The only things that can affect gameplay are when Shepard’s decisions make one of their companions leave or when a squad member’s abilities become locked as a result of their loyalty missions in Mass Effect 2. The only changes will be to the plot and visuals elements. Choosing between Renegade or Paragon options won’t force the player to change Shepard into a melee fighter, nor will it unlock additional mechanics. It doesn’t matter who survives in the end: the Geth, the Quarians, or both. This only changes the sequence of events, i.e. This usually skips a battle, but doesn’t really change the game mechanics. Making the “right” moral decisions often results in missing out on certain parts of the game, such as when the player chooses to spare the enemy or to resolve a conflict diplomatically. Thus, The Witcher contains a storytelling moral choice. The moral choice will not make the player change their gear from the School of the Griffin to the School of the Bear. Geralt will continue to slash enemies in third-person RPG-style combat. Gameplay-wise, the outcome of the Bloody Baron questline in The Witcher 3 doesn’t matter. It serves more as a tool for screenwriting than game design. Storytelling moral choice only influences the plot. The difference between storytelling and gameplay moral choices Based on what game elements they affect, I divide them into two categories: storytelling moral choices and gameplay moral choices. Games where developers rely on moral choice to enhance the overall experience. There is no “Heroic sacrifice” button that saves the squad at the cost of one life, so the choice emerges in the player’s mind, and not in the game mechanics.ĥ. In XCOM, the player might find themselves in a situation where they must sacrifice one soldier to save the rest of the squad. They arise naturally as a result of game mechanics interactions, but they’re not designed as full-fledged mechanics. Still, they don’t offer the player any choices in the matter.Ĥ. These types of games include Hatred and Hotline Miami.Ĭertainly, there are also games with a “gray” morality that depict both good and bad things (e.g. The player does bad things and is aware of it. The game confronts players about the moral aspect of their actions.Īrguably the most controversial mission in the entire series, it makes the player participate in a terrorist attack on a civilian airportĪt the other end of the spectrum are games with an exclusively negative moral code. When there IS a mission where we have to shoot good guys, it’s a striking exception. In Call of Duty, the player kills a lot of people. To make the player feel good about themselves, morality is often one-sided in such titles. Games that have morality but don’t give players a moral choice. But the game is not about morality, so we don’t even think about it. In NFS: Most Wanted, the player races around the city and blows up cops.

Games with no morality - usually abstract and hypercasual titles like Tetris.Ģ. What are the types of morality in video games?ġ. No wonder the phrase “tough mopal choices with consequences” has occupied marketing for so long.įor the purposes of this article, let’s define morality as follows: “Morality is a subjective perception of certain behaviour as ‘good’ or ‘bad’.” Helping people in need is good. It is rare to find a compelling and fun moral choice in real life, while video games allow for safe exploration.

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