Truth and Consequences in Dark Souls, Dragon’s Dogma and The Witcher 2

Of all the games mentioned by Forbes in this choices and consequences focused editorial, I’d only really mention The Witcher 2 as notable, but writer Erik Kain is convinced Dark Souls and Dragon’s Dogma deserve a mention too for how they handle the much-discussed element of RPG design. Here’s an excerpt:

The other reason I like The Witcher 2 is that it has real choices with real consequences, and short of loading up a walkthrough online, there’s no clear path. Should you follow Roche or Iorveth? Is a prince accused of poisoning a Joan of Arc character in the game guilty or innocent? Should you let your dislike of the man get in the way of your sense of justice? What will change for the rest of the game if you choose one path or another?

This isn’t clear. The moral and ethical questions are murky. Ambiguity keeps things interesting, and adds replay value.

…

One thing that makes each of these games so interesting is that consequences in each are very real. The course of the story and the available items will shift based on decisions you make, and you may not have a clue whether or not you’re making the right or wrong choice at the time. Dark Souls and Dragon’s Dogma make these choices even more profound by limiting the ability to save your game. If I make a poor choice in The Witcher 2 I can always revert back five save points (or three or twenty) whereas my window to wind back the clock in the other two titles is much narrower.

Consequences in a game makes it more valuable if they’re handled correctly. Having only three lives before losing entirely and being forced to start over from the beginning isn’t particularly gratifying. It’s difficult, no doubt, but also not particularly fair.