I agree that the most current, most interesting title would have to be Bioshock Infinite. Depending on who you are and what society you find yourself embedded in, there is a lot to get out of... but, alas, most of the actual substance seems to be a rather fleeting thing to me.
There's always the priest/cleric/fighting monk/healer archetype in the vast, grassy plains of RPG wonderland, pretty much right from the get-go.
My current favourite, even though done by Japanese who - most of the time - have a different way of approaching, tackling and handling issues great and small, would be Dark Souls. You meet Petrus of Thorolund very early in the game, somewhat willing to teach you miracles of a defensive and healing nature, before the story takes a wrong turn for those attentive enough to catch it. Then there's Solaire of Astora, interactions with whom are as inspiring as they are confusing, but he can be there for you when you need him and figure out how to summon him to your aid. He's been my shining beacon in a world that offers everything - plowing through poisonous, foul-smelling swamps, enjoying a seemingly neverending sunset, which of course, you can turn into endless night, walking on ashes... it's all there in Dark Souls.
But the lore is tedious to collect and probably not in sync with the timely manner in which most papers have to be handed in. Just reading up on it on one of the two major Dark Souls wikis may work, but I doubt it works properly if one does not experience the despair, confusion and general feeling of abandon first hand. Yeah, Dark Souls to me is the best experience no matter who you are or what you are looking for. It's not an easy ride, though. I also think that playing Dark Souls can be seen either as a punishment equivalent of that of Sysiphus, or it can be seen as an interactive form of 'practice makes perfect', turned into a mantra one can live by for as long as body, mind, power source and hardware allow. Becoming better, approaching 'perfect' in Dark Souls beats a lot of ritualized solitary pondering, methinks. Praise the Sun!
Also a favourite of mine is The Order of the Silent Hill games... it's a rather bleak thing in a very dark world, though. Their Sun God deity must be hiding inside some sort of black hole.
Depending on the scope and scale - and effort you're willing to put in - I still would recommend looking at, say, Warcraft III, although it tends to become a political minefield in an open discussion setting. Even though it's a decade-old title, you can still get away with picking it up, playing it, accessing the videos on the disc outside of game play, and making your own thoughts on everything you see. After all, Warcraft III's lore and visual impact was strong enough to inspire people for World of Warcraft, which is no small feat.
Mark Twain said that we humans are religious animals. I think he's right. What he only so much as implied was that we tend to make shit up as we go along.