Top 15 Toughest Decisions Made in Video Games

For years, I've been a firm believer that when it comes to video games, making it an experience that gamers can make their own is key. Its why I've come to know and love all those video games that are built largely on the decisions gamers make throughout the experience which then leads into said video game's future instalments (though some developers will make future games, but don't let you import a save file and therefore tell you what they think is canon). But some of those decisions are tough to make. Many are heartbreaking and some cause you to choose between two or more characters at a time. So today we look at the top 15 toughest decisions made in video games. All the decisions listed are from video games that I have played and they are all what I consider to be very tough. And to make things tougher, only one decision per game/series will be picked (though if its from the same franchise but it's a completely different series, I will allow it). There will be spoilers, there will be tears, but heck its an intense thing to do. So prepare to be spoiled and heartbroken as we look at some very tough decisions in video games:



15 - Batman forming a new Justice League or Superman reinstating his Regime (Injustice 2)

So at the end of Injustice 2, the player given a decision on whether to side with the Man of Steel or the Dark Knight. But as this is set in a universe where one is evil and the other is good, it can be seen as your typical choice of a good ending or an evil ending. What makes it difficult really depends on the fanbase because if you are a fan of both, then this decision is a tough one to make. Although I'm a Batman fan, I too struggled to figure out which one to do with. So I then remembered that Superman is the main villain here as he wants power and control over the world. Meanwhile Batman believes that heroes should not be dictators and must fight for good and never kill unless there is no other choice. Either way you get both heroes defeating the other hero's respective allies before going into that final fight. If Batman wins, he sends a powerless Superman to the Phantom Zone (as per request from Superman who mentioned he never wants to go back into that cell he was in) and forms a new Justice League with Supergirl. But if Superman wins, he manages to figure out Brainiac's ship and uses it not only to bring back the cities he stole, but to also reinstate the regime and make Earth in his image. This of course also horrifies an imprisoned Supergirl, especially when seeing a brainwashed Batman come into the scene. So for fans, it's an easy decision as you would go with your favourite hero. Whereas for fans of both heroes, its that more complicated.

14 - Choosing your Starting Pokemon (Literally every single main Pokemon game)

In pretty much every known Pokemon game that has ever come out (at least in the main series anyway), your first decision will always be which starting Pokemon you want to start with. Its a tough choice because you effectively want to capture every known Pokemon out there and the Pokemon you decide to pick as your starter will either put you at an advantage or a disadvantage in achieving that task. Still though, it is one of the best decisions any player gets to make, but still a tough one nonetheless.

13 - Stick to the job or go with your heart (Papers Please)

Papers Please is largely built on decision based gameplay. Often you find yourself sending people through, but you often wonder if you are doing the right thing. Now normally you should always stick to your job, but there are of course times where you have to make those tough decisions on who goes in and who doesn't and there are some consequences in doing both. But it is a very good game despite its depressing set up and it actually educates us in the workings of border control which may give us a different opinion on how things work.

12 - Harvest or Spare the Little Sisters (BioShock)

Both have their advantages and disadvantages, but are nonetheless very tough decisions made throughout these great games. You will still get lots of ADAM either way, but the ending will differ depending on if you stick to one or the other or a combination of both. In some way, you would feel good that you got some ADAM and also spared a Little Sister in the process. But if it were the other way around, sure you get even more ADAM but I know some gamers will feel some remorse over killing an innocent (for the most part) little girl. So I think with this one, it depends on what kind of gamer you are and what experience you want to have in the BioShock games. Still a tough one though.

11 - Choosing how to Perform Your Heists (Grand Theft Auto V)

I know there have been more greater decisions in the series, but out of everything we've seen in the series, Heists are possibly the best thing and GTA V takes this to the next level by giving gamers the option to do these Heists in a variety of different ways. In the story mode, you get one of two choices with one being more straight forward than the other, one needing more preparation than the other and a choice of characters to help you out (some even being from previous entries). Meanwhile on the online mode, you get to make up your own heists which adds for more customisation and so forth. So I guess what makes this decision difficult is how you want to go about doing the heist as it really depends on if you can be bothered with lots of preparation or just care about the money and nothing else.

10 - Sawblade Trap (Until Dawn)

In a lot of decision based games, there always seems to be that one decision where you must decide on who you want to save. In this scenario, we come across a sawblade trap and the choice of saving Ashley or Josh. Although most games tend to have us pick between the two most useless or annoying characters, I kind of felt that this was difficult. People are already dying or trying to survive at this point so this was the icing on the cake pretty much. However even though both characters are at the time considered worth saving anyway, the difficult decision ends up being meaningless as its always Josh that goes (although we find out why later on). Still a tough one though.

9 - To Live or to Die (Beyond: Two Souls)

At the end of Beyond: Two Souls, Jodie is given a choice to live or die. At this point we already know of the people she has met on her travels and how she gained her powers through a paranormal entity called Aiden. Its revealed that Aiden is her unborn twin brother and its because of those circumstances that she's always been able to have a connection with him. But the reason why this is a tough choice is because she has one chance to be reunited with him and other people that she has lost. But then again, she can also choose to continue living and live her life alone or with someone she loves. Its a pretty tough and heartbreaking decision because she has spent all her life trying to find out who Aiden is. But in doing so, she made friends, found love and a purpose in life. So either way, both scenarios end well for her, but I guess what makes this a tough choice is just knowing how far she has come.

8 - Harvey Dent or Selina Kyle (Batman: A TellTale Series)

Normally when it comes to Batman stories, everyone knows that it will play out the same. Harvey Dent will turn from good guy to bad guy gaining a split personality and would become the criminal known as Two-Face. Selina Kyle will become the jewel thief known as Catwoman, but will always be an ally to Batman over being an enemy despite doing bad things. But TellTale decided to make two games whereby anyone who plays it can either choose the canon route or go a completely different path. In this scenario, Batman is forced to save one person and he can only save Kyle or Dent. Saving Kyle results in Dent becoming more like Two-Face (thus beginning the process of becoming such) while saving Dent results in Bruce Wayne losing any chance of being in a romantic relationship with Kyle. So unless you don't regret the decision you make, you may feel crushed that the person you didn't save will likely want to cut all ties to you. Its a toughie that's for sure.

7 - The Doctors or Your Girlfriend (InFamous)

While this decision may feel meaningless in the end, its still a difficult decision to make. Cole is given two options; his girlfriend or the doctors. One decision is good, but the other is evil. Naturally the evil one would be saving his girlfriend which is saving one out of many and the one being saved only Cole will get something out of. Saving the doctors meanwhile makes Cole a man who can put his selfish acts aside and do the right thing. In the end though, his girlfriend pays the price so ultimately while you do feel better in saving the doctors, the decision overall is just meaningless. But still a tough one to make.

6 - Joining or Betraying your long lost son (Fallout 4)

In Fallout 4, your overall main objective is to find your long lost son and upon doing so, you are then given a pretty tough choice. You can ally yourself with him and The Institute or go against him with the Brotherhood, the Minutemen or the Railroad. There is the idea of being able to reunite with the Sole Survivor's son and continue the journey with him in the Institute. But then there is also the impending threat that the Institute presents in the world that players would need to consider. Consequences in all 4 scenarios but also some good things like the support of your fellow faction and such.

5 - Freeing the Spirits or let them rot (Five Nights at Freddy's 3)

While the FNAF games are not traditionally known for being decision based, the third game had a twist to it alongside the usual five night scenario that we were used to at that point. The twist being that the gamer can in fact save the souls of the children who died and presumably took residence in the animatronics, through the means of hidden minigames on each night. How it would work is that alongside surviving the nights and doing the end night minigames, from Night 2 onwards there will be hidden minigames and you will find clues in the end night minigames to find them. Each of them is pretty straightforward as it requires you to break the minigame in an attempt to free the children. But some of you may be asking why is it a difficult or tough decision. Well it requires a lot of hard work and given the nature of the FNAF games, most gamers would naturally want to just survive the night and nevermind about the minigames. However some gamers would feel heartbroken that they had a chance to put the souls of the dead children at peace. Regardless, its one of the most heartbreaking decisions in any game, but most people would understand if all you care about is just getting through the game as quickly as possible.

4 - Initiate Knightfall? (Batman: Arkham Knight)

Although this is the thing the gamer must do to end the game, its still nonetheless a tough decision. Tough because it comes out at a time where Bruce Wayne's crusade as Batman is now public and thus he must choose to either continue being Batman knowing that everyone knows who he is or initiate the Knightfall protocol. The Knightfall protocol is described as being the protocol that would see Bruce Wayne disappear for good and keeping much of his crime fighting career safe. So its basically a choice of being Batman knowing that everyone knows who you really are, passing the mantle onto someone else or make Batman and his alter-ego disappear for good. A tough choice indeed, but in the end many would know that Gotham will always be in good hands and the civilians can finally lead normal lives and be inspired to stop crime themselves.

3 - To kill or not kill an Innocent Man (Heavy Rain)

Throughout Heavy Rain, Ethan Mars undergoes a number of tasks to prove to the Origami Killer that he will do anything to save his boy. In this scenario, he is given the task to kill a man who is largely innocent of any crimes, but is a known drug dealer. So you arrive at the apartment of the man and go through all the quick time events (for some reason, Quantic Dreams' games tend to use bizzare control methods) and then the question pops up; kill or not kill. You get a trophy either way, but its a tough choice because the guy is also a father. So then gamers ask themselves the question of who is more important in this scenario; the man or the boy. If you were to not kill the man or fail the quick time events, Ethan gets no more letters and is forced to find the location himself or rely on Madison if she's still alive and calls him over Norman. If you do kill him, its only one more task to go, but you would feel bad about killing a father of two in the process. A tough and emotional one indeed.

2 - Should Clementine kill Lee or leave him to turn (The Walking Dead: A TellTale Series)

Although TellTale are known to be a one trick pony in that the majority of their games are point and click decision based episodic games, they sure do know how to tell a great story full of emotional, action packed and heart breaking moments. Towards the end of the first Walking Dead game in its final episode, Lee isn't looking so well and could turn into a walker at any moment. He and a young Clementine are in a tight spot with the rest of their group's fates unknown. It's a tough and heartbreaking choice because Lee has been a main character since the beginning of the game and in the state he is in, he is going to die no matter what. Clem has always seen him as a father figure who has taught her how to survive in this new world. So naturally she has a difficult choice ahead of her and whatever happens, this event changes her big time in later games. From being a sweet and innocent girl to being a badass survivor prepared to lead people and make the tough choices no one else bears to make. Makes me wonder what the main Walking Dead stars would say if they knew or ever met her (except for Glenn who met her in the first episode before going on his own path).

1 - The Suicide Run (Mass Effect 2)

The Mass Effect series is one of the most widely known games as far as decision based gameplay is concerned. The original trilogy had gamers make a number of tough choices that would all be building up to the eventual galaxy wide invasion of the Reapers and the fate of the galaxy rests in the hands of the gamer. So in the second game, the overall objective is to get rid of the Collectors. The Collectors used to be the centuries old but long gone race known as the Protheans, but became more like the Reapers as a result of their invasion centuries prior to their next invasion. Their goals are to acquire a specific number of species of a specific nature, though the most that they got never saw the light of day again. So naturally they pose a real threat to the galaxy which Cerberus caught onto when human colonies started disappearing and sought out to revive Shepard (the playable protagonist of the original trilogy) in the hopes that he can lead a team of misfits to take them down once and for all. The suicide mission is the overall main objective in the game's story and as such, it requires a lot of preperation and decison making. Who's doing what, what upgrades the ship requires and who should remain loyal to you. As I have mentioned in previous posts, if you were to have a chance of survival in the third game, you'll need to be properly prepared for the suicide mission because you will have to pick which characters are doing what (normally there are three people per decision that are best suited to the task over the other options available) and they must be completely focused on the task at hand hence why their are loyalty missions. But ultimately it is by far the toughest of all decisions because it requires a lot of hard work and missteps taken will have an impact in the third game. It is trully the one decison that has major consequences if not done right hence why its my number one choice.

Agree or disagree? Any decisions you've found tough in video games? Well leave your comments below and I will talk again soon (if I decide to of course 😁).