Subjective List of Best Morality Systems in Video Games
Morality is like... well, everyone has their own. The morality systems in video games also come in various shapes and sizes. However, not all of them can be called interesting. Here, I list all my favorite ones.
Table of Contents
- Subjective List of Best Morality Systems in Video Games
- Demon's Souls
- Red Dead Redemption 2
- The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
- Disco Elysium
- Dishonored
- Mass Effect 2
- Black Geyser: Couriers of Darkness
Black Geyser: Couriers of Darkness
- Genre: RPG
- Release year: 2022
Finally, something for fans of playing bad characters. Black Geyser: Couriers of Darkness is the latest offering on this list, although not necessarily the best – but that's not what this is about. However, the moral system implemented here turns out to be very interesting.
This title takes us to the fantastic land of Isilmerald, ravaged by the plague of greed. This also applies to the character we create, as well as their companions who can join us in the course of the story. Therefore, our decisions and actions – such as demanding extra payments (instead of the standard rate) for the job – affect the rate at which the plague spreads.
Its increasing scale affects the behavior of NPCs – with time, they become more and more paranoid. In addition, the prices of goods offered by traders are rising, as does likelihood that loot we obtained in battles will be robbed. In the most extreme cases, citizens turn into bandits and the dead can rise from their graves to claim their earthly goods. To make it even more interesting, there's a mechanic in the game similar to the one from the first Fallouts – allowing you to add items into pockets of sleeping and/or unaware NPCs. If they come from theft, we can accuse an innocent character of a crime.
PAINFULLY BAD TYRANNY
We also played Tyranny as a bad character. It was an interesting experience because it even was possible to betray all factions and characters, and still complete the story. Nevertheless, there was also a relatively good campaign finale, that didn't require making enemies of everyone around you. So each player could find something for themselves.
NO TELLTALE GAMES?
Probably many of you will notice that there were no games from Telltale studio here, which became famous for their moral choices. Their illusory nature, however, made me find this example a little less interesting (and too obvious) than the ones above. You could also mention the works of David Cage, Divinity: Original Sin series, Undertale or KotOR, or even Gothic. However, we remember the selected games especially because of their moral systems. Let us know what your personal favorites are.
