Designed by Interplay and released in 1997, Fallout comes to mind as exemplary of this concept. Created more than a decade before Dragon Age saw the light of day, Fallout laid much of the groundwork from which modern RPGs are built. Fallout is richly engrossing and exceedingly deep, and creates a world that the player defines. Simply put, Fallout offers choices. A lot of them.

Set in a post-apocalyptic wasteland--one where survivors sift through cans of expired food just to stay alive--these weakened people have banded together to create society and order once more, but they are threatened. Raiders, intent on violence, roam the wasteland for hapless prey and threaten to upset the resurgence of civilization.

The game highlights this conflict when Tandi, the adolescent daughter of Aradesh, leader of the wasteland town of Shady Sands, is kidnapped by one such group--the Khans.

Helpless and vulnerable, Aradesh needs someone to save Tandi, and the player happens to be there. A decision must be made, and the player can save her or ignore the opportunity completely. The latter would not yield a positive outcome, of course. The player will be expelled from town by Aradesh, and unspeakable things will happen to Tandi, but it is an option, nonetheless. She can be saved out of a sense of justice, or ignored if the player wishes to be more of a mercenary, and use the opportunity to earn a few bottlecaps.
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