Set within a nightmarish dreamworld, Death of a Wish tells the tale of main character Christian’s revenge on the murderous, theocratic Sanctum. Featuring distinctive and colorful action RPG elements and a hack and slash combat system, the game by Melessthanthree sets players up for a gloomy adventure where they will meet horrifying monsters and terrifying people all wrapped up in a compelling narrative.
While Death of a Wish takes on “cult” themes as Christian challenges the religious authority that raised him, its creators don’t want players to get too bogged down with the use of the world cult.
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“Cult Is A Very Loaded Word”
In an Interview withGame Rant, Death of a Wish’s creator melessthanthree and publisher Kevin Wong talk about how the word “cult” can obstruct the initial mindset its developers had in store for what it wanted its players to actually experience from the game. Cult, which lends its name from the Latin cultus, a noun with meanings ranging from “tilling, cultivation” to “training or education” to “adoration.” In English, the word cult has evolved into a number of different meanings that can usually gravitate to the extreme and/or negative.
In Death of a Wish, the use of the word cult captivates its audience with intrigue and curiosity, when if the word was changed to something like “Church”. “Denomination” or “Sect”, the game becomes something else entirely. ““The way we summed it up when we were pitching it to people, and on our Steam page, is that we used ‘cult’ as a kind of shorthand, and I think that acted as a kind of double-edged sword, as ‘cult’ is a very loaded word.” said melessthanthree.
Tackling real life issues that many people go through daily, Death of a Wish transforms the abuse of religious authority by turning its gameplay into a brutal yet beautiful battle. Like many games that are considered controversial in their themes, melessthanthree and publisher Kevin Wong want to highlight that its narrative comes from a place of profound wholeheartedness. “I want people to know it’s a very sincere game, even in its intensity. We are not trying to shock and offend people for the purpose of shocking and offending.”
Wong also acknowledges that their use of the cult word might misdirect players when, in reality, its meaning in Death of a Wish is more a metaphor for any religion that goes out of its way to subjugate people and its main character, Christian, is more a vessel for those that need extra grit to tackle these faiths.
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