I Just Can’t Do An Evil Playthrough In A Game

Jason Monroe writes:
No matter how hard I try, I just can’t do an evil playthrough of a video game. It’s not because I’m a nice guy (I’m actually a selfish jerk), games just can’t do them right.

[NewMonday]

inFAMOUS did it well, they only franchise where I constantly played each path, they made it interesting by presenting it as means vs ends not "good vs evil".

with Ghost of Tsushima SP said the paths will be warrior vs ninja

one other game that did the paths in an interesting way was Jade Empire and the open palm vs closed fist

[Snookies12]

You mean... Samurai vs Ninja, for Ghost of Tsushima right? As Samurai were the honorable ones in the public eye. Whereas Ninja did their rather unsavory deeds in secrecy.

[NewMonday]

don't know what SP call it officially but yah.

[Nitrowolf2]

I always find myself playing the hero, because deep down that’s what a majority of us want to be. The decisions in games always reflect ourself.

There are countless playthrough of a game however where I thought I made a good decision but it ended up having a bad outcome, so from time to time I’ll restart the save point and choose the “evil” decision if it means x character get to live.

I’ll say this, after I beat a game I usually go back and go all out because I don’t feel it matters at that point.

I don’t r ally think it’s that a lot of games do it poorly, I think it’s just naturally we don’t want to go down that route.

[cyclindk]

Agree and disagree when I consider it now. I think in many cases one is punished for the evil deeds, as we are in reality, “you killed a civilian, restart” scenario. So we hesitate to TRY anything else, which may in fact be very rewarding in its own way, especially if the context make sense and the game design allows for such options.

[NewMonday]

still waiting for a take like Code Geass, you have to act like a bad guy to save the world.

[Aceman18]

I've both both good/evil in Infamous, Jade Empire, Kotor. I think I did both in one of the Mass Effects but it truly remember lol.

In Detroit I got the good ending where everyone lived. My next playthrough I will try my best to go bad route lol.

For some reason I easily revert to good side lol

[AuraAbjure]

I heard infamous 1 was sweet. And from a friend who is quite critical.

[EmperorDalek]

It mostly did, though I think the ending of Infamous 2 should have dropped the morality aspect. It presented two logical choices, and it would have had more impact if players weren't already determined to choose based on morality.

[Hardiman]

I have a hard time doing it as well lol. I have been bad in a few games but it's always the second play through and only a few times. I'm going to do it in my second play through of Detroit and Vampyr though.

[ameliabaz]

Lol i am the same. I recently attempted a "machine Connor" playthrough of Detroit Become Human, but halfway through I found myself choosing all the nice/kind options again. I need to try it again!

[Smokehouse]

Some characters I like too much to go the jerk route lol. I will do the same options for certain characters even on jerk playthroughs. It’s all subconsciously though, I guess that’s just a testament to their character design.

[ZaWarudo]

I love being an evil asshole in the Fallout and Mass Effect games.

[ONESHOTV2]

my second playthrough of both nights of the old republic is always evil and i enjoy every bit of it

[bluefox755]

It does feel weird and unnatural, at least for me. I think for a game to get me to do it, they'd have to surround me with annoying and detestable characters that I'd grow to hate, lol.

[annoyedgamer]

Most of us are like that. If I can go through a game without killing I will do so.

[franwex]

I do that mostly for a challenge. But if cornered I will erupt hell fire on my enemies.

[annoyedgamer]

I usually reload a save when that happens..usually.

[DialgaMarine]

I’ll do it for trophies, but yeah they tend to feel rough, especially in the inFamous games

[obidanshinobi]

I keep meaning to play the asshole however I always feel like I might miss out on some content (missions, items) if I'm not the "good guy".
You could kill a guy who would've given you a whole load of new quests or you could make the game much harder by being awkward and cocky with people.

[winter_hill]

This is the EXACT reason I always go the good guy route in games.

[franwex]

I like it when it's very ambiguous, or if you do the right thing, bad things can occur. Witcher games and other RPGs like Divinity or even Deus Ex are examples of games where doing the right thing doesn't feel that right, and doing the wrong thing feels somehow good.

Like breaking into a rich person's home who is somewhat rude to steal something to give to a beggar, then it turns out the beggar dies later on and the rich person is no longer rich due to your actions.

[Gamist2dot0]

Currently, they're just not fun. I find great pleasure being evil fighting evil though. Which is why I am a fan of The Red Hood.

[deckardreplicant]

Jokes on you, I was the most devilish douche bag in Dragon Age Origins and Fallout 3

[BlaqMagiq1]

I can. I did in every Infamous game and loved every single one.

[thejigisup]

So how'd you feel about Detroit become human?

[TheTony316]

Can't do it either. I always want to get the best/good ending and "no kill" route if the game has the option for it.

[AllThingsShining]

What game is the image in the thumbnail?

[CorndogBurglar]

There's something really fun about being a villain though. I love in RPG's when you finish a quest for someone that involves getting a good item. Giving the item to the quest giver, getting their reward, then killing them and taking the item from the quest anyway.

[Nucler100]

Me either tbh lol. I did in Infamous because you looked cooler. I didn't really like it though.

[DJ_Professor_K]

I play games as I would in real life heartless to the heartless and kind to the kind

[Skankinruby]

I used to be the same way......then trophies came along

[franwex]

Sometimes you miss out on quest too. :/

[theXtReMe1]

I’m the opposite because I try to be as nice as I can and it’s difficult for me to change my ways and beliefs, even for a game. I just find it near impossible to be anything other than me.

[AuraAbjure]

I play both styles! I just replay the game and see all the content the devs took time to program into the game. I worked hard to pay for all the content they packed onto that disc, I wanna see it ya know?

Being evil in Fable is always impactful, seeing one's character grow horns 'n stuff.

[ChickenOfTheCaveMan]

inFamous 2 evil ending was great, I still watch that Zeke part once in a while.

[BadElf]

I love it. Get so pissed in games when I cant brutally destroy everyone. Skyrim for example, didnt let me kill the asshole little kids in villages.

[TheHan]

I love playing Fable for the exact reason of making good or bad choices. Even though I only really played as the good King sense I wanted to be kind and not evil. But I went back and played the evil part and it’s pretty crazy. Fable 3 does that perfectly well!

[Wallow]

I always do good playthroughs and with games like infamous I only do evil playthroughs on my second try.

[Ulf]

Being evil in games is rarely more than "you get to kill everyone, and make obvious dialog choices that lead to killing everyone". Plots are always designed around the good path, and they fall to pieces around the evil path, because they can't be made well for both, and the good path is always the preference.

Also, lets face it -- the ridiculous evil paths most people want to take are always going to lead to stupid endings. There are no evil paths that actually lead to an ending more entertaining than "wow, I got to kill a lot of stuff". The reward for evil, in real life, is, I suppose, money? Power? In a video game... its virtual money. Virtual power. I.e. nothing. The reward for playing the video game good guy is that you get a good story, plain and simple. It will always be superior, in video games. It'll always be superior in real life, too, but there are a *lot* of short-sighted fools who will disagree until they figure it out, right at the end, sadly.

Take a look at the games that were designed around evil paths -- Dungeon Keeper, for example. Totally fun to be evil in that game. Because, yep, the plot was designed around being evil. Not a surprise -- you got the intended story.

[nommers]

I have a hard time doing evil runs too. It’s mostly because there’s very rarely ever an advantage either in the story or gameplay to doing one. If you screw someone over you’re going to have to fight them most likely or they’re going to make trouble for you. That plus for some people it takes effort to be an ass as opposed to being nice. Vice verse for other people.

[IGiveHugs2NakedWomen]

Playing as a villain in a video game isn't like going out and physically assaulting people on the street. It isn't real.

[EazyC]

I agree that a lot of the time evil playthroughs can seem like a "oops you went down the wrong path, now you'll get punished".

It's weird, I can drive down a street mowing down people in GTA V or blowing cities up, but as soon as what I'm doing seems translatable-to-real-life morality, I can't do the "evil" thing. That's why I love good RPGs. Some choices in the Witcher 3 really make you think because you don't realise the implications of your actions until you've done it, I remember feeling guilty for ratting out this guy for burning another's house down while drunk - the man was then hanged despite pleading that he was completely wasted beyond sense. I knew he'd get punishment.... But wow!

[Jayszen]

I played the first two Infamous games using both traits, loosely defined as 'good' vs. 'evil' and the latter was always more fun in my opinion. In hindsight, Infamous 1 & 2 were highly underrated. I wish Sony would have them remastered and released for the PS4.