Broadly understood, a narrative is a representation of a causal or associative chain of real or fictional events with a recognizable pattern including a beginning, a middle, and an end (Chandler and Munday 2020).

See: Studying Religion in Video Games: Its Pervasive Thematic Presence (Part 1)
See: Part 3 forthcoming.
________________________________________________________

Generally, narrative in the form of immersive storytelling is important for the experience of the majority of players. The “appeal for many games resides in their ability to envelop players in new worlds, complete with sophisticated backstories and complex plots” (Newgren 2010, 138). According to cultural theologian Daniel W. Hodge, 95% of interviewees stated that a good story line matters to their experiences as it sets the mood, tone, and overall strategy (2010, 164).

Video games, like other forms of entertainment media, tell stories, including religious and mythic ones. As religion scholar Kevin Recher observes, “Religion in games seldom functions as a pure decorative device, but often takes on an important narrative role in many games, and thus, for the player herself/himself” (2015, 81). According to Stef Aupers and Julian Schaap, video game developers “construct, or better, literally design a “mythopoeic history” by cutting and pasting premodern religions, myths and sagas and by offering it for further consumption” (2015, 194).

Encyclopaedias could be filled with video game stories about the suprahuman, the magical and paranormal, theogonies and origin myths, ancient events occurring during primordial time, afterlives, heavens, hells, ancestor realms, underworlds, ghosts and predatory ghouls roaming graveyards or abandoned tombs, undead skeletons hibernating in crypts awaiting the next unfortunate grave looter, divine rulership over conflict ravaged lands, (post-)apocalyptic fallouts, the exploits and feats of priestly brotherhoods and shamanic castes, enormous tomes and codexes populated encyclopaedically with spells and incantations to aid wizards and magicians studying at academies, the legends behind an imposing cathedral residing at the heart of a capital city or sacred spaces chiseled into gorges or crags of jagged mountains, heroic adventures to vanquish evil forces and essences from world or realm, and much more.

In addition, players are often encouraged or required to complete quests that feature religious themes. This might involve collecting magical objects like totems or shards invested with a deity’s supernatural energy to unlock a sealed gate to access the next realm or forging a flaming broadsword imbued with the spiritual powers of a deceased ancestral king. Quests might require the player to drain souls, heal mortal wounds through rituals, summon allied spirits to defend a particular location against a far more powerful enemy, resurrect the dead to learn an important piece of lore connected with a plot, or perform telekinesis.

Many of these stories entail what the theologian and philosopher Paul Tillich (1886-1965) called questions of “ultimate concern,” such as “What is the meaning of life? Where do we come from, where do we go to? What shall we do, what should we become in the short stretch between birth and death?” (1959, 1). The subjects of God, death, meaning, value, and morality are entangled with these questions, and by engaging these in the form of quest stories, players become connected with and exposed to religious ideas,

“Many gamers find spiritual and theological meaning in metanarratives within games such as Halo 3, which allow them to play games where they are the hero or heroine, save the world from holocaust/disaster, and explore new worlds, therefore allowing them to find connection with spiritual elements” (Hodge 2010, 165).

References

Chandler, Daniel., and Munday, Rod (editors). 2020. “Narrative.” In A Dictionary of Media and Communication (3 ed.). Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.

Hodge, Daniel W. 2010. “Role Playing: Toward a Theology for Gamers.” In Halos and Avatars: Playing Video Games with God, edited by Craig Detweiler. Louisville, Kentucky, United States: Westminster John Knox Press.

Newgren, Kevin. 2010. “BioShock to the System: Smart Choices in Video Games.” In Halos and Avatars: Playing Video Games with God, edited by Craig Detweiler.  Louisville, Kentucky, United States: Westminster John Knox Press.

Schaap, Julian., and Aupers, Stef. 2015. “Beyond Belief: Playing with Pagan Spirituality in World of Warcraft.” Online – Heidelberg Journal of Religions on the Internet 7:190-206.

Tillich, Paul. 1959. “The Lost Dimension in Religion.” PDF. (accessed 20 October 2024).