Games where the plot revolves around a corrupt religion etc

Like the thread says, I'm looking for games that have a plot which consists majorly of religion and corruption. The only games I've ever played with the aforementioned plot are Final Fantasy X and Breath of Fire II (=.=") so can anyone recommend any other good ones?

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Grandia II is one, a very good game as well.

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Well don't wanna be the one to beat a dead horse, but i'm gonna do so anyway. Xenogears is your perfect candidate.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

It has been awhile, but if I remember correctly, the plot of Xenogears revolved around a religion, but I forgot if there was any corruption in it or not though.

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Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow, a cult who wants to revive Dracula, how could anything get more corrupt than that.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Try Legend of Kartia on the PS1. The whole thing is about a corrupt church with you playing the part of one of two naive young church knights who unravel it all from within. It's a damn good game too.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Ultima VII for PC is also related to that. Pretty awesome game despite it's rather old (1992).

Wasn't Call of Cthulhu also related to religion? I only played for a few hours, but i remember it had some human sacrifices and stuff...

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If you're only looking at RPGs, Xenogears is THE "evil corrupt religion" game.

If you're also including non-RPGs (the first post didn't specify RPGs only), Thief 1 and 2 both involve the resident religious nuts getting out of hand and trying to destroy the world. There's probably plenty of other games too, but I just woke up and my brain's too foggy to think of them at the moment.

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As Freddy mentioned above, Grandia 2 comes right to mind. Evil religious guy even calls himself the Pope.

If you get right down to brass tacks, Valkyrie Profile has you fighting in a religious war, though the lines of good and evil are somewhat blurred.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

What the hell? Am I going to be the first one to mention Final Fantasy Tactics, what gives? Political and religious corruption abounds.

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Originally Posted by Dr. Uzuki

What the hell? Am I going to be the first one to mention Final Fantasy Tactics, what gives? Political and religious corruption abounds.

I thought I was the only one who was reading these posts thinking, "WHAT? No one's mentioned FFT yet?"

Yeah, definately FFT, that game has one of the best plots in this topic. Vagrant Story also has a bit, if I recall correctly. Or maybe that game was more about an insane cult religion...

How ya doing, buddy?

well the silent hill series deals with the cult to zamael, so maybe it could interest you.

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I would say RE4 but this is the RPG forum.


Wait...

I was speaking idiomatically.

Originally Posted by JazzFlight

Yeah, definately FFT, that game has one of the best plots in this topic. Vagrant Story also has a bit, if I recall correctly. Or maybe that game was more about an insane cult religion...

It was sort of both. The religion the main villain and his soldiers follow is....well, debatably corrupt. Some of the characters who follow the religion aren't particularly evil or diabolical and don't make the religion seem much better or worse than ANY given religion. But there's strong hints that some of the church higher-ups are corrupt as hell. There's there's the cult that Sydney leads who are also off doing their own thing. They're not an INSANE cult, per se, but they're not exactly benign. Throw the two together in an evil city and you're guaranteed trouble even WITHOUT all the monsters and zombies roaming around the place.

Plenty of religion and politics in Vagrant Story. Which normally bore me, but VS did it really damn well. Considering how much I loved the game, I MUST have been half asleep when I wrote my other post. VS should have been the first game I thought of.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Stella Deus sort of falls under this category. While the main villain rebels against the religion and is not a member of it, the religion itself teaches strict apathy towards mankind's own looming destruction (which the hero and almost everyone else opposes). It's a Strategy-RPG though, so it might not be your thing.

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Tales of Symphonia is another one, though it's not exactly a central plot device. It follows the whole religion being used to control the masses thing similar to Xenogears. And of course it's a Gamecube game, so not exactly the system of choice for typical RPG fans.

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Thanks, plenty of suggestions. I'm mainly interested in Xenogears, but that game was never released on PAL and I'm not a fan of using swap magic every time I want to play a game. I've never played Final Fantasy Tactics before, but I heard it's good. I may consider buying it. (yet again, FFT was never released in PAL...eh, can't win all of 'em)

Anyway keep the suggestions coming. I'm mainly looking for RPGs but some games from other genres won't do any harm if mentioned.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Xenogears, Xenogears, Xenogears. Not only does it fit the criteria you described but it is also one of the most amazing RPG's to ever grace the planet. Xenogears is my all time favorite video game. One would be hard pressed to find an equally complex and engaging story as Xenogears, even in modern books and movies. Play. This. Game.

I'd seriously suggest stomaching the use of swap magic on this one. It's just that good.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

I wouldn't say Xenogears' plot focused solely on a corrupt religion. It did hit on the ETHOS group and when you crushed it, that was pretty much it. Your characters weren't VERY concerned about the ETHOS group and their messed up religion afterwards. It was really about Solaris' oppression and finding the truth behind 'god.'

Or something.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

La Pucelle was like that as I recall. The church that Noir leads was used for the wrong intentions, but it's nowhere near as big as FFT or Xenogears.

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XENOGEARS

I know everyone's said it, so what? It's also my most favorite game of all time, with my favorite kind of plot, 'religious conspiracy.' Let's see, trying to think of something not already mentioned. Magna Carta: Tears of Blood, but I could be wrong, I haven't finished the game yet. Shadow Hearts: Covenant has a subliminal cult theme in it. Theres also Xenosaga, though not as much abvout religion as Xenogears, its still pretty good.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Though not great games, I think Lunar: Eternal Blue and Breath of Fire 2 were some of the first RPGs to use this plot point.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Breath of Fire 2. Probably one of the first games to pitch a religious group as the bad guys. I seriously can't think of a game prior to that which jabbed at such a subject. I'm amazed that Nintendo of America pulled it through stateside.

Edit -- o shi~
Didn't notice it in the first post.

FELIPE NO

I honestly don't remember the corrupt religion in Xenogears. Are you guys talking about that monastery where it's mentioned in passing that the Priests liked sexing young dudes? If so *yawn*.

Xenogears had a lot of religious overtones derived from Gnosticism, but it wasn't exactly focusing on "corrupt religion."

Ultima VII was a great mention. Other PC games with religions that had more than meets the eye were Wasteland, Fallout, Temple of Elemental Evil (hah, bet you couldn't guess that one). The upcoming Age of Decadence has a joinable house that seeks to start up God worship and a cult the player character can help form into an honest-to-God religion.

Can't really think of many console games. The usual efforts to touch on religion come off as being pretty dumb.

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Originally Posted by Bradylama

I honestly don't remember the corrupt religion in Xenogears. Are you guys talking about that monastery where it's mentioned in passing that the Priests liked sexing young dudes? If so *yawn*.

Xenogears had a lot of religious overtones derived from Gnosticism, but it wasn't exactly focusing on "corrupt religion."

Ultima VII was a great mention. Other PC games with religions that had more than meets the eye were Wasteland, Fallout, Temple of Elemental Evil (hah, bet you couldn't guess that one). The upcoming Age of Decadence has a joinable house that seeks to start up God worship and a cult the player character can help form into an honest-to-God religion.

Can't really think of many console games. The usual efforts to touch on religion come off as being pretty dumb.

So, I guess you don't remember anything about Billy then? (the dude that's dressed like a altar boy, that uses guns in your party)

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