Saturday Side Quest - Games I Can't Recommend
Where has faith and fandom intersected this week?
Apologies for a slightly delayed newsletter post this morning. I’ve been enjoying some good ol’ fashioned North Carolina ice sledding. We didn’t get much, but when you’re a desperate Southerner, you’ll sled in a slick enough puddle.
I’ve just rolled credits on a unique game franchise entry—the sequel, to be exact. I stumbled upon this series last year after it had recently been released. I’m a sucker for a particular niche of video games: the Visual Novel. When I hear there is a new VN sweeping the circuit, I pick it up pretty quickly.
Without further suspense, the franchise is called Misericorde—named after an archaic Benedictine room in medieval convents with supposedly no rules on meat consumption. The game takes some liberties on this theme and allows the nuns to really let loose in that space, leading to some antics.
I was enamored by the first game, which followed the unprecedented release of an anchoress named Hedwig from her solitude. The Superior releases her to solve the mysterious death of a Sister.
If you know my love of Danganronpa and Ace Attorney, you can really understand why this one caught my attention. A murder mystery visual novel set in a convent? Sign me up.
I looked forward to writing a nerdy sermon at some point on the first volume (and still might), but having finished the second volume… I’m not so sure.
The first entry pushes some boundaries, but the second entry starts with outright naming the choice between censoring the game or not. And it’s quite warranted.
While I enjoyed the second as much as the first (if not more), there is a theme of sexual indiscretion in this game that makes it a tough sell to any of my parishioners… or friends, really.
Or anyone, in fact.
This had me considering some of the other games I couldn’t recommend from the moral obligation of a Pastor.
So, none of these games do I recommend (at least, not to most people), but they sure are good.
Plus a little bonus reflection at the end where I discuss why I break this rule and recommend these things anyway. 😏
Catherine: Full Body
A game about pushing blocks is already not a great sell. A game based around infidelity is a tough sell. A game where a grown man spends most of his time in his underwear is even tougher. Fortunately, this game is made by the respected studio Atlus and contains some of the finest voice actors in the business, which makes selling it a bit easier. I put off Catherine for a while, not fully knowing what the game was about. I then picked it up and couldn’t put it down. A fully realized universe with stellar characters and an exceptional story. And it’s darn challenging, at that. One of those games where your parents will walk in at the worst possible moment.
Katawa Shoujo
This is the one that inspired this whole list. I played this Visual Novel at a pivotal point in my life, which probably has the most to do with my love of it. It’s a high school dating sim, which is cringy enough. But then it’s problematic beyond that—it was developed by users who met on 4chan, of all places. And then the translated title is… Disability Girls. Look, I’m already blushing here. As awful as this is to admit, the story of overcoming disability and inspiring someone to live anyway is pretty wholesome. The rest of it… not so wholesome.
emily is away
This one is less problematic and more just a product of its time. This game is an adapted visual novel that communicates via a recreation of early 00s Instant Messengers. I can only imagine the eye rolls I would get from a Gen Alpha with this one.
Doki Doki Literature Club
The most challenging part of recommending DDLC is that it’s one big inside joke. This psychological horror has transcended its role as parody, but the dev Dan Salvato was making a statement when he first released this game. A milquetoast and lame protagonist that somehow ‘gets all the girls’ in a dating sim is a trope as old as dating sims. The best friend who the devs decided not to make a love interest is the same way. Most players only ‘get’ the horror elements of an AGI NPC taking over, but for dating sim fans… we know too much.
Umineko: When They Cry
I play a lot of death game-themed games. Zero-sum types. If you like Squid Game, you know the genre. Senseless violence from an outside evil is something that, for some reason, appeals to the nuanced part of my psyche. In most death games, hope is pursued in the face of despair. Umineko is not quite so simple. It’s not a pursuit of hope so much as a pursuit of truth… what really happened in the mystery? It’s a lot of reading. It’s a lot of gore. It’s a masterpiece.
If you know me well as a gamer and anime-viewer, you know that the truth of this is that I do make some questionable recommendations. I’ve gotten in a bit of trouble with viewers of
for recommending games like Cult of the Lamb, anime like My Dress-Up Darling, or movies like Turning Red. Most notable would be my decision to highlight the questionable TV show Hazbin Hotel.The shift happened when I started watching the 1001 Movies to Watch Before You Die list. The movies I have watched on this list would make an R rating blush. Or at least, as I understand the rating to be. But I was the one with too high of an expectation.
I realized that my experience had been relatively sheltered for most of my life. I would sneak and watch episodes of Fullmetal Alchemist as a kid and feel a deep Christian guilt.
It wasn’t until adulthood that I learned that good storytelling is, well, risque. The best stories involve things that make us uncomfortable. Whether it’s senseless violence, rampant eroticism, or incessant vulgarity, the stories that make an impact often aren’t pacified.
Neither is life pacified. Real life is vulgar. Real life is violent. Real life is erotic. To deny this is to deny reality. Instead, I hope that I am able to sanctify these themes, not avoid them.
If there must be violence, can we find God in the recovery? If there must be vulgarity, can we see past it to the kernel within? If there must be eros, can’t it be passion? And when these things defy the holy capacity of those things, can’t we name the tension?
Taking Catherine above… infidelity happens in real life. Should we refuse to meet eyes with it? Or should we confront our discomfort with it and wrestle with it?
Perhaps that is the truth revealed in the Misericorde. Sometimes, we must create a space where the rules are removed to analyze the truth within broken rules.
Will It Preach?
I finished a few things this week, so I will reflect on them in this space. Would they preach? See if you agree with my take.
Misericorde, Vol 2: White Wool and Snow (2024)
I talked at length about this above… but yes I do think it is chock full of spiritual fodder… just, uh, be careful? Will preach, might get you cancelled.
Nine Sols (2024)
I play a lot of video games. This is the hardest one I’ve ever played. And I beat it. And I feel so accomplished. Narratively, this game follows an intriguing story of power, humanity, and deconstruction. I could think of several sermons resting in its narrative alone. Will preach.
The Oxford Handbook of Digital Religion (2024)
The ironically named (because it barely fits in your hand) decisive handbook of Digital Religion is a treasure trove of analysis, predictions, and offering up a lay of the digital landscape. A must read for anyone curious about digital religion and inspiring with the data that’s in the pages. Will preach.
Pather Panchali (1955)
This is a classic Indian film that offered a look into the rural India lifestyle never before captured. The story it tells, however, is timeless and heartbreaking. Age dynamics, poverty, grief… it’s got all the best bits. Will preach.
Dungeon Crawler Carl (2020)
Hah - well, I’m certain this one could, but it’s more about the ride than anything else. Like a Saturday AM Cartoon, this could show up in a sermon. Will preach.
The Third Policeman (1967)
This would be about like preaching on a Kafka book. Sure… but I wouldn’t. Won’t preach.
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (2024)
The exceptional follow-up to the remake of Final Fantasy VII is jam-packed with sermon notes. It’d be hard to wrap it up into just one, to be honest. I recommend my friend ProfNoctis' Lecture Play of the game as an example of just how deep the roots go with this one. Will preach.
The Credit Roll
These are some of the things I found this week that I am sharing as a bonus. Enjoy my custom For You feed.
A YouTuber has made a fan edit of the Sabrina Carpenter song Espresso using the Isabelle soundfont from Animal Crossing
TikTok user .misspetite did a fantastic opening of a unique pack of cards that might taste a bit fishy
CES revealed tons of goodies, one of which is a Gameboy phone case designed to work with emulation… for the iPhone only :eyeroll:
What’s a piece of media that made you uncomfortable at first, but after wrestling with it led you to a point of newfound clarity? I’d love to hear in the comments where you’ve encountered the Divine in the things the rule makers might tell us there could be no Divine.
Thank you for sharing! Umineko was huge for me as a later teen, watching the Omori playthrough on Critpoint brought back how inspired some of the big punch-up music is by zts. o7