Difference between revisions of "Essay:Greatest Conservative Video Games"

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(Koei Tecmo)
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===Electronic Arts===
 
===Electronic Arts===
 
*The Sims (and sequels): Promotes conservative values such as marriage, hard work, the raising of children, law and order, [[capitalism]], and private property ownership<ref>In the SimCity spinoff, the player is expected to build a city, which requires such.</ref>, but it also promotes other things that are anti-conservative, such as homosexual relationships and extramarital sexual relationships, and also has an implicit anti-military message due to there being negative aspects included with building military bases.<ref>In the SimCity spinoff, one option is a military base, but doing so comes with "higher crime" requiring increased police presence.</ref>. An afterlife exists in the game, but not in a Christian sense. The game was created by an [[atheist]].
 
*The Sims (and sequels): Promotes conservative values such as marriage, hard work, the raising of children, law and order, [[capitalism]], and private property ownership<ref>In the SimCity spinoff, the player is expected to build a city, which requires such.</ref>, but it also promotes other things that are anti-conservative, such as homosexual relationships and extramarital sexual relationships, and also has an implicit anti-military message due to there being negative aspects included with building military bases.<ref>In the SimCity spinoff, one option is a military base, but doing so comes with "higher crime" requiring increased police presence.</ref>. An afterlife exists in the game, but not in a Christian sense. The game was created by an [[atheist]].
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===Frontier Developments===
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*Jurassic World Evolution: A spiritual sequel to ''Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis'' from 2001, this game takes the players across the Five Deaths - a chain of several islands near Costa Rica - as they build dinosaur parks for the public. In a way, it promotes capitalism, showing that the park cannot operate without money, requiring the player to build shops and create fully-cloned dinosaurs. On the other hand, it also promotes the pro-cloning message from the films ''The Lost World: Jurassic Park'' and ''Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom''.
  
 
===Koei Tecmo===
 
===Koei Tecmo===
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===Bethesda Software===
 
===Bethesda Software===
*''The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim'': Inspired by conservative novels such as ''Lord of the Rings'', ''Beowulf'', and ''The Chronicles of Narnia'' and has conservative messages just like them. That said, however, it also engages in a few liberal themes, including an option for same-sex "marriages" and a promotion of feminism (including a high-ranking female "legates", the game's equivalent of a colonel, with the females being given a more masculine design).
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*''The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim'': Inspired by conservative novels such as ''Lord of the Rings'', ''Beowulf'', and ''The Chronicles of Narnia'', this game in the ''Elder Scrolls'' series tells about the player being chosen as a "Dragonborn" (a being with the body of a mortal and the soul of a dragon) to do battle with the dark dragon Alduin. Like the other games in the series, this game has conservative messages just like them. Such messages include redemption and striving to do good when the great white dragon Paarthurnax is revealed to have tamed his more savage nature to be at peace with the humans, asking "What is better: to be born good, or to overcome your evil nature through great effort?" That said, however, it also engages in a few liberal themes, including an option for same-sex "marriages" and a promotion of feminism (including a high-ranking female "legates", the game's equivalent of a colonel, with the females being given a more masculine design).
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*''Fallout 4'': Part of the apocalyptic ''Fallout'' series, the player (a soldier for a male character, a lawyer for a female character) wakes up from having been frozen for 200 years, witnessing his/her infant son being kidnapped. They awaken in post-apocalyptic Boston, Massachusetts, and embark on a journey to find their son, joined by new friends and various factions. The game portrays friendship and other virtues like courage well, as shown with the well-meaning but harsh Brotherhood of Steel. The player even has the choices of doing good, like defending settlements from attack or giving money or supplies to the needy. However, the game does condemn nuclear weapons; even a companion named Deacon believes that "guns don't solve problems, they just create more". Players can even choose to be involved in a homosexual relationship with companions of the same sex. Like having the choice to do good, the player can also choose to do harmful things like murder or stealing.
  
 
===Nintendo===
 
===Nintendo===

Revision as of 02:57, June 4, 2020

Although the video game industry by and large is liberal, there have been instances of video games promoting conservative values.

Axis Entertainment

This India-based gaming studio produces child-friendly, free games (sponsored by ads which are targeted toward their audience's parents).

Their main offering is the Baby Hazel game series. The title character is a two-year-old female toddler, featured doing positive activities (taking care of her newborn brother Matt, fixing food in the kitchen with her mother) and learning positive traits (manners, hygiene). The family is portrayed as a traditional nuclear family (father, mother, Hazel, and baby brother Matt) along with various friends and pets. One offering features Earth Day, but portrayed in a neutral manner to show care for the environment without getting into liberal traits. Many of the offerings feature Hazel saying prayers, not usually seen in secular video games.

However, the graphics are very simplistic and the games are known to have glitches in them; if a level is frozen the entire game must be restarted from the beginning (though there are only four levels in each game). Also being a foreign company the games do not feature proper English grammar (either American or British).

Ubisoft

  • Watchdogs: Despite coming from the ultra-liberal video game company Ubisoft, the game Watch Dogs has several Conservative messages, namely those of pro-family, anti-crime, and anti-big government. However, its sequel qualified as liberal.
  • Assassin's Creed Unity: Despite it coming from the ultra-liberal video game company Ubisoft as well as the liberal Assassin's Creed video game franchise, the game's plot specifically condemned the French Revolution and its adherents, with various notable figures of the French Revolution and Reign of Terror being targets for assassination.
  • Rainbow Six series: Based on the Tom Clancy novel of the same name, it deals with a special forces unit dealing with terrorists worldwide.
  • Ghost Recon series: Like with Rainbow Six, it deals with a special forces unit combating terrorists.

Koei-Tecmo

  • Dead or Alive series: The fighting game franchise had several conservative messages. One of which was pro-family, as the main character, Kasumi, joined the Dead or Alive tournament specifically to avenge her brother when he ended up critically injured by her uncle, and Kasumi, despite being on the run from her clan due to her technically violating their laws to do so, ultimately wants to return to her clan and family someday throughout the series, and in Dead or Alive 4, 5, and Dimensions, Ayane eventually managed to put aside her murderous jealousy against her half-sister and try to aid her. Similarly, Hayate, her brother, is also reluctant to kill his sister, despite the law mandating it, and their mother, Ayame, also stops Ayane (who was an illegitimate child due to Raidou, the uncle of Hayate and Kasumi who was responsible for the former's injury, having previously raped Ayame) from committing suicide and specifically stated not to kill Kasumi specifically because she was family, which was stronger than any Shinobi code. Similarly, in Dead or Alive 5, the character of Helena Douglas attempts to honor her deceased father's memory by restoring DOATEC to what her father Fame envisioned, and her overall character arc had her trying to avenge her deceased mother when she was murdered during a performance. In addition, the reason Helena's mother had died was because she took the bullet to save her daughter, due to said assassin, Christie, actually aiming for Helena herself during the performance. In addition, the character Hitomi in Dead or Alive 4 took control of the dojo specifically because her father had succumbed to an illness and needed money to help him and his dojo, with the character Gen-Fu having a similar motive regarding his granddaughter Mei Lin in Dead or Alive 1 and 2, entering to gain money for an operation to save her, and in Dead or Alive 3 to pay the medical bills, retiring only after she was fully cured and he fully paid off the debt and spending time with her afterward. Helena Douglas is also depicted as a Christian as well as depicted in a more positive light. In addition, even though it was a Japanese-created game series, it is also notable as featuring a surprisingly pro-American message in the form of the Armstrongs, as their patriotism was depicted in a positive light, and the character Tina was depicted as also trying to follow through with the American Dream. Also has an anti-cloning message, as the villainous DOATEC (and later, MIST) created various clones of Kasumi, with all of them being depicted as either villains (Alpha Kasumi, later known as Alpha-152) or victims (Phase 4). There is also a slight condemnation against feminism in Dead or Alive 5, as Tina tells Mila that "pretty girls shouldn't fight." On a related note, similar to Isabelle in Animal Crossing: New Leaf below, one of the expansions for Dead or Alive 5, Last Round, featured the debut of the character Honoka, who is depicted as being very positive and eager, and is the antithesis of a modern feminist.

Konami

  • Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater: Although it was part of the liberal Metal Gear Solid series, and also gave some hints at promoting the concept of Globalism and also relativism (and to a lesser extent nihilism) via The Boss's philosophy, the game's overall message was surprisingly conservative, emphasizing a promotion of patriotism in a (in comparison to the rest of the series at least) positive light throughout most of the game, and also featuring the Soviet Union and Communism in general in a more negative light, including depicting the main villain, Colonel Volgin, in a truly villainous and horrific light, as well as referencing several real-life war crimes conducted by the USSR such as the massacre at Katyn Forest during World War II (including making clear that the Soviets, in particular Volgin, was responsible for the event, not the Nazis which was even referenced in-game, as well as making explicitly clear that Joseph Stalin had ordered for the massacre by the NKVD in the first place, as well as similar massacres within the Ukraine and Western Belarus as well as it resulting in at least 24,000 deaths including the mass grave discovered by the Wehrmacht near Gnezdovo village), the massacres during the Hungarian Revolution in 1956 as well as the uprising in East Germany on June 17, 1953. It also to a certain extent attempts to promote American values (especially in comparison to most entries in the series prior to and after that game). In addition, the man trying to defect from the Soviet Union to America in the beginning of the game, Nikolai Stepanovich Sokolov, is shown in a sympathetic light and was also shown to be a family man, as when defecting to the United States and trying to cross the Iron Curtain, he made clear that he won't leave without his family, and late in the game, when acknowledging he probably won't be able to go to America, he has Naked Snake swear to take care of his family for him. In addition, it has a slight anti-homosexual agenda message due to the character Major Raikov alongside the main villain Volgin being strongly implied to be in a homosexual relationship, and neither character being depicted in a positive or sympathetic light. Also, contrary to most Cold War-related storylines which usually downplays Soviet involvement in various third-world conflicts such as Vietnam, it is made explicitly clear that the Soviets played a huge role in various uprisings within the third world, with radio conversations dealing with various weapons making very clear that the Soviets had involvement in South Vietnam, in the Malaysia Emergency, and that they even devised various traps specifically to be adopted by any communist allies in third world regions and were researching various traps within the Soviet Union via one of the key locations in the game. Volgin's main plan for the Shagohod also involved mass-producing it for the Eastern Bloc and then using it as bait to ferment uprisings against "dictators, ethnic insurgents, and revolutionary groups" throughout the third world, which not only acts as further confirmation of Soviet communism's involvement in the third world uprisings, but also hints at Volgin planning on engineering revolts against the USSR while he is in control of it, alluding to how various Communist ideologues often tried to instigate revolts even when firmly in power (owing to Karl Marx's advocating that the communists upon assuming power be obliged to reenact Robespierre's Reign of Terror).
    • Metal Gear Solid Portable Ops: Like Snake Eater above, it also attempts to invoke patriotism in a more positive light, and the main villains are explicitly shown to try and invoke nihilism, anti-American commentary as well as promoting class warfare at one point (citing a growing gap between the rich and poor during a speech midway through the game). It also has a condemnation against Soviet policies, as a large part of the reason why the personnel of a missile base in Colombia (who were of Soviet origin) ended up turning to Gene's cause was out of revenge for essentially being cut off from the Soviet brass due to the events of Détente in order for the Soviets to place the blame on "out-of-control soldiers" in the event the base was discovered, and when the Soviet personnel ultimately did aid Snake in stopping the possible nuclear launch against the Soviet Union, it is solely due to the Soviet Union being their homeland and not out of any love for its policies. Similar to Metal Gear Solid 3, it makes clear that the Soviets were also heavily involved in the actions of various liberation fronts in the third world, as the reason the Soviets had the missile base in Colombia in the first place was because the Soviets had been aiding the FARC communist rebel group in the backstory, and the character Frank Jaegar, aka, Null, had formerly been a member of the communist-backed FREMILO, with Big Boss being implied to have aided the Portuguese Soldiers during the Mozambician Civil War.
  • Contra series: Pro-military and Pro-American. American heroes fight against villainous organizations and alien invaders.
  • Castlevania series: Various members of the Belmont Clan, implied to be Christian (in Castlevania II, Simon Belmont restores his HP by visiting a church, in Castlevania III, Trevor Belmont kneels before a Cross in the intro, and in the Nintendo 64 version of the game, the character Reinhardt Schneider is seen making the trinity prayer gesture ["in the name of the father, the son, and the holy spirit"] in the beginning of his scenario, and when comforting Rosa, offers her last rites.) fight against the occult forces of Count Dracula.

Activision

  • Call of Duty series: The Call of Duty series tends to promote American values as well as being pro-military, focusing on both World War II as well as Modern Warfare, including Black Ops. Activision also donates some of the revenue from Call of Duty to help veterans.

Play Mechanix Inc.

Electronic Arts

  • Battlefield series: Similarly to the Call of Duty series, it tends to promote American values as well as being pro-military.
  • Medal of Honor series: Like above, it tends to promote American values as well as being pro-military. Although the series mostly deals with the events of World War II, two of the more recent games deal with the War in Afghanistan.
  • Command And Conquer series: A military real-time strategy series divided into three sub-series: Tiberium, Red Alert and Generals. The Tiberium series, however, promotes globalism but at the same time, condemns religious extremism. The latter two are more conservative and pro-American, with Red Alert fighting against Soviet communism and Generals fighting against Islamic extremism.

Multiple parties

  • Wolfenstein series: Pro-military, Pro-American, and Anti-Nazi.

Nintendo

  • The Legend of Zelda series: Similar in vein to stories such as Lord of the Rings, Beowulf, and The Chronicles of Narnia, the games detail a classic message of good fighting evil, and also featured implicit Christian themes in the series (in fact, until the third game, the religion of the people in the games was supposed to be Christianity, hence the cross on Link's Shield in the first game). The main villain, Ganon, is revealed to have originally belonged to a group known as the Gerudo, who are depicted as a nearly all-female race (Ganon, or more accurately his human form Ganondorf, being the only exception) and having traits resembling Muslims, hinting at an anti-feminist/anti-Islam message. There was also a pro-family message in at least one game in the series, as one of the entries, Wind Waker, featured Link trying to save his sister after she was abducted early on in the game, as well as their getting along amicably throughout.
  • Radar Mission: Pro-military game based on the board game battleship, it teaches the player the art of strategy, with the story involving the player fighting against an enemy fleet and, later, an enemy airfield that is implied to be the main headquarters of the enemy. Also has an alternate game mode that deals with Submarine warfare.
  • Metroid series: Although largely being based on the liberal movie franchise Alien, the game franchise has several conservative elements. Namely, it depicts piracy and terrorism in a negative manner in the form of the murderous Space Pirates who frequently act as the main antagonists of the franchise. The game Super Metroid also promotes parenthood in a positive light, as the main plotline of the game involved Samus Aran trying to rescue her "child", a Metroid hatchling she adopted after wiping out its race in the previous game due to it imprinting on her, from the Space Pirate forces. The Prime series also depicts the military in a positive manner in the form of the Galactic Federation Marines, and some of the Chozo Logs as well as the Luminoth also have some similarities to biblical accounts (i.e., the Worm, alluding to the titular antagonist Metroid Prime, alluding to Wormwood in the book of revelations). In addition, although the main protagonist, Samus Aran, is female, it does not promote the concept of feminism. The game Metroid Fusion also showcases the warnings of playing god and government corruption.
  • Punch-Out!! series: Pro-American dream, as the player, as Little Mac, a rookie boxer from New York, has to fight to the championship to acquire the title of world champion of boxing.
  • Cooking Mama series: A charming cooking series that utilizes the mechanics of the games system's mechanics to teach cooking. Does favor traditional gender roles with the title character, Mama, an enthusiastic chef/stay-at-home mother. This series was "parodied" by PETA (The parody game is subtitled Mama Kills Animals!) due to the series including meat-based recipes, but the developers, Majesco, exploited the frenetic attention that PETA was gaining with such gore. The series started in 2006 and has been steady releasing games, the most recent being a mobile app game called Cooking Mama: Let's Cook!

Paranoid Productions

  • The Church In The Darkness: The game's premise deals with a preacher infiltrating a cult to save their nephew. The antagonistic cult is heavily implied to be based on the cult led by the infamous Jim Jones. Aside from it condemning the socialist elements as well as being pro-traditional christianity and pro-family, it also has a condemnation of social justice warrior elements, as the game repeatedly refers to the antagonistic cult as "collective justice warriors."[1]

Sega

  • Streets of Rage series: An anti-crime and anti-gang series in which former police officers fight against a crime syndicate run by a "Mr. X."

SNK

  • Metal Slug series: Pro-military and pro-American, deals with the main characters trying to fight terrorists of various stripes.
  • Iron Tank: Unlike its predecessor Guerilla War, this involved an American tank commando trying to take down the Nazis, and is blatantly pro-American.

Synergestic Software

  • Super Battleship: Pro-military strategy game based on the board game Battleship. In addition to the standard game, there is also a story-based mode that has you dealing with several military operations and fighting against enemy fleets (implied by the eagle on the flag to be the Nazis). Teaches the player about the art of strategy.

Pterodon/Illusion Software

  • Vietcong: Promotes American forces in a positive light, and, despite the title of the game, the Vietcong are depicted as villains in this. Overall promotes the Vietnam War.

Square-Enix

  • Final Fantasy: The first game in the franchise has a simple tale of Good vs. Evil.
  • Final Fantasy IV: Promotes the concept of redemption, and showcases a clear message of good vs. evil.

Capcom

  • 194X series: Despite being made by the Japanese developer Capcom, this series of scrolling shooters has the player playing as and American Lockheed P-38 Lightning fighting in the Pacific War.
  • Mega Man ZX series: Has a significant condemnation of Social Darwinism in the form of Serpent and Master Albert, and also has a condemnation of homosexuality in the form of Rospark the Floroid. Also depicts terrorism in a very negative light.
  • Final Fight: Pro-family and anti-crime. Metro City's new mayor, Mike Haggar, vows to get tough on crime. In response, the city's infamous "Mad Gear" gang kidnaps Haggar's daughter, Jessica and demands that he "just let us do what we want to like the old mayor did," implying that the old mayor was in collusion with the Mad Gears. Mike Haggar, Jessica's boyfriend Cody, and Cody's friend Guy take to the streets and fight through the Mad Gear gang to rescue Jessica. The ending shows Mike embracing his daughter, comforting her after her traumatic experience with him saying "I thought I'd lose you the way I lost your mother" and Jessica responding "I love you, Daddy."

Bandai Namco Entertainment Inc.

  • Ace Combat 04:Shattered Skies: Pro-military and has the player fighting against a fictional fascist regime. The last mission has heavy Christian symbolism. Megalith, a superweapon designed to alter the course of asteroids to any target on Earth, has been activated by rogue military officers, and has the weapon direct asteroids to the continent. The falling of the asteroids images one of the events in the Book of Revelations. The mission to destroy Megalith symbolizes the sacrifice of Jesus: the superweapon itself is shaped like a crucifix (a symbol of death), Megalith is a stone used to sacrifice animals and to create tombs. To destroy Megalith, the player has to fly inside the superweapon and destroy the generators and missiles inside. This symbolizes Jesus sacrificing his life as the Lamb of God to save mankind from their sins as the player is "sacrificing" his life to stop the asteroids killing civilians. Indeed, the background music is a repeated Latin chorus which is translated as:
        Lamb of God, 
        who take away the sins of the world 
        Grant them rest. 

The destruction of the superweapon by the player symbolizes the defeat of death by Christ, with the AWACS officer remarking, "Heroes really do exist. We've just seen one, and now he's coming home." As he says this, sunlight breaks through the clouds, and the player flies towards them as he returns to base, symbolizing Christ's Ascension.

Rockstar

  • L.A. Noir: Despite being made by Rockstar, L.A. Noir places the character in the role of a detective rather than a criminal. The player investigates murders and collects evidence, interrogates witnesses and suspects while chasing down criminals. The player also has the option of stopping street crime during the game at random intervals. L.A. Noir stresses using intelligence and insight to solve crimes rather than commit them as done in other games. This is the only Rockstar game which doesn't use violence except in the furtherance of stopping a crime against an innocent party. The player is rewarded for capturing a suspect rather than appealing to violence as a first consideration.

Mojang

  • Minecraft: Minecraft was created by a lone computer programmer, outside of any major studio (a best of the public approach to game development), and later sold to Microsoft for $1 Billion. The game could probably be best described as an electronic form of Lego but vastly more complex. Game play is very simple, the player is dropped into a randomly generated world and must mine resources and craft tools and other items. Despite the simplicity of play the game can be used to create extremely complex circuitry and other types of constructions. The game contains no violence (outside of occasionally battling cartoonish enemies during the night hours), no swearing or sex. The game is hugely popular and has a dedicated following proving games do not have to be violent to be popular. Mincraft also has an education pack which is used to teach children about science, history, biology and other subjects[2]

Rocksteady Studios

  • Batman: Arkham series: In these games the player plays as Batman to defeat enemies like The Joker, Poison Ivy, Bane and other villains from the the Batman universe. The game stresses no violence and preferring players to use their wits to hide and stalk enemies rather than engaging in immediate violence. While you do need to defeat enemies physically in many circumstances Batman never kills anyone - preferring to knock enemies out and leave them to be captured by police. Also portrays capitalism in a positive light, due to Lucius Fox being a frequent ally in Arkham Knight and to a lesser extent Arkham City.

Debatable whether Conservative

Indie/Small Developers

• Undertale: On one hand, it teaches the importance of core Christian values such as mercy and compassion by discouraging killing characters, and instead solving conflicts non-violently. On the other hand, it involves homosexual and bisexual relationships, some of which may involve the player character (who is 12 years of age) depending on what dialogue choices the player makes.

Capcom

  • Resident Evil series: The games generally have a subtle anti-capitalist and anti-American agenda (with one of the protagonists in Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, Carlos, being a communist rebel according to the game's Japanese version, and some versions of Resident Evil 5 have a secret conversation between the game's protagonists, Chris Redfield and Sheva Alomar, where the former denounces America due to it being capitalist.[3]). However, it also has a condemnation against social Darwinism and eugenics, as most of the main villains in the franchise tended to promote some form of eugenics as well as social Darwinism as their motives. In addition, one of the protagonists, Barry Burton, was implied in the English localization to be a member of the National Rifle Association, and the games also to some extent featured pro-family messaging, as Barry Burton was shown to be very loyal to his family, and the character Claire Redfield is depicted as being loyal to her brother Chris, spending Resident Evil 2 trying to find him and in Code Veronica refuses to allow Albert Wesker to harm him. The games also showcase government corruption in a scarily realistic and negative light in the form of Albert Wesker (who was a former police officer in the first Resident Evil) and Brian Irons (the police chief for the Raccoon City Police Department in Resident Evil 2). Resident Evil 4 also has a condemnation against pagan religions in the form of the Los Illuminados.
  • Dead Rising 2 and Dead Rising 2: Off the Record: Although it has largely the same plotline as in the first Dead Rising, it also to some extent is pro-family, due to the main character trying to save his daughter from infection. In addition, unlike the first or third main entries to the series, the hidden antagonist is not a military person, but instead a former rapper and TV executive who orchestrated the entire outbreak to boost ratings as well as steal wealth, acting as a subtle condemntation to Hollywood values.

Electronic Arts

  • The Sims (and sequels): Promotes conservative values such as marriage, hard work, the raising of children, law and order, capitalism, and private property ownership[4], but it also promotes other things that are anti-conservative, such as homosexual relationships and extramarital sexual relationships, and also has an implicit anti-military message due to there being negative aspects included with building military bases.[5]. An afterlife exists in the game, but not in a Christian sense. The game was created by an atheist.

Frontier Developments

  • Jurassic World Evolution: A spiritual sequel to Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis from 2001, this game takes the players across the Five Deaths - a chain of several islands near Costa Rica - as they build dinosaur parks for the public. In a way, it promotes capitalism, showing that the park cannot operate without money, requiring the player to build shops and create fully-cloned dinosaurs. On the other hand, it also promotes the pro-cloning message from the films The Lost World: Jurassic Park and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom.

Koei Tecmo

  • Dead or Alive 6: The game features some left wing elements (presumably due to some bullying by the higher-ups such as Tom Lee and Yohei Shimbori), including having Tina imply at one point that one of her goals as governor was to implement big government policies in a conversation with Zack, and the new character Diego is implied to be a socialist due to his bitterly inferring the tournament only exists to "entertain rich people". However, some of the more conservative elements from the games was still retained such as the pro-family messaging (Ryu Hayabusa while sparring with Hayate assures him that his sister Kasumi was safe, referring to an ambush by MIST on her life earlier that Hayabusa stopped, Helena making clear that Kokoro's the only family she has left when the latter was about to leave over the revelation that the two are half-sisters, and Diego's concern for his implied terminally ill mother. In addition, the final battle of the game has Kasumi, Ayane, and Hayate confronting their revived murderous uncle (and in Ayane's case, illegitimate father), Raidou, with Ayane's involvement being implied to be due to wanting to avenge her newly-discovered paternal half-sister, Honoka, who was left in critical condition due to her as well as Ayane being forcibly used by NiCO to revive him.). In addition, the game also has a condemnation of infidelity, as one of the lore bits implied that Helena's and Kokoro's father's womanizing habits is ultimately part of the reason he got killed. There's also a statement against the Idea of Progress philosophy, as the character NiCO embodies this philosophy regarding her use of unethical experiments, and Helena after NiCO was revealed to have attempted to revive her murdered mother Maria calls her out on it, even explicitly stating that even if science were to find a way to revive the dead, something like that should not ever be embraced.
  • Dead or Alive Xtreme series: A beach vacation spinoff for the Dead or Alive series. The Xtreme games include some softcore elements such as a pole dancing minigame as well as girls being implied to change in front of the player in Xtreme 3, and it does feature some gambling. However, series creator Tomonobu Itagaki indicated his primary intent for the game was merely to have the characters enjoying a vacation, not necessarily to promote softcore elements. In addition, regarding the game Xtreme Venus Vacation, although the character Tamaki is heavily implied to be bisexual as well as an alcoholic, her more girl-obsessed and lewd elements were not treated in a particularly positive light based on the other girls being wary of her when interacting with her as well as Helena, her closest acquaintance, admitting that was a frequent problem of Tamaki's. The game also has a condemnation of feminism as well, as the character Nagisa was shown to initially have distaste for the Owner partly via feminist rhetoric, though she gradually changes her views on the Owner during her character arc. Two of the characters in that game, Fiona (who is heavily implied to be a Princess from Europe) and Sayuri (a Japanese nurse), are also depicted in a traditionally feminine manner. The games also retain the more pro-family elements from the original to a certain extent, as Xtreme 2 had Ayane arriving at the island while going after Kasumi, with the implication being that she wished to patch things up with her half-sister, and both Kasumi and Ayane as well as Helena and Kokoro were shown to get along very well (with it also being heavily implied that Kokoro wished to have a long chat with Helena regarding their half-sibling status in one episode), and part of Nagisa's reasons for participating in the festival was in part to help her sister Misaki. In addition, the concept of chivalry is promoted, as you lose bonding points if you peek too soon during the aforementioned clothes changing element or gifting the girls any lewd outfits, and the owner of the island a few times refuses to take advantage of several girls even when he had the upper hand (for instance, not taking advantage of a drunken Tamaki in one episode, and forfeiting a poker game despite having the winning hand in order to avoid forcing Monica to strip per the pre-established rules of the game in another episode). The game Xtreme Venus Vacation also has an implicit promotion of capitalism, as Misaki when describing the objective of the owner of the island explicitly states that he needs to turn the island into the ultimate beach resort.

Konami

  • Metal Gear Solid/Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes: Although the first game does have condemnation towards Cloning and genetic engineering, and also has (albeit unintentionally) a pro-life/anti-abortion message due to Liquid Snake, when describing the process of the Les Enfants Terribles' creation, in particular its use of abortion to encourage fetal growth, explicitly labeling it as murder (although in that case, he attributed the act of murder more to himself and his brother Solid Snake, both byproducts of the project, than to the people actually responsible for the Super Baby Method), as well as promoting the concept of redemption to some extent, and also paints terrorism in an appropriately bad light, it at the same time is rife with anti-Americanism among both heroes and villains (although obviously not to the same extent as in later entries) as well as pushing an anti-nuclear and anti-war agenda, both of which seemed to focus more on America doing so than other countries, in particular Russia and China (specifically, the character Nastasha Romanenko, a member of NEST, spent most of her time condemning America for using nuclear weapons or even using nuclear power at all, and giving very little, if any criticism towards Russia and China for their having nukes, despite the fact that the event that caused her to hold a strong hatred for nukes, Chernobyl, having originated from within the Soviet bloc).

Radical Games

  • The Simpsons Hit and Run: Although there are some liberal themes, such as Marge's crusade against Bonestorm-an implied violent video game-being depicted in a negative light, some characters engaging in lawlessness in a similar manner to Grand Theft Auto, and one of the later chapters for the game having the main antagonists supply the townspeople with ray guns as well as tainted cola in a way that could be interpreted as supporting gun control, it also had several conservative messages, namely pro-family, as two of the chapters dealt with Lisa and Marge trying to find Bart after he went missing and trying to find out the cause behind his addled behavior, and later attempting to stop the production of Buzz Cola due to its effects on Bart, respectively, the first chapter and most of the game features a condemnation towards mass surveillance due to the presence of surveillance vans and wasp cameras and their being treated in a clear negative light, especially in a matter that isn't essential to stopping a threat, and is also anti-Hollywood values due to the main antagonists, aliens by the name of Kang and Kodos, deliberately trying to cause a ruckus in Springfield, including the aforementioned distribution of ray guns and tainted Buzz Cola to cause a shootout and later reanimating the dead via Buzz Cola, plus using the wasp cameras and surveillance vans all in an attempt to boost ratings of their reality show "Foolish Earthlings," which as the title implies deals with depicting various people of Earth, in particular Springfield, doing various stupid actions. Also has a rarity in the franchise where nuclear power is actually depicted in a positive light due to it ultimately being the only thing that stopped Kang and Kodos's alien invasion. There is also a humorous condemnation towards gun-free school zones, as during the same level that Bart has to stop the distribution of ray guns to the populace at Squidport, Principal Skinner explicitly references the no-gun policy among students at Springfield Elementary when confiscating Bart's ray gun, despite Bart making clear he only needed the gun to supply evidence towards an evil plot.

Activision

  • Call of Duty 2: Like most entries in the franchise, it ultimately promotes American values and the military, as well as the British during World War II as well. However, at least one of the main campaigns depicts the Soviets in a positive manner due to it focusing on the Battle of Stalingrad.
  • Call of Duty World at War: Like Call of Duty 2, it promotes the American military, but also has a Soviet campaign. Unlike COD 2, though, it portrays the Russians more realistically as cruel, brutal and merciless towards the Nazis. It also depicts a Russian Commissar encouraging this brutality. This game is one of the few World War II games to depict the Pacific War against Japan and the first mission accurately portrays the Japanese cruelty towards POWs. The events are also historically inaccurate as the Marines are depicted taking Shuri Castle, which was done by the Army, not the Marines.

Bethesda Software

  • The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim: Inspired by conservative novels such as Lord of the Rings, Beowulf, and The Chronicles of Narnia, this game in the Elder Scrolls series tells about the player being chosen as a "Dragonborn" (a being with the body of a mortal and the soul of a dragon) to do battle with the dark dragon Alduin. Like the other games in the series, this game has conservative messages just like them. Such messages include redemption and striving to do good when the great white dragon Paarthurnax is revealed to have tamed his more savage nature to be at peace with the humans, asking "What is better: to be born good, or to overcome your evil nature through great effort?" That said, however, it also engages in a few liberal themes, including an option for same-sex "marriages" and a promotion of feminism (including a high-ranking female "legates", the game's equivalent of a colonel, with the females being given a more masculine design).
  • Fallout 4: Part of the apocalyptic Fallout series, the player (a soldier for a male character, a lawyer for a female character) wakes up from having been frozen for 200 years, witnessing his/her infant son being kidnapped. They awaken in post-apocalyptic Boston, Massachusetts, and embark on a journey to find their son, joined by new friends and various factions. The game portrays friendship and other virtues like courage well, as shown with the well-meaning but harsh Brotherhood of Steel. The player even has the choices of doing good, like defending settlements from attack or giving money or supplies to the needy. However, the game does condemn nuclear weapons; even a companion named Deacon believes that "guns don't solve problems, they just create more". Players can even choose to be involved in a homosexual relationship with companions of the same sex. Like having the choice to do good, the player can also choose to do harmful things like murder or stealing.

Nintendo

  • Metroid: Other M: Although largely part of the Metroid series and retaining some of its more conservative elements (namely, the promotion of parenthood and condemning the concept of playing god), the game was rather infamous for several criticisms it experienced in the game, namely the characterization of Adam Malkovich and his relationship with Samus due to it coming across more as promoting an abusive relationship (such as Adam shooting Samus in the back before sacrificing himself). The game, unlike in the Prime series, also depicts the military in a more negative manner, as a flashback had Samus being restrained from turning her back on Adam despite her intention being to save Ian, his brother, from death, as well as one of the more controversial elements of the game being the authorization element which at one point has Adam failing to actually authorize the Varia Suit to allow Samus to traverse through a superheated area despite it nearly killing her until a long while afterward, and also had as its main plot a conspiracy to weaponized Metroids at the order of the Federation military (as well as having someone within Samus's group attempt to assassinate each of the members in order to silence them to any potential discoveries to the conspiracy in question via the character The Deleter).
  • Animal Crossing: New Leaf: Though it does replace holidays Christmas and Easter with the more politically correct "Toy Day" and "Bunny Day" respectfully, as well as some 'environmentally friendly' Public Works Projects (the latter of which are optional), the main ideals of Animal Crossing shine through, mainly the ideals of friendship, responsibility (since in this game, you become the mayor) and innocence are treated with respect. Shows capitalism in a positive light in Tom Nook, a kind-hearted (now-wealthy) raccoon (tanuki in original Japanese) who has opened Nook's Homes, leaving his store to his budding salesmen nephews, Timmy and Tommy (though some villagers theorise that they are not Tom Nook's nephews, instead believing them to be orphans that he adopted). Also shows marriage and family in a positive light, in characters Reese and Cyrus, a pair of married alpacas who run the Re-Tail recycling/refurbishing shop, and the Able Sisters clothing store, run by hedgehog sisters Mabel, Sable and Labelle, the latter of which has returned home after a bad fight with oldest sister Sable prior to the original game but has since come home, and the turtle (kappa in Japan) Kapp'n, a motorboat driver, who since the previous game married long-time sweetheart Leilani and they have a daughter named Leila. The mayor's secretary, Isabelle, an eager and positive shi-tsu, is also the antithesis to a modern feminist, as well Lottie, a very feminine and sweet-natured otter employee of Nook's Homes (only shows up after the Welcome Amiibo update, however) That being said, however, in the Valentine's Day events, Isabelle can be depicted as having a crush on the player character regardless of gender (though said player is not allowed to pursue a relationship with her, or any other animal character for that matter), as well as the character of the fashionista giraffe Gracie, who while female in most translations of the game, is a effeminate male named Grace in the original Japanese. In addition, due to the options to create your own outfits and paintings, at least one person had created and showcased a T-shirt modeled after Che Guevara.[6]

Pterodon/Illusion Software

  • Vietcong 2: Although like its predecessor, it ultimately portrays American involvement in Vietnam as a positive, and depicts the Vietcong in the main story as the bad guys, there is an additional mode that features the player playing as the Vietcong and them being portrayed in a more positive manner.

Ubisoft

  • Assassins Creed 3: The Assassins help the American Revolution by killing the Templar leaders of the British. However, a DLC came out for the game that has you kill all of the Founding Fathers.
  • Far Cry 5: Set in the Montana countryside, a deputy is tasked with bringing a violent cult to justice with help from the locals. One of the characters helping the player is a Christian pastor named Jerome Jeffries, who encourages his fellow churchgoers to have faith and not give in to the cult. Richard "Dutch" Roosevelt, another supporting character who tasks the player of uniting the citizens of Hope County against the cult, has a distrust for big government. The game also occasionally pokes fun at liberals and the left-wing agenda, as well as painting the Second Amendment in a positive light through the locals arming themselves to fight the cult. However, the villainous cult is Christian (though they could be considered not true Christians due to doing the opposite of what Jesus Christ had taught), while the previous game villains were more politically neutral: a psychotic pirate, an atheistic dictator, and a sun-worshiping chieftain.

Square-Enix

  • Final Fantasy II: In initial releases for the game, the game had an undeniably pro-Christian element to the games, and also condemned Satanic worshippers and totalitarianism in the form of the game's main villain Emperor Mateus Palamecia, who explicitly goes to Hell when he dies and tries to take over the world with the powers he gained from Hell. However, the remakes starting with the GBA version added in a new mode called "Dawn of Souls" which has the killed party members fighting against the Emperor's light half who took over Heaven, which could be interpreted as an anti-Christian message.
  • Final Fantasy VI: Promotes parenthood due to Terra Branford becoming a mother figure for the Mobliz orphans late into the game, which also had her learning the concept of love, and also showcases the horrors of totalitarian ideologies in the form of the Gestahlian Empire, and also offers a condemnation of nihilism in the form of the game's main antagonist Kefka Palazzo (who is depicted in a similar manner to the Joker from the Batman franchise). However, Terra also makes a more relativistic remark when trying to refute Kefka regarding finding meanings in things.
  • Final Fantasy VII: Promotes the concept of redemption and condemns unethical science in the form of Professor Hojo, but on the other hand, it also has a more anti-Capitalist view on things with Shin-Ra, the main antagonists, being a corporation, and is hinted to promote environmentalism due to the main protagonists being eco-terrorists.

Rockstar North

  • Bully: Despite coming from the same developers ultra-liberal series Grand Theft Auto and Midnight Club, this game can be seen to show the dangers of high school cliques as well as bullies. However, the game's main protagonist, Jimmy Hopkins, can be quite a jerk himself and still gets involved in fights with bullies and high school cliques. The game has also been criticized by conservatives because it is possible for the player to engage the protagonist in homosexual relationships.[7]
  • Red Dead Redemption: In 1911, former outlaw John Marston is tasked by a corrupt government official to hunt down his former gang members (Bill Williamson, Javier Esquella, and Dutch Van der Linde) in exchange for getting his wife and son back. The game promotes the importance of family in the form of John trying to work hard to be with his family again, even trying to spend time with his son Jack and saving him from a brown bear; there is also traditional marriage being upheld, for John will refuse to sleep with prostitutes and remains loyal to his wife Abigail. It condemns government corruption through main villain Edgar Ross, who wants all of John's former gang destroyed to get all the glory for it, to the point where he has his army kill John in spite of promising to leave the latter alone once his job is done and is even rewarded for it. It also promotes doing good like donating to a nunnery, helping people (ranging from rescuing people from gangs or wild animals to just fetching items for them), and doing jobs for them. However, the player also has the option of doing bad things like murder, theft, and robbery. There is even a hint of bestiality when a minor character marries his horse Lucy, though the main character is flabbergasted at the reveal that the man's lost love is a horse.
  • Red Dead Redemption 2: Set 12 years before the events of Red Dead Redemption, this prequel game explores how the Dutch Van Der Linde gang had fallen, in the point of view of Arthur Morgan, one of Dutch's righthand men. Over the course of the game, the gang changes in so many ways that makes Arthur think over his past and future choices as well as questioning Dutch's increasingly reckless decisions. As the title suggests, it promotes redemption in the form of Arthur helping John Marston and his family escape the collapsing gang at the cost of his own life (whether from succumbing to tuberculosis or being murdered by main villain Micah Bell, which depends on whether the player has high or low honor). Hunting is portrayed positively while poaching is negatively shown, the latter showing half black/half Native American Charles Smith being angered at the sight of two poachers leaving intact bison carcasses to rot and killing one of the poachers. Like the previous game, the game shows doing good deeds, heroism, and family (whether it be with the Marston family or most of the Dutch Van Der Linde gang) in a good light. However, also like the first game, the player have a choice of doing bad things like murder, theft, and robbery, as well as the protagonist being in a gang of infamous bandits even if the player gets high honor.

Total Jerkface

  • Happy Wheels: This computer game is very violent, bloody, and gory. Despite its content, it can be seen to teach physics and the point of the game is to avoid getting into car wrecks.

Doodie Man

  • Whack Your Boss: This computer game is very violent, bloody, and gory as well. However, it can be seen by some to rightfully vilify workplace bullying. The violence is also played for comedic purposes rather than being promoted.

id Software

  • Doom: The game casts satanic demons and monsters as the villains (although like most media, it depicts demons inaccurately). However, the game is controversial for its extreme violence and satanic imagery.

Debatable Whether Great

Multiple Parties

  • Home Alone: A video game adaptation of the greatest conservative film of the same name, retaining many of its themes. However, the NES game has poor graphics and shallow gameplay.
  • Home Alone 2: Lost in New York: A video game adaptation of the greatest conservative film of the same name, and retains many of its themes. However, it takes many liberties with the source material and has very flawed game design.

See also

References

  1. https://www.oneangrygamer.net/2019/08/the-church-in-the-darkness-gameplay-walkthrough/90218/
  2. https://education.minecraft.net/class-resources/lessons/
  3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VA-aH1K_zBU
  4. In the SimCity spinoff, the player is expected to build a city, which requires such.
  5. In the SimCity spinoff, one option is a military base, but doing so comes with "higher crime" requiring increased police presence.
  6. https://web.archive.org/web/20141009074917/http://www.officialnintendomagazine.co.uk/51860/features/thank-kk-its-friday/?page=2
  7. Leo Chan. "Bully Under Spotlight For "Homosexual" Content", Neoseeker, Neo Era Media, Inc., 2006-10-24. Retrieved on 2019-03-08.