Is playing sekiro: shadows die twice a sin?

[Ibrahimjnzb]

Assalamualaikum, there is a game that i enjoy playing called sekiro: shadows die twice and i've played it for a pretty long length of time and have gotten to notice that the game's way of saving is sitting infront of an idol.

To give some context, the game is based on old Japanese culture (during the Sengoku period) so Buddhism is referenced quite a bit in the game. Now the story has little to no relation to it as far as i've seen and i think i've almost beat half of the game and the entire time i was oblivious to the fact that the game saved that way cuz i never put much thought into it.

You can probably already see what i want to know, is it shirk or rather, a sin to sit Infront of these idols to save the game? Saving the game is essential to actually beating it so i have no work around for that.

I have been in a dilemma about this for weeks and have deleted the game in fear of the consequences of playing it. Many people online have suggested that its best to stay away from it as it may not be considered shirk but it might harm the strength of my imaan and honestly i never thought anything of the idols in the game and just focused on the story and the gameplay. And after some talks with my friends they suggested it would be fine and that its just some pixels on the screen so i would probably be safe playing it.

The way i view it is learning about Japanese culture and their practices, its not a sin to learn about other cultures and religions (please correct me if I'm wrong on this), so why would it be to learn them through video games? The more i know about other religions the more it makes me feel better about Islam tbh.

I genuinely enjoy this game and its style of play but I've been holding myself back from playing it this whole time and I've almost just downloaded it again which is why i wanted to confirm with some other opinions if i really should go with playing the game.

JazakAllahuKhair

[muslimx]

Offtopic:

The way i view it is learning about Japanese culture and their practices, its not a sin to learn about other cultures and religions (please correct me if I'm wrong on this), so why would it be to learn them through video games? The more i know about other religions the more it makes me feel better about Islam tbh.

Regarding this in particular. Starting from 90s kids tho its rare, but defy starting from Gen Z people are playing games more and more while justifying it as "learning".
It really isnt. Dont deceive yourself brother. Or should I say more like, dont let satan deceive you. You call it learning, so have you taken notes? Delved into more content types than just games, like have you read books, watched documentaries, or watched historical videos, like what have you done to actually learn it other than just sticking to playing games where most of the time spent is not even learning but rather spending in the game mechanics like completing missions which is the point of the game to begin with.

Narrated Ibn `Abbas: The Prophet (ﷺ) said: "There are two blessings that many people are deceived into losing: health and free time."

Sahih al-Bukhari 6412

Not necessarily giving you any fatwa to play games or not. Whichever you lean, be mindful of your free time. Some people feel learning these makes their Emaan grow stronger. That is oxymoron. Someone with a strong Emaan wont be wanting to spend countless hours playing games WHILE not spending much time to read the Quran or Sunnah so they learn what Allah is telling them to make life better.

And scholars generally agree that one shouldnt expose themselves to haraam materials if they dont have knowledge of the deen. So be mindful of how you spend your time.