Most games, in some form or another, are about heroes being sent out to save people. Some games put players in the roles of villains, like Destroy All Humans, and it’s great to see games flip the trend. There is an even smaller pool of examples of RPGs wherein saving everyone is not possible, or at least the outcome is not all rainbows and butterflies.
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Sometimes, sacrifices must be made for the greater good. It’s not easy to make these decisions or live in these worlds, but sometimes the hardest dialogue choices or gameplay options can help a game stick out more.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Can’t Please Everyone
Witchers get almost no respect in The Witcher universe because they are mutants who fight monsters. Even though they help people, they are treated like monsters. It doesn’t help that Witchers like Geralt and Ciri in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt are served poorly with quests that don’t have great outcomes to make everyone happy. For those unaware, the game is an open-world action RPG. One great one is called “Whispering Hillock,” which involves helping to care for a tree spirit that is terrifying people.
If players free the tree spirit, it will save children, but this in turn will doom a village, Downwarren, along with letting a prominent character go by the wayside, Anna. Killing it will then kill the children, and who wants that on their conscience? Another great, smaller example is called “Lynch Mob,” and players can decide to free a soldier about to be executed or go along with the people trying to hang him for being a deserter. While killing a group of angry people may seem bad, the soldier did it for a good reason, as his wife needed help with their child. So, in the grander world of The Witcher series, everything is always gray and never black and white.
Vampyr
Stop The Bigger Threats
Vampyr is an action RPG that takes place in early 1900s England, wherein a doctor, Jonathan Reid, gets turned into a vampire. One thing leads to another, but eventually, Jonathan is able to curb his appetite to become a doctor once again. The thing is, other brutes and vampires stalk the area around his hospital, and players have to make a choice. They can be noble and treat their patients like gods, never laying a finger on them.
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However, this will weaken Jonathan as it will be harder to level up. A weak character cannot possibly think to stand up to the bigger vampire threat out there, like Jonathan’s maker. Players have to try and find a balance between killing a few patients and not killing too many. If players exceed a limit, they will get an ending that turns Jonathan into a mindless killer. So, to save London and his salvation, Jonathan will have to limit his vampiric instincts for the greater good.
Shin Megami Tensei 4
Obey The Law
Shin Megami Tensei 4 is a turn-based RPG wherein players assume the role of the quiet Flynn. He becomes a samurai in a beginning quest in a land known as Mikado, which looks like a fantasy setting, which may have seemed odd for longtime Shin Megami Tensei fans. The series typically takes place within normal society, albeit in post-apocalyptic scenarios. Turns out, Tokyo has been taken over by demons, but the threat is contained within a dome. Mikado exists above the dome as a gatekeeper society run by the heavens. As a newly trained samurai, Flynn and his cohorts are sent to Tokyo to help free the city, and along the way, players have to make lawful, chaotic, or neutral decisions, which will affect the ending they get, all of which have sacrifices.
The lawful ending has players retreat to Mikado, as Tokyo is torched to kill the demons along with all of the human survivors trapped inside. The chaotic ending will essentially have players make a pact with demons to go after the heavens, which could turn out to save more people on all sides, but it is risky, as it is hard to trust demons. Finally, the neutral ending will destroy Mikado, but its citizens can retreat to Tokyo, which will thrive in the end. Endings aside, just making the smaller choices throughout the adventure can be tricky, as players may always lean towards saving as many lives as possible, no matter the alignment.
Mass Effect 3
Don’t Go Fusion
Mass Effect 3, a squad-based shooter RPG, sees the end of a trilogy, and that journey’s end did not please a lot of fans. Basically, players, as Commander Shepard, will reach a three-way struggle. First, players can decide to kill the Reapers, which are cataclysmic beings who want to reset the universe by killing organic lifeforms. This decision will also kill all synthetic life, meaning both good and bad machines alongside the Reapers. Players can also sacrifice themselves to take control of the Reapers to use their powers for good, but that almost seems like a monkey’s paw situation.
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It would save the most lives for sure, but in turn, this may be what the Reapers want. It’s hard to say how Commander Shepard would change in the long run once fused with the technology. Speaking of fusion, the last option would join organic and synthetic life as one new species, thus destroying the need for the Reapers. While that will also save countless lives, it destroys free will for people, as it could essentially kill what makes them unique as individuals. It’s a tough spot to be in, that’s for sure, and no one would envy Commander Shepard’s job as the savior or destroyer of the universe. Mass Effect, as a trilogy, is all about the journey and not the end results anyway.
The Last Spell
Destroy Magic
The Last Spell is a different kind of game, and not just because it is a tactical roguelike RPG. The game takes place in a world where mages and magic essentially doomed everything. Now, one final spell will destroy the monsters that are killing everyone, but in turn, the idea of magic will disappear. A world with no magic could doom people as well, but premises aside, players have to save the wizard casting the magic on their run.
They can strategically place armaments around the town and try to arm the party well. The end goal is the most important, so sacrifices must be made to turn over a victory. If players fail, that universe will be destroyed, and players will have to try again. The decisions in this case all relate to the gameplay instead of story options like the other RPGs, which can lead to players feeling more guilt over poor strategies. This could also make victory in The Last Spell taste sweeter upon completing this challenging tactical outlier.
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