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Have you ever selected a dialogue option in a game, only to realize it really didn’t matter which one you chose? Something I’ve noticed as of late is how often games present choices like this to us, but everything plays out the same regardless.
For a long while, this left me bitter about games asking me to make decisions. Thankfully, I’ve since played quite a few that have shown me it’s very possible for my decisions to matter. If you share the same outlook as me, you’ll want to give these three in particular a try.
The Mass Effect Trilogy Makes You Feel the Consequences of Your Choices
Upon hearing how much I value decision-making in games, you might think that visual novels are right up my alley, and they are! However, the way most visual novels operate is that your choices take you down a certain “route.” Though there are exceptions, these routes pretty much lock you into a certain path, and very little changes from that point forward, unless you branch off onto another route. It wasn’t until I played the Mass Effect trilogy that I discovered just how much impact seemingly insignificant actions could have.
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Possibly the trilogy’s biggest claim to fame is the fact that your decisions from one game affect the ones that come after. These can range from things as small as completing certain side missions to asking you to make incredibly tough choices that affect the entire galaxy. Though this is illustrated almost immediately upon beginning Mass Effect 2, I remember an acknowledgment in the game that genuinely impressed me coming from a Mass Effect side quest character, Helena Blake.
At the conclusion of her quest in the first game, you can kill her, let her go, or let her go while also advising her to give up on her life of crime. I took the final option, and to my surprise, she eventually became a social worker, and thanked me for setting her on the right path. That’s cool, but I later found out if you don’t recommend she stop being a criminal, she becomes an underboss for Aria T’Loak. I didn’t think that a slight alteration in dialogue would make a difference, but it did.
There are so many quests and conversation options that reference your past deeds that you’ll seriously consider every single choice you make in-game, whether it’s big or small. If you like your choices carrying weight, you can also try The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Alpha Protocol, and Fallout: New Vegas.
Mass Effect: Legendary Edition
- Released
- May 14, 2021
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood, Drug Reference, Partial Nudity, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Use of Alcohol, Violence
- Developer(s)
- BioWare
- Publisher(s)
- Electronic Arts
Heavy Rain Allows You To Radically Alter the Narrative
Despite my immense love for Mass Effect, one of the biggest issues I have is that, although you do have an impact on the ending of each game, it essentially just boils down to a choice you make on the spot. Even in Mass Effect 3, where every asset you collect for the war against the Reapers is supposed to matter, it doesn’t significantly alter the ending. I craved something where every playthrough could produce radically different results, and I found it with Heavy Rain.
In Heavy Rain, you alternate between four different protagonists: Ethan Mars, Norman Jayden, Madison Paige, and Scott Shelby. Though the story progresses in a certain order, every time you take control of a character, you have significant autonomy over what you do.
For example, Ethan is trying to save his son, Shaun, and the kidnapper puts him through a series of tests. Doing as the kidnapper asks rewards Ethan with a clue to help him find his son, but if you don’t pass enough of the tests, there’s a very real possibility you won’t be able to locate Shaun and he’ll die. I guarantee if you play this game several times and make different decisions in each playthrough, each character’s ending will be quite distinct.
Where games like this shine, though, is when you have to make these choices in real-time. Most games, particularly RPGs, allow you to idly hover over dialogue choices and select them at your leisure. You don’t have that luxury with Heavy Rain, and taking too long to choose will often result in something disastrous, or at least unfavorable, occurring. I love when games pressure players in such a way, especially with big decisions. You might learn a thing or two about yourself when you’re forced to make uncomfortable split-second choices.
Some other recommendations I have for games with open-ended stories are Detroit: Become Human, Life is Strange, and Until Dawn.
Heavy Rain
- Released
- February 23, 2010
- ESRB
- M For Mature 17+ // Blood, Intense Violence, Nudity, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Use of Drugs
- Developer(s)
- Quantic Dream
- Publisher(s)
- Sony, Quantic Dream
Your Party Members Judge You in Baldur’s Gate 3
One of my other chief complaints with games like Mass Effect is how your party reacts to the things you do. At times, they can voice disagreement with your choices, but they ultimately remain loyal, trusting, and follow Shepard in all but a few cases. This is a dynamic I think many developers are afraid to explore for fear of alienating players, which makes sense. If you want to do something and are effectively punished by having someone leave your party, you might not do it. While I do understand that, I’m someone who believes in-game choices should have consequences for those closest to you, and Baldur’s Gate 3 does this beautifully.
Relatively early in the game, you’ll learn about an impending attack on Emerald Grove. I thought I’d be sneaky on my first playthrough and told the attacking party I’d help them, with the intention of leading them to the grove and ambushing them. One of my party members, Karlach, wasn’t savvy about my ploy and warned me I’d better have a plan that didn’t involve attacking the grove. This remark couldn’t help but incite my curiosity.
As you might have guessed, I helped slaughter everyone in Emerald Grove. To my surprise and morbid delight, Karlach left my party halfway through the massacre. Interestingly, during the victory celebration, Wyll left as well. I then trotted over to Gale to see if he liked his hands being stained with the blood of the innocent, but he only expressed remorse about what we had done. I made it sound like I enjoyed killing everyone, which disgusted him, and he left too.
I know it sounds like I was just indulging my sadistic tendencies, but I wanted to see how my party members would react. I knew those three would morally oppose me attacking Emerald Grove, but I thought I’d be able to charm my way back into their good graces. What made me so happy was that I couldn’t (although I’m fairly certain I could have with Gale). These characters feel authentic because they possess their own values, which they defend and abide by. Real people generally behave the same way in that you can influence how they view certain things, but they do have standards they don’t tolerate you violating.
I know we’re playing fictional video games, but I appreciate that kind of reactionary detail applying not only to the world, but also to your party members. If you like seeing how your actions affect those around you, try Dragon Age and Disco Elysium as well.
Baldur’s Gate 3
- Released
- August 3, 2023
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Partial Nudity, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Violence
- Developer(s)
- Larian Studios
- Publisher(s)
- Larian Studios
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If a game is going to give you a choice, or even suggests you have one, it should follow through. Whether it affects the world around you, the story itself, or just those closest to the player character, your decisions should always carry weight, and I’m so thankful these three games reflect that sentiment.
