Your Save File Knows What You Did
Video games are very good at tempting us into terrible behavior, which is why it’s so telling when we choose not to give in. Sometimes the test is simple—like whether or not to snuff out an entire grove of refugees—and other times, you’re left biting your nails and questioning who you thought you were. Depending on where you landed with these 20 choices, we just want to have a word with you.
1. Sparing the Little Sisters in BioShock
Harvesting a Little Sister gives you more ADAM, so isn’t that just a handy little reason to make an ugly choice? However, saving them means accepting a smaller short-term reward; you don't want to murk children who were already exploited by Rapture. If the moral pat on the back isn’t enough, the game does eventually reward your mercy.
Connor Scott McManus on Pexels
2. Refusing to Blow Up Megaton in Fallout 3
Mr. Burke will happily pay you to detonate the unexploded bomb sitting in the middle of Megaton, and if you agree, you’ll wipe out an entire settlement. That includes characters you've spoken to, traded with, and possibly helped. Disarming it isn't as spectacular, but keeping dozens of innocent people alive should probably outrank getting a nice apartment.
eng1ne from Round Rock, TX, USA on Wikimedia
3. Letting the Rachni Queen Live in Mass Effect
Shepard encounters the last known Rachni queen, but you know, only after hearing how devastating the Rachni Wars were. So, now you have a choice: end her life, which guarantees that a dangerous species can't return, or release her, believing her claim that the new generation can live peacefully. It’s actually pretty easy when you think about it.
Alex from Calgary, Canada on Wikimedia
4. Sparing Everyone You Can in Undertale
Undertale makes violence easy, and completing a True Pacifist run requires a lot more than turning your back on cheeky dialogue. You’ll need to resist the normal RPG instinct to turn every encounter into experience points. If Toriel begs you to reconsider, but you still just collect XP, the game has already learned something about you.
Toby Fox and/or Temmie Chang on Wikimedia
5. Refusing to Kill Paarthurnax in Skyrim
Late in Skyrim, the Blades demand that the Dragonborn kill Paarthurnax because of his atrocities. The problem is that Paarthurnax later rejected Alduin, helped humanity, and spends his current existence trying to get a hold on his violent nature. Choosing to leave the old dragon alone suggests maybe you believe in redemption after all.
6. Giving Clementine Food in The Walking Dead
Well, this is an easy choice if ever we made one. Lee only has four food items for a group containing far more hungry survivors. And there’s Clementine among them. You can debate the rations all day, but leaving Clem hungry feels like failing the easiest part of Lee's new dad role.
7. Talking Kate Marsh Down in Life is Strange
What did we always tell you? Snoop through everything! If you don’t, you’ll likely flub one of the biggest choices in Life is Strange—one you can’t just rewind, either. Saving Kate also depends on how much attention you've paid to her and how carefully you respond while she's in crisis. Consider it more a series of compassionate choices.
8. Leaving the Couple Alone in This War of Mine
We said snoop through everything, not steal from everyone. This War of Mine allows desperate survivors to raid homes for supplies, and some inhabitants are far less capable of defending themselves than others. That means food and medicine are technically up for grabs from this vulnerable elderly couple, and it’s all yours if you have no scruples.
9. Rejecting Child Labor in Frostpunk
We understand that your frozen settlement needs more workers, but surely not enough to condemn children…right? You don’t even need to! The alternative is to keep them in shelters and allow them to assist in safer roles such as medical care. But for some gamers, survival makes every pair of hands valuable, which means you’re up in the mines, Timmy.
Michael & Diane Weidner on Unsplash
10. Showing Mercy in Dishonored
Corvo can solve most of Dishonored's problems by leaving a ton of bodies behind him, but the game also supports a nonlethal approach. Avoiding unnecessary deaths takes patience, but that doesn’t mean it’s without merit. Dunwall is already miserable enough without Corvo personally increasing the corpse count.
11. Refusing to Scold Your Dog in Fable II
Yes, Fable II contains huge decisions about sacrifice, revenge, and the fate of others—but we’re not talking about any of that. We’re talking about the dog. Your canine companion follows you everywhere, finds treasure, and stays unreasonably loyal throughout the game. So, anyone who chooses to scold them is just a monster.
12. Helping Arabella in Baldur's Gate 3
Early in BG3, Arabella is under fire by Kagha and her snake, leaving you to figure out whether you should intervene. Okay, sure, Arabella poached the idol, but letting a kid face lethal punishment over it is hard to defend (unless you’re Durge…or just trying to impress Astarion).
13. Refusing to Sell Connor's Soul in Dragon Age: Origins
The possessed Connor creates a serious crisis, and resolving it can force the Grey Warden into some pretty uncomfortable decisions. Depending on your choices, however, it's possible to seek aid from the Circle and attempt to save both Connor and his mother, Isolde, rather than immediately accepting a fatal solution. We’ll just let that possibility dangle.
14. Choosing Not to Be a Monster in Papers, Please
Papers, Please repeatedly puts you between rules and desperate people hoping to cross the border into Arstotzka. But compassion isn’t as easy as a smile in tough times. Helping someone with phony documents can cost you money, meaning kindness can, in fact, carry an immediate personal penalty. There's no comfortable universal answer, but there is an objectively bad way to go about it the longer you play.
Global Residence Index on Unsplash
15. Playing High-Honor Arthur in Red Dead Redemption 2
Sorry, everyone—our Arthur picks flowers, pets ponies, and hugs soldiers. He also returns lost property, helps strangers, sparing Jimmy Brooks, and refuses pointless cruelty. We get being more of a bad guy in the beginning, and admittedly, it’s not always easy to make the right choice, but by the final chapters, being kind is the only way to go in a redemption story.
16. Refusing to Drain the Grove in Baldur's Gate 3
Yes, we’re back on BG3, especially because you’re given a huge choice to make right out of the gate. You can either embrace an evil route and help Minthara's forces attack the grove, or you can murk the goblins instead. We’ll be honest: the evil option contains unique content, but alternate cutscenes are hardly a reason to wipe out all the tieflings.
17. Saving the Civilians in inFAMOUS
Cole constantly faces karmic decisions in inFAMOUS, and the game isn't shy about separating heroic behavior from selfish destruction. Players pursuing good karma heal injured civilians and repeatedly use Cole's powers to help a city that doesn't always appreciate him. It’s not easy, but turning down the chance to launch pedestrians across Empire City is a start.
18. Freeing the Captives in The Witcher 3
Geralt can’t walk down the street without meeting prisoners, abused villagers, or other people whose problems have nothing to do with him. Either way, stopping bad guys to free captives means taking on another fight for the innocent—ones who can't even offer anything substantial. We know a witcher works for coin, but there's little profit in doing the right thing.
19. Not Bullying Random NPCs Just Because You Can
Open-world games are filled with NPCs…and some are super annoying or have an inexplicably punchable face. That doesn’t mean you hurt them, though! You technically can antagonize every passerby in RDR2, terrorize towns in Skyrim, or cause completely unnecessary chaos in BG3—the trick is to resist.
20. Petting the Dog Whenever You Can
We don’t care what you’re playing. You pet the dog. Even unexpected titles like Hades, The Last of Us Part II, and Ghost of Tsushima let you stop important business to show affection to animals. No achievement is necessary, and no loot needs to drop, either; you have time to give scratchies.
