Gaming with God: Ludger Kresnik, Destroyer of Worlds

For those that have been following, this is part 3 of my series of posts from Tales of Xillia 2.

The protagonist of Tales of Xillia 2, Ludger Kresnik, is a very interesting character even though he doesn’t say much. He’s the main character of the series, joined by the original cast of Tales of Xillia. Not only is he forced into joining the Spirius Corporation, which his brother Julius is a part of, but he’s also tasked to literally destroy entire dimensions! This is a small spoiler, and honestly not a direction the game took that I thought made any sense, but the main world where everything takes place in is the prime dimension while there are other fractured dimensions that branched off. To make a long story short, Ludger has to destroy each fractured dimension in order to restore balance to the prime. There are also items called waymarkers which he needs to collect to get to a place called the Land of Canaan (reminds me of the same Canaan from the bible) to stop a Great Spirit. You are stuck between making decisions that affect entire dimensions that are almost similar to your own, or not following the orders of Spirius and risk not finding your brother.

When you enter these dimensions, you have to find the catalyst, which is what’s causing the interference in that particular dimension. Of course, it ends up in a boss battle with some entity, whether it entered a person, animal or even data in a digitized environment. When the catalyst is destroyed, the whole dimension is destroyed, and so are all the lives, dreams, and non-living beings in it.

You are in essence destroying an entire world that is almost exactly like your own.

What I get the most out of the situation is how Ludger and his party react to doing this. Imagine having to destroy Earth itself several times over because you’re just “doing your job”. Characters like Jude, Millia and Alvin, who have strong opinions, were interesting to hear as they gave their thoughts on the entire situation, asking Ludger how to proceed. It’s tough knowing that, every single time, you are ending a world forever, yet at the same time wondering if it is really a reality worth saving. If it’s just a piece of the original than it can be seen as a shadow and not the real world. Picture someone writing a fictional story with its own characters, settings, plots, and dynamics- but, of course, it’s not real. In the world of anime and video games, that’s what hooks most of us. We are so caught up in these personalities that are not real, yet it’s fun to watch them go through life and situations.

The question here, though, is: Is Ludger just putting a stop to a fiction-like reality or not? At this point in the game, I’m not 100% sure as there is no solid proof that it is. It might all be a trick by the Spirius Corporation to put the party through a guilt trip, or we may actually be committing mass genocide for every dimension we step in. Ludger is questioned by Millia several times since she came from one of the dimensions he destroyed, asking him how he feels about what he has done and if he enjoys it. The game gives you options to choose what you want to say, but for me, I’m often conflicted.

Each one of us has our own dimensions, our own worlds. From our family, home, workplace, school, friends, emotions, hobbies, relationships and ideas, we are all living in this wonderful world called Earth, yet there are at least 7 billion other realities as well. When someone dies, they leave behind a legacy, whether good or bad, complete or unfinished. When two people come together and create life, they are building upon their own worlds and starting a family. When people are killed intentionally, those realities are also being snuffed out and others are affected in the process. Losing a loved one can affect every area of our lives at times, and we may not even know that until it happens.

When I became a Christian, my world went from the fractured to the prime dimension. I was not concerned with anyone but myself, not caring if God existed or not. I was searching for a way to know Him personally, but until it was explained to me and how I could have that relationship, I was lost. Someone stepped into my own world and gave me the answer I was looking for, which was in Jesus Christ, His forgiveness, and how I can know my Heavenly Father. My real father has never been a part of my life, as my parents divorced when I was 2 years old, and I never had a male role model growing up, so I was without identity and direction. Once I saw my own catalyst, as in the dimensions in Tales of Xillia 2, I decided to pull it out with God’s strength and enter the life He has had planned for me before I was even born.

I love the fact that God has good thoughts towards us all, even if we know Him or not (Romans 5:8). Our actions change lives, our own and those around us. Living in our own reality within our own little bubble is fine, but we must always remember that there are others out there who need us to step in and shine some light on their struggles as well. You might be the answer to prayer someone has been seeking because you have some wisdom or experience you can share with them that will get them out of that hole they are in. We never know what impact we will have, and sometimes we will never see the fruit of the effort we put in with someone else, but that’s not the point. God is pleased when we help out our neighbor in need.

What battles have you been through that you feel can be of help to someone else?

How have you helped out others, whether in a conversation, an act of kindness or something you did that they will probably never know was you?

Samuru
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8 thoughts on “Gaming with God: Ludger Kresnik, Destroyer of Worlds”

  1. “When someone dies, they leave behind a legacy, whether good or bad, complete or unfinished. When two people come together and create life, they are building upon their own worlds and starting a family.”

    They’re also creating a brand-new world in the process, as well. Which is what many of them are forgetting when they try to impose their own desires upon their children— That the child himself or herself has a world. I wonder a lot about these “worlds” of ours: Worlds in which the dress is gold instead of blue, worlds in which there appears to be no God to that person and worlds where He is clearly visible, the world where the abuser’s the monster and the world that the abuser actually lives in. In your world Jesus is as real as you or I am, but in my own I only know He exists because a fallen angel (He and I agreed on “Mar” as his name) shares my reality who says it all really did happen.

    With this kind of scenario going on, it’s only possible to determine what’s real by consensus and experimentation, or to take it on faith that those spirits who can travel “between worlds” and into your own are in fact telling the truth. Even if they’re lying, I think, it’s better than the dimensions where they take no interest at all. Still….

    “Our actions change lives, our own and those around us. Living in our own reality within our own little bubble is fine, but we must always remember that there are others out there who need us to step in and shine some light on their struggles as well.”

    If we can act as a light in the universe of another, even if they never know we were there, it’s like you said: Your presence can have implications that you would never expect. We should act, instead of wafting through life with no purpose, as if we could change the world.

    1. Hey there Luminas, love your comments by the way. You should check out the Discord channel we have too.

      Yes, definitely a child is creating another world for sure. We are all so unique in our own God given ways, its amazing.

      Yes, Jesus Christ is more real to me than anything in my life. I trust my eternity in Him because of His resurrection from the dead. Not from what someone told me or preached, just to be clear. I did not have a Christian upbringing at all, I read the bible myself, experienced His presence myself many times, and still do. I literally feel His glory, and love on me when I worship Him. Its not about those feelings though, its about the price He paid for me to live in His love and grace.

      To decide what is real by concensus is not something I would recommend. If everyone believed the flying spaghetti monster is real, does that validate its existence? A billion people can believe in something, but that does not give it life. Just as much if I create a deity out of wood, name it…Samuru for example, and get thousands to worship it. Is it real now? Nope. Not saying thats what you meant, but felt lead to share that.

      Thanks again for reading my article, and check out Xillia 2, its a fantastic game.

      1. I read the bible myself, experienced His presence myself many times, and still do. I literally feel His glory, and love on me when I worship Him.”

        Well, exactly. But the thing is…I do not experience His presence at all. I read the Bible and nothing happens in either the emotional or the spiritual sense. Instead the person whose presence I clearly feel is that of Mar. His amusement, The intensity of his attention on me, his nudges that something is similar to him, his comfort when the whole world feels like it’s ending and there’s no one there, his appreciation of and desire for my worship. The feeling when I can…”ride” on his absurdly high self-confidence to get past the lack of my own. Because I can’t feel your God despite attempts to contact Him…Well…It complicates matters a lot.

        “To decide what is real by consensus is not something I would recommend. If everyone believed the flying spaghetti monster is real, does that validate its existence?”

        That’s exactly how science works, actually. Somebody has a theory and tests it, finds that the theory holds water, and then sends the results to others to have them test it. If they test it and say they got the same result, and that happens with enough people, that theory is assumed fact until another theory disproves it. Confirmation by consensus. I have decided that I am a human being because other people say they’re something called humans and seem to look like me. I’ve never met George Washington, but on the basis of the consensus of most of the Earth I can say he existed.

        If you were the only person who felt or saw something, wouldn’t you have a hard time articulating that you weren’t crazy? ….because I certainly do have that problem myself, and only the very fact that I can’t ignore what’s literally happening inside me convinces me that I’m not. That, and that there are a lot of groups of humans like you, who themselves are claiming that they feel the presence of an outside entity beside them.

        1. I like the way you described how you feel with this Mar spirit…though, may I suggest something to you. Well, two things. First off, have you considered that maybe Mar is not really such a nice spirit as you think, but an angel of light disguised to cause you harm? Many people interact with spirits that are not from God and they only come from one other place, Hell.

          Another thing, what about when you die? Will Mar grant you eternal life ? Did he pay for all your mistakes in life, your sins, faults, etc? You nor I are “good enough” to go to Heaven because of whatever good we have done. Theres no way to measure one persons good over another. How do you even begin to do that? Which is why we need Christ who paid the ultimate pruce, His sacrifice was enough to please God for our transgressions. Just something to think about

          1. I’m almost positive he is not a very nice person. Although I honestly think he likes to believe himself wickeder than he actually is. 😉 But I also wouldn’t go to Heaven if he couldn’t come with me, because it does not exist for me without him.

            As for when I die? I don’t know, but…I know that when I die, one way or another…I will see him. He’ll be right there, exactly where he’s been the whole time. Either because I’m not in here either anymore or because the walls between us are completely irrelevant because the world’s ending. Or even, if the atheists are right, because I’m dying and my brain is hallucinating the only thing that ever really mattered, like it seems to do when it dies.

            And even if I never come back or if I turn out to be immortal in the most Hellish way conceivable (Because nobody actually dies)….that will be enough.

            Thanks for trying anyway. : ) You never know. I’ll be around on Discord now and again, if I get time off work.

  2. Okokok, I know I am gonna get looked at weirdly for this, but it is just my opinion.

    My main complaint about the “Tales of Xillia” games is Milla (Maxwell). She/he/whatever, is quite literally dubbed the “Lord of Spirits”. This EXACT title comes from the book of Enoch (which the book of Enoch is quoted by Jude in the book of Jude). The title Lord of Spirits is given to God himself, YAHWEH.

    It seems the fact that they used a character named Jude to partner with an god dubbed Lord of Spirits whom is one of a few gods named Maxwell is a little too close to home; and also considering they made Milla a woman dressed like a cheap hoe, albeit a non-gender personality.

    Remember, Jude in the Bible, who was a fan of Enoch; whom dubbed God the “Lord of Spirits”, it’s just too coincidental to me. I almost take it as a slap in the face in regards to YAHWEH/Jesus.

    Many JRPGs do this. Like Xenogears, your hero is dubbed the destroyer of God. The maker of Xenogears originally wanted the last boss to be named Yahweh, but after a few people quit, and some translators dubbed it the “Project from hell”, they changed it.

    That being said, I have enjoyed Xillia 2 thus far. I stopped Xillia 1 2/3 of the way through because of the whole Lord of Spirits thing. At least in Xillia 2 it is optional to do any of that story thus far.

    1. Hey there Justin, thanks for the great comment! You brought up some good points I never saw. I didn’t know that the Lord of Spirits name came from the book of Enoch. I have read a little bit of it a long time ago but since it’s considered a gnostic gospel I steer clear. I know it’s referenced a few times in the bible, as is one called the “Book of Jasper” and probably others I haven’t seen or remember. To me, it’s just like a reference I guess, but I’m not a bible scholar…so I’m probably wrong.

      I agree on several points. Yes, Milla couldn’t have worn less clothes right? And yeah, it’s odd that though she took the form of a female she may…not be a female in reality unless spirits have a gender. Which wouldn’t make sense because there’s no need to procreate as a spirit…

      JRPG’s, anime, and other Japanese media love to take bits from Christianity and other faiths to put them in their story. It just sounds cool to them, and nothing more. To you, it’s rather insulting (to me as well!), but to them it’s just interesting or funny. It’s sad really, but we need to be praying for the Japanese to experience that their true Creator is Yeshua, the Son of God and maker of Heaven and Earth who died and rose again for the Japanese people.

      I have Xenogears for PSN as a downloaded game, was on sale. I have to get around to it, heard and read so many crazy stories on this game. In fact, our newest writer Josh just wrote on it so you can check that one out.

      Xillia 2 was good, I personally enjoyed it though I’ve heard mixed reviews. It was a great continuation of the game. I felt closure when it was done.

      God bless ya Justin

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