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Over the years, video games have taken inspiration from a lot of different sources, both historically and empirically.
Game developers have based their stories on popular mythological figures, bringing characters from legends to life and pushing them through an epic journey.
There are an amazing number of mythology-inspired games that fans can enjoy today. However, not all of them were able to successfully take a unique approach to the genre. Although they tried their best, some titles fell short of the mark with unappealing gameplay and narrative.
This list will go over five video games that were successfully able to champion popular mythologies in their narrative and five titles that tried but fell flat.
Note: The catalog of video games mentioned below is subjective and reflects the writer’s personal opinions. In no way is it a universal consensus that reflects the feelings of the wider community and should not be taken as such.
5 best mythology-based video games
1) Hades
Supergiant Games’ Hades is widely considered to be a masterpiece. The ingenious dungeon crawler has a very unique perspective on Greek mythology, especially when it comes to representing the characters of the Underworld and the Pantheon.
The developers were able to masterfully craft a video game that combined both the Homeric epic and Dante’s Inferno in a sort of a tongue-in-cheek narrative. The story also had an unreliable narrator and a protagonist who often broke the fourth wall.
Coupled with the hack and slash combat, Hades has all the elements of being one of the best indie titles ever.
Its characterization is also quite complex. The protagonist Zagreus, who is the son of Hades himself, goes on a journey to find his mother. Along the way, he meets the gods of the Pantheon who grant him boons if he appeases them.
The vices of the Grecian gods surface from time to time, and Hades does an incredible job of portraying just how flawed the deities of the Pantheon really were.
2) Immortals Fenyx Rising
Immortals Fenyx Rising was Ubisoft’s attempt at making their own version of Breath of the Wild, with Greek mythology at the core of its theme.
The title departs quite a bit from the usual representation of the mythos in video games. It brings a rather fun and unique flavor to the open-world design and the narrative.
In the game, players take on the role of Fenyx, who is an armor-clad hero on an adventure to save the gods from the evil forces of Typhon.
Players can get their hands on some amazing weapons and abilities that have been taken straight off of the Greek mythos, but with a twist. They can then progress further into the narrative, slaying common enemies and bosses along the way.
Fenyx will be required to break the curses that have befallen the ancient world in order to save it.
3) The entire God of War franchise
When it comes to how perfectly they were able to represent two completely different mythologies in their God of War games, Santa Monica Studio did it all seamlessly.
Starting with the Greek mythos, players take on the role of Kratos as he hacks and slashes his way through the entire pantheon of gods. He eventually comes face to face with Zeus in the final battle in God of War 3.
The fight rounded out the Greek portion of the series as Santa Monica looked to reboot the franchise once again. However, this time, Kratos is older, has a son called Atreus and finds himself in the midst of Norse gods.
The 2018 God of War was highly praised by critics and franchise fans alike. With the sequel, Ragnarok, on the way, it will be quite interesting to see in which direction Santa Monica will take the story.
4) Okami
Influenced by Japanese folklore and mythology, this watercolor-driven adventure is one of the most beautiful video game concepts with cultural mythos yet.
Gamers play as the sun goddess Amaterasu, who goes on an epic adventure in a Zelda-esque type of gameplay and exploration.
The Japanese themes and watercolor representation give it an incredibly unique touch, and players have sung praises of the HD remaster which came out a couple of years ago.
The characters that Amaterasu comes across on her journey are incredibly colorful. The combat, along with the world exploration, is incredibly attractive and is not something that players will be forgetting anytime soon.
The ancient folklore setting celebrates traditional Japanese culture in ways that no other video game does. This game is a must-play for anyone who has an affinity towards Japanese folklore.
5) Raji: An Ancient Epic
Created by the Indian developers of Nodding Heads Games, Raji: An Ancient Epic has a dual narrative that separates it from other mythology-themed video games.
The hack-and-slash adventure and journey that the protagonist Raji takes is watched over and commented on by the dual narrators of Durga and Vishnu.
The title is a grand story that unfolds slowly as Raji sets out to find her kidnapped brother.
Along the way, she goes through some of the most picturesque settings. The narrative is often told through the use of shadow puppetry, which plays perfectly with Rajasthani folklore. Rajasthan was one of the primary inspirations for the video game.
The lore, the unique style of story representation and the dual narratorial voices are integral to how one experiences Raji: An Ancient Epic. This unique title from India helped put the nation's video game development scene on the map.
5 mythology-based video games that did not do well with players
1) Assassin’s Creed Odyssey
Gameplay and progression are not the only things that Ubisoft got wrong in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey. While the video game did some interesting things for Greek mythos, the story was ultimately not able to tie everything together in a neat bundle.
The developers did try to harmonize the mythology with the rest of the elements. Unfortunately, it was kind of a disaster, and the game felt nothing less than an awful chore.
The narrative-driven storyline was too long and did not do much to capture player retention. The gameplay was also a 50-hour snoozefest. However, that’s not to say that the game did not have its moments of brilliance.
There were areas where Assassin’s Creed Odyssey looked promising, especially its representation of Greek mythology. However, when coupled with the story and how everything played out, players could care less about Grecian lore.
2) Rise of the Argonauts
While Liquid Entertainment tried something unique with The Rise of the Argonauts, players did not take to it all that well. They felt that a lot was lacking from the title, especially when it came to some of its Grecian themes.
While the storytelling and characterization were firmly rooted in Greek mythology, the story did not do a good job of properly representing some of the Classical themes.
The game was not put together as one would have hoped, and it was almost stripped off of every single RPG element that defined the genre.
The gameplay, progression and storytelling were underwhelming, and the narrative felt awkward at times, especially when it came to some of the dialog sequences. The combat was also as bad as the mythological representation.
The title did not age all that well compared to other Greek mythology-inspired games like God of War 2, which came out just a year prior to this.
3) Kid Icarus: Uprising
Kid Icarus: Uprising has had mixed reactions from critics and players alike. While the video game starts out strong and has a somewhat unique take on Greek mythos, the core essence of some of its inspirations is lost on the audience.
One such example is how Icarus was able to fight Medusa while still looking into her eyes. From a mythical perspective, Medusa has the power to turn everyone who looks at her into stone. This was not the case with Kid Icarus.
While some of the deviations from the original mythos were acceptable, there were others that did not exactly sit well with fans.
Additionally, each stage of Kid Icarus: Uprising ends on a sour note, making the overall emotion towards the game to be of bitter disappointment. While the video game was a visual marvel back in 2012, it was not universally lauded.
4) Theseus
Theseus is a third-person PSVR action-adventure game that deals with the Greek myth of Theseus. He was the man who entered the Labyrinth to slay the Minotaur, and this is exactly what the title asks the players to do.
The video game was not well-received by PlayStation VR users. Players found faults in a lot of things, especially in the combat and how the story plays out.
The game did not have a unique take on Greek mythology at all, and its story was rather predictable. It had a plot that did not entice players all that much.
5) Clash of the Titans: The Game
Video games adapted from movies have historically not done well, and the Clash of the Titans game is no stranger to this fact.
It was hailed by many as the most awful title to ever exist on Greek mythos. The game represents Greek mythos almost as poorly as the movie does.
With terrible character animations and voice acting, the video game was set for disaster from the moment it dropped in stores.
The Clash of the Titans game has one of the lowest scores on Metacritic, even to this day.
