- 7 months ago
Hope you brought a coin to flip—these choices hurt. Join us as we revisit gaming’s toughest moral dilemmas and gut‑punch endings that forced us to question who we are as players.
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00:00Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're looking at tough choices in video games that made us all agonize over our decisions.
00:14Fair warning, there will be some major spoilers ahead.
00:17There's a lot of tough choices to make in Until Dawn.
00:42One of the hardest, and most memorable, comes right at the start.
00:46After her friends play a mean prank on her, Hannah runs into the nearby woods, prompting her twin sister Beth to chase after her.
00:52While being stalked in the shadows by a mysterious figure, the two fall down a cliffside.
00:56Beth barely hangs on with one hand and holds Hannah up with the other.
00:59You're then given the choice, drop Hannah or fall with her.
01:03No matter what you do, both twins are destined to fall.
01:06But placing this pressure on us so early made for an unforgettable opening.
01:11Number 29. Jean Grey or Nightcrawler?
01:17Marvel Ultimate Alliance.
01:21Nine, do not open this door. It will cause Jean's cage to fall.
01:25They're two of the most iconic heroes in X-Men history, each bringing vastly different skills and abilities to the team.
01:31Why would anyone want to choose between them?
01:33Well, you have to do just that in the first Ultimate Alliance.
01:36Both characters are kidnapped by Mephisto, and once you find them, you're forced to choose who lives and who dies.
01:41Whichever one dies is brought back to fight you, but ultimately sacrifices themselves so you can win.
01:47This also has an impact on the ending.
01:49If you save Jean Grey, it leads to the death of Professor X and the disbanding of the X-Men.
01:54If you save Nightcrawler, Jean returns, consumed by the Phoenix Force and seeking vengeance.
01:59To take vengeance upon those who did not save her.
02:04Number 28. The Golden Butterfly Case. L.A. Noire.
02:08L.A. Noire.
02:09You're down on your luck, Eli.
02:10I had worse. My family ate roadkill during the Dust Bowl.
02:16Many elements and questlines in L.A. Noire fall into a morally grey area, which is to be expected.
02:21One of the best examples is the Golden Butterfly Case.
02:24It sees you investigating the murder of a housewife, and your work leads you to two suspects.
02:29The one the evidence points toward is Hugo Muller, the deceased's abusive husband.
02:33The other is child predator Eli Rooney, whom your superiors desperately want behind bars.
02:44So, do you go with the facts and arrest Muller for the crime, or do you please the department
02:49and save future children in the process by going with Rooney even if he didn't do it?
02:54It's a hard call to make, soured further by the fact that you later find out neither man was guilty.
02:59Is it really possible you could have found me after all this time? How interesting.
03:05Number 27. The Shuttle. Prey.
03:15In Prey, one of the alien types is the Mimic, able to change its form.
03:18At a certain point, you learn about an escape shuttle full of humans.
03:21If any of the aliens were to reach Earth, that would mean disaster.
03:24You have no way of knowing if a Mimic is inside the shuttle because the security scan wasn't looking for them.
03:29While the shuttle left before alarms went off from the attack, that doesn't necessarily mean no Mimics made it on board.
03:35You can let the five people inside reach safety.
03:38Or, you can blow up the shuttle knowing for certain you let no aliens reach the planet.
03:43Your decision has no larger outcome, but still puts you in an agonizing predicament.
03:47Number 26. Hawk or the Warden. Dragon Age Inquisition.
03:57One of the most famous moments from Inquisition sees you and your allies forced to enter the Fade, an alternate realm full of spirits and demons.
04:04As you reach the end of this section, it becomes clear that someone must stay behind to secure your exit and will most likely die doing so.
04:11A Warden must help them rebuild. That's your job. Corypheus is mine.
04:21Your choices are Hawk, the protagonist of Dragon Age 2, and the Warden, the role of which is filled by decisions carried over from the first game, Origins.
04:29They can either be Alistair, Logan or Stroud. If it's between Hawk and Alistair or Logan, you'll have a tough time since they're all likeable and have played big roles in the overarching story across the entries.
04:49Number 25. The Conduits. Infamous 2.
04:52Throughout Infamous 2, players must grow stronger in order to face the Beast, a powerful and intimidating Conduit.
04:58It's made clear the Beast is a pretty huge threat, definitely in need of being stopped.
05:02But at the end, when you finally face him, you're also faced with a difficult choice.
05:07It's okay.
05:09It's okay. You made the right choice.
05:13It seems easy at first. Side with him or fight him.
05:17But if you choose to fight, Cole sacrifices himself to save the world and gets every Conduit on the planet killed, even those who didn't know they were Conduits.
05:25Siding with him means Cole becomes the new Beast and you wind up killing all of your friends.
05:29It's a downer ending either way.
05:31John transferred his powers into me and then...
05:35He just let go.
05:38The blast was devastating.
05:41But worth it.
05:43Number 24. Wyatt or Fergus. The New Order.
05:47The opening section of The New Order shows how the Nazis win World War II within an alternate timeline.
05:53It also shows protagonist B.J. Blazkowicz suffer a crushing defeat.
05:57You? I've seen you before.
06:01Oh, I like you. Such a resilient space.
06:06He and his allies are captured by a mad scientist, Death's Head, who gives him the option between two of his friends, Wyatt and Fergus.
06:12Whoever you choose to save, that character becomes a major companion throughout the rest of the game and its sequel.
06:17Certain scenes will feel entirely different depending on this choice.
06:21Not only that, but you later learn that whoever you didn't save had their brain preserved and placed inside a machine that serves as your final boss.
06:29You then have to mercy kill them, putting an end to their sad existence.
06:33Number 23. Shadowheart's Parents. Baldur's Gate 3.
06:43We cannot allow your future to be her last prize. Not after all your mother and I have endured to see you again.
06:51Your decisions and their outcomes play a big part in Baldur's Gate 3 and some are much harder to make than others.
06:57On a personal level, the one concerning Shadowheart's parents racks you with guilt.
07:01Essentially, you can save them from Shar, the evil deity who also stole Shadowheart's memories, and reunite them with their daughter.
07:13Unfortunately, if you do, the curse placed on Shadowheart never goes away and she spends each night tormented by pain for the rest of her life, which as a half-elf is quite a long time.
07:23The alternative? You kill them, which they actually ask for so as to help their daughter.
07:29And they become moon motes, guiding spirits of sorts. Still, either way, Shadowheart suffers.
07:36I remember. But they can't comfort me. They can't give me advice. They can't tell me what I was like as a little girl.
07:52Number 22. Lord Shimura's fate. Ghost of Tsushima.
07:56With his home free from Mongol control, Jin Sakai has one final obstacle to overcome at the end of Ghost of Tsushima.
08:02Despite his actions being successful, they're deemed dishonorable by the Shogun and a risk to the established servitude on the island.
08:08And Jin's uncle, Lord Shimura, is commanded to take his life.
08:11This leads to an emotional final boss fight, at the end of which you have the option to take your uncle's life, giving him the honorable death he desires, or spare him the final straw in Jin rejecting the samurai way of life.
08:30Does Jin give into his attachment for his one living family member? Or give him the warrior's death he requests?
08:37I have no honor. But I will not kill my family.
08:46Number 21. Save or Destroy the Canvas.
08:50Claire Obscure Expedition 33.
08:52An extra spoiler warning before we get into this one.
08:55You eventually learn that Claire Obscure is set inside a painting, created, maintained, and impacted by a grieving family.
09:01Towards the end, you're given a choice to side with Maelle, who feels responsible for her brother's death and the painting version of her brother, Verso, stuck in an immortal existence he didn't ask for.
09:11Siding with Verso is arguably the healthier of the options.
09:20Maelle risks her life staying inside the painting for too long, and destroying it could help her mourn with her family in the real world.
09:26However, destroying it also means losing everything and everyone you've been fighting for, some deeply written, lovable characters, which makes Siding with Maelle awfully tempting.
09:36Number 20. Your Starter Pokemon. Pokemon Red and Blue.
09:55It's an age-old question. Who do you pick as your starting Pokemon?
09:59This debate has been raging for ages, mostly because it boils down to personal preference.
10:04Do you go the fire route and choose adorable little Charmander?
10:07Do you douse fire with water and pick Squirtle?
10:10Or, do you go with grass and choose Bulbasaur?
10:12Who you pick depends largely on how you want to play the game.
10:15Well, that and how cute you find the respective Pokemon to be.
10:19This choice defined who you were as a child, and led to many an argument.
10:23Number 19. Mira's Fate. Game of Thrones.
10:32A whole fast in the North can only help my ambitions.
10:36This being Telltale, and this being a video game based on the Game of Thrones world,
10:40it was quite obvious that there were going to be some hard decisions to make.
10:44One of the playable characters is Mira Forrester, who is taken to King's Landing while serving as the handmaiden to Margaery Tyrell.
10:50At the end of the game, you are left with a horrifying choice.
10:53Marry Lord Morgren and sacrifice Tom, or face execution.
10:56So, you either marry the man you despise, who threatened your life and who took away your power,
11:01not to mention sacrificing Tom, or you die. Yay.
11:05No one said Game of Thrones was chipper.
11:14Number 18. Edgewater or Botanical Lab. The Outer Worlds.
11:19Go down to the geothermal plant. Reroute power from the botanical district over to us.
11:24Once their power is shut down, you can have their regulator and be along on your way.
11:29The toughest choice in the Outer Worlds comes at the very beginning, when you are forced to side with Edgewater or the Botanical Lab.
11:35Edgewater is a total hellhole that is run entirely by a megacorporation, is plagued with deserters and literal plague,
11:42and is filled with slaves who live in appalling conditions.
11:44The Botanical Lab is run by Edgewater deserters, who are able to grow their own food by stealing dead bodies from a graveyard to use as fertilizer.
11:52Your ship needs power, and in order to get it, you need to steal power from either the entire town of Edgewater,
11:59or the deserters in the Botanical Lab.
12:01This choice largely depends on your morals.
12:04Do you sympathize with those under oppression, or the ones living independently under nefarious means?
12:09Maybe one day, Edgewater will have a garden where that cannery once stood.
12:13You ain't exactly a stranger anymore.
12:15Number 17. Batman or Alfred. The Telltale Series.
12:21Then again, this won't be the first time I've found my courage in a single malt.
12:25Courage for what?
12:29Saying goodbye.
12:33I'm leaving, Bruce.
12:35Once again, we have another Telltale game, and once again, we have a really tough decision.
12:40At the end of Season 2, Alfred suffers a crisis of faith and decides to leave Batman's employ,
12:45fearing that their vigilantism is only making things worse.
12:48Then, you have the choice to let Alfred go or give up being Batman.
12:52If you let Alfred go, he regrettably bids you farewell and returns to the United Kingdom.
12:56If you decide to give up being Batman, you... well, you give up being Batman.
13:01You're choosing between companionship and justice, and it's not an easy choice to make.
13:06I will always be Batman. And that will never change. I know.
13:12Number 16. Yennefer or Triss. The Witcher 3. Wild Hunt.
13:17Consider it a token of our trust. Now let's begin. And Geralt, behave, please.
13:24Witcher fans will forever remain split on Yennefer and Triss.
13:28Yennefer of Wengerberg has romantic ties to Geralt and is a mother figure to Ciri.
13:32Triss Marigold, or Marigold the Fearless, is a close friend of Geralt and helped Ciri at Kaer Morhen.
13:37Do you like Yennefer's strong, and sometimes belligerent, independence and ice cold personality?
13:42Or do you prefer Triss' sweeter disposition and more traditional heroic tendencies?
13:46What do you think about Triss taking advantage of Geralt's amnesia?
13:50Is Yennefer heartless and cold, or just a powerful mama bear?
13:53These are just some of the questions you'll have to grapple with throughout The Witcher 3,
13:57and no, you can't choose both.
13:59Ah, well, well. Ladies did quite a number on you.
14:06Number 15. The Drug Dealer. Heavy Rain.
14:10Hey! Take it easy, man. Keep cool.
14:16Quantic Dream and David Cage are well-known for their story-driven and choice-based video games,
14:20and Heavy Rain is arguably the greatest of them all.
14:23In the game's shark trial, Ethan is commanded to kill drug dealer Brad Silver in order to save his own son.
14:29However, Brad shows Ethan a picture of his two daughters, Sarah and Cindy,
14:33in a last-ditch attempt to play on Ethan's sympathy.
14:36I got children. He's my girl, see? This one, Sarah?
14:42How it works is entirely up to you.
14:45You can either spare Brad and lose out on a clue on your son's location,
14:48or murder Brad, deprive his daughters of a father, and score a clue.
14:52It's a philosophical conundrum for the ages, and a brilliant thought experiment in desperation.
14:57I'm a father, too. But I have no choice.
15:01Number 14. Kaden or Ashley? Mass Effect.
15:07There's too many! I don't think we can hold them! I'm activating the nuke!
15:11The Mass Effect series is widely known for containing some tough and emotional choices,
15:16and the first Mass Effect game contained a doozy.
15:18With the bomb about to explode, you have the choice of saving either Kaden Elenko or Ashley Williams.
15:23Choosing Ashley makes for a better story and more satisfying character development,
15:27but choosing Kaden is a good idea if you lack in tech and biotics.
15:31It's kind of a weak choice in retrospect, at least compared to some of the later choices you'll have to make throughout the series,
15:37but this was really tough at the time.
15:39How could we just leave him down there?
15:41Elenko knew the risks going in. He gave his life to save the rest of us.
15:46Number 13. The Factions. Fallout 4.
15:49I've lived my life within these walls. Dedicated to science like every other member of the Institute.
15:56Throughout Fallout 4, you'll have the option of joining different factions.
15:59Each faction has their own objectives and belief systems,
16:02and choosing between them depends on how you want to approach your character and story.
16:06The Minutemen just want to live peacefully and will side with whoever helps them out.
16:10The Brotherhood of Steel are a violent faction intent on adhering to pre-war tech and wiping out the synths.
16:16The Railroad believes in synth rights and autonomy.
16:19The Institute are regarded as mysterious villains, but aim to restore humanity through scientific advancement.
16:24Fallout 4 asks you what and who to value in times of apocalyptic distress.
16:29Because I know war. War never changes.
16:34Number 12. Hushito or Noor? Fire Emblem Fates.
16:38This way.
16:40Big sister! She's my sister!
16:47Fates opens with a killer choice.
16:49Right out the gate, the game demands that you choose between your blood relatives of Hushito or your foster family of Noor.
16:55And it's not like one side is inherently evil and the other inherently good.
16:59Nope, they are both supportive and loving, making your choice all the more difficult.
17:04Once you make your choice, the losing family labels you a traitor and you are forced to do battle with them.
17:09Choosing between family is never an easy option, especially when it results in violence.
17:14I see.
17:18Number 11. Vault 34. Fallout New Vegas.
17:23New Vegas is a brilliant Fallout game, aside from the myriad technical issues.
17:29And Vault 34 remains one of the toughest moral dilemmas in the entire series.
17:39The gist is that Vault 34 is leaking radiation, destroying crops and starving the citizens of the wasteland.
17:45You are tasked with stopping the leak and saving the day.
17:48The only problem is that Vault 34 is still filled with people, and stopping the leak would guarantee their deaths.
17:54You can choose to rescue the inhabitants, but this means continued radiation and more intense famine.
17:59Or you can choose to seal the radiation, effectively saving the crops but dooming the Vault Dwellers.
18:05Now that's a moral dilemma if we've ever seen one.
18:13Number 10. Choose the Dictator. Far Cry 4.
18:16Amita needs to go. It's the will of Kira. It's the only way to spare Kira for more bloodshed.
18:23The fourth Far Cry game sees you helping the Golden Path overthrow the regime of pagan men.
18:28There are two important members of the Golden Path, Sabal and Amita.
18:32Sabal wants to conserve Karate tradition, whereas Amita wants to modernize and bring them into the future.
18:37If you side with Sabal, he turns Karate into a bloodthirsty theocracy and cleanses the area by killing dissenters.
18:44Where was that forgiveness when you butchered your brothers and sisters?
18:47You committed crimes against the gods themselves.
18:51If you side with Amita, she turns Karate into a totalitarian drug state that conscripts children warriors and murders Badra.
18:58Either way, both you and Karate lose.
19:00This is a good thing. Your children will help Kirat become a better place.
19:07Number 9. Love, Sacrifice or Wealth. Fable 2.
19:11It is a selfless gift. Your only reward will be the gratitude of Albion.
19:16Love, those dearest to you, even your faithful dog, will be restored to life.
19:23Fable 2 ends with a three-way choice. Two of them are quite difficult.
19:28Teresa grants you one of three wishes. Love, Sacrifice and Wealth.
19:32For Sacrifice, you resurrect thousands of people who were killed making the Tattered Spire, but you never see your family again.
19:39For Love, your family and dog are resurrected in exchange for the thousands of innocent lives.
19:44And Wealth is one million gold coins.
19:47Okay, the money choice is kind of silly, but still.
19:50Do you want to be remembered as a hero who selflessly resurrected thousands of lives, or do you want happiness with your family?
19:56It's the ultimate battle between selflessness and selfishness, and it makes for a true character-defining moment.
20:08Number 8. Colonel Lambert, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell, Double Agent.
20:13Let me introduce you to our latest problem. Jamie caught him inside the compound.
20:19What is more important to you? Friendship or duty?
20:22These are the questions that Double Agent asks when presenting you with the Lambert conundrum.
20:27An undercover fisher is ordered to shoot Colonel Lambert.
20:30Doing so will obviously kill a friend who will maintain your secret position within John Brown's army.
20:35Sparing Lambert and shooting Washington will obviously spare your friend, but reveal you as a traitor.
20:40What is it that you value? Are you willing to blow the entire mission to spare a single life?
20:45It's these type of tough moral dilemmas that make spy fiction so tense and exciting.
20:50Number 7. Blame and Extraction, Spec Ops, The Line.
21:01It was your fault. If that's what you believe, then shoot me. Two.
21:06I didn't mean to hurt anybody. No one ever does.
21:10Walker grapples with his own conscience after realizing that he created Conrad in an effort to deflect his guilt.
21:15You are then faced with numerous choices.
21:18You can live with your atrocities and remain forever shell-shocked and traumatized, or you can commit suicide.
21:23So be it. Five!
21:26Should you stay alive, Walker requests Extraction and you are left with yet another choice.
21:32Captain Walker, we are here to help, but first I need you to lay down your weapon.
21:39You can choose to relinquish your weapon and embrace rescue, or you can fully embrace your evil side, become Conrad, and attack the convoy.
21:47How do you react to your blatant war crimes and fatal atrocities?
21:50How do you view Walker's potential suicide?
21:52How you choose largely depends on how you view the characters and themes of the story.
21:57Gentlemen, welcome to Dubai.
22:00Number six. The Freedom March. Detroit become human.
22:04We came here to demonstrate peacefully.
22:06While playing as Marcus, you recruit numerous androids to take part in the Freedom March.
22:11However, this assembly draws the attention of law enforcement, who order you to stop and disperse.
22:16You are then faced with three options. Take a stand, attack the police, or run away.
22:21If you take a stand, numerous androids will die. Maybe even Marcus, but you will gain massive respect from the public.
22:28Follow me!
22:30Attacking the police will obviously cause the public to turn on the androids.
22:38And choosing to run away will brand you a coward, and the police will fire on the crowd anyway.
22:44On my orders!
22:46There's no easy way out here, and androids will die no matter what you do.
22:57Number five. Chloe or Arcadia Bay. Life is Strange.
23:01Max. This is the only way.
23:06Life is Strange is another exercise in selfishness, and it asks big questions about how far you are willing to go to save the one you love.
23:13The ending presents you, as Max, with two difficult choices, each with widely different outcomes.
23:19You could use that photo to change everything right back to when you took that picture.
23:25You can bow to fate, go back in time, and allow Chloe to be killed by Nathan, effectively reinstating the status quo.
23:31Or, you can give the finger to both fate and Arcadia Bay, and allow the storm to decimate the town.
23:36Would you sacrifice thousands of innocent lives to save one?
23:39Or, would you make the ultimate selfless sacrifice by allowing your love to die?
23:51Number four. Mankind's Fate. Deus Ex.
23:54We. Are. One.
23:58There are three endings to Deus Ex, and all of them are equally unpleasant.
24:03The first is the Benevolent Dictator, which sees JC fusing with Helios and ruling Earth as an absolute god.
24:09New Dark Age requires you to initiate the meltdown, effectively freeing the world from the Illuminati, but initiating a complete technological blackout.
24:17JC. No more infolinks. Transmissions of any kind.
24:23The third, titled The Invisible Hand, requires you to trigger the infusion control switch, and allow the Illuminati to rule the world.
24:30The only influence, suggest, insinuate.
24:34Do you want to become a computer and rule with omniscient power, allow the Illuminati to flourish unopposed, or regress civilization?
24:41Yes, those are your only options.
24:44You see why this was so difficult?
24:51Number three. Deal or Revenge. Grand Theft Auto 4.
24:55And remember to wear some nice clothes. I want you looking good for the wedding.
24:59Grand Theft Auto 4 was a major tonal departure from Vice City and San Andreas, and this was made abundantly clear in its ending.
25:07To set up the ending, Jimmy Pegorino asks Nico to help with a lucrative heroin deal.
25:12In exchange, Jimmy will pay Nico $250,000.
25:16The only problem is that Nico must work with his nemesis, Dmitry Raskolov.
25:20Do you listen to Roman and make the deal in the hopes of a happier and more prosperous life?
25:24Or do you make things personal and kill Dmitry?
25:27No matter what you do, the results are catastrophic with a certain loved one getting the bullet.
25:32It's a damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don't scenario. There are no happy endings in Grand Theft Auto 4.
25:37Oh, f**k!
25:39Double-cross, an immigrant shit!
25:45Number two. Geth or Quarian. Mass Effect 3.
25:49You want to upload the Reaper code? That would make the Geth as smart as when the Reaper was controlling them.
25:55Yes, but with free will.
25:58Remember how we said that the Mass Effect series contained more difficult decisions than Caden and Ashley?
26:03Yeah, this is what we were talking about.
26:05At the end of Priority Rannoch, you are left with the choice to either allow the upload or stop Legion.
26:10If you allow the upload, the Quarian race goes extinct with the destruction of the migrant fleet.
26:15In turn, Tali will commit suicide.
26:18If you choose to stop Legion, the Quarian Bombardment will annihilate the Geth.
26:22There is an option to save both races, but this requires a complex set of instructions for the player to follow, including choices transferred from Mass Effect 2.
26:31It's not easy choosing which race to make extinct. Imagine that.
26:35Does this unit have?
26:41Yes. Yes it does.
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27:00Number one. Dealing with Lee. The Walking Dead.
27:04You're strong, Clem. You can do anything.
27:10But I'm little.
27:12Telltale returns for a third game with The Walking Dead.
27:15A game that pulls zero punches and is not afraid to leave you a blubbering mess by the time the credits roll.
27:20That's largely due to one of the most heartbreaking endings in video game history.
27:25As a sick and dying Lee, you can either tell Clementine to leave you behind to turn into a zombie, or kill you and put you out of your misery.
27:32You have to shoot me honey.
27:34Please, no.
27:36Either way, Clementine loses her father figure and you die.
27:40Like GTA 4, there is no happy ending to be found here.
27:44The only question is, how do you want to go out?
27:48How do you want to go out?
28:00Afraid to rob you?
28:02Where are you?
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