Christian References in RPG's

[Magekind]

Since it's live...

The Bible is used, hence Christianity and the references, mainly because it's such an old and mysterious text, and 80% or better of the world's population can relate to it in some way. Using Catholicism derivatives gives the whole thing an "ancient" feel. I myself have used religious/Christian references in stories and such in both positive and negative manners. That, and the words are a lot easier to find than just hashing something up, it gives it a more solid base.

[Arnobius]

Well, in Japan, Christianity plays the role that strange eastern religions play in Western fiction: a mysterious ominous organization and a strange mystic religion. Plus, in Japan, the general belief was that Japanese Christians were a fifth column plotting to overthrow Japan for the sake of European colonizers.

For religious references in JP games, there used to be a site called toastyfrog.com (I think it's defunct-- if anyone knows how to access those old "Thumbnail Theatres, please PM me) that listed all the references and what the US distributor renamed to avoid annoying people.

[Fireproof]

I have to say, as much as I loved the Final Fantasy series, I finally got shaken by X. I still like it. I mean, it is a great game and I would love to play it through again, but I often wonder if I should... The message behind the game was so painfully obvioius... [spoiler]I mean, the enemy was pretty plainly the catholic church, and the heroine is the one who abandons her faith and learns to trust in herself and her friends...[/spoiler]

Actually, I see it more as a contrast between trusting God and trusting the Church. While the basic principals of a religion may have nothing but good intentions, they can become distorted by human influence. While Yevon bears some similarities to Catholicism, I don't really think it's meant to represent it.

[CDLviking]

I found Yevon to have very little in common with the Catholic Church, except in the fact that it had a hierarchy.