If there is one outcome, remove the guise of control. Have my character speak for me. I don’t fucking care. I’d rather feel like my character is doing or saying something I wouldn’t personally do than for me to be given a fucking pop-up that means nothing and is just there to reinforce a self-insert facade. At least make a bit out of it if you’re gonna do it. It’s genuinely one of the worst pieces of game design outside of legitimately predatory behavior.
There was that Game of Thrones game that Telltales Games developed that felt a lot like this. Not sure if the rest of their games are like that since it was the only one I played, but it felt like a waste of time to make choices that had no consequence in what happened in the story.
They mostly are. Generallly only minor changes regardless of your decision.
deleted by creator
Back in the fallout days the companions were pretty one note but they would straight up shoot you if you did something horrible or seriously against their values. And if you gave Ian an smg there's a pretty good chance he'd turn you in to chunky salsa on the first round.
Baldur's Gate, especially 2, did really good with this - there were a ton of complex character plots and sub plots and if you didn't do the right things with the right kind of character you'd miss them. Convincing the evil drow lady to stop being stupid evil and just be regular evil was fun; she's a total jerk the entire time but if she "reforms" she becomes a total jerk who is also your evil buddy and maybe lover.
deleted by creator
I don't remember that one. Myron was a creep so I usually left him behind somewhere.
deleted by creator
iirc canon says he died like a rabid dog, it's fine if the "by whom" part is a little muddied
Yeah, iirc he got shanked by a jet user and no one even tried to id his body.
deleted by creator
They are mostly like that I believe, I think the their games in general fell off once everyone figured out nothing really changed based on your choices.
I still feel like season 1 of the Walking Dead is a really, really good game because of the emotional impact but yeah the choices not really mattering that much (some did) kinda sucked and eventually the formula soured.
I had great fun with that game because all your dialogue choices were on a timer, so you always had the option to just not say anything. I always picked that option, every character I controlled would spend every single conversation staring blankly ahead, dumbfounded and unable to find any words to answer even the most basic question, while the other party would spend the conversation talking themselves into helping me. Turned the entire game into a comedy.
that actually sounds hilarious. this is why i think all games with dialogue options should always have a "say nothing" option at all times. i cant recall where ive seen it before, but other games have played around with the comedy of that