Best Open-World Games That Focus On Player Morality And Consequences

A lot of games have made great efforts to make it feel like the player’s decisions actually matter. Very few manage to pull it off, however, and more often than not, many of the decisions games force us to make end up feeling inconsequential or superficial.

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Great games where your decisions truly matter and are few and far between. But there are some exceptions. Some open-world games have a heavy focus on allowing the player to make complex moral decisions and then revealing the consequences of these dilemmas. All the games on this list are truly open-world (not just zoned) and have been ranked according to both overall quality and how much they focus on the player’s moral choices.

Lots Of Choices To Make But Fewer Consequences

Skyrim

Released

November 11, 2011

Skyrim is one of the highest-selling and most popular action RPGs ever made. Bethesda has sold millions of copies and released it on pretty much every modern platform known to man. It offers a massive open-world sandbox where the player is largely allowed to do what they want when they want, and many quests have different outcomes depending on the player’s decisions. It’s a great open-world game that emphasizes freedom.

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Yet Skyrim gets bottom-ranking here for one simple reason. The player is frequently tasked with making moral decisions, but there’s less of a focus on consequences. A classic example is the Dark Brotherhood quest line. The player can either join or destroy this group of murderers and assassins, but outside the quest itself, other NPCs will barely acknowledge the player’s decisions. Likewise, joining the Thieves Guild barely registers beyond the occasional snarky comment from a guard. Skyrim allows the player to be a goody-goody hero or psychopathic serial killer, but no one in Skyrim seems to care that much outside of the guards and their bounty demands.

9

STALKER: Heart Of Chernobyl

Morals Are A Luxury Few Can Afford In The Wasteland

Systems

OpenCritic

Top Critic Rating:
75/100


Critics Recommend:
63%

Released

November 20, 2024

OpenCritic Rating

Strong

Stalker 2 is a difficult game to rank on a list like this. On the one hand, it was one of the best, and hyped-up, games of 2024. It has a massive open world that honors the spirit of earlier Stalker games, and after some massive updates, is a ton of fun to play. Its world can be gruelingly hard to survive in, and the game forces the player to make tough moral decisions constantly.

But Stalker 2’s world is a morally gray one. We’re going to avoid spoilers for such a recent game, but most of Stalker 2’s decisions lack clear-cut “good” or “bad” options. Decisions can have far-reaching consequences that aren’t immediately clear, much like in real life. However, the game focuses more on the need for survival than morality. It’s often hard to care about the decisions we’re forced to make (and their consequences) while playing, especially since the game all too often forces us to make these decisions without making the player well-informed (especially if they never played the earlier games). This leads to the game getting a lower ranking here.

8

Infamous 2

Turn Cole Into The Ultimate Superhero Or Villain

Systems

It’s been quite a while since we had a new Infamous game, which is a pity because few other games focus on player morality to the extent the Infamous games did. Each game allowed the player to either become a genuine superhero or an evil supervillain based not just on the decisions they made but on how they played.

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Fighting recklessly, killing enemies, and causing too much collateral damage sent the player down a darker path while playing cautiously and heroically made them a hero. This tied into the progression system, which reinforced each style of play. The first two games in particular told one continuous story with multiple, world-changing endings depending on how we played. Compared to modern games, the Infamous games are a bit too black and white and lack some nuance, leading to a lower ranking. Even so, it remains one of the best open-world superhero games ever made.

7

Cyberpunk 2077

No One Cares About Morality In A Place Like Night City

OpenCritic

Top Critic Rating:
76/100


Critics Recommend:
65%

Released

December 10, 2020

OpenCritic Rating

Strong

Cyberpunk might have gotten off to a rough start, but in its current state, it’s easily one of the best open-world FPS games ever made. Cyberpunk 2077 is yet another open-world game where almost every quest includes at least one moral dilemma. The best example of this is the Sinnerman quest, a painfully morally complex quest that can leave the player questioning their own morality in a way few other quests can.

But a bit like with Stalker 2, while Cyberpunk repeatedly confronts the player with decisions that have a moral edge, morality itself isn’t usually the focus. Like everyone else in Night City, V is fighting for survival. The main quest line has plenty of branching decisions, but few of them feel particularly “moral”. Side quests and jobs, on the other hand, will feature moral decisions, but the consequences are often limited to receiving a certain text or alternate mission reward. These moral decisions have little to no bearing on the game’s multiple endings or V’s personality.

6

Vampyr

Dr. Reid Must Choose Between His Bloodlust And Duty As A Doctor

OpenCritic

Top Critic Rating:
72/100


Critics Recommend:
46%

Released

June 5, 2018

OpenCritic Rating

Fair

It could be said that Vampyr is more semi-open-world than it is truly open-world, limiting its ranking here, but its heavy emphasis on morality earns it a spot on this list. The game follows Dr. Jonathan E. Reid, a renowned blood specialist who is turned into a vampire after returning to London after witnessing the horrors of the First World War. Reid starts as an unwilling vampire and the game brilliantly plays on the moral dilemma caused by his need to survive on blood and his moral duty as a doctor. This inner conflict makes him one of the best vampire characters in gaming.

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The game’s progression system is tied to Reid’s bloodlust. Reid can feed on and kill major NPCs, and the more of a relationship he builds up with them by doing quests, the more valuable their blood. Indulge in this bloodlust, feed on everyone, and Reid becomes incredibly powerful. Be a good boy and refuse to drink, and Reid’s abilities and progression are severely hampered. The game’s quests also come with similar moral dilemmas that can change the fate of London entirely. Lots of games have tough moral decisions, but very few actively hamper character progression by making them choose between their morals and power trip fantasy.

5

Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2

Crime And Punishment In The Medieval World

RPG

Action-Adventure

Open-World

OpenCritic

Top Critic Rating:
89/100


Critics Recommend:
96%

Released

February 4, 2025

Developer(s)

Warhorse Studios

OpenCritic Rating

Mighty

Like Stalker 2, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is still pretty fresh, so we’ll be avoiding story spoilers. It’s also worth saying that, from this point onward, the games on this list are fairly interchangeable when it comes to the quality of their moral decisions. What makes Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 stand out is its brilliant Crime and Punishment system.

We’ve all been chased down by low-IQ town guards in open-world RPGs before, but this game is different. Guards have long memories and won’t just forgive Henry the second he disappears around the corner. Minor crimes might come with a fine or a spell spent in the town stocks. Major crimes can lead to being branded, or even executed. Being branded will affect how NPCs react to Henry and some will refuse to interact with him at all. Henry’s moral reputation affects dialogue choices and can end some quests before they even begin. On top of this, most quests also include the kind of morally gray dilemmas we’ve come to expect from a game like this. Seemingly small decisions can have major consequences, like the destruction of entire villages and the deaths of major NPCs.

4

Fallout: New Vegas

An Old School Morality System With Plenty Of Consequences

Released

October 19, 2010

Both Fallout 3 and New Vegas featured similar morality systems (something controversially cut from Fallout 4) but New Vegas added to this system with its added focus on faction reputation. Staying in one faction’s favor often comes at the cost of being friendly with others, with some factions being morally gray and others being obviously good or evil.

This means the player is constantly forced to make tough decisions, balancing their morality with their standing with multiple factions. It’s hard to be a good guy when working with the slave-owning Caesar’s Legion, for example. This is a morally gray game, something reflected in the game’s multiple endings. What one person perceives as a “bad” ending, might just as well be a good ending to someone else. The game is also particularly good at making the player care about the consequences of their actions, whether they be selling a loyal ally into slavery or framing someone for murder. No wonder it’s often considered to be the best Fallout game among franchise fans.

3

Fable 3

Leading Can Mean Sacrificing Morals For The Greater Good

Systems

Released

October 26, 2010

The Fable franchise has a long and messy history but has a reboot coming out soon. The last “proper” game in the franchise fans received was Fable 3 back in 2010. Like the first two games in the series, it came with a heavy emphasis on player morality in both the decisions they made and how they played. What makes Fable 3’s morality system interesting, though, is its focus on balancing moral decision-making with the greater good.

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The player has a kingdom to rule over and doing the “right” thing, like building a school and outlawing child labor, usually comes at a heavy cost. Make too many morally good decisions, and you could run your kingdom into the ground. At the same time, rule like a tax-grubbing tyrant, and you can expect your population to rebel. These decisions impact not only the overall story but also the appearance of both the protagonist and their kingdom. Playing strategically and amassing personal wealth can negate some of the practical consequences of playing morally, but not all of them. Fable 3 is a flawed game, but its interesting system earns it a high ranking.

2

Red Dead Redemption 2

High Honor Or Low Honor, Your Actions Decide

OpenCritic

Top Critic Rating:
96/100


Critics Recommend:
94%

Released

October 26, 2018

OpenCritic Rating

Mighty

Red Dead Redemption 2 is a ridiculously detailed game, and that carries over to its morality system and how it deals with consequences. Rather than encouraging the player to make significant decisions, or having a branching storyline, Red Dead Redemption 2 is constantly judging Arthur’s actions via its honor system.

Doing good-natured things like helping strangers in need, disarming opponents in duels, and donating money to the poor/ the camp all increase Arthur’s honor. Even being friendly and greeting passersby can have an effect. On the other hand, being a jerk, ignoring those in need, and robbing the innocent all lowers his honor. Arthur’s honor level can change how he behaves in cut scenes, affects how NPCs interact with him and can lead to discounts in shops and missed side missions. Most importantly, it completely changes the game’s ending, making sure the player always gets the ending they deserve. It’s a more nuanced system that adds to the game’s already impressive level of immersion.

1

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

Geralt Lives In A Morally Gray World Full Of Monsters

OpenCritic

Top Critic Rating:
93/100


Critics Recommend:
95%

Released

May 19, 2015

OpenCritic Rating

Mighty

Readers probably saw this one coming. The Witcher 3 has long been the gold standard when it comes to handling moral decisions and their consequences while also telling a compelling branching story. Branching stories that stick the landing are hard to pull off. Just look at what happened with Mass Effect 3.

The Witcher 3 is full of moral decisions that have far-reaching implications, both big and small. Major quest lines like the Bloody Baron have multiple endings that hinge on the decisions the players make. These endings in turn impact both other side quests and the main game’s ending. Often these decisions are morally gray and the best the player can hope for is choosing between two equally bad outcomes. However, few other games handle moral consequences well. Geralt’s actions affect not just his and Ciri’s fate but the game’s political landscape, world state, and the fates of countless beloved characters. It’s a game that demands repeated playthroughs and has a moral complexity that few others have managed.

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