I remember in Mass Effect how you could choose to either be good or be an asshole but still good.
this post was submitted on 11 Oct 2026
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I can’t even emotionally stomach a Joja mart play through.
I'm a goody two shoes in these kinds of settings EXCEPT that I do wanna steal literally anything that isnt nailed down.
And I wanna steal stuff thats nailed down too, there just isnt a gameplay mechanic for it
Basically how I play Kingdom Come Deliverance. Generally a good guy (except to certain butchers), but I am going to rob you mercilessly.
Good because the mechanics tend to favor it e.g. Tenpenny Tower isn't as convenient a location for a home as Megaton is.
big fan of games where a lot of options are kinda shitty for this reason. It's a lot more fun where instead of your options being "goody two shoes" or "literal Hitler," it's more like "do you support the dying monarchy because it is currently providing safety to its citizens against the forces of Chaos, or do you support the tribes that live very closely with Chaos and sometimes manage to have control of it but it can still go wild and cause great catastrophe?"
Unfortunately, it takes great writing skill to be able to have multiple factions that are understandably antagonistic towards each other without becoming simplistic caricatures. It also doesn't really move copies if your game is well-written. The wider audience only cares about simple gameplay and pretty graphics.
You're not wrong. But I find fallout 4 easier to plan because of this. There's not enough grey area in 4. Like I usually play a good person with a grey area in New Vegas, but in FO4 that's a lot harder. So it's easier to be straight good or straight evil. They still try to make that hard but with such few options you really have to try hard to remain in the grey area. That's one of the few areas I like about FO4 is that you really only get two options, be evil or be a saint.
I liked Kotor's ability to make all the good choices but pick enough pockets to still do a dark side run.
Ehh, I still felt that was too light/dark. Like FONV you could solidly be a grey area person. Kotor gave you options but you either went left or right. It was more about needs. FO4 was very clear on your options. You could sell a child and be evil because by the time you made it to that point, you didn't need the caps. You could then kill the people you sold the child to, and then get a reward from the parents from returning said child. And the funniest part was that by then, it was a simple choice because you really don't gain anything by maxing caps.
I saved the Queen in Mass Effect 1, before Mass Effect 2 even came out. 😢
I tried playing ME as evil, I just couldn't do it, it wasn't fun, it wasn't interesting.
I did miss out on some of the best cut scenes though.
I played through twice, once as a paragon, once as a renegade. Paragon just felt natural, Renegade felt like I was constantly having to take half measures to prevent the worst possible outcome. Definitely not as fun.
Call me a sociopath but I played renegade every time and from what I remember it mostly doesn't change outcomes just the way you talk/act, mostly
Now knights of the old republic? THAT game you could actually be evil
In my first playthrough, I didn't even know about that game mechanic and was all over the map for the first few, but it occurred to me fairly soon afterward that very few game publishers, if any, would sign off on most blatantly evil/psychopathic options for a protagonist. I mean, I'm sure someone pitched a SW storyline that comes close to Ani's schoolhouse slaughter fest, and yet? Nada.
Not that I prefer that as an option, just that it certainly made the "Renegade" path seem less likely as diverse in its scope, in comparison.
Though, IIRC, some of the Paragon choices did feel too ruby-lensed and blithe (what's the opposite of edgelord?), but maybe that's just me.
Same I don't think I ever managed to play full renegade though I'm pretty sure it's required to take the renegade option and deck the jerk reporter regardless of which side you choose.
Ender's Game spoiler?
Frankly, the third act of the book (we don't recognize the "movie" —other than the 0g scenes) was the pinnacle bit of plot for me. And, I completely understand why the changes were made for a wider audience (profit=SoP), considering the original's commentary on the mil-ind grooming baked into the system. It's still shite, though.😬
I just warp things into nonsense and send adventurers on quests.
More often than not I'm good in video GE's because it's clear that's what they want you to do and what they intend the story to be.
I think the only game I've ever managed to play evil has been Rim World.
The children yearn for the deep drills (because they have been genetically modified to do do)
Baby shoes, human leather.