Developers craft some incredible stories for video games but oftentimes there are some video game titles that offer players the ability to direct the narrative outline. Of course, there are a number of choices available in video games that play with your morals and it can be incredibly difficult to decide on what option to run with. We’re going to showcase some of the hardest choices we’ve been presented within video games down below though we’re not ranking the games in any particular order.
Warning: Various game spoilers ahead.
#10 Life is Strange
The Life is Strange video game is full of drama with twists and turns. Players take on the role of a student named Max who returns to her old hometown in order to attend a prestigious school featuring photography. With her return, Max bumps into her past best friend, Chloe, but it’s during this encounter that she learns of her new found power. Max is able to manipulate time by reversing it and it’s with this new power that she rekindles her friendship with Chloe while also solving some of the deepest darkest secrets the town of Arcadia Bay has held for years.
This is an episodic video game from Dontnod Entertainment and as such there are big events that happen in each episode leaving you guessing as to if you made the right choices along the way. However, the biggest decision players had to make was at the very end where you’re essentially left with deciding the fate of a whole town or Chloe. It’s a tough pill to swallow, do you sacrifice an entire town to save your best friend or do you leave fate alone and leave Chloe to an untimely end?
#9 Telltale Games: The Walking Dead
Telltale Games was a phenomenal video game development studio, though they stretched themselves too thin and attempted to create gold with each release. That eventually caused the developers to go out of business, but one of their most critical hits will remain a cherished title for years. We’re of course talking about The Walking Dead, a video game series that was based on Robert Kirkman’s hit comic and television series.
Within the first title, players follow the story of Lee, an escaped convicted felon who manages to get another chance at freedom when the zombie plague has infected the world. During his journey, he meets up with a little girl named Clementine, who is all alone in the world and as a result, he takes her on as a guardian. This journey is full of its ups and downs with heartache throughout but the biggest upset was at the end of The Walking Dead when Lee becomes infected. Not only is he forced to leave Clementine on her own, but players actually have to decide on if Clementine should kill Lee with a gun or leave him to turn into a mindless zombie. Either way, it’s a depressing scene and just one of the many deaths you’ll have to go through in this franchise.
#8 Fallout 4
Fallout 4 set players off before the nuclear attack which ultimately follows a young family into a vault that requires cryogenic freezing to preserve humans prior to waking them up years later. However, early into the game, you witness your spouse killed and the kidnapping of your son. When you finally get control, you’re sent out to the open wasteland in search for answers and your missing son. This is a deep RPG journey full of quests to take on, but the biggest twist is that your son is no longer a baby but decades older and controlling The Institute, a large antagonist force that the survivors outside of the vault have been dealing with for a number of years. It’s only during the reveal that you’re left with the choice, join your son or end the Institute. On one hand, your son lived a life without you and only knew the goals and life within the Institute, but you’ve also seen what this faction has done to the innocents living their lives in the harsh outside world.
#7 Bioshock
BioShock was a fantastic little game that showed a world locked away from the rest full of twisted humanity. As you go through the Rapture you’ll encounter young little girls named Little Sisters who are genetically altered and ordered to go around the area to reclaim ADAM. Essentially, these characters are rather harmless though they are accompanied by a protector known as Big Daddy. Within the game, players could reclaim the ADAM from the Little Sisters which would kill them in the process, however, you could avoid taking all of it and save the girls within the process which actually rewards players with a positive ending, but during the game it’s tough to decide on what choice to go with.
#6 Until Dawn
Okay, this choice may not matter as the same character dies no matter what but being presented with the decision originally was definitely tough. The scene felt it was something that came right out of Saw as you’re forced to decide who dies between two young characters, Ashley or Josh. Within the game, players will come across the duo tied up and a large circular saw blade that is activated by a lever where you’re forced to decide which direction that saw blade goes into. Again, the choice doesn’t matter, but knowing that the duo believes you’re the only one deciding who makes it out of there alive is quite terrifying.
