38 réponses à ce sujet

[WizenSlinky0]

I would say any symbolism is unintentional but inevitable.

[CommanderCoffee]

ME2 had quite a bit. The Lazarus project, the station that it took place on, the idea of Shepard going into "hell" to save the "human race"/galaxy...

[Sylvara]

Lots of stories of many mediums have lots of symbolism. Some are just more apparent/famous/infamous than others.

[sunnydxmen]

boring

[What a Succulent Ass]

It just gets worse with the endings.

[mauro2222]

Eudaemonium wrote...

There are several references to Judaism and Christianity in ME2, setting aside the fact Shepard dies and comes back to life and has twelve disciples. The quests and achievements are often biblically-themed or named. Miranda's 'The Prodigal', Legion's 'A House Divided', Thane's 'Cat's in the Cradle' (Achievement) and 'Sins of the Father' (Quest). Those are all quite deliberate. You could even, at a push, point out that the Human-Reaper is initially hanging like Jesus on the cross, representing humanity's salvation through destruction.

Lol, nice connections.

[BatmanPWNS]

Almost every huge sci-fi thing has something based from religion.

[TigerLily3]

It may not be religious symbolism so much as it may be drawing from archetypes that are repeated frequently across genres and time. You can't really say that they're drawing directly from the bible because a majority of the themes and stories found in the bible are just revisions of myths in other cultures, i.e. Jesus's crucifixion is really similar to Odin's resurrection myth in Norse mythology

[Queen Ultima]

Tbh, it's not just Christian symbolism. There's symbolism of Buddism, Hindu, Zoroastrian (tbh, the Reaper/Galaxy war is more similar to Zoroastrian due to the fact that neither side is omnipotent nor immortal), Norse Asátrú, Egyptian and Greeco/Romano Pantheons, etc etc.

Also... It's a very common symbol to use since A) People have grown up with these religions for centuries, if not millennia, making it more easy to associate with, Due to the timeframe of these religions chances are their writers have used many overlapping symbols and C) Humans are human, being human always scares people so associating something with something above humanity intrigues people. This is partially why the Reapers ended up being a Syntetich/Organic hybrid because one has to wonder how these monsters were once "human", like zombies, like why one wonders how Demons could have been Angels once or why the animals seen around you are spirits whose Karma forced them into lower forms, etc etc.


Oh, five points to anyone who can tell me how the Flying Spaghetti Monster is symbolised in the ME series.

[Chuck Fandango]

TigerLily3 wrote...

It may not be religious symbolism so much as it may be drawing from archetypes that are repeated frequently across genres and time. You can't really say that they're drawing directly from the bible because a majority of the themes and stories found in the bible are just revisions of myths in other cultures, i.e. Jesus's crucifixion is really similar to Odin's resurrection myth in Norse mythology

/\\ This

I hate when people say "religious themes" when they really mean "christian themes" because there aren't any other religions out there with similar core stories are there? /sarcasm

Modifié par Chuck Fandango, 22 février 2012 - 08:40 .

[Legbiter]

David being tortured and hung up like Christ in order to save humanity from the geth in Overlord is an example as well.

[burke111]

How has nobody mentioned the Cthulhu mythos? References to the Reapers as elder gods and dead gods dreaming, not to mention their appearance are obvious comparisons. Even the look of the Thorian is Cthulhu-esque.

With that said, I wouldn't be surprised if the development team did do some research, either personally or professionally, that was integrated into the story. I wouldn't suggest the Christian mythos as being any more prominent than others. I definitely don't see the developers doing so to push a certain belief system. Instead, I see it as a way to make a deeper connection with the audience. By drawing upon symbols that people are familiar with, it gives a greater depth to the story. In the end, that is great for all of us, regardless of our affiliations.

[Ksandor]

MakeMineMako wrote...

This thread will draw out the trolls and militant religion haters real quick.

As for OP, I'm sure one could draw similarities from Mass Effect's storyline. But I doubt that was Bioware's intention. Interesting thoughts, though.

Honestly I think he is right. I mean it is standart Hollywood practice to use Christian bible for the inspiration. I mean since Americans/Europeans are mostly Christians and these games mainly sell in North America and Europe, easy to understand references make sense.

But I think Mass Effect does this in a very intuitive and creative way. It does not push Jewish and Christian religious references to our eyes like Xena did. 

I am of course not against using religious references. I just don't like when they exaggerate. ME does not do that. Probably because religious neutrality is the safest way to sell games. Hollywood is different: they have a clear setting and agenda, and Hollywood blockbusters should sell well in U.S. first if they want to be commercially succesful. Hence the obvious references.

Modifié par Ksandor, 22 février 2012 - 11:02 .

[TheRaggyGandalf]

Did anyone else have a short WTF moment when (I think) Anderson said something like "May god help us" in the opening?
It felt really out of place from a councilor to alien races in 2180something while huge extraterrestrial machines wiped out his planet (I hope you get what I am trying to say)

It really booted me out of the suspension of disbelief there for a minute.