Summary
- Choices in games often lack meaningful impact, but some titles actually take into account how you play your characters, making every decision feel important.
- Games like Game of Thrones and The Quarry let your choices determine character survival and how the story plays out.
- In games like Divinity: Original Sin 2, Chrono Trigger, and Red Dead Redemption 2, your choices shape the overall experience and impact the narrative, character development, and game world.
It's difficult to make choices in a game matter. Many have tried and failed, where the decisions result in only vaguely different endings or don't really have an impact at all.
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PostsHowever, there are several titles that don’t just pretend that your choices have meaning. Instead, they actually take into account how you choose to play your characters and adjust the game accordingly. As a result, it makes every big decision feel incredibly important as at any moment you could irreversibly change the in-game universe or alter the main narrative. This is a collection of these sorts of titles.
Updated on April 12, 2025 by Ben Jessey: While not every game includes worthwhile decisions, there are some that do. We created this list to highlight several of those, and now we've updated it to add a few more.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2
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RPG Action-Adventure Open-World Systems 22 9.0/10 OpenCritic Reviews Top Critic Avg: 89/100 Critics Rec: 96% Released February 4, 2025 ESRB Mature 17+ // Use of Alcohol, Blood and Gore, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Intense Violence, Partial Nudity Developer(s) Warhorse Studios Publisher(s) Deep Silver Engine CryEngineWHERE TO PLAY
DIGITALKingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is a first-person action RPG set in the 1400s. You follow Henry, a son of a blacksmith and wannabe knight. As him, you go on a long adventure where you meet all sorts of people and do all sorts of things. One of those things is making decisions.
You can make a significant impact on the world around you through your choices. More importantly, you have a big role in how the main narrative plays out and the sort of person Henry becomes. Naturally, this plays directly into the ending of the game.
WWE 2K25 (MyRise mode)
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Wrestling Sports Systems 9.0/10 OpenCritic Reviews Top Critic Avg: 80/100 Critics Rec: 87% Released March 14, 2025 ESRB Teen // Blood, Language, Suggestive Themes, Use of Alcohol, Violence Developer(s) Visual Concepts Publisher(s) 2K Sports Multiplayer Online Multiplayer, Online Co-Op, Local Multiplayer, Local Co-OpWHERE TO PLAY
DIGITALMyRise is the career mode in WWE 2K25. It isn't like the standard career mode you expect to see in a sports game, as it's more story-based. There are plenty of cutscenes and a full narrative for you to play through. That narrative revolves around a mysterious group attacking you and other top stars in the WWE.
The story can play out in various ways depending on the choices you make. The biggest set of decisions comes near the start of the mode when you select the personality types of the two wrestlers you control. Your two characters' personalities directly impact the storylines you embark on during your career.
Oxenfree
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Adventure Systems OpenCritic Reviews Top Critic Avg: 81/100 Critics Rec: 80% Released January 15, 2015 ESRB T For Teen due to Violence, Sexual Themes, Drug Reference, Language, Use of Alcohol and Tobacco Developer(s) Night School Studio Publisher(s) Night School Studio Engine Unity Franchise OxenfreeWHERE TO PLAY
DIGITALOxenfree is a narrative adventure game about a group of friends who visit an island for the weekend. Their choice of island isn't great, though, as there are some weird things going on at this one. Your goal as one of the teenagers is to figure out what is happening.
Along the way, you engage in plenty of interesting conversations containing dialog choices. These dialog choices and other decisions you make in the game impact what ending you get. Each conclusion revolves around members of the friend group, meaning you can make or break relationships.
Alpha Protocol
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Action RPG Systems Released June 1, 2010 ESRB m Developer(s) Obsidian Entertainment Publisher(s) Sega Engine Unreal Engine 3WHERE TO PLAY
DIGITALIn Alpha Protocol, you play as a government agent named Michael Thorton, who goes rogue in an attempt to uncover a large conspiracy. A mission that important is bound to put Thorton into some difficult situations where he has to make some tough choices.
Thankfully for him, you're in control, so it's your job to make those decisions. There are plenty of them that heavily impact how the story plays out in both large and small ways. It's the main selling point of this third-person action RPG.
Banishers: Ghosts Of New Eden
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Action RPG Systems 3.0/5 OpenCritic Reviews Top Critic Avg: 80/100 Critics Rec: 79% Released February 13, 2024 ESRB T For Teen Due To Blood and Gore, Language, Use of Alcohol and Tobacco, Violence Developer(s) DON'T NOD Publisher(s) Focus Entertainment Engine Unreal Engine 5WHERE TO PLAY
DIGITALIn Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden, you play as a pair of lovers and Ghost Hunters called Red and Duarte. As their title suggests, they track down ghosts and get rid of them. Unfortunately, Duarte dies near the start of the game, so she then becomes a ghost.
She still helps Red on his ghost-hunting duties, but eventually, he will have to decide what to do with her. It isn't just a binary choice you make at the end of the game. Instead, what you do with the other ghosts you meet on your journey dictates what happens to Duarte at the end of the story.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard
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RPG Systems 4.0/5 73 5.8/10 OpenCritic Reviews Top Critic Avg: 80/100 Critics Rec: 71% Released October 31, 2024 ESRB M For Mature 17+ // Blood, Nudity, Sexual Themes, Strong Language, Violence Developer(s) BioWare Publisher(s) Electronic Arts Engine FrostbiteWHERE TO PLAY
DIGITALDragon Age: The Veilguard is an action RPG that messes with the classic Dragon Age formula by being more action-focused and removing a lot of the big open areas from previous instalments. However, one thing that doesn't change is the inclusion of choices and consequences.
You play a character named Rook who goes on an adventure to stop Thedas from being conquered by gods. Along the way, you have to make a lot of choices, which impact how everything plays out. They certainly impact the latter stages of the story.
Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic
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RPG Systems 10.0/10 OpenCritic Reviews Top Critic Avg: 83/100 Critics Rec: 85% Released July 15, 2003 ESRB T for Teen: Violence Developer(s) BioWare Publisher(s) LucasArts Engine Odyssey EngineWHERE TO PLAY
DIGITALKnights of the Old Republic is a Star Wars RPG that puts you into the shoes of an amnesiac protagonist who is tasked with tracking down the evil Darth Malak. Along the way, you make a bunch of different choices.
Most of them impact different characters and how certain quests play out. There is also a romance system in the game, so deciding who you want to woo is another choice you have to make. The most important decision, though, comes late in the game and completely alters the end of the story and what sort of person your character becomes.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance
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RPG Systems OpenCritic Reviews Top Critic Avg: 72/100 Critics Rec: 48% Released February 13, 2018 ESRB M For Mature 17+ due to Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Nudity, Strong Language, Strong Sexual Content, Use of Alcohol Developer(s) Warhorse Studios Publisher(s) Deep Silver Engine cryengineWHERE TO PLAY
DIGITALIn Kingdom Come: Deliverance, you play as the son of a blacksmith whose life changes significantly when his village is attacked at the start of the game. In the aftermath, he embarks on a revenge mission.
The game is an open-world RPG where you're encouraged to visit different places and talk to a bunch of people. What you do and say affects your reputation with various groups and cities. Your decisions also impact how plenty of quests conclude and what path you take to the game's ending.
Batman: The Enemy Within
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Point-and-click Adventure Systems OpenCritic Reviews Top Critic Avg: 81/100 Critics Rec: 76% Released August 8, 2017 ESRB M // Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Language Developer(s) Telltale Games Publisher(s) Telltale Games Engine Telltale Tool Franchise BatmanWHERE TO PLAY
DIGITALBatman: The Enemy Within puts you into the shoes of Bruce Wayne and his alter ego, Batman. As Bruce Wayne, you must infiltrate and try to stop a group of supercriminals known as The Pact. As this is a Telltale game, you make plenty of choices along the way. This impacts how the narrative plays out and your relationship with other characters.
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PostsThe most significant decisions you make, though, revolve around your strange buddy, John Doe. Your choices can lead to him becoming either The Joker or a vigilante, which significantly alters the final episode of the game.
Resident Evil
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Survival Horror Systems 4.0/5 10.0/10 Released March 22, 1996 ESRB Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Language, Violence Developer(s) Capcom Publisher(s) Capcom Engine RE Engine Franchise Resident Evil Number of Players 1 Platform(s) PlayStation (Original), Sega Saturn, Nintendo DS, PC Powered by Expand CollapseNone of the Resident Evil games are known for being choice-based. Yet, there are decisions for you to make in the original title, which affects how things play out in this survival horror game. The first one is whether you play as Chris Redfield or Jill Valentine. Both characters offer slightly different playthroughs and experiences.
Both protagonists have an ally that helps them throughout the game. Jill gets Barry Burton, while Chris teams up with Rebecca Chambers. In both cases, several choices and actions you make determine whether your buddy in question survives the story.
