Considering potential, is there a more underused setting for games than historical India?

[signal]

With the amount of ancient and medieval civilizations, and the history of various religions, realistic or fantasy games involving India or Indian cultural developments seem way underused. I guess there is that Raji game and some Hindu gods appear in like Asura's Wrath and Shin Megami Tensei, but not much otherwise. Buddhist themes in games is kind of adjacent to this, but where is my Jainism RPG 🤔

 

[MGPanda]

I've always felt like an Assassin's Creed set in India would be amazing. Check out the AC Brahman comic if you haven't!

 

[rude]

Uncharted: Lost Legacy was recent, but it's not really "historical". It's definitely a location that's ripe for exploration.

 

[Deleted member 13370]

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[Deleted member 16876]

Either this or ancient China.

Both have so much history and potential. Even more so if you wanted to explore the mythical side of the culture.

 

[Sargerus]

Aztec/Mayan Empire.

 

[Zedelima]

Hope rhe futures God of war goes there

 

[GooberDooberCBC]

India and ancient china are definitely up there in the list of untapped cultures. I think African culture really isn't explored in great detail either.

 

[signal]

Both have so much history and potential. Even more so if you wanted to explore the mythical side of the culture.

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This would be good.

Also yeah China as well, though maybe mainly in the west. There's probably a ton of Warring States period games that are unknown outside China.

 

[2CL4Mars]

India is joined by countless other underused settings, we have thousands of years of human history but we have games set in so very few of them.

I would definitively like more games taking place in India and evolved around it but I wouldn't say India is the only one.

 

[werezompire]

Ancient China is used very frequently as a videogame setting in Chinese & Taiwanese made games, it's just most of those never get localized into English.

 

[Mung]

Agree that India is underused considering it's incredible civilisation and history.

But if hindu gods are ok to be in games, then it should be ok to have Jesus, Prophet Mohammed etc. Shouldn't be treated any differently.

 

[Deleted member 16876]

This would be good.

Also yeah China as well, though maybe mainly in the west. There's probably a ton of Warring States period games that are unknown outside China.

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I was really hyped for DW9 being open world because it could let me explore that period of china. It is a shame it didn't pull it off that well.

Aztec/Mayan Empire.

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I remember Cory Barlog saying they considered this for GOW4. It could be really cool if they end up doing it after the norse games are done.

Hope rhe futures God of war goes there

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India and ancient china are definitely up there in the list of untapped cultures. I think African culture really isn't explored in great detail either.

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Yeah I can't think of any games about the various African culture. It is a shame because it is really cool.

 

[Novocaine]

I've always felt like an Assassin's Creed set in India would be amazing. Check out the AC Brahman comic if you haven't!

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Been talking with friends about how cool a full fledged AC game set in India/Nepal/China regions would be just recently. Honestly can't think of a better setting right now.

 

[JasonV]

Every time I see another insipid viking inspired game/media property i think of all the great historical settings we never utilisied. India, Thailand, Native American etc etc etc.

 

[Ekid]

Ancient China is at least a common setting in other media like novel or manga but yeah ancien India is completely ignored.

Aztec/Mayan Empire.

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Probably not enough base materials to work from I guess.

 

[WrenchNinja]

It's a huge country with so much you could explore. But pubs and devs love doing the same boring western locales.

 

[Hasi]

Not ancient but I'm sad the Order 1886 didn't go there, was playing it this year and thought it would. The Order 1887 where you drive the British Empire out of the colonies Sony when?

 

[Samiya]

I mean, the entire continent of Africa probably has had like 1-2 two games total. Especially sub-Saharan Africa.

 

[GooberDooberCBC]

I was really hyped for DW9 being open world because it could let me explore that period of china. It is a shame it didn't pull it off that well.

I remember Cory Barlog saying they considered this for GOW4. It could be really cool if they end up doing it after the norse games are done.

Yeah I can't think of any games about the various African culture. It is a shame because it is really cool.

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Yeah I can't think of one game that truly explores African culture. There are some cool mythical entities and its not just one culture that you could explore, other than egypt, not many places in Africa are really looked into for video games.

 

[Samiya]

It's probably good for people in this thread to remember that the decisionmakers & money men in the games industry don't want to make games with brown and black people in them.

 

[WrenchNinja]

It's probably good for people in this thread to remember that the games industry doesn't want to make games with brown and black people in them.

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And when they do, they cast white people to play those brown and black people

*looks at Uncharted: Lost Legacy*

 

[Sabretooth]

I am still forever indebted to Creative Assembly for making Empire: Total War and letting me fulfil the fantasy of the Maratha Empire colonising Europe and taking over the Netherlands and England.

Late 18th century India would be my setting of choice for historical India, as that's a period where you have many conflicting powers, none of which have absolute supremacy.

 

[Yep]

Africa exists too (well not much according to videogames)

 

[TheBaldwin]

It was annoying that the two historical periods, India and China, that I want the most just got made into assassins creed spin-offs.

there's a lot of history, architecture, and religion/spiritually that is perfect for a setting.

 

[Swift_Gamer]

Maybe when gaming finally stop being north american eurocentrical.

 

[Hrodulf]

Every time I see another insipid viking inspired game/media property i think of all the great historical settings we never utilisied. India, Thailand, Native American etc etc etc.

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Vikings are white, which makes it an easier sell to the suits who still think there's absolutely no money to be made in entertainment media unless the lead is a white male (or occasionally white female).

 

[Deleted member 16876]

Yeah I can't think of one game that truly explores African culture. There are some cool mythical entities and its not just one culture that you could explore, other than egypt, not many places in Africa are really looked into for video games.

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Sadly this is one of the cases where I think an African developer would do. Probably for the better as you don't want white people who barely knows anything about the culture to butcher it.

Hopefully one day gaming development becomes bigger in africa. I am sure there are so many talented people in each African country that could do some amazing things. China is starting to catch up and they are doing some really cool stuff right now so the same could happen in Africa.

 

[Ryo]

Mumbai in Hitman 2 is really stunning.

 

[JasonV]

Vikings are white, which makes it an easier sell to the suits who still think there's absolutely no money to be made in entertainment media unless the lead is a white male (or occasionally white female).

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To be fair to the suits- i don't doubt developers have the same opinions.

 

[BlackLagoon]

Isn't India a bit of a minefield though because it's old myths and cultural artifacts are tied to still active religions - Hinduism and Buddhism? I remember there's been projects in the past that have gotten in trouble because groups didn't appreciate their gods being used for entertainment purposes.

 

[Zampano]

An AC set in Colonial India would be amazing. Slaughtering the Brits and the East India Company

 

[Oghuz]

Tbh there are so many underused histories/mythologies. Yet we keep seeing more and more Norse and Greek mythologies/histories in games. I'm getting bored with them.

 

[Strings]

This is forever my answer to 'why the fuck isn't this setting a game already?':

Taiping Rebellion - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

It even has a classic, archetypal story to it: Boy grows up wanting to be a scholar. Boy fails the exam three times. Boy loses his fucking mind and becomes convinced he is the brother of Jesus Christ, establishes a heavenly kingdom that eventually commands a population of 30 million people, and in turn instigates a civil war that claims ~70m lives (making it the second bloodiest conflict in human history).

 

[signal]

Isn't India a bit of a minefield though because it's old myths and cultural artifacts are tied to still active religions - Hinduism and Buddhism? I remember there's been projects in the past that have gotten in trouble because groups didn't appreciate their gods being used for entertainment purposes.

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I could see a minority complaining but otherwise maybe no, depending on how it's done anyway? SMT has lots of Hindu figures for example and that seems fine. You also have a ton of Buddhist iconography in certain Japanese games. But anyway I can't say for sure.

 

[TalkingToast]

Agree with practically every post in this thread. Makes me so frustrated when I see fellow fans of Assassin's Creed praying for a game set in Japan.

 

[DiipuSurotu]

Yeah I can't think of any games about the various African culture. It is a shame because it is really cool.

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Yeah I can't think of one game that truly explores African culture. There are some cool mythical entities and its not just one culture that you could explore, other than egypt, not many places in Africa are really looked into for video games.

Click to shrink...

Sadly this is one of the cases where I think an African developer would do. Probably for the better as you don't want white people who barely knows anything about the culture to butcher it.

Hopefully one day gaming development becomes bigger in africa. I am sure there are so many talented people in each African country that could do some amazing things. China is starting to catch up and they are doing some really cool stuff right now so the same could happen in Africa.

Click to shrink...

Aurion: Legacy of the Kori-Odan on Steam

How do you stay a good person when you are surrounded by centuries of hatred and selfishness? Find your answers in one of the best gaming story ever written about bravery, love and legacy.

store.steampowered.com

 

[yumms]

Yes, and they could use masala dosa as a healing item.

 

[BobbeMalle]

Africa exists too (well not much according to videogames)

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Well, the last time a game was set in Africa, it didn't go really well...

Spoiler

RE5

 

[Deleted member 16876]

Aurion: Legacy of the Kori-Odan on Steam

How do you stay a good person when you are surrounded by centuries of hatred and selfishness? Find your answers in one of the best gaming story ever written about bravery, love and legacy.

store.steampowered.com

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Oh wow.

Thanks for bringing this to my attention! I am sold.

 

[WrenchNinja]

Isn't India a bit of a minefield though because it's old myths and cultural artifacts are tied to still active religions - Hinduism and Buddhism? I remember there's been projects in the past that have gotten in trouble because groups didn't appreciate their gods being used for entertainment purposes.

Click to shrink...

That's why the thought process should be treating these cultures and religions with respect instead of immediately going to "lol let's fight and kill the Gods".

 

[seroun]

I'd like to see a game set in Carthage. I don't think anyone has touched on the phoenician culture yet but I really liked it when I studied it way back when.

 

[1.21Gigawatts]

Well, the last time a game was set in Africa, it didn't go really well...

Spoiler

RE5

Click to shrink...

AC:Origins

 

[signal]

That's why the thought process should be treating these cultures and religions with respect instead of immediately going to "lol let's fight and kill the Gods".

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They're asking for it!

 

[Exist 2 Inspire]

Considering potential, the Roman Empire is the most underused historical setting in anything but strategy games. I would really love to see a full blown (open world) RPG/Adventure game set in Ancient Rome at it's peak. (Ryse was really not that great unfortunetly.)

 

[Kazuhira]

South american folklore and culture is underused too, they only use it when they want a jungle level and drug cartel related stuff.
Shadow of the tomb raider is not very popular among fans but they did their research in that aspect.

 

[Sabretooth]

SMT has lots of Hindu figures for example and that seems fine.

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This really has more to do with console video games, and by extension SMT, being niche to the point of non-existence in India. If it were known more widely in India, I don't think a lot of Hindus would take kindly to a foreign game where Hindu gods are captured or killed.

 

[Chrisahc]

I think western developers are walking into a potential racist minefield, particularly looking at past explorations of India, Africa in games. I would have no trust at all in Western developers making a product that is not racist.

Really, we need indigenous developers who fully understand the cultural history in these regions to create games, not Western studios who are culturally appropriating the history of these countries through a Westernised lens for profit. We also have the minefield as others have mentioned, that many events in history in these regions relate to currently active religions.

Ancient Egypt is probably one of the few exceptions in that it is a Mediterranean culture with a history that is actively taught and relatively well understood in the West.

 

[DiipuSurotu]

In Stargate it was the same thing, they had aliens pretending to be Egyptian gods, Norse gods, Greek gods, etc. But they basically never touched Hindu gods or African gods.

 

[Kvothe Ctaeh]

Isn't the Prince of Persia remake being done by an Indian team? While it looks quite rough (and understandably so since game development hasn't been a big thing around this subcontinent) I hope they utilize this experience to start their own project in the future.

Also, I don't know much about the team behind Raji, the new indie title but it also involves indian cultural background.

But yeah, in general it pains me as someone originally from that subcontinent because there's such an absurd amount of history around that part. It's truly untapped potential. From historic to spiritual. If the religious overtone wouldn't have been an issue I would have loved a game based on Amish Tripathi's Shiva trilogy.