(spoilers ahead for kotor read at your own risk)
So for the PC Gamer club I've recently been playing Fallout, and like most RPG's I'm faced with the good versus evil decision, and as always I play a good character. Somehow I find myself always choosing to be the do-gooder in video games when given a choice. I guess it goes back to the days when I played KOTOR for the first time. I hadn't heard much about the game during launch, but my friend at the time was raving on and on about it. "Dude you gotta play the dark side at least once, the ending is the best!" I remember him saying, so I picked up a copy and went on my way.
It wasn't hard for me to play as an evil character early on, although a bit troubling. I ran through the game blackmailing doctors, telling people to piss off and generally being a douche to everybody I knew. But it got harder and harder as it went along, because as I met each character that joined me, I started feeling more and more of a bond between my jedi and his pixelated companions. It got deathly hard when I met Bastila. She was a bit of a prude, and had her faults, but you could see in her heart (well as much as you can see in a game) that she was internally struggling within herself to do the right thing and stay on the light side, but one push and she could be turned. However, being promised this epic dark side ending, I pushed on, coaxing her further and further into the dark side.
At some point in the middle of the game we become separated and Darth Malak essentially tortures her into the dark side. When you rescue her, she is void of life and full of hate. Her character became an unemotional husk, willing to follow you, darth revan lord of the sith, to the bowels of hell. I was heart broken, yet I pushed on. The darkness grew more and more. I stole 5000 credit dinner plates from starving widows, mind controlled Zaalbar the Wookie into killing his best friend Mission Vao. I basically did things in the game that churned my stomach, all in the name of an epic ending.
Once I raged into the last mission and beat Darth Malak, the ending cutscene began to roll. Horray, I was master of the universe, controlling hordes of unstoppable killing machines from my factories, with my lifeless apprentice at my side. But as undisputed rulers of the universe go, I didn't feel like one. I felt like pure scum.
I started a second play-through immediately. I had to see the lighter side of the universe, to do all things I should have instinctively done the first time around. I kept the secrets of the doctor that was harboring fallen rebels. I helped the underworld denizens find a cure for their horrible mutating plague. I gave to charity when needed, championed for causes of all nature, stood up for the weak and helped the poor. And most of all, I reconciled all my wrong-doings with Bastila.
The positive relationship I had with Bastila is still, to this day one of the most moving gaming experiences I've had to date. By setting an example of doing what's right, I was able to cast away any doubts in her mind that the light side was the right path to take. And I was rewarded for it. After a few adventures together, I got her to open up to the possibility of a relationship, and the first kiss she and my light side jedi shared; a private moment in the cockpit of the Ebon Hawk, away from public. The first time she told him she loved him was more uplifting to me then any relationship between my character and another in a game. I was literally choked up.I felt empowered by her trust in my character.
Bioware did an amazing job in conveying her emotions towards your character. Because of the way they developed the story, wrote the dialogue for Bastilla, and the sitation they placed her in, you knew that it was hard for her to even express any emotion towards your character. Any strong feeling, be it love or hate, was dangerous for a Jedi. So when she finally admits to you and your character she has these strong feelings, it made it all that more special.
My heart sank when she was kidnapped for a second time because I knew what she was going to turn into when I rescued her. But my gamers heart soared when I was able to show her mercy and bring her back to the light side after our confrontation. And the remark she gave about my Jedi being strong for the both of them. It made that experience 1000 times more memorable then ruling 1000000000000000 stars in 100000000000000000000000 galaxies ever would. It was certainly more memorable then the 2-minute soft-core porn scene in Dragon Age with Leliana or Morrigan, or the soft-core porn scene in Mass Effect. Or the clothed soft-porn scene in Mass Effect 2. I mean come on Bioware, grow up. What happened to you guys, you used to make video game relationship magic, now it's just a contest to see who can get closest to hot coffee without going over the line.
But I digress.
The good ending wasn't flashy. There weren't minions to command, starships to pilot, civilizations to crush. But I didn't mind. My jedi received a medal surrounded by the people that he cared about,and that cared about him. And and the end of the day, that was good enough for me.
From that day forward I've been playing good characters in every game that gives me a choice. My philosophy is, in video game worlds (much as in real life) most of the time you are cast into a world that is facing impending doom. Why make it worse?
What do you guys think? Do you tend to play good or evil characters? Am I as big a weenie as I think I am for caring so much about a game relationship? What's the most memorable emotional tie you've had in a game?
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