Any RPG where your choices matter?

[Dukeblack]

So for the last two weeks i've been replaying the DA series (skipped the second), and one thing I noticed is they give you the illusion of choice(especially DAI lol). Here is an example: https://youtu.be/PKGpExz-Nqk
I know this is a jrpg but they are almost the same lol, the only difference is you get fancy dialogues to end up accepting the quest.

And so I'm looking for a game where your choices impact heavily how the game progress, and your character is not entirely retarded (yes I hate the fact that my 40 cunning guy can't make a simple deduction, and asks and all kind of retarded questions I end up skipping most of the dialogues cause I try to roleplay my character).

I liked Planescape and Disco Elysium (although reading that amount of words without taking makes my head spin) because your skills matters, and the way game can end prematurely (Like taking the silent throne, or having a heart attack haha)

 

[Lawntoilet]

Age of Decadence, of course.
The Swordflight mod for NWN has a lot of class-based and stat-based reactivity.
Witcher 2 has different main quests based on your choices. So does the JRPG Der Langrisser.
Pillars and Deadfire have lots of reactivity to your stats like your "40 Cunning" example. Pathfinder:Kingmaker has a decent amount of the same.
Fallout and Arcanum also react to your stats although in a different way than the D&D-style skill checks, what with the "idiot playthrough," Charisma affecting your party size, and all that.

 

[Thac0]

So for the last two weeks i've been replaying the DA series (skipped the second), and one thing I noticed is they give you the illusion of choice(especially DAI lol). Here is an example: https://youtu.be/PKGpExz-Nqk
I know this is a jrpg but they are almost the same lol, the only difference is you get fancy dialogues to end up accepting the quest.

And so I'm looking for a game where your choices impact heavily how the game progress, and your character is not entirely retarded (yes I hate the fact that my 40 cunning guy can't make a simple deduction, and asks and all kind of retarded questions I end up skipping most of the dialogues cause I try to roleplay my character).

I liked Planescape and Disco Elysium (although reading that amount of words without taking makes my head spin) because your skills matters, and the way game can end prematurely (Like taking the silent throne, or having a heart attack haha)

Generally JRPGs are a bad idea for Choice and Consequence, they prefer their stories linear with fake dialogue.

Arcanum of Steamworks and Magic Obscure was built on the core idea that every choice of the player matters, so that I guess.

I like Tyranny for its choices, there are a lot of different ways the game can go.
New Vegas is pretty good as well. The Kotor games have it but it is very black or white, you dont get many choices.

I like Torment: Tides of Numenera, the spiritual successor to Planescape a lot, but I am the only one on this forum who does so so take that with a grain of salt. Especially the final confrontation of that game has a huge amount of interesting conclusions.

 

[Falksi]

Witcher 2's got the best C&C example's I can think of.

 

[Drowed]

The answers in JRPGs are summarized in two kinds:

- Yes.
- Yes, but in a mean/twisted way.

The only difference you will usually see in these games is the possibility of a "true ending" if you meet a series of arbitrary goals throughout the game. Maybe collect several specific items, or defeat a certain number of additional enemies, etc. By doing this, you release an additional scene at the end of the game. Usually this "real" ending is aimed at players who like to complete 100% of the game, fulfilling every little optional task, and often involves tons of grinding. Surely you won't find many examples of choices and consequences coming from these games, it's not something that is part of their design tradition.

As for the examples, I think the other posters have already cited several. I particularly liked Tyranny's reactivity, too bad that the game ended up being practically cut in half and the writers didn't have the balls to really create a story following the premise of a world where evil has won until the last consequences.

 

[Comte]

Yeah table top rpgs

 

[Lawntoilet]

The answers in JRPGs are summarized in two kinds:

- Yes.
- Yes, but in a mean/twisted way.

The only difference you will usually see in these games is the possibility of a "true ending" if you meet a series of arbitrary goals throughout the game. Maybe collect several specific items, or defeat a certain number of additional enemies, etc. By doing this, you release an additional scene at the end of the game. Usually this "real" ending is aimed at players who like to complete 100% of the game, fulfilling every little optional task, and often involves tons of grinding. Surely you won't find many examples of choices and consequences coming from these games, it's not something that is part of their design tradition.

Generally true. Der Langrisser is the only exception I can think of but it is a major exception - it's more Witcher 2-style with something like 4 or 5 different branching paths, based purely on your choices in the game (ally with the empire or not, accept supernatural aid or not, etc.) and not on "achievements."

 

[new fucking guy]

Age of Decadence, of course.

seriously play this, best c&c ever

 

[overly excitable young man]

Fallout 1,2 and Fallout-Likes (AoD, Atom RPG, Underrail, Arcanum) are meth for c&c fags.
Also Witchers have good c&c per se.

Alpha Protocol i heard but didnt play.

 

[GrafvonMoltke]

Life.

 

[Morpheus Kitami]

Alpha Protocol, the primary events of the game stay the same, but the characters and how they feel about you can become very, very different depending on how you play.

 

[curry]

Alpha Protocol, the primary events of the game stay the same, but the characters and how they feel about you can become very, very different depending on how you play.

That's not how C&C works. And the answer to OP's question is no.

 

[Ol' Willy]

I play Age of Decadence right now, C&C there is insane. Play it now

 

[Drowed]

Life.

This is the proof that when you devote all your time to create a game with the greatest possible reactivity and invest as much as possible in graphics and realism, the gameplay becomes crap and, essentially, the game is shit. Worst game ever, 0/10, get all the doritos.

 

[Incendax]

Witcher 2 stands out to me, since your choices can literally take you down a different plot.

Tyranny is another good one because some of your choices have a similar plot, but others can take you down a completely different path.

 

[HydrakeLogistix]

The answers in JRPGs are summarized in two kinds:

- Yes.
- Yes, but in a mean/twisted way.

The only difference you will usually see in these games is the possibility of a "true ending" if you meet a series of arbitrary goals throughout the game. Maybe collect several specific items, or defeat a certain number of additional enemies, etc. By doing this, you release an additional scene at the end of the game. Usually this "real" ending is aimed at players who like to complete 100% of the game, fulfilling every little optional task, and often involves tons of grinding. Surely you won't find many examples of choices and consequences coming from these games, it's not something that is part of their design tradition.

As for the examples, I think the other posters have already cited several. I particularly liked Tyranny's reactivity, too bad that the game ended up being practically cut in half and the writers didn't have the balls to really create a story following the premise of a world where evil has won until the last consequences.

You are mentioning most Squaresoft/Enix JRPG, which are either for pre-teens or the creators should have just written a Visual Novel(Xenogears) . For example Langrisser 1 & 2 remake has incredibly different branching paths. In Growlanser IV there are 46 endings with 3 or 4 of them being incredibly different. Nearly all MegaTen(esp Devil Survivor) have wildly different endgame and party members depending on your choices. Then on the eroge side there is Sengoku Rance whose reactivity still boggles my mind. I guesx Rance X is similar but i haven't played it. Then there is Soukoku no Arterial which has three routes that play completely different, Witcher 2 style. These examples alone seems to outnumber CRPGs with good C&C

 

[Drowed]

You are mentioning most Squaresoft/Enix JRPG, which are either for pre-teens or the creators should have just written a Visual Novel(Xenogears)

Well, actually, I was talking about Square, Enix, Sega, Level 5, Tri-Ace, Namco, Gust, Banpresto, Compile Heart, Game Arts, Capcom, and essentially most JRPG producers. Yes, some Atlus games are exceptions to this rule (but not all), as well as some other occasional games. But I consider that half a dozen examples in a few hundred games are exceptions and not the rule - that's why I said "you won't find many examples" and not that you won't find any example.

Most eroge games are in a category of their own, because of the focus on the characters you will be able to date and/or have sex. So by definition, most of them tend to offer paths that fork into different stories at various points, with many alternative endings. It's actually interesting that you mentioned visual novels, because many of them actually have choices and consequences, many are famous precisely for their alternative paths and endings. It's practically a standard feature of the genre today, at least when we talk about the latest visual novels.

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

Alter Ego from 1986 probably has more meaningful choice & consequence than any proper CRPG.

 

[Bigg Boss]

Life.

This is the proof that when you devote all your time to create a game with the greatest possible reactivity and invest as much as possible in graphics and realism, the gameplay becomes crap and, essentially, the game is shit. Worst game ever, 0/10, get all the doritos.

Git gud.

 

[deama]

Alpha protocol has pretty good C&C wherein choices from the beginning mission will matter later on.

Tale of Wuxia has a lot of C&C, but it's also pretty hard.

There's an adventure novel where you can play a princess or a skank called "Girl Life"; I recommend downloading the "texture pack".

 

[sullynathan]

yes, very long list

 

[Sigourn]

Life.

There's no replayability to it, can't test out my different builds.

 

[jac8awol]

I love how The Witcher 2 always comes up in these threads. 99.9% of the time those games only ever gave you the illusion of choice, especially in dialogues. And then, in their wisdom, they gave you just one meaningful choice, in the whole game series, but it was big enough and memorable enough so that ever since, people always cite Witcher 2 as a monument of C&C. A masterstroke on the part of CDPR. How fascinated we are with parlour tricks.

 

[NJClaw]

Life.

There's no replayability to it, can't test out my different builds.

Yeah, go tell that to Christian Bale:

Spoiler

 

[Tyranicon]

I love how The Witcher 2 always comes up in these threads. 99.9% of the time those games only ever gave you the illusion of choice, especially in dialogues. And then, in their wisdom, they gave you just one meaningful choice, in the whole game series, but it was big enough and memorable enough so that ever since, people always cite Witcher 2 as a monument of C&C. A masterstroke on the part of CDPR. How fascinated we are with parlour tricks.

I think most people see through it but are impressed that CDPR went through the effort of essentially creating two different games.