(electronic chiming) - [Falcon] Video games can give you crazy amounts of choice, and sometimes they make
it really hard on you. Hi folks, it's Falcon,
and today on Gameranx, 10 of the most difficult decisions
in video games, part two. Now, before we get going, basically wanna say
consider this list a sequel to the "10 Hardest Video Games Choices "That Made Us Sweat," video,
which came out a while ago. It covers a similar topic, so we're gonna avoid repeating ourselves. I'll give off a quick list
of what's in that video. So if you're interested
in watching that one, it's also good. Of course, we enjoyed making it, and we hope that you enjoyed it. The "Life is Strange" ending choice. Saving Kaidan or Ashley in "Mass Effect." Killing or sparing the
Little Sisters in "BioShock." The ending of "Far Cry 3." The ending of "Spec Ops: The Line." The ending of "Fable." Whether or not you kill an ally to keep up cover in "Black Ops II." "Witcher 3's" baby in the oven choice. "GTA V's" Deathwish ending. And the "Walking Dead's" final choice. So without any further ado, starting off at number 10 is
"Wolfenstein: The New Order's" branching timeline. "The New Order" is a game
that's kind of unique. It's not really a choice game. You're not making moral decisions in it. But the story starts with one huge choice that affects the outcome
of not just this game, but the sequel as well. It happens at the end
of the first mission, Deathshead's Compound. You, along with your allies,
manage to break into this lab, but you're ambushed and captured by the mad scientist's super soldiers. That's when he gives
you a sadistic choice, either he kills Fergus or Wyatt. You don't get a third
option or any way out. One of these guys has to die. At this point of the story, you barely know who these guys are, but just the fact that this
freak makes you choose who dies makes you not want the decision. Nobody wants to make
that decision, you know? Depending on who lives though, the character becomes
one of your major allies for the rest of the story. They don't just play a small role either, they're important characters, so that choice is actually
a lot more important than it seems. It even affects what kind of
things you can do in the game, like if you can hot-wire
electronics or pick locks on doors. And it's hardly the only sadistic
choice decision out there, but it's one of the most memorable. - In your opinion, which
one of these two varieties would best support my research? - [Falcon] At number nine
is "Saints Row: The Third," the ending choice. Now, the third entry into
the "Saints Row" series likes to hit you with
choices from time to time but they're usually
pretty inconsequential, until you hit the penultimate
mission, Three Way. The whole thing starts
with a three-way battle between the Saints, STAG
soldiers, and the Luchadores gang. Mid-mission you find out two things. First, the leader of the
Luchadores, Killbane, is fleeing the city, and that
one of the leaders of STAG has kidnapped some of
your people and the mayor, who is, by the way, Burt Reynolds, and tied them up on the big
statue at Magarac Island and they're planning on blowing it up. So you can't do both things at
once, so you have to choose. Do you save Shaundi and stop the explosion or go after Killbane and get your revenge? For most players, saving Shaundi
is the obvious hero choice, but what makes this decision difficult is how it affects your ending. So these two endings,
based on this choice, are wildly different. If you go after Killbane,
the more evil option, you take on STAG in
their flying helicarrier. And it's an inappropriately
over-the-top mission, and one of the most
entertaining in the game in terms of pure spectacle, at very least. If you save Shaundi, the good option, you get the significantly
goofier final mission, Gangstas in Space, which
puts you on the set of the titular film. The whole thing is a joke. It's almost like the
game's making fun of you for taking the nice option. - But I found something... Shit. Damn it. Line - Cut.
(buzzer rings) - [Falcon] And depending on who you are, it's a tough choice already, but add in the really
different final missions and you have a legitimately
tough choice here. And number eight is "Pokemon,"
picking your starter. Going in a totally different direction, not all decisions in games have to be intense moral dilemmas. Sometimes a decision comes
along that's very tough, but for entirely different reasons. Like picking a class in an RPG or deciding what abilities to unlock. Depending on the game, these kinds of decisions
might be just as difficult as deciding who lives and who
dies, sometimes even tougher. Maybe the ultimate expression
of these kinds of choices can be found in the "Pokemon" series, where you gotta make one of
the most difficult decisions in gaming at the start
in picking a starter, the Pokemon you start with. Depending on what generation
you're playing and who you are, this can feel like a no-brainer. One Pokemon's clearly
better than the rest, so it's a simple choice. But it's also usually a
very personal decision. Depends on what Pokemon
you think looks cool. What kind of like elements you're interested in
building first, et cetera? For me, the toughest decision was always between Charmander
or Bulbasaur and Squirtle. They're all good in their own right, but they also all have their downsides. I always remember wanting
to go with Charmander but then having to remind myself
that he's basically useless against both Brock and Misty. So I had to decide if I
really wanted to grind out a second Pokemon or just pick
one of the other starters. You know, both of which are much better at the first two gym trainings. Most of the time, all that really matters is if you think they look cool. But when you do have to deal
with gameplay consequences, like that with Charmander
in "Red and Blue," it makes a tough choice even harder. Moving on to number seven, "Black Ops Cold War's"
lying or telling the truth. Kind of a spiritual
sequel to "Black Ops II," "Cold War" is another "Call of Duty" game that gives the players some choices that are not easy to make. There's not as many overall,
but at least with this choice, it completely changes not just the ending, but the entire finale. In the penultimate mission,
you're given a choice, either tell Adler the truth about where, Perseus, the
Soviet bad guy's heading, or a lie and lead your
team to the wrong location. Seems like an obvious choice. You wanna make the good guy choice, right? Good at very least from the standpoint the game is giving you. But the devil's in the
details on this one, and those details make this
whole thing way more nebulous. For one thing, the supposed good guys, who are asking you for your help, are also responsible for brainwashing you and basically era your old personality. You used to be an agent for Perseus that Adler used experimental CIA drugs on, which turns you into Bell, and you have a pretty good reason not really to wanna help this guy. Perseus isn't a great guy. I mean, he wants to
basically nuke all of Europe. But the United States put all those nukes
there in the first place. Blowing everything up is
tough to justify for sure, but it's not as if your
side has no hand in it. It's a very complex set of circumstances. So the choice basically boils down to if you wanna help Adler, who's been screwing with your
brain the entire game, or not. Depending on what you choose, the final mission is wildly different. You tell the truth, you play
through a pretty short mission where you attack Perseus's secret base and stop the broadcast. If you lie, you kill all your squad mates in a pretty wild final mission, which is intense, to say the least. And then you have a final
battle with Adler, which, yeah. And then you get to press the nuke button. (man on radio speaks in foreign language) - I think you deserve
this moment, comrade. (tense choral music) (button clunking) (man on radio speaks in foreign language) - [Falcon] It's totally ridiculous, but it actually kind of feels
more like the intended ending than the quote-unquote good one, even though the consequences
are pretty dire. It's one of those choices where you're really kind of
picking between the more boring and the more interesting option, rather than the moral and the immoral one. At number six is "Detroit: Become Human," the pacifism versus violence with Marcus, Even though it could be
pretty blunt and heavy-handed, the consensus on "Detroit: Become Human" is it's probably Quantic Dream's most consistently good game. There's a lot of choices to make and a lot of them actually matter, but probably the biggest of all of them is whether you choose pacifism or violence while playing is Marcus. For most of the story, you're
kind of a lot of just waffle between peaceful protest
and violent revolt. But at the freedom march, you're forced to make a final choice whether the robot resistance
is gonna be nonviolent or not. And this is one of those damned if you do, damned if you don't kind of choices. During the march, when
the police block your way, you either stand your ground, which causes police to fire
into the crowd unprovoked, attack, which, of course, causes
the police to fire anyway, or run away, which makes
you look like a chump. Your choice here basically determines what the rest
of the game looks like. And it's a major turning
point in the story that has huge ramifications for every single character
that you play as. - I repeat, this is an illegal gathering. If you do not disperse
immediately, we will shoot! - [Falcon] And number five is "Fallout: New Vegas's" Vault 34. Here's the game that loves
its complex moral questions. And almost nothing seems to come easy in "Fallout: New Vegas." When it comes to decisions,
there's dozens to pick through. But probably the most
memorable to me is Vault 34. The story starts out pretty basic. There's an NCR sharecropper
that needs your help. The crops are dying and so they want you to
investigate the water supply for contamination. That eventually brings you to Vault 34, which is this hellish place filled with ghouls and
heavy pockets of radiation. When you get to the reactor room, that's when you've got a decision to make. There are vault dwellers still alive behind a flooded
section of the vault, and only way to rescue
them is to reroute control of the computer system to them. Now, if you wanna help the sharecroppers, you have to disable the reactor, which will trap those
vault dwellers forever. So you're forced to choose to either save lives of
a small group of people or save the livelihoods of a
larger settlement of people. Either way, one group suffers, and you have to make a decision, since you're there and involved
and putting stuff in motion. It's a cruel choice with no easy answers and that's kind of how the game is. (guns blasting)
(fire roaring) (gun clunking) At number four, in "Witcher
3," killing the tree spirit. Another game with a lot of tough choices, without a lot of easy answers. Probably one of the
toughest occurs in the quest The Whispering Hillock. There's a lot of stuff leading up to this, but to make a long story short, your decision here has
a ton of consequences, and can easily have some
pretty serious ramifications for the villagers of Downwarren. Also, the orphans trapped in Crookback Bog and the Bloody Baron and his family. There's a lot of factors to consider. If you kill the spirit,
the villagers are safe, but the orphans disappear,
they're most likely eaten, and, Anna, the Bloody Barron's
wife goes mad because of it. Freeing the spirit, on the other hand, makes it so you can save the orphans, but the villagers are
punished and many are killed. Anna's fate is actually worse, she's turned into a water hag. Even if you don't know
the outcome ahead of time, it's just a tough choice in general. Do you kill an evil spirit
that's tormenting people or do you let it live so you
can find more about Ciri? A lot of factors. Not a lot of good outcomes though, which makes it a pretty
difficult decision. (explosions blasting) - [Weavess] He has come for you. - [Falcon] At number three, "Infamous 2," making everyone conduits or
killing all the conduits. Most of the time, the decisions in the "Infamous" games are obvious. If you want the evil powers,
you choose the red option. If you want the good
powers, you choose the blue. It doesn't really matter
all that much otherwise, but the ending to "Infamous
2" is, of course, different. It's actually kind of a
legitimately difficult decision that has a big effect
on the final mission. Basically, you're given two
options, side with the beast, spread the conduit powers
all over the world, or kill basically everyone in New Marais, including your new best friend, or sacrifice yourself and
kill all the conduits. No matter what you do, someone who doesn't
deserve it is gonna die. They even subvert your expectation because if you choose the less
evil self-sacrifice option, the evil character, Nix, is actually the one to side with you, while the good character,
Kuo, tries to stop you. It just goes to show the
final decision in "Infamous 2" goes beyond the usual good
and evil binary choices that happen the rest of the game. It's actually a really tough choice. (explosion rumbles) (laser blasting) (explosion blasting) And number two, in "Dragon Age: Origins," going with Morrigan's plan
or sacrificing yourself. At the end of "Origins," they drop the bombshell
that, the Archdemon, the thing you've been trying
to kill the entire game, can't actually be
destroyed by stabbing it, you gotta sacrifice something. There's a few options to pick from, either sacrifice yourself, one
of your Grey Warden allies, or take the third option,
which depending on who you ask is either the obvious correct
one or a very bad idea. I am, of course, talking
about Morrigan's ritual. Instead of the Archdemon
possessing the nearest Darkspawn and coming back to life, the ritual will make it so
it possesses an unborn child, Morrigan's child. And, and yes, to do this you have to
get it on with Morrigan. And the eventual result is that you created this game's
version of the antichrist. (laughs) It's a bizarre
choice, to say the least, but you're choosing whether
you or one of your allies dies or nobody dies. If you're playing a female character, someone with a different love interest, it makes the choice especially awkward. If you're into Morrigan,
it's probably a no-brainer. And as of this video, the actual
consequences of this choice have yet to have been felt
with the "Dragon Age" universe. But it's one of the more stranger, complicated choices
you can make in gaming. (Archdemon growling)
(dramatic music) (sword swishing)
(Archdemon roaring) (Archdemon crashing) And finally, at number one, is in "NieR," saving Kaine I or not. Here's a choice that is unique because it's one of the most
agonizing for the character, as it is for the player. If you know anything about this game, you've probably heard about this, but after playing through
the game three times, you're given another new ending, but this time you have a choice. This time around, your ally, Kaine, has lost control of the Shade
within her so she attacks you. After fighting her off,
you're given a simple choice, either sacrifice yourself to
restore Kaine back to normal or kill her and end her suffering. That first option seems
like the obvious one, but there's a huge hangup. It's not just the character of Nier who has to sacrifice
themselves to save Kaine, you, the player, have to sacrifice too by deleting all your
save files permanently. That's dozens of hours of
gameplay just down the drain. Brutal back in the 360 days
when backing up your saves wasn't quite as easy as it is now. But if you get blindsided by
this choice, in the moment, it's a hell of a thing they have to decide without taking some time
to think about first. Thing is, game is over. You don't really need a save anymore. But it also feels really wrong to delete everything like that. All that progress just gone. Hell, if you got a secondary
save, that gets deleted too. So if you started a new
game in between, sorry, you're just gonna have to
start over from scratch. Most of the time you're
not really losing anything when you make a choice in a game, but here you're forced to delete one of the most precious things that a gamer can possibly
have, a completed save file. - [Kaine] It's like I just
found something special. - [Falcon] And that's all for today. Leave us a comment. Let
us know what you think. If you liked this video click like. If you're not subscribed
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right here on Gameranx.
