Best RPGs Where Being Good Is difficult

Roleplaying games are some of the best video game experiences available to players today. They uniquely utilize the medium in a way that other venues for entertainment simply cannot match. Few other mediums, save for maybe books, let people become so uniquely immersed in a world that parallels their own in some ways, but is utterly alien to it in others. And here lies the rub for the best RPGs of recent years, and indeed all time. They might be some incredibly distant departures from the world that players know – but there always needs to be a mirror held up to that which is familiar.

One thing that tends to remain the same in most RPGs is their sense of morality. Regardless of whether the game is set in a mystical fantasy realm or a contemporary reflection of our own, the good are often virtuous and the evil are often sinful in similar, archetypal ways. Where these RPGs are concerned, goodness is sacrifice, and making the right choice does not always mean making the easy one.

8 Fable 3

Ruling A Kingdom is Only Easy For Tyrants

The utterly unique style of gameplay and alignment that Fable as a series has showcased is an incredible look at morality in video games, even if it comes off at first as rather simplistic and more for comedic value.

Fable 3 adds a new dimension to the morality system by having the player in one of the most important positions in Albion’s kingdom – its leader. Good decisions benefit the people, but are costly, and could lead to disaster in the long run when a terrible threat attacks the realm. Evil decisions are no longer just for evil’s sake, but to protect the coffers for as long as possible so the knigdom has an easier time when the final battle begins.

7 Suzerain

Life Is Hard For An Incorruptible Politician

The text-based marvel of Suzerain is based on hard choices, not binary ones. Choosing between building a high-speed railway or a multi-lane highway is not a choice between good and evil, but there are certainly some moments where compromising morals makes this difficult game easier.

Players can accept bribes from a media mogul early on who will then publish favorable articles for them, and rejecting this deal, especially if going towards a nationalization scheme in government, will greatly hinder any publicity the player recieves.

6 Frostpunk

How Do You Stay Moral During The Apocalypse?

The incredible Frostpunk 2 has been taking city builder fans by storm. Or perhaps… by blizzard? However, if there’s one thing the first game in the series focuses on more intently, it’s the binary between remaining moral and surviving by any means necessary.

Taking the time to establish food stores so the civilians don’t have to eat each other, taking the time for proper burials instead of mass graves, all these things are morally upstanding, but much harder to sustain as the cold sets in, and in times of desperation, what will players be willing to give up if it means surviving?

5 InFamous 2

Evil Actions Warrant Carefree Powers

The InFamous series is one of peoples’ go-to games when discussing video games with morality. The system is by no means complex, but it’s a fantastic anchor in an incredibly interesting world with several engaging details that add to the overall pervading sense of darkness that Cole either contributes towards or fights against.

Powers in this game are dictated by morality, and evil powers are often much wider and find it easier to take out multiple foes at once – though the cost of this is a few civilians getting in the way. Being good in this game doesn’t necessarily hinder your combat abilities, but it forces the player to be much more mindful about their energy conservation and collateral damage during battles.

4 Spider-Man: Web Of Shadows

The Symbiote Speeds Things Up In This Title

There are many features in Web of Shadows that Spider-Man games since have failed to capitalize on, the biggest one being a morality system that makes for a fantastic superhero story. It might not be the best fit for every Spider-Man game, but the fanbase is practically begging for one or two more titles to explore the sides of the web-slinger like this game has.

Negative or self-serving decisions in this game grant players more time with the impactful and hard hitting symbiote suit, which can make the game much quicker. Being good also means occasionally sacrificing buffs or bonuses to instead see people to safety, as though the great power that Spider-Man wields comes with some inherent obligation to others, or something.

3 Dishonored

Keeping The World From Chaos Is A Struggle

The world is not just reactive to Corvo’s morality in Dishonored, but also to the deaths he causes. The ongoing plague in the setting of Dishonored is a wonderful metric for how the player has been operating during the course of the game.

Killing people is faster and safer (for Corvo) than incapacitating them, and this is true across every mission, but it also leads to more bodies, which spreads the plague, and makes the city an even less pleasant place to live in.

2 Vampyr

If Drinking Blood Is Bad, I Don’t Want To Be Good

A dark, intricate, and incredibly unique title, Vampyr is an amazing vampire game that forces the player to challenge their own convictions. In an incredibly devious twist to vampire norms, the potency of an innocent’s blood is directly related to how well the vampire knows them.

This forces you to learn about the many humans in the game, get to understand them, their likes and dislikes, their dreams, before quenching a deep vampiric thirst on their blood. Not drinking their blood will leave players in a much harder position when it comes to combat, as they’ll effectively be underleveled.

1 Tyranny

This Game Doesn’t Make It Easy For Good Guys

In most games that offer a host of moral options, the ‘evil’ path is the one that diverges from the story. Being evil is almost treated like an easter egg in some games, not a path to be taken seriously. Tyranny is a sublime game where every path is well realized, but it subverts typical RPGs through the evil route, or routes, being the default.

Being good in this game means betraying every conviction the protagonist has ever known, and rebelling as a small uprising against a colossal, imperialist empire, in what is one of the hardest RPG experiences available for players today. But it’s worth it, to fight against the powers of evil… right?