of knowledge is the gift by which our intellect is illuminated to find truths about God present in creation around us.

So it is the gift of knowledge that enables you, when you look at the vastness of the ocean, to think- wow! How great must God be to have made all this. Or again, you take a cold shower on a freezing cold morning and think to yourself, "my goodness, hell must be truly awful". Or again, you think of how much your mother loves you when she goes out of your way to pick you up from somewhere, and you realise, "My Lord and Saviour loves me to a degree miles greater than this".

Well it's entirely possible for us to see and appreciate aspects of Almighty God's plan of salvation when we play video games.

I think a lot of my posts on this blog are about this really.

Let's pray for the gift of knowledge when we play video games, that we will move from them to appreciate the eternal truths about God, and that way even playing games can help at our sanctification.

Why are some priests against videogames?

There was an article not too long ago at Catholic Household entitled "What do 10 Priests say about Video Games". I can't say I was that surprised about the responses but I really think that most of their points were not that well thought through and were pretty fallacious. I thought I'd just list and respond to some of them.

1) Video Games absorb up your time and your life.

This could be said about any recreation- watching films, playing football, going running, building train spotting, painting, fishing, shooting. The point about all of these is the same- moderation. I personally think for a single man about an hour a day should be the limit. If you have a wife and children it should be less, more like 30 mins a day and really it should be the kind of thing some of your children can participate in in some way. St. Thomas Aquinas actually puts "play" or "recreation" as an necessary element of the virtuous life, no life should be without some recreation otherwise that individual becomes intolerable to live with.

2) Video Games are a form of alternate reality and entering an alternate reality is evil. 

This is a weird argument that can be made about reading any novel, watching any film or participating in any drama production. I think that if within this alternate reality you play as a character whose role is to perform intrinsic evils (such as GTA5 or certain FPS games) then there could be a problem, but generally speaking it isn't the case. Certainly the idea that playing Zelda II for the NES or a car racing game on the PS4 are being sucked into another life where anything goes simply is ridiculous.

3) Video games are full of satanic influences and these are infectious.

Again, we are dealing with a tiny number of games that have satanic elements. I turned off the Persona IV for PS1 because I thought it was satanic. I think that possession and diabolic assault generally requires the viewer/participate to will the evil and to be open to diabolic influence, a Catholic who is going to regular confession and who turns off something that seems to be glorifying satanism would be perfectly safe.

4) Ultimately these games lead to mass shootings in schools.

There may be some links between teenagers in broken families playing endless hours of FPS games and games that reward vice like GTA and violent activities, or at least violent fantasies. The link is very very small though inasmuch as there have been very few of these mass shootings and yet millions of copies of these games sold. There is also a question of causality, perhaps messed up violent teenagers who had had really bad homes tend towards violent games as an outlet and perhaps in more extreme situations they choose to take real life violence as an outlet. So perhaps the real issue is with broken homes, poor parenting and ultimately a lack of relationship with the saviour Jesus Christ. Of course, even if we concede that there are a couple of game franchises that should be avoided insofar as they promote a vicious mentality this wouldn't rule out playing the vast majority of games that are, in moderation, either morally neutral or perhaps even morally good.

Legend of Zelda, the Christian past?

Not too long ago I started playing Legend of Zelda the Ocarina of Time by downloading it from the Virtual Console. I never owned an N64 as a boy so it has been interesting getting to know what all the fuss was about... more on that another time.

What I wanted to post was a link to an article by Chris Qu exploring how in the early Zelda games the world of Hyrule is Christian but that with the Ocarina of Time all of a sudden you get the religion of the three goddesses (who dress like prostitutes).

Nintendo made the decision in the mid 90s to move Link from being a kind of crusader knight character towards what we have today.

The article makes some really interesting observations, pointing out Christian artistic motifs in the early games as well as the fact that what is known in English versions as "spell book" is in Japanese referred to as "the bible". 

My absolute favourite piece of evidence is the great promotional artwork for "A Link to the Past" which shows Link in prayer before our Blessed Lord. Note he ain't a protestant either.

Priesthood as summoner

As I prepare for my ordination to the sacred priesthood, I have been thinking a little bit and drawing some spiritual fruits from seeing priesthood as in some ways analogous to the role of the summoner in ffx.

The summoner is set aside from the people, is called from among them in order to represent the people and to offer a sacrifice for them. The summoner's life is for others, that is, the summoner literally performs a summon that will bring about a period of peace for the people but it will be at the expense of his life.

The Catholic priesthood is a sharing in the sacrificial priesthood of Jesus Christ, His work is extended through time and space.

Sharing in Christ's priesthood means sharing in His victimhood because Christ only saves humanity by being a priestly victim.

So the Catholic priest sets His life aside, is willing to offer his life as a sacrifice in order to enable Christ's redemptive work to reach more souls.

When the hands are laid in you, it is like a mortal blow, a death sentence, as it was for the lamb about to be sacrificed. I embrace it for the salvation of souls and out of love of Jesus Christ the one high priest.

The easy ending and the good ending

A little while ago I played through Castlevania- Symphony of the Night which I bought from the Playstation Network.

The game is full of little secret areas, special items and optional bosses. In fact if you play through the game leisurely, and don't go out of your way to do more than is required you'll probably end up with "the easy ending"- like I did when I played through. When I got "the easy ending" I knew something wasn't right and I consulted a walkthrough guide online which revealed to me that I had missed out on SO MUCH in this game, but that if I wanted "the good ending" I would have to put in a lot more hours and a lot more effort.

The whole experience reminded me of the situation of mankind after the fall. The tragedy of Original Sin means that if we just go through life following the dictates of our flesh and what the world around us is suggesting we will end up with "the easy ending"- eternal damnation in the fires of hell. As a priest I know once said, "no one needs a manual to get to hell".

To get "the good ending", like in Castlevania, involves consulting the guidebook (the Church teaching and Sacred Scripture) or asking getting the advice from those who have already finished the game and achieved "the good ending" (the writings of the saints). "The good ending" requires effort, extra hours and much more discipline.

Most people will finish with the "easy ending" in difficult computer games, and in life Our Blessed Lord teaches it will be the same.

  "Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it. For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it." 

Strive to get the "good ending". Put in the effort, resist the devil, the world and the flesh. Remain faithful to the teachings of the Church, and cling to Christ Who is the way.

Secret of Mana- some thoughts.

I recently finished playing Secret of Man from the Virtual Console for the Wii (in fact I finished it last summer, but never got round to posting about it). I really enjoyed the game, it has a whimsical, light-hearted quality that is lacking in modern day rpgs. There isn't much to review about the Catholic dimension of the game but I'm going to try and fill a few pages!

Character and identity

There are 3 main characters in the game, none of which are particularly well developed, so much so, they default names are simply "boy", "girl" (who bears a striking resemblance to CT's Marle) and "Sprite" (some kind of imp, which we are not actually sure as to whether it is if male or female). If you are looking for a gripping, roller coaster of a story, you won't find it in SoM, but there are still a few minor plot-twists and there is enough to keep the player interested. The character of the boy and girl and both driven by noble quests, the boy, with the task of charging the mana-sword so as to defeat a wicked sorcerer, and the girl, with the desire to rescue her boyfriend, Dyluck, who is being used by the evil sorcerer as a host-body. The boy faces being rejected from his own town in pursuit of the good and the girl, even with the companionship of the brave boy, remains entirely committed to being re-united with Dyluck, she says at one point, when someone wonders whether she might be attracted to the boy says- "Knock it of, I'm Dyluck's girl!". The character of Sprite is rather uncertain, he is mischievous and even devious at times its not entirely certain why he joins you on the quest but towards the end of the game he shows himself capable of noble self-sacrifice. 

Reality of Objective Moral laws.

For the most part the game succeeds here. the bad guy is diabolically bad, and all forms of sorcery and witchcraft are displayed as evil. A very large number of enemies are clearly diabolical fiends. The problematic character is the "mana beast" a character that the mana tree summons up to destroy the sorcerer, but lamentably, this mana beast which the speaking tree summons is rather out of control and has to be killed as the final boss- a bit strange really. The mana tree is definitely good, mana seems to keep balance and harmony in the world, and the depletion of its power enables monsters to emerge. Why the threatened mana tree summons an uncontrollable wild beast to destroy everything is rather odd. 

In terms of purity and chastity, there isn't anything objectionable in this game. The violence is fairly sedate.

Interior Struggle to pursue the good.

There is very little introspection of the motivations behind characters' actions and so it is difficult to point this out. There are a few moments in the plot where characters are willing to face the prospect of their own death in order to save the world.

Divine Providence working through free will.

Very little on this point, only the fact that the boy himself is chosen by the mana tree to use the mana sword and save the world. We later discover that the tree is, or is perhaps inhabited by, the soul of his mother. A bit strange, but it isn't meant to be taken too seriously.

Basic Christian Theodicy- Monotheism, Goodness of creation, understanding of eternal reward/punishment based on moral behaviour.

 There are some rather strange ideas about souls in this game. I think this is linked to the Japanese view of Kamis, or spirits, inhabited inanimate objects. As mentioned, the tree is inhabited by a soul, but there are also moving treasure chests. 

Mana is also a non-Christian concept. The idea that there is a force out there holding all things in balance through the medium of mana crystals. The idea is present in some of the early FF games too. But maybe we could imagine Almighty God governing the world through these crystals and leaving humans the task of guarding them. The game doesn't oppose monotheism and I suppose that there is a sense in which creation is good insofar as its goodness is ensured by the well being of the crystals, monsters emerge where this balance is broken.

When characters die in battle they "see the reaper", but then can be resurrected, that is a pity, it is more Christian to have characters knocked out and then revived, as in most ff games.

The boy's father speaks to him as a ghost, so there is some continuance of souls after death although it is not clear that anyone goes to heaven or hell based on their lives.

Conclusion

  

In spite of all these theological flaws, I would still recommend the game to Catholics, why so? I think the essential reason is SoM is an RPG which is driven much more by gameplay than story or character development. The essential script within the game is very small (around 4000 words compared to Chrono Trigger's 20000) and whilst it sounds as if there is a lot of objectionable content, in fact, there is very little, because most of the game is dungeon crawling followed by curing and upgrading in the next town. The amazing musical score for the game is also one of the best of the 16bit era, in my opinion, second only to Chrono Trigger and highly enjoyable with a wide variety of moods and themes expressed. SoM doesn't aim to be the big block buster epic action RPG, I think it is satisfied with being a decent, enjoyable amusement between playing the FFVIIs and the Suikoden IIs. The game also seems to capture something of child-hood, at least it did for me, perhaps it was the soundtrack and the bight colours that evoked this. Overall the whole game carried an air of simplicity and whilst it isn't one of the greatest games of all time, it is a lot of fun and not too much hard work. 

Is emulating a game sinful?

If you're a Catholic who is serious about keeping in the state of grace and remaining in Christ's friendship then you probably think a lot about whether a given act is sinful or not. One of the things you might worry about is whether it's sinful to emulate games on your phone or computer.

Downloading a copy of a game you don't own, and which ordinarily can only be obtained by purchasing it is certainly sinful. I think if you have a habitual practice of doing this you are certainly dealing with grave matter, that is, mortal sin. Even stealing one game electronically could possibly be a mortal sin, if it is done with full knowledge that the action is serious. 

Some people would argue with this, but I think we need to see intellectual properties and software in the same way we would view physical items. If you apply the same rules to the physical item, would taking it be moral?

Anyway, lets move onto the question- is it wrong to download a copy of a game you do own?

This is licit so long as, in additional to owning a copy of the game you are going to play, you also own a console on which that game can be played.

• So, for example, you own a ps1 and you own a hard copy of ff7. In that instant it is licit to emulate ff7 on your pc or phone.

• Another example, you own a ps3 (which is capable of playing ps1 games) and a hard copy of ff7. In that instant it is licit to emulate ff7 on your pc or phone.

• Again, you own a wii and you buy mario 3 on the virtual console, you can play mario 3 on your phone.

• I would even go so far as saying- you own the nes cartridge of mario 3, you have lost your nes but own a wii upon which mario 3 is available for download, in this instance I think you can play mario 3 on your phone without sin.

Keep the faith my brothers, you have one soul and there is one eternity.

Stars of Destiny

I recently played through Suikoden on PSN. I enjoyed the game, and I could really appreciate how Suikoden II had built upon the strengths of the first game. Something that struck me anew in playing this game is the plan that God has for each of His elect.

As the hero you have to go around and recruit the 108 characters who make up the 'Stars of Destiny'. The interesting thing is that not all these characters are going to be great fighters- some are cooks, some are kids, some of them are dancers and some of them are just doing day to day chores. Each of the characters you can recruit is given away by that fact that as an NPC he has a face in his dialogue box!

What struck me is that Almighty God's elect are like the 'stars of destiny', and it is the job of each one of us to play our part in recruiting the 'stars of destiny' into the Church. We do not know if we are one of the stars until the next life, but if you persevere faithfully in the Church (in the party) then it is an indication that you are.

RPG Morality systems

I've been thinking a little bit recently about morality systems in video games. I'm sure you will have encountered them in the Mass Effect, Fable and Fallout games of recent years. Although I am trying to live a life in the state of grace the fallen element in me still pulls me towards developing a character in these games who isn't always the most virtuous- I think that is for a few reasons.

For starts, some games give negative morality points for actions that a virtuous character might well do, sometimes what we would consider morally neutral are considered as bad. Another reason is that Vice can come about by accident in these games!


The thing I find most lacking in the present day morality systems is "vertical accountability". The games have no acknowledgement of a God and His laws as the basis for the moral code that individuals are veering away from or towards.

I tease my friends that if you get game over in a morality based game the ending scene should be heaven/ hell/ purgatory so it is clear that your character's moral decisions had an impact on his eternal destiny.

Apparently Ultima IV was the first RPG to feature a morality system and unlike modern day ones it sounds as if you can only complete the game by becoming the virtuous character, that sounds like a pretty decent Catholic approach- but not quite as good as my heaven/hell/purgatory idea!

Chrono Trigger- A biblical metaphor?

I really enjoy watching the Game Theory channel on YouTube, there are some really entertaining videos. One of the best ones is this 'theory' looking into where the game parallels with salvation history. Some of the stuff ties in with my review of CT from some time ago which you can read here

Final Fantasy IV Review

I recently completed playing through Final Fantasy IV for the Android/IOS, a version which is, for the most part, a port of the DS version of the game. I had been looking forward to playing this version of FF4 in order to experience a new, as it were, updated, take on the classic Snes game. The game is now in 3D and features both a remastered soundtrack and a slightly revised, that is, lengthened, script. There are a few gameplay changes but it was really quite funny how for the most part entire dungeon maps were exactly the same as in the original version, albeit through a 3D lense.

Final Fantasy 4 never reached England for the Snes and so I first played FFIV on the Playstation as part of the Final Fantasy Chronicles, and this was an imported copy because, again, Square didn't release Chronicles over here either. I was probably 15 at the time, my younger brother and I chose the Hard Type version to play, and I can remember how much levelling up was involved to progress slowly but surely through a pattern of town to dungeon to town to dungeon. We enjoyed playing 4 but I remember that my teenage impression was of how much behind FF6 and Chrono Trigger seemed to be in terms of gameplay, story and characterisation. 10 years later playing the game on the IOS (and having replayed the snes version about 3 years ago as well), my opinion has completely changed- I would now rank the game as up there among my all time favourites; not only because I have come to appreciate some of the interesting novelties of ffiv gameplay, but most of all because I think in the plot and characterisation we have the most pro-Catholic of all the FF games. There are only a minor number of ethical problems with the game and these are mostly in terms of modesty, the underlying philosophy in the game and moral outlook of characters is basically Christian and we even have a natural theology that, unlike most of the FFs, accepts the existence of Almighty God and doesn't feature Him as some kind of evil overlord. Also, like Chrono Trigger, the game doesn't take itself too seriously- a major fault in most of the later FFs and most modern RPGs- they try and expound a vision of reality, a hard, tight knit science fiction narrative, rather than allowing imaginary fantasy elements to simply be imaginary elements.

Let's then go through the usual categories to analyse how supportive Final Fantasy IV is to a Catholic worldview.

 Character and identity

Each of the characters in Final Fantasy 4 has his or her own distinctive attributes profile, a feature readers may be familiar with in Final Fantasy 9. Characters are clearly determined as to what their role in battle ought to be- we have a summoner, a white mage, a ninja, a knight, a dragoon etc and each class has its own unique set of abilities. Readers of my other reviews will know that I really favour this style of gameplay mechanics in RPGs, I think it most corresponds to a true vision of vocation and that flourishing comes from living in accord with the design that God has built in to you, rather than in FFX for example, where each character is capable of eventually becoming the same as any other through the power of their own choice.

Within the narrative there are some enjoyable characters and the DS remake, featuring occasional voice-acting, brings a greater realism to them. Characters are quite sure about their vocations in life, and they are aware that living in accord with them is not an obstacle to their freedom but the enhancement of it. There is a good amount of humour running through the game, and also a sense of fraternity among the party members.

 Reality of Objective Moral laws.

The game endorse the idea that there is a real distinction between good and evil and that evil is anti-life. The crystals somehow sustain life (and unlike in FF9 there is no hard piece of sci-fi to divinize the crystals) and Golbez (controlled by Zemus) is having them stolen in order to further a wicked plan. Often Golbez uses trickery to try and get Cecil (the protagonist) and his party to obtain crystals for him, he, for example, is able to appear as allies of the party, he also seems to have a certain power over anyone who is still wedded to darkness (evil). The party does not resort to trickery in response to Golbez, and Cecil, above all, is driven by a sense of justice to conquer evil.

An area of morality where the game falls short is in modesty- all the female party members wear too little. If I was Cecil, I would tell Rosa to get some more clothes on, she is dressing like a prostitute. The worst aspect of the DS version are the dancing stripper girls that perform little dances for you if you ask them to, this was unfortunate. There is also a town where there is a brothel, and the player is able to spend a load of gil in order to be 'entertained' by a bunch of the stripper girls. On the positive side Cecil makes no comment about the situation, and a lot of the things that the NPCs say in the brothel mock the situation rather than glamorise it.


Interior Struggle to pursue the good.

This is really where the game excels. In the early part of the game Cecil is a 'dark knight' experiencing pangs of conscience upon being given orders to seize the crystal from a defenceless village. On a second mission to seize another crystal, he realises that he can't obey the orders, resulting from his expulsion from his job as commanding the 'red wings'. It is not enough the for Cecil to have rejected evil, he must also do penance and make a concerted return to the good, he returns to the town which was destroyed by his countrymen and begs forgiveness, he then has to travel to the height of a mountain in order to confront his darkness and renounce it. Cecil has a mystical experience of some kind on the mountain, where he is given a vision from a great light, and in the light he is transformed into a paladin- a Holy Knight. Through the remainder of the game Cecil is a defender of the weak and forgiving to those who have fallen through weakness. Later in the game we see how characters who have been used by the real bad guy to perform evil show sorrow for their acts, we also see them struggle to resist his influence. Kain struggles throughout the game but finally he seems to conquer himself and the temptations of evil, and as the game closes we see him on the holy mountain where Cecil had his conversion, hoping to experience a like transformation through penance.  

Divine Providence working through free will.
Do the victories of the evil one ultimately bring about his demise? The game does not reflect too deeply on this matter. Do the deeds of good men with free will somehow accomplish grand ends? I think so, a good example is the scene where the white and black mages gather to the tower of prayer and pray that the 'prophecy will be fulfilled' and their prayers are heard, bringing about the return of the 'lunar whale' who can enable the party members to travel to the moon. Another example is when, early in the game, Cecil chooses to save Rydia a summoner who has somehow survived his army's attack on an innocent city, Rydia will later prove to be essential to the party.

Self Sacrifice for others

Again, FF4 scores really high on this point, almost half of the characters who join the party attempt to sacrifice their lives to save others! The ones who survive both mourn the loss of a beloved companion and profess gratitude towards him. When I first played FF4 I was a little annoyed that a lot of the characters who sacrificed themselves for others somehow manage to survive against all odds! Looking at the game now I see this as part of the game's innocence, and also as getting the point across that virtue is rewarded, even, occasionally, in this life. My favourite act of sacrifice is performed by Tellah, where, reminiscent of the summoner from FFX, he performs a spell which ought to destroy the evil one, but he knows that performing it will take his own life. Unlike Yuna, who sadly never took this noble route, Tellah performs the meteo spell, and suffers the consequences.

Basic Christian Theodicy- Monotheism, Goodness of creation, understanding of eternal reward/punishment based on moral behaviour.

No JRPG can be expected to have a perfect Christian Theodicy, there are always oddities. Characters mention heaven, but we don't hear much, if anything, of hell though and heaven without hell is a mockery of the divine order. Like in Chrono Trigger, there are a number of apparitions of deceased good characters, such as the King of Baron, who explains that his body is gone but his mind will live forever. Cecil's father, also deceased, appears to Cecil from beyond the grave. So there is a definite continued existence of the good. There is however a problematic statement when Edward's girlfriend, who has died, appears to him but says she must depart as "the spirit calls me onward to be part of it again", what that means who knows? But it is off from a Christian natural theology. I don't think the game makes a big deal of the statement though and I may be being over-sensitive about this.

What's absent is any idea of judgement, that is, that evil characters who have perverted their nature in this life, necessarily endure separation from the good in the next life. Slightly problematic is the fact that the deceased king says that he will now be an eidolon, that is, a 'summon'. In ff4 summons are not gods but more like fairies that have their own little town and come to help the summoner that calls upon them, this is a nice understanding of summons, but it seems a bit messy to view a dead human as becoming a fairy.

The nature of evil is slightly problematic, there is some suggestion that evil is necessary so long as there is good- the idea that the existence of light necessitates the reality of darkness. The two are not depicted as equally powerful forces though, light outshines the darkness.The final badguy is never completely destroyed and he promises that he will always exist so long as evil dwells in the hearts of men, I would have preferred if he had been destroyed and seen descend into a fiery lake of punishment, and then said, "others will follow me so long as evil dwells in the hearts of men".

 Prayer is mentioned quite a bit, the only problem with its usage though is it isn;t precisely clear to whom the prayers are being directed- and there is a possibility that by 'prayer' what the game really means is a telepathic energy source. At the very end of the game two characters depart into a lengthy sleep and promise that within this stasis they will 'pray for the peace of the planet', it is a good message.

There is no mention of God, a personal Almighty Creator of all that is, there is one line that refers to the existence of 'gods'. The FF4 universe is theistic but there is nothing as strong as the 'Entity' of Chrono Trigger.

 Conclusion

When you put FFIV alongside FFX, XIII, VI, VII, Tactics and Xenogears I think it stacks up as the most Christian of the FFs, there is no major earth-spirit Gaia theme which plagues VII and IX, and there is no 'atheism is liberation' trope like you get in X and XIII. I really enjoyed the battle system of FFIV, it is simple but enjoyable, and there are some great player abilities such as Edward's automatic 'Hide' when he is low on life, and Edge's 'throw' ability which lets him throw any piece of weaponry at an enemy. A lot of the stuff which characterises later FF gameplay is here in FFIV for the first time- I think FFIV was the first FF to have an engrossing storyline and a quality soundtrack. There aren't any minigames, there are only a couple of little sidequests, but there are plenty of secret treasure chests and enough things to make the game worth a second and more thorough play through.

FFIV is a fun game, but be prepared for a lot of grinding! Especially if you play through the DS hardtype mode. The IOS version is a lot easier that DS because it automatically saves you at spots between save points, so you lose very little if, or rather when, you happen to be knocked out in a random battle featuring ridiculously hard enemies that would be ok in a group of 2, but not a group of 5!

The game isn't the Catholic RPG I have been looking for, as Lord of the Rings could be said to be the Catholic fantasy fiction, I think that still needs to be produced, but it gets close to the heights of Chrono Trigger in some areas and in the area of 'interior struggle to pursue the good' it clearly surpasses it.

Like CT, the game wears itself lightly, it knows it is a game and lot a philosophical treatise and it doesn't try to reduce everything to matter- we have spirit, we have mind, we have prayer. I think I would be quite comfortable giving this game to a child or teenager in a way a wouldn't for a lot of rpgs. I think it can, in parts, be a preparation for the Gospel.

I'm sure many of you have played through Final Fantasy IV, I'd love to hear your take on the game and on how it supports or contradicts a Catholic worldview.

Finding Christ in the Classics: Wiz n Liz: The Frantic Wabbit Wescue

Note: Finding Christ in the Classics will focus on finding Christian elements in old games. Not going crazy with it, such as comparing Mario's coin collecting with the Israelites collecting gold to melt into an idol, but just a general Christian theme. Hopefully I'll run this once a week every two weeks. Here is a link to two other games I did in this series on my old site.



If I could only have six or seven games from the 16-bit era of gaming (1989 to 1995), Wiz n Liz: The Frantic Wabbit Wescue, would be put in the same cupboard as classics like Super Mario World, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, and SimCity 2000. This under-appreciated gem from Psygnosis, the folks who brought us Lemmings and would later go on to do the Wipeout Series, is an odd but charming little game for the Sega Genesis and Amiga that sees you running across the screen to catch rabbits and letters before the timer runs out. At the beginning, you only need to catch letters, but after a few rounds, you'll lose if you don't collect all the rabbits.

After the level is over, you can take the various pieces of fruit you've collected and mix them together for zany spells, such as all the rabbits turning different colors and bonus games, among other silly things.

Simple? Absolutely. Challenging? Very. Especially when you're running out of time, and there's that one last rabbit you need to escape the level. With your character moving at Sonic-like speeds, this can get really frantic.

I remember seeing this game advertised in the pages of Sega Visions magazine, but didn't pick it up until I was living in Pittsburgh a few months after graduating college. Instantly I was blown away. I shouldn've been surprised, as I loved Lemmings and Puggsy, two other games from the same company.

So what positive faith lesson did I take out of this simple game starring a wizard and his wife rescuing rabbits? For this, I look to the Gospel of Luke, specifically Christ's parable about the missing sheep.

In Luke's book of knowledge, Jesus tells us of a shepherd who would go looking for one sheep out of a 100, saying that heaven rejoices over one sinner repenting more so than 99 righteous people who aren't in need of grace. I thought of this Bible verse as I frantically scrambled for that last missing rabbit. In this game, it doesn't matter if you have 37 rabbits when the time runs out: If you don't have that 38th rabbit, you still lose. That missing rabbit is just as important as the rabbits you've already rescued.


There are other nice things to take away from this game. The fact that Easter is just a few days away and this game features a smorgasbord of rabbits! It's also a great two-player game that lends well to sitting on the couch with your friends or younger relatives (non-violent, another bonus for those with younger children). But the biggest thing for me is that reminder that we are all important to God.

And that's a nice thing to think about as we head into Easter. Christ died for that one sheep out of 100. And that 38th rabbit, not to mention that rotten person like me.

8-Bit Catholic T-Shirt

I received an e-mail today from a guy who has produced an 8-Bit themed Catholic T-Shirt, he is selling them in order to try and raise money for his parish- this looks like a great thing to support. I'd also be interested to know of any other 8-bit Catholic T-Shirts, comment if you're aware of any.

The T-Shirt could be a nice way to celebrate Easter and to proclaim it around you.  It's an adaptation of Mario by the looks of things, where, whenever you complete a castle, as far as I can remember, you get told something along the lines of "Thank You, but the princess is in another castle".

Final Fantasy IX- some reflections

I recently finished playing Final Fantasy 9 from the Playstation Network and had a number of thoughts on the themes of the game from a Catholic perspective.

Character and identity

A large and recurring theme in the game is that of identity, and to its credit the game features some well crafted characters that are appealing and interesting. The game's leveling up pathways for each characters differ, as does the equipment they can wear and the abilities they can learn, something that I really like as I think it reflects faithfully the principle that each individual is created by God for a definitive role or purpose and that they find fulfillment in living according to their design.  

Ultimately every human person has been known by God from eternity inasmuch as God has known Himself from all eternity and each person reflects or embodies in creation an attribute of God Himself. In the loving gaze of the Son proceeding from the Father is contained the blueprint for all created persons. When we speak of vocation it is the objective fact that God has designed you to encapsulate in your life and personality a certain fundamental truth about Him. 

We find this in FF9 in a way we don't see in FF7 where Cloud can essentially be molded by the player into whatever role the player wishes, or in later FFs where over time characters move out from their given roles. In FF9 there is an understanding that it is good to have an identity, that the quest of finding out one's identity is a worthwhile project and that fulfillment is somehow to be found through living in accords with that identity.

Each character in FF9 struggles with these issues of identity and almost half of the characters realise that they weren't who they thought they were to some degree, they then have to adapt to the reality of who they really are and discern how this is to be lived.

From a Catholic perspective some come through this crisis better than others. I think Garnet comes out very well, she integrates the fact that she is a summoner and not the biological child of the queen very well, she is honest with herself and those near to her that her background is more complicated than it seemed and yet she realises that 'who she is' is shaped by more than just biological factors and that her calling is nonetheless to be future queen.

Steiner comes through his crisis fairly well as he realises that essentially to be a good knight requires him to serve the crown faithfully but that of even greater importance is to obey the moral law written in his heart.

Vivi is a very interesting character and probably my favourite character in the game, he has the most explicit identity crisis when he discovers that he is manufactured and manufactured to carry out an immoral purpose. 

Vivi doesn't at this point reject the fact he is a black mage, something which could have happened, or alternatively decide that he has to be an evil black mage. Vivi seeks to realise how being a manufactured black mage need not mean living a destructive life. Vivi's powers and abilities which being a black mage endows him with, can be used in a good means.  In both the case of Vivi and Zidane the ability to make friends, to experience loving relations, seems to bring life to their unfortunate inherited natures of being creatures intended to destructive purposes.

Here is a glimpse of the reality that each of us, regardless of how messed up our family background is, possesses a fundamental vocation to love and that in loving others the meaning of our lives in illuminated. When we love and give ourselves in love we come closer to enabling who we really are, in God's plan, to surface.

Reality of Objective Moral laws.

Final Fantasy 9 actually does fairly well here, much better than 10 or 12, there are clear “conscience characters” such as Vivi and Steiner who are reliable in asserting the moral order. Everyone knows that the mage-manufacturing is objectively wrong, that it is an undignified way to come into the world and a perversion of the natural creative order- it doesn't need to be vocalised, it is presumed quite rightly that what is going on is wrong and that an objective moral law that is being broken.  

Interior Struggle to pursue the good.

We don't see too many occasions where characters have to fight their fallen side and selfish inclinations to do what is right, perhaps in Steiner as he vows to rescue to princess or fights to the end to try and defend the castle. The good characters generally find it easy to pursue the right course. When it comes to the struggle to remain pure and live a chaste life, there are some problems with modesty on behalf of Garnet and clearly Zidane has issues with the ninth commandment. Overall however the game is not generally impure, even if there is no recognition of the battle to remain chaste which we must all undertake and the virtue in being victorious in this fight. That Cid experiences a punishment for his womanising behaviour is treated with humour, but certainly it seems that after the experience of having been a variety of different creatures, he is quite sure that he is now going to remain faithful to his wife, nor does he have any resentment towards her but realises that her punishment on him had been deserved in some sense.

Divine Providence working through free will.

There is no reference to providence or the concept that there is higher power at work in bringing about the good. There is some irony in that Garland's instruments to destroy Gaia end up destroying him. That evil destroys itself through its wicked schemes is an important truth that the game seems to echo a number of times.

Self sacrifice for others

On quite a number of times we see characters choosing to stay to fight with their friends when the friend wishes to go on a solo vendetta. There is a very strong emphasis on the value of fighting for the good and being willing to join another in his own personal struggle for what is right. At the end of the game we even see Zidane wishing to undergo great danger to be with Kuja, and even possibly to save him, he does this on the basis of understanding that he could have easily become like Kuja, and also after recognising that Kuja has been responsible for teleporting the party into safety. 

Basic Christian Theodicy- Monotheism, Goodness of creation, understanding of eternal reward/punishment based on moral behaviour.

 After having commented on how supportive the game is to a basic Christian worldview we finally come to its major weakness! Unfortunately, the game has major problems in the area of the natural theology. Only gradually do the problems become apparent and they are generally confined to the last disc. I will outline three problem areas.

1) The game has the typical FF poison of viewing souls as recyclable, the idea that, after you die, your soul returns to the planet, to then, at a later point be given to another individual. This idea essentially does away with any concept of reward or punishment for good and evil, and the fate of each is exactly the same- essentially annihilation. This means that the whole emphasis on identity and character present throughout the game is rendered rather meaningless for ultimately you have no lasting identity, you are a recycled soul that will, very soon, sink back into the mush of soul energy. The nature of the soul is even more problematically presented as the game explains how the souls of the dead that are inside the planet can be sucked up to be used to power airships, and indeed to animate artificial creatures. This undermines the previous strength of the game in emphasising the dignity of the individual as a person with a unique identity and so the player is ultimately left very confused as to whether his life has any meaning at all, or indeed, whether his life actually is uniquely his own or is some kind of reincarnation job.

2) Then there is the problem about how the game answers its own ongoing question of "what is the meaning of life?" The issue is significant for Vivi because he does not have a clear identity/ character which can easily offer his life meaning. Vivi, at one point in the game, perhaps its highest point, considers what it means to die and whether life continues after death, the moment is profound and well crafted. 

Sadly the conclusion he comes to at the end of the game and the solution that the game promotes is the following: A) that 'our memories live on'   and B) that we should live life “to the full” while we can. With respect to the first 'solution' (A) the game proposes a bizarre theory that all life, apparently having evolved from space dust, has a connection to each other and that the connection carries the memory of lower life forms- I'd like to see how consoling that doctrine is to someone on their deathbed. It is philosophically ridiculous for obvious reasons. Even if we take the view that memories have a physical side to them and are in some way impressed upon the brain, it is certain that a rock or a particle in space cannot possess a memory, Furthermore, even if memories are simply physical qualities of the brain, the brain is not, in its entirety transmitted in sexual reproduction. Aside from the nonsense pseudo science, at its most basic sense, Vivi's first solution is not evil and it has some basis in scripture. In the Old Testament there is a strong sense at times that it is a good thing to be remembered as an honorable person in order to be an example and encouragement for future generations. The point is however; our memories do not live on somewhere out there, floating around in the sky. Our memories do live on, in as much as God wills it, as infused knowledge in the separated soul that has gone forth to be judged by him

The second solution (B) is much more pernicious and undermines a lot of what is good about the game, it is fundamentally the assertion of atheist existentialists- that life is meaningless but enjoy the ride and forget about how meaningless the whole thing is.

What should have Vivi said from his position as living before divine revelation? Well, ideally Vivi could have concluded A) our memories live on and B) Our lives have value from the good we achieve in them. C) The good we perform goes with us into the unknown of the next life to bring us some kind of reward.

3) Finally, in terms of natural theology, the game suffers, in its closing few hours, from a bizarre theological idea that all life, all souls, all existence, somehow depends on this giant space crystal and that if the space crystal is destroyed everything falls into annihilation.... The Almighty space crystal which is completely inert, indifferent, unthinking, rock is somehow the source of the existence of life- both spiritual and physical. Furthermore, the Almighty space crystal needs its creatures to defend it! Finally, the fact that the crystal is a thing, existing in the universe, causes anyone with a little bit of philosophical reasoning to realise that a thing, existing in the universe, itself composed of parts cannot be the eternal uncreated, source for the universe. Because the crystal is a material thing we can reasonably ask "how, indeed, did this crystal get there?"- Things don't simply exist they require an explanation. Even if the space crystal is the cause of other material life, the space crystal needs an uncreated, eternal, spiritual, immutable cause.

  Conclusion

  

Overall I enjoyed playing FFIX- from a gamer’s point of view the game has a lot going for it- the music, the battle system, the lightheartedness, the character development. The game is also the very peak of the psx graphical capabilities. The battles system had fewer cracks in it compared to 8, which could easily be broken by the gamer and the summons are a lot shorter to watch! I’m probably rate it above ff8 and ff12 but under ff7 and 10.As the game went on I was disappointed with the nonsense Japanese new agey stuff that infects the otherwise healthy portrayal of characters trying to work out their place in the universe. The plot isn't as insidious as FFX, Xenogears or Final Fantasy Tactics but it isn't a preparation for the Gospel by any means.

Captain Falcon: Roman Catholic?

This fascinating bit of gaming trivia brought to you by the fine folks over at The Gamer's Atlas, who hosted a gaming trivia quiz show panel at ACEN this past weekend: Captain Falcon, Nintendo's iconic F-Zero/Super Smash Bros. mascot, is a Roman Catholic.

Skeptical? Incredulous? Well, so was I. When I pressed the panelists for a source for this information, I was told that one of the Game Boy Advance F-Zero titles lists Falcon's religion in the instruction manual. A quick google search neither confirms nor denies this, but Captain Falcon's Catholicism is apparently well-known to Super Smash Bros. fandom. Behold Brawl in the Family's "Captain Falcon at Church," completed back in 2009:

All silliness aside, I think that Catholics could do worse than having Captain Falcon as "token" gaming representation. Certainly, given his character development in F-Zero GX, we should be downright thrilled. If anyone can find better verification of Falcon's Catholicism, I'd love to see it! 

The Belated GOTY Post

2012 has come and gone, but that doesn't mean its too late for a reposting of Adam Shaw's Catholic guide to the best games of 2012. It was originally featured on the Catholic News Service website, but it seems to have been taken down. While the lack of Xenoblade Chronicles makes my heart sink, the inclusion of Kid Icarus: Uprising almost makes up for it. Almost.

Abobo's Big Adventure = Greatest Flash Game Ever.

This isn't a religious topic, other than the fact that I shouted, "THANK YOU GOD!" upon discovering this.

Abobo's Big Adventure.

Sweet mercy this is an incredible game. You control Abobo, who is the iconic boss from the Double Dragon series, and embark on a journey to save his son. The first stage is the first stage from Double Dragon, only you control Abobo and fight a wide variety of NES characters, including Goombas, Donkey Kong, and thugs from Kung Fu. From then, it gets nutty: one level has you swimming through level 2-1 of Super Mario Bros. while eating enemies a la Yoshi, while another puts you in a Zelda-style game.

It truly is a letter of love to any NES fan, and I had such a blast playing this last night.  Parental guidance suggested: it does contain some gross humor and gratuitous violence (eating mermaids can be gruesome), so exercise caution when playing this in front of your children.

Abobo. You are cherished.

Party of Sin: Guilty fun or sacrilege?

I don't mind when people make jokes at the expense of religion. I wouldn't love South Park as much as I do if I got upset over people mocking faith. I even take part in some podcasts where religion gets mocked in sometimes crude ways. But you take it in stride, and know that nine out of ten times, the people mocking it don't actually mean cruel malice towards me or other members of my faith.

I remember a title called Afterlife by LucasArts, a silly Sim-like title in which you take control of Heaven or Hell and try to keep souls in your world occupied and productive. It was real tongue-in-cheek fun because the versions of Heaven and Hell that you controlled were funny caricatures that didn't really resemble our thoughts and beliefs regarding how we spend eternity. Sure, people committed sins to get there, but every religion has it's own set of rights and wrongs.

16 years later, an independent game company called Crankshaft Games has created a PC puzzle platformer called Party of Sin, in which the goal of the game is to take the seven deadly sins, who are actual characters, break out of hell and destroy angels on a quest to take over heaven.

The gameplay reads like an updated version of The Lost Vikings (translation: FUN!), in which each character has it's own strengths and weaknesses, and being able to switch party members at any time. The game definitely has a sense of humor, not unlike Afterlife, and going purely by the trailer, it's not as if you're burning crucifixes or murdering nuns.

Not being able to play the game (just reading the interview) leaves me crippled when it comes to judging if the game crosses any lines. I have to say, I do cringe a bit at the idea of waging war against God's angels in a video game, especially when the leader of the angels in the game is actually named Michael, but then again, I chuckle at Afterlife because it's such a silly stretch, maybe I should have the same attitude with Party of Sin. It looks like an amazing game to play.

Maybe the reason I give Afterlife a pass is because, even though it contains Heaven and Hell, it feels detached from Christianity a bit, while Party of Sin feels more like a game set in the world of my own faith. I think I'd probably feel much better about the game if it gave you the option of playing as the Heaven side of things, as you could probably make an even more interesting platformer with that mechanic in place.

Gun to my head, I'd have to say that it just misses that line of "OMG THIS IS EVIL SACRILEGE!!!!" I'll have to wait for the demo to come out and judge it more fully. Regardless of my opinions, I'm sure Bill Donahue of the Catholic League will go nuts if this game gets any kind of popular rub.

I'd love to get your thoughts in the comment section.