PC games have long challenged players with significant decisions, dating back to 1985's Ultima 4, which presented an eight-spoked morality system. However, the era of "Big Decisions" truly took off in 2003 with Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, which divided players into light and dark sides, sparking endless online debates. While some games, like Fable, offered more superficial moral choices, and others, such as BioShock, presented choices with clear, more rewarding paths for one option, developers like BioWare and Telltale excelled at crafting genuinely impactful dilemmas.
Prey: The Shuttle Dilemma
In Prey, players are tasked with preventing an alien infestation from reaching Earth after it has already consumed the Talos I space station. Partway through the game, a shuttle named the Advent is discovered to have departed for Earth just before the infestation was identified. Players have the option to destroy the shuttle, potentially saving Earth, or allow it to continue its journey, risking contamination. This decision is presented without explicit reward or punishment, but players can uncover details about the passengers, making the choice to potentially sacrifice them emotionally taxing. The game frames this decision by earlier presenting players with a version of the classic trolley problem, amplifying the psychological weight of the shuttle choice.
The Walking Dead: Scarcity and Survival
Telltale's The Walking Dead is renowned for its emotionally charged decisions, particularly through the eyes of young Clementine. One of the most agonizing choices involves resource management: with ten survivors and only four food items, players must decide who receives sustenance. The decision becomes more complex as some survivors are children, others are vital for defense, and some are trusted friends while others are untrustworthy individuals who could become allies. The final choice, whether to keep the last meal for oneself or give it away, is observed by the entire group, with repercussions for future trust and survival.
The Banner Saga: Defending the Bridge
From its outset, The Banner Saga immerses players in difficult choices. During a climactic siege in the city of Einartoft, players must decide the fate of a vital bridge. Options include defending the bridge against attackers, destroying it to slow the enemy advance, or abandoning the city entirely. Each choice carries significant consequences for the caravan of refugees and named characters, often leading to difficult battles or further narrative complications. The game employs a system where even seemingly safe decisions can result in the death of characters, forcing players to grapple with the constant threat of loss.
Dishonored: Mercy or Ruthlessness
Dishonored presents a clear "high chaos" versus "low chaos" system, where aggressive actions lead to a more dangerous environment and disturbing artistic representations of the world by the protagonist's daughter. However, the "low chaos" alternatives to direct assassination can often be more brutal. For instance, a target might be left enslaved in a salt mine, or a woman could be handed over to an obsessive stalker. These morally gray outcomes make the choice between a swift, violent end and a prolonged, perhaps more psychologically damaging fate, a significant dilemma.
Mass Effect 2: The Heretic Geth Decision
In Mass Effect 2, players face a complex choice regarding the heretic geth, a faction of sentient machines fighting for the galaxy-ending Reapers due to a programming flaw. The "Paragon" choice involves reprogramming them, a temporary solution that leaves them vulnerable to Reaper influence later. The "Renegade" choice is to destroy them, a more practical but less merciful option that also avoids future conflict. This decision highlights a conflict between immediate pragmatic benefits and a more compassionate, albeit potentially less effective, long-term solution.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt: The Tree Spirit's Fate
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt frequently presents players with choices where no option is truly good. During the Whispering Hillock quest, Geralt must decide whether to kill a tree spirit or free it. Killing the spirit spares a village and its inhabitants, including a cursed woman who is the estranged wife of the Bloody Baron, preventing his suicide. Freeing the spirit, however, leads to its revenge on the village but also saves a group of orphans. Each choice has cascading negative consequences, affecting character relationships and the overall narrative in significant ways.
Batman: The Telltale Series: Owing a Favor
In Telltale's Batman, set early in the hero's career, players shape Bruce Wayne's relationships with his rogues' gallery. A key decision involves how to treat "John Doe," who later becomes the Joker, while imprisoned in Arkham Asylum. After Doe helps Bruce escape, he asks for an unspecified favor. While the immediate impact is minimal, the decision to either grant or deny this favor has long-term implications, potentially shaping the Joker's future antagonism. The player base is almost evenly split on this decision, indicating its perceived significance.
Dragon Age: Origins: The Dwarven Throne
Dragon Age: Origins confronts players with the choice of who should rule the dwarven kingdom of Orzammar. Players can support Harrowmont, a traditionalist candidate, or Bhelen, a progressive who advocates for the casteless. Bhelen's rise to power, while potentially beneficial for the lower classes, is achieved through fratricide, making him a morally compromised choice. Harrowmont, though more honorable, represents a continuation of Orzammar's isolationist policies, which could hinder the global fight against the Blight. This decision impacts the fate of the dwarven society and its role in the wider conflict.
Frostpunk: Child Labor
Frostpunk places players in charge of a Victorian-era city struggling against an ice age. The "child labor" law presents a stark utilitarian dilemma: enacting it provides much-needed workers for vital tasks like coal shoveling, but at the cost of potential injuries and the moral burden of exploiting children. Failing to enact the law means dedicating significant resources to building shelters for the idle children. Both paths have negative consequences, forcing players to weigh the survival of the city against ethical considerations.
Fallout 3: Harold's Sacrifice
In Fallout 3, players encounter Harold, a long-lived mutant who has become rooted to the ground in the settlement of Oasis, surrounded by trees grown from his seeds. Harold begs for death, tired of his immobile existence. Players must choose between granting his wish, potentially dooming the settlement and a chance for the wasteland to regenerate, or denying him and allowing the trees to grow, which risks attracting unwanted attention from factions like the Enclave. An intermediate option involves keeping Harold trapped but safe, delaying both the regeneration of the wasteland and his release.