Many video games include the need to kill both monsters or people in a hope to advance the story. However, sometimes the individuals that players are pushed into attacking maynot deserve to be put to deathin the player’s eyes, making themfeel incredibly guiltyabout the actions they have done in a hope of completing the game.
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Plenty of titles play off of this guilt either deliberately or accidentally as players are left wondering if they are doing the right thing while playing, or trying to find ways to work around the objectives they are given. That’s why these games are the most memorable for making players feel guilty about the lives they have taken.
10Undertale
If a player hasn’t attempted a pacifist run of the game they are less likely to feel guilty about the lives they take while traveling through the story ofUndertale. However, the many players that have tried their best to avoid killing anyone in the game have struggled with future playthroughs that demand the player to get a different ending.
This isn’t helped by how close players are able to get to different characters inthe Pacifist runas well as how guilty certain characters make you feel about killing others. For example, Sans dialogue after the player kills his brother will stick with players throughout the game.
9Bioshock
While few players will feel guilty about defeating the splicers, the real guilt that players face tends to surround the mascot of the game, Big Daddies. Theseold-fashioned diverwearing creatures have only one purpose in the entire game and that’s protecting Little Sisters.
As long as the player keeps their distance Big Daddies won’t attack them, but it’s a necessary evil if players want to get their hands on the Adam the Little Sisters harvest. After defeating the Big Daddies the guilt doesn’t stop there as players are forced to make the difficult decision to kill a little girl for all her Adam or only take a bit to free her.
8Horizon: Forbidden West
Although they are just robots, many of the machines Aloy and therefore the players must face act a lot like animals. As players gradually break parts off of certain creatures they face these machines begin to shut down and limp away in an attempt to not be defeated.
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However, inHorizon: Forbidden Westa more specific machine tends to make players feel guilty is the Plowhorn, a machine that the Utaru worship as their land-gods. Unfortunately, these machines have also begun to be corrupted and therefore players are forced to attack them.
7This War Of Mine
This War of Mineis an intense war survival game where players can’t take on the role of a solider but instead must learn to live as a group of civilians living among the ruins of once bustling town. Players are expected to make tough choices and then live with the repercussions every day of their survival.
Some of these choices include killing others if they wish to take their resources, however many times these people aren’t scavengers but just civilians themselves alsotrying to survivein that landscape.
6The Walking Dead
Like many of the Telltale games, players are forced to make difficult choices and the game created from the hit TV Show,The Walking Deadis no different. Trying to survive in a Zombie apocalypse will mean crossing paths with people that players may have the option to kill sooner or later depending on the situation.
If players have played the game more than once attempting to make different decisions this may cause them to get individuals killed that could’ve lived or choosing to allow people to die. These choices are more likely to play on a player’s mind if they know they could’ve saved them.
5Metal Gear Solid 3
While the vast majority of the game doesn’t have the player feeling guilty about the actions they perform. Players know thatby the endof it they are going to be forced to kill someone they don’t want to.
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The build up to get to the point of killing The Boss at the end ofMetal Gear Solid 3is enough to make any player feel bad about putting an end to the life of the protagonist’s mentor. Especially as they themselves feel the government has put their back to them, and now Snake must follow orders.
4Spec Ops: The Line
Even third-person shooters likeSpec Ops: The Linecan have lasting effects on the players that experience them. Just like This War of Mine the player is forced to make decisions that don’t have any easy answers to them. This can lead to killing those that didn’t deserve it and therefore the player is left with the guilt of it.
By the end of the game, the player is either numb to the decisions they have made or wrapped with guilt. Many will play the game again in a hope to find a better solution to the choices they had to make.
3The Last Of Us Part 2
While the end ofThe Last of Usmay have made many players feel guilty especially as they were forced to kill many innocent people if they hoped to save Ellie from being used.The Last of Us Part 2takes a step away from just the infected to look at the issues between the different groups of survivors.
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This opens the eyes of many players to look at the things not onlyJoel had donebut also other survivors like Ellie and how her actions effected people like Abbey as well as the groups they found themselves with.
2Dark Souls
TheDark Soulsfranchise has the player facing countless horrific monsters that many players don’t take two seconds to learn about due to wishing to simply defeat them and not look into the deeper lore. However, one boss that players didn’t even need to know the lore about to feel guilty was the giant gray fluffy wolf called Sif.
Sif is quite literally a giant gray wolf wielding a sword in his mouth. Players must avoid getting hit and attempt to take down him but every slash to this giant wolf just trying to protect his owner’s grave hits deep into a players' heart. Many are left feeling unfulfilled no matter how hard the fight is.
1Shadow Of The Colossus
Shadow of the Colossusis an action-adventure title like no other that tasks the player with taking down ginormous ancient guardians as the protagonist hopes to bring an innocent girl back to life. Although this goal itself is noble killing thehuge creatures known as Colossuscan’t help but make the player feel bad as they all appear quite peaceful.
Climbing them they hardly make an effort to rid themselves of the player, as their hug size makes it difficult for them to remove the protagonist. By the time the player has made it to the sweet spot to defeat this colossus, it has already given up trying for the most part.
