It seems that you're using an outdated browser. Some things may not work as they should (or don't work at all).
We suggest you upgrade newer and better browser like: Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer or Opera

×
avatar
Elmofongo: What are the villains playthroughs like in these games?

Bioware RPGs not Mass Effect.
Evil = Chaotic Stupid for the BGs, and it's pretty pointless except for one or two bits and pieces. Being able to drive Anomen insane is a plus, but only because he's so annoying; and you can do that as a good character too. KOTOR and Jade Empire are a lot more along the lines of Mass Effect, JE's open palm/ closed fist presages the paragon/ renegade approach but still has a lot of 'pointless' evil thrown in too, and the events around the identity reveal in KOTOR are pretty memorable as a bad guy.
Bethesda's RPGs
lol
Obsidians RPGs including KOTOR 2 and Fallout New Vegas
K2's handling of evil is pretty good. You also tend to be called out on playing it as chaotic stupid by Kreia. As mentioned Tyranny is all about being bad while FONV's evil faction is way too cartoony; Pillars of Eternity handles it well and there's some variety in how you're evil there too since there are usually 'evil' options of a chaotic stupid, selfish and Machiavellian as well as the good options. NWN2: Mask of the Betrayer has probably the best 'evil' fork of any RPG.

The old Infinity Engine games and Fallout 1 and 2.
The evil options in all of theses are kind of of limited use. You can certainly be a prick in Planetscape Tournament and certainly were a prick too, but if you play it that way you miss a lot of the content which is the point of the game. "I sold my companion into eternal slavery and all I got was a lousy Power Word: Kill"... Similar for the Fallouts, it's not so much that the evil options are badly written, but since they tend to lead to ruining places and losing friends etc they do also tend to cut off a lot of content for very little gain, considering how much loot and cash you get even as a selfless paragon of virtue.
avatar
Breja: Mass Effect had the right idea in shifting from "good/evil" to "paragon/renegade". Simply because you're not a boy scout doesn't make you evil.
avatar
StingingVelvet: Yes, this. I like playing a Dirty Harry style renegade, I don't like playing someone cruel and pure evil. Too many RPGs go with the latter for their rebel type choices. I mean nuking a city for lulz? Come on. I actually disagree with the rest of your post, I think ME 1-3 did Dirty Harry very well. There were only a couple of times I felt like it went over the top, like a moment in ME2 where you send an innocent out as a bullet shield.
I don't remember the games quite well enough to argue this. I feel like it went over the top more often than not, but maybe those are just the moments that stuck out more and thus I remember them better. I think the biggest problem was that the games had this terrible dialogue system that's all over RPGs these days where you're only given a summary of what a character will say/choose instead of a full text, and those summaries are often misleading. Not to mention the "interrupts" which were a total gamble. I remember wanting to intimidate someone for information and instead throwing them out a window to their death. So "good" was less frustrating to play, because the choices were safer, in that you were more likely to get what you thought you would get, instead of "let's try this... ah fuck, he went apeshit... let's reload...".
avatar
Breja: I don't remember the games quite well enough to argue this. I feel like it went over the top more often than not, but maybe those are just the moments that stuck out more and thus I remember them better. I think the biggest problem was that the games had this terrible dialogue system that's all over RPGs these days where you're only given a summary of what a character will say/choose instead of a full text, and those summaries are often misleading. Not to mention the "interrupts" which were a total gamble. I remember wanting to intimidate someone for information and instead throwing them out a window to their death. So "good" was less frustrating to play, because the choices were safer, in that you were more likely to get what you thought you would get, instead of "let's try this... ah fuck, he went apeshit... let's reload...".
Well maybe it's all relative. He would definitely get sick of interrogating an enemy and kill him in frustration, but I guess I see that as amusing wish fulfillment and not true evil as long as it's a bad guy. Maybe I watched too many 80s action movies. To me it's still way different than torturing someone for fun or nuking a city, because RPG writers are like "let's make an EVILLLLL choice!"
avatar
Breja: I don't remember the games quite well enough to argue this. I feel like it went over the top more often than not, but maybe those are just the moments that stuck out more and thus I remember them better. I think the biggest problem was that the games had this terrible dialogue system that's all over RPGs these days where you're only given a summary of what a character will say/choose instead of a full text, and those summaries are often misleading. Not to mention the "interrupts" which were a total gamble. I remember wanting to intimidate someone for information and instead throwing them out a window to their death. So "good" was less frustrating to play, because the choices were safer, in that you were more likely to get what you thought you would get, instead of "let's try this... ah fuck, he went apeshit... let's reload...".
Stay the hell away from LA Noire then! :)
The Neverwinter Nights 2 module Mysteries of Westgate (included with NWN2 on Gog) is also pretty interesting, if you choose evil the final part of the game plays out entirely differently with locations and gameplay you wouldn't see otherwise. Also lots of interesting choices before where evil behaviour actually makes sense.
avatar
Breja: I don't remember the games quite well enough to argue this. I feel like it went over the top more often than not, but maybe those are just the moments that stuck out more and thus I remember them better. I think the biggest problem was that the games had this terrible dialogue system that's all over RPGs these days where you're only given a summary of what a character will say/choose instead of a full text, and those summaries are often misleading. Not to mention the "interrupts" which were a total gamble. I remember wanting to intimidate someone for information and instead throwing them out a window to their death. So "good" was less frustrating to play, because the choices were safer, in that you were more likely to get what you thought you would get, instead of "let's try this... ah fuck, he went apeshit... let's reload...".
avatar
Matewis: Stay the hell away from LA Noire then! :)
This is also the main reason why the only really great Dragon Age game was the first one. Though your character does not talk in conversations, the options you are presented are exactly what you say. Some options even have multiple sentences and such and you could have 5+ of them at once.

From 2 and on, they adopted the Mass Effect system where you get the general outline of what you will say and the only thing to do when it's something you did not expect is to reload. DA 2 is absolutely terrible in this regard because the options for the entire game are only "Yes, No, Sarcasm". Nothing else.
Post edited April 07, 2021 by idbeholdME
I could imagine both Pillars games could make for a pretty good "evil" playthrough. The dialogue options I saw at least are not as "silly sociopath" as in the Bioware games. I've never tried it though.
If anyone read the Manga Berserk, or watched the 1997 Anime, what RPG can make me act similar to Guts when he was the Black Swordsmen?
avatar
StingingVelvet: For absolute pure evilNeverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer is supposed to have the best pure evil storyline ever. Sadly I haven't played it that way yet, keep meaning to do that.
Oh, MOTB's evil path is a doozy. If you play your cards right, you can become a soul-stealing monster that even the gods themselves fear. People throughout the game call you a thing, something that will bring only misery, pain and death to everything it touches and that must be destroyed. You can actually prove them right. :D
Post edited April 09, 2021 by Nergal01
avatar
toxicTom: I could imagine both Pillars games could make for a pretty good "evil" playthrough. The dialogue options I saw at least are not as "silly sociopath" as in the Bioware games. I've never tried it though.
They offer some very good selfish aggressiveness and thirst for power options, for sure. Not gimmicky killing for the lulz though, but I think that's a good thing.