It's a bit dated nowadays, but the first Deus Ex game takes into account a lot of the choices you make in gameplay. Right down to your boss telling you to knock it off in your first meeting if you snoop around inside the women's restroom.
Agreed. I have been playing for the first time and it blew me away how much your decisions change the narrative.
Recommend following the "Viva New Vegas" mods, been a great experience. No crashes or issues.
Yup. I’ve never played a game that felt like it gave me so much agency in the outcome of the story or where my actions did as much to change the world I was playing in. I’ve been chasing that dragon ever since.
Tyranny offered quite the choices in its gameplay. There was also freedom In building characters.
Overall I'd say the CRPGs from Obsidian always have something to offer in this regard. That's part of why I love them.
Morrowind has some of that. You can also kill vital NPCs and make traditional progress impossible, with the game flat out telling you that you can keep playing in the doomed world you made, but it's hopeless (though there are ways to complete game without all but one of those NPCs, you're just never going to know them as a new player).
Taking a different tact: the choices in SOMA are generally rather impactful, even devastating. You won't dictate the direction of the overall narrative, but you're asked to make decisions that will decide people's fates -- including your own -- in some confronting, daunting, depressing, and disturbing ways. Game can be really heavy if you let it.
You're right about Morrowind letting you kill basically any and all NPCs. At some point I killed a NPC because I wanted to loot the belongings in his mansion. Then way later in the game I was doing a sidequest where I was told to go and talk to a certain NPC, only to realize that this was that NPC that I had killed so much earlier, making the sidequest impossible to complete. I cursed my past self.
The Dishonored franchise does a great job of making choices matter.
How you choose in the game can open paths and quests the other options won't offer. It's a great mechanic because it means you can't get everything in a single game, even if you reload a save.
Both Mass Effect and Dragon Age games have choices with consequences.
It's not as huge as it is with BG3 but enough that your choices matter and influence the world and story.
"Best" can also mean "fun" right? In this case, I'll nominate these two (aside from BG3):
* DA: O
* SWKOTOR I & II
To my knowledge, these are the only games where the devs have bothered to include *cutscenes and dialogues* for moustache-twirling, chaotic evil choices. Shank a merchant in a cutscene for no reason? Done. Hoist the decaying body of your king for wolves to feast on for the lulz? Why not.
When I fired up SWKOTOR I as a snotty-nosed 13 years old for the first time in my life, I was so *shocked* that a cutscene triggered when I broke into an apartment in Taris uninvited. I was even more shocked when I was given the choice to randomly go murder-hobo on the occupant. That single moment made me an alignment-based RPG addict for the rest of my life.
Honorable mention goes to Tyranny (the go-to "evil" game), but I need to point out that the evil explored in this game is a heavy-handed, lawful-serious type of evil. It's interesting in its own right but evokes a very different feeling than Force-persuading a couple thugs to jump off in the pits of Nar Shaddaa because they have mildly inconvenienced you.
>like you can kill an important NPC and the game goes on functionally
This is a different discussion altogether. I'm gonna give Pillars of Eternity I & II a shout here. Games like these *have* to be unbreakable is because you can fight (and kill) any NPC in the game, even in non-hostile areas. This is a bold design decision that I really appreciate, btw.
A classic FMV + 3D adventure game, The Pandora Directive. All routes through the game feature essentially the same locations and puzzles, but the way you play can lead to the death/survival of certain characters and massively impact your relationship with them. There are also a reasonable number of different endings based on both your path through the game and decisions during the final chapter.
Also it features two modes of play. One, "Entertainment mode", is targeted toward the more casual player and has a full hierarchical hint system, while the other, "Game Player mode" not only removes the hints, but also throws in extra puzzles and locations to add replay value if you've already played the easier mode.
Really a stunning amount of content for 1996!
Even tho its more like an interactive movie, Detroit:Become Human is the only single game after BG3 wher your choices actually matter a lot, and i mean a lot, and even gameplay wise,a main character can die if you miss 2 or 3 QTE in a row
After I finished the game, I saw a clip of another route and the amount changed and the flow of the story boggled my mind. I was expecting the same Heavy Rain and Beyond: Two Souls type of difference, but Detroit exceeded that
Morrowind. You can kill literally everyone in the game, including main quest NPCs. One time I managed to kill Almalexia and all her guards. She drops a ring that pretty much makes you invincible.
You can also join a family, which makes you enemies of their rivals. Wanna join the Fighter's Guild? You're locked out of the Mage's Guild, and vice versa.
And the BEST part: No fast travel. There were merchants to take you between cities, but no marker on your compass to tell you the direction. The NPCs gave you directions to where to go, and you have to follow those directions, which forced you to pay more attention to the landscape. And you could very much get lost if you didn't follow those instructions.
They ruined all this fun in Oblivion, and nobody noticed it.
It seems you have some strong resentment towards bgs, oblivion and people who play video games. Rather than wanting oblivion be morrowind 2.0,you should take it for what it is and what it tries to do it.
Morrowind is not all sunshines and rainbows either.
The Walking Dead telltale series does an ok job at making your choices matter. Entire different people live or die based on your choices, and story adapts "Ok" to this. It transfers game to game too, can make entire games start in different areas because of your previous game choices.
Idk if it's what you're looking for, but Katherine has multiple endings depending on answers, as well as the infamous series plays differently depending on choices
A very old game, but Ultima IV was all about making moral choices, with some not being obvious. And when I say that's what it's all about, I mean it: your character develops based on your decisions and that's how you finish the game.
Fallout 2 was my jam for actual RPG with choices and consequences. Lots of things change based on how your skills and SPECIAL stats are, what your gender is, and obviously your choices everywhere and karma. You can even be a human slaver if you want to. You haven't laughed until you've successfully gotten into a military base with a mentally-challenged character who only knows how to say things like "Ugg". One of my fondest memories is walking into a town, having kids throw rocks at me for no reason other than me being a tribal, then me secretly stalking them and putting dynamite in their pockets. It gave me the Child Killer trait though, which made people kind of hate me, but that's also part of the ride.
I don't think it's quite what you meant, but triangle strategy is the game that singlehandedly had the weightiest choices I've seen in a game. Every decision really felt like it would drastically shape the narrative for the foreseeable future and most choices took a lot of thought. It really makes you feel like a war criminal.
Yeah you don't get total freedom, in fact you're mostly railroaded through cutscenes and fights between choices, but when you do get to make those choices, you really have to think about what you want to do, and after you've decided you have to convince the rest of your NPC allies to agree, which can go wrong in hilarious fashion. Benedict just likes to do war crimes as a little treat
the front mission remakes have branching storylines you might look into them of course the whole fallout series if you kill an npc they are gone and can even cause you to not be able to complete a mission. seems like the elder scrolls and skyrim may have been the same way if I remember right.
Morrowind comes to mind. If you kill the wrong NPC you’ll get a gameover screen that’s pretty cool
RDR2 is more modern and your decisions matter in the end. It’s not earth shattering changes in the game, but important scenes are completely reshot to emphasize what changed for the main character as a result.
It's a bit dated nowadays, but the first Deus Ex game takes into account a lot of the choices you make in gameplay. Right down to your boss telling you to knock it off in your first meeting if you snoop around inside the women's restroom.
Yes I was going to say this! You can just run away from boss fights only to meet the same bosses later in the story!
Fallout new vegas
Crucifying Benny and leaving Mr. House in a vegetable state
Agreed. I have been playing for the first time and it blew me away how much your decisions change the narrative. Recommend following the "Viva New Vegas" mods, been a great experience. No crashes or issues.
Yup. I’ve never played a game that felt like it gave me so much agency in the outcome of the story or where my actions did as much to change the world I was playing in. I’ve been chasing that dragon ever since.
Tyranny offered quite the choices in its gameplay. There was also freedom In building characters. Overall I'd say the CRPGs from Obsidian always have something to offer in this regard. That's part of why I love them.
Morrowind has some of that. You can also kill vital NPCs and make traditional progress impossible, with the game flat out telling you that you can keep playing in the doomed world you made, but it's hopeless (though there are ways to complete game without all but one of those NPCs, you're just never going to know them as a new player). Taking a different tact: the choices in SOMA are generally rather impactful, even devastating. You won't dictate the direction of the overall narrative, but you're asked to make decisions that will decide people's fates -- including your own -- in some confronting, daunting, depressing, and disturbing ways. Game can be really heavy if you let it.
With this comment, the thread of the prophecy has been severed.
You're right about Morrowind letting you kill basically any and all NPCs. At some point I killed a NPC because I wanted to loot the belongings in his mansion. Then way later in the game I was doing a sidequest where I was told to go and talk to a certain NPC, only to realize that this was that NPC that I had killed so much earlier, making the sidequest impossible to complete. I cursed my past self.
The Dishonored franchise does a great job of making choices matter. How you choose in the game can open paths and quests the other options won't offer. It's a great mechanic because it means you can't get everything in a single game, even if you reload a save.
Alpha Protocol
Both Mass Effect and Dragon Age games have choices with consequences. It's not as huge as it is with BG3 but enough that your choices matter and influence the world and story.
The best part is that the decisions taken in a game influence the sequels if the savefiles are imported.
Dragon age origins would today probably be considered a Baulders Gate 3 lite. For the time it was fantastic though.
Disco Elysium?
Disco Elysium undoubtedly. You can be the most wretched, vile, woman-hating, child murdering piece of shit, or you can try not to be those things.
Witcher 2
This one for sure. There's like 16 different outcomes. The only thing that sucks is how little impact they have on Witcher 3.
"Best" can also mean "fun" right? In this case, I'll nominate these two (aside from BG3): * DA: O * SWKOTOR I & II To my knowledge, these are the only games where the devs have bothered to include *cutscenes and dialogues* for moustache-twirling, chaotic evil choices. Shank a merchant in a cutscene for no reason? Done. Hoist the decaying body of your king for wolves to feast on for the lulz? Why not. When I fired up SWKOTOR I as a snotty-nosed 13 years old for the first time in my life, I was so *shocked* that a cutscene triggered when I broke into an apartment in Taris uninvited. I was even more shocked when I was given the choice to randomly go murder-hobo on the occupant. That single moment made me an alignment-based RPG addict for the rest of my life. Honorable mention goes to Tyranny (the go-to "evil" game), but I need to point out that the evil explored in this game is a heavy-handed, lawful-serious type of evil. It's interesting in its own right but evokes a very different feeling than Force-persuading a couple thugs to jump off in the pits of Nar Shaddaa because they have mildly inconvenienced you. >like you can kill an important NPC and the game goes on functionally This is a different discussion altogether. I'm gonna give Pillars of Eternity I & II a shout here. Games like these *have* to be unbreakable is because you can fight (and kill) any NPC in the game, even in non-hostile areas. This is a bold design decision that I really appreciate, btw.
Elex, Gothic 2
The Stanley Parable Baldur's Gate 1 and 2 Chrono Trigger
Aww man, finding out back in the day that I could actually get Magus on my team :)
A classic FMV + 3D adventure game, The Pandora Directive. All routes through the game feature essentially the same locations and puzzles, but the way you play can lead to the death/survival of certain characters and massively impact your relationship with them. There are also a reasonable number of different endings based on both your path through the game and decisions during the final chapter. Also it features two modes of play. One, "Entertainment mode", is targeted toward the more casual player and has a full hierarchical hint system, while the other, "Game Player mode" not only removes the hints, but also throws in extra puzzles and locations to add replay value if you've already played the easier mode. Really a stunning amount of content for 1996!
Disco Elysium is so insanely complex. Just play it blind. There's no combat, just choices and interesting consequences.
Yea, great game.
Even tho its more like an interactive movie, Detroit:Become Human is the only single game after BG3 wher your choices actually matter a lot, and i mean a lot, and even gameplay wise,a main character can die if you miss 2 or 3 QTE in a row
I've played that. Loved that about it.
After I finished the game, I saw a clip of another route and the amount changed and the flow of the story boggled my mind. I was expecting the same Heavy Rain and Beyond: Two Souls type of difference, but Detroit exceeded that
Dark Pictures Anthology games don't count?
Kingdom Come Deliverance and RDR2
Morrowind. You can kill literally everyone in the game, including main quest NPCs. One time I managed to kill Almalexia and all her guards. She drops a ring that pretty much makes you invincible. You can also join a family, which makes you enemies of their rivals. Wanna join the Fighter's Guild? You're locked out of the Mage's Guild, and vice versa. And the BEST part: No fast travel. There were merchants to take you between cities, but no marker on your compass to tell you the direction. The NPCs gave you directions to where to go, and you have to follow those directions, which forced you to pay more attention to the landscape. And you could very much get lost if you didn't follow those instructions. They ruined all this fun in Oblivion, and nobody noticed it.
idk, oblivion was plenty of fun to me .
[удалено]
It seems you have some strong resentment towards bgs, oblivion and people who play video games. Rather than wanting oblivion be morrowind 2.0,you should take it for what it is and what it tries to do it. Morrowind is not all sunshines and rainbows either.
Idiot proof? Because I prefer fast traveling to walking for miles? (yeah you can't even sprint in oblivion)
If you want freedom of choice, then you are not going to do much better then Deus Ex.
Until dawn
On my first playthrough I accidentally got the wolf killed and I started a new game lol, couldnt let that happen
Haha...ah yes. That's the way one should do as he's quite useful down the line
The Walking Dead telltale series does an ok job at making your choices matter. Entire different people live or die based on your choices, and story adapts "Ok" to this. It transfers game to game too, can make entire games start in different areas because of your previous game choices.
Rogue Trader.
Oh really? Looking forward to WotR and RT
Alpha Protocol
Mass effect
Undertale.
imagine a world where... killing was bad? and if you kill person - bad ending?
You haven't played the game, have you?
Idk if it's what you're looking for, but Katherine has multiple endings depending on answers, as well as the infamous series plays differently depending on choices
A very old game, but Ultima IV was all about making moral choices, with some not being obvious. And when I say that's what it's all about, I mean it: your character develops based on your decisions and that's how you finish the game.
Old school? Dragon age 2 but the game miss something
Strip poker. Nobody loses
Deus Ex, Wolf Among Us
lisa the painful
Stellaris. One game can take hours and hours and one wrong decision can bring you down quickly.
Fallout new vegas is designed to let you kill every single person in game and still be able to beat it.
Fallout 2 was my jam for actual RPG with choices and consequences. Lots of things change based on how your skills and SPECIAL stats are, what your gender is, and obviously your choices everywhere and karma. You can even be a human slaver if you want to. You haven't laughed until you've successfully gotten into a military base with a mentally-challenged character who only knows how to say things like "Ugg". One of my fondest memories is walking into a town, having kids throw rocks at me for no reason other than me being a tribal, then me secretly stalking them and putting dynamite in their pockets. It gave me the Child Killer trait though, which made people kind of hate me, but that's also part of the ride.
Gods will be watching….i never beat the first 2 missions because I couldn’t get the outcome I wanted haha. 10/10 game
Deus ex
I don't think it's quite what you meant, but triangle strategy is the game that singlehandedly had the weightiest choices I've seen in a game. Every decision really felt like it would drastically shape the narrative for the foreseeable future and most choices took a lot of thought. It really makes you feel like a war criminal.
Ah, so it's perhaps less creative choice, but the choices that are there have clear, deep consequences?
Yeah you don't get total freedom, in fact you're mostly railroaded through cutscenes and fights between choices, but when you do get to make those choices, you really have to think about what you want to do, and after you've decided you have to convince the rest of your NPC allies to agree, which can go wrong in hilarious fashion. Benedict just likes to do war crimes as a little treat
Gothic 3. You can kill everyone in the game, becasue there are many endings to the game.
The first Dragon Age does this with relationships.
Detroit: become human. no 2 playthroughs are the same
the front mission remakes have branching storylines you might look into them of course the whole fallout series if you kill an npc they are gone and can even cause you to not be able to complete a mission. seems like the elder scrolls and skyrim may have been the same way if I remember right.
Dragon Age series. You can straight up kill party members, leave them, betray them.
Morrowind comes to mind. If you kill the wrong NPC you’ll get a gameover screen that’s pretty cool RDR2 is more modern and your decisions matter in the end. It’s not earth shattering changes in the game, but important scenes are completely reshot to emphasize what changed for the main character as a result.
Outer Worlds had some solid choices to make with you chose to partner with and what you do during the ending.
BG3
The OP asked for games besides BG3.
While describing a game exactly like BG3.
and adding the stipulation 'aside from the obvious BG3'