3 days ago
Morally Gray Gaming ft. Shannon Strucci
This week on Brain Lords we discuss all the vile and wicked things we love to do (in Minecraft). After all, aren't you just following the rules if a game is allowing you to be evil? Returning guest Shannon Strucci joins us in reconciling if the morally ambiguous things we can only safely do in games are meant to stick with us after the game turns off. You wouldn't whack a Whacka would you, Mario?
Questions, Comments, Suggestions?
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THINGS DISCUSSED
Illusion of Gaia, Blanksword, Fallout Series, The Daily Tism Article,
What is our history with games that gave us difficult moral choices? (0:11:59)
Spyro the Dragon, Paper Mario, Dread Delusion, Off, Missile Command, Ultima IV, Bioshock, Bastion, Hotline Miami, Spec Ops The Line, This War of Mine, Undertale, Disco Elysium, Final Fantasy IV, Metal Gear Solid, Zone of the Enders
Have you as a player ever been compelled to make a choice you fundamentally disagree with? (0:30:33)
Chrono Trigger, Fuga: Melodies of Steel, Cult of the Lamb, Journey, Disco Elysium, Mouthwashing, Spec Ops: The Line, Outer Worlds, Fallout: New Vegas, Darkest Dungeon, This War of Mine, Fear and Hunger, Mass Effect
Game Ratings: Alternate Endings (0:59:21)
Silent Hill, Persona 4, Shin Megami Tensei V, Final Fantasy X2, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Drakengard 3, Catherine Full Frontal, The Stanley Parable Ultra Deluxe, Nier: Automata
Are we as players complicit in moral choices made by the characters we play? (1:15:42)
The Last of Us 2, 1000xRESIST, Lisa The Painful, Undertale, Better Call Saul, Breaking Bad, The Venture Bros.
How do we reconcile our moral choices once the game is turned off? Does what happened in the game stay in the game? (1:35:35)
Dread Delusion, Illusion of Gaia, Firewatch, Baldur’s Gate 3, Boyfriend Dungeon, A Wolf Among Us, Resident Evil Requiem, The Walking Dead, Pentiment, Papers Please, The Beginners Guide, Slay The Princess, Train
The Question Zone (2:15:50)
Jamchop Scramtop- In a playthrough of Fallout: New Vegas, I was attempting to play someone morally grey, someone who just goes where the money is and doesn't get caught up in sentimentality. I was also specializing in energy weapons. This led me early to the Silver Rush and the Van Graffs. I got through all the first missions to join their gang, and then they sent me on the mission to find Cass and bring her there. I had to use Speech to convince Cass to join me, learned her entire tragic backstory, and got very endeared to her. When they vaporized her on sight when I brought her in, I was so angry in character that I immediately decided I was burning it all down then and there. This took a LOT of save scumming because I wasn't very strong yet, but I managed to kill all the Van Graffs. A wild moment where I learned that even when trying to be morally grey, I have my fucking limits.
Bugs Maytrix- Dawg i play infect in commander. im saturday morning cartoon evil. how can i be even more evil?
No- Undertale, like many games, is a morality scam. You're offered three paths over multiple playthroughs where first time around your choices don't affect the outcome and the npcs break the fourth wall to imply you the player are immoral to roleplay a child constantly defending themselves from deadly attacks as a monster for fighting back with maximum violence. I mean there's a point there, but plenty of games do give you actual moral choices to make, including the dubious decisions made when roleplaying an asshole. Personally I'm hoping there will one day be a sweet spot between all the mass-murdering shooters and moralizing railroading rpgs that.. oh I guess I have to make a game now.
TastyLlama- The choices of who to accuse/exile/execute in Paradise Killer are really interesting, considering objectively (maybe, probably?) both you and everyone you know should probably die
Lil Diggity- In most games, being evil is meant to be fun, sometimes more fun than being good. Baldur's Gate 3, for example, is extremely robust in how it lets evil player characters lean into being cartoonishly evil just for the fun of it without ruining their gameplay experience. Undertale, on the other hand, is one of the few games I've played that intentionally makes its evil route miserable and anti-fun. There's room for both approaches, but is there one that you prefer?
Mario Party, Resistance, Paradise Killer
The Rec Room (2:36:30)
Love Eternal, VVVVVV, Celeste, Chain Smoking Cat, Immortals Fenyx Rising, Widows Bay, ParanoiaScape, Lord of the Flies (1963), Pearl the Cat
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