Summary
Isometric RPGsare renowned for their rich narrativesand the freedom of choice they offer, allowing players to explore vast maps while trying to survive confrontations against powerful enemies. This genre is also recognized for the detailed interactions characters can have with others and the liberty to make decisions, creating unique experiences.
Thus, it is often possible to achieve different endings in these games, with many isometric RPGs featuring evil routes where players can explore dark ambitions, manipulations, or different moral choices. Various titles allow characters to follow this path, with dark journeys and different narratives based on these choices, demonstrating the genre’s potential.
Shadowrun: Hong Kongallows for evil approaches through lethal decisions, betrayals, and dialogues based on intimidation and deceit. Missions like “The Extraction” offer the option to eliminate enemies instead of seeking peaceful resolutions, while the final confrontation permits dark pacts that sacrifice the team for personal gain.
Team dynamics can be manipulated to prioritize personal advancement, generating conflicts and betrayals among characters. Endings like “It’s Just One City” and campaigns that align with criminal organizations demonstrate the game’s flexibility in accommodating a dark experience, reflecting the consequences of players' morally ambiguous choices.
Rogue Traderstands out by immersing players in a universe already known for its dark setting and oppressive atmosphere.InWarhammer’ssettings, the future is a place of constant wars, where there are no well-defined lines between good and evil, making it perfect for an RPG with complex choices.
Owlcat Games' title perfectly captures the essence of this dystopian universe, offering players the chance to command a Rogue Trader, an explorer sanctioned by the Empire to operate outside common restrictions. Throughout the story, players face various choices, such as destroying planets, making pacts with demons, or corrupting allies in the name of power.
InWasteland 3, players can exploremorally questionable paths throughout the story, allowing decisions made in the narrative to impact various minor or major aspects of the setting. For example, when dealing with a noise complaint, it is possible to choose to burn down the building where it’s happening instead of handling it more peacefully.
Players can also make other equally questionable decisions throughout the game, such as supporting Liberty Buchanan, one of the main antagonists, in her plan to take over Colorado. It is also possible to invade the palace and assassinate the Patriarch,ending the game prematurely and plunging the entire region into total chaos, makingWasteland 3an excellent game for those who enjoy evil choices.
InTyranny, players take on the role of a high-ranking officer of Kyros’s evil empire. From the outset, it is possible to make cruel decisions that directly affect the fate of conquered lands. By imposing Kyros’s will, players can opt for oppressive actions, betrayals, and acts of brutality to consolidate power.
The game’s narrative encourages morally questionable choices, allowing manipulation of factions, execution of dissidents, and spreading of terror. The consequences of these actions are profound, altering alliances and the balance of power in the world. Thus,Tyrannystands out byallowing players to explore a truly evil route, diving into a journey where evil is the dominant force.
Fallout 2isone of the greatest classics among isometric RPGsever produced, largely due to the freedom it gives players while exploring the Wasteland, making the game a perfect choice for those who enjoy an evil playthrough. The entire narrative of the second game in the series is filled with moments where players can be truly evil in the story.
In addition to choices that can destroy entire cities, it is also possible for players to recruit companions throughout the journey and later sell them as slaves to different slavers within the game. These arejust some of the evil options thatFallout 2offers, showing how anyone can be corrupted when trying to survive in the hostile environment of the setting.
With one of the most uniquesettings among isometric RPGs,Age of Decadencetakes players on a journey through scenarios inspired by the Roman Empire, being a game that offers great freedom to players. The story events can be approached in different ways to fit the characters' best skills.
Thus, evil routes are common in this isometric RPG, where betrayals, lies, and even assassinations at certain moments are highly encouraged, leading the story to have devastating consequences throughout the world. Moreover,Age of Decadencealso offers considerable difficulty at all times, providing the challenging experience of playing one of the genre’s classics.
InPillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire, players can explore an evil route byassuming the role of a ruthless pirate captain. Cruel decisions — such as betraying alliances, plundering innocent ships, and supporting oppressive factions — allow molding the world according to dark ambitions, directly influencing the unfolding of the story.
The narrative delves into morally questionable choices with significant consequences, affecting relationships with companions and the fate of nations. By opting for dark paths, it is possible to manipulate events for personal gain, triggering conflicts between factions and destroying communities, which highlights the game’s flexibility in providing more evil experiences.
Planescape: Tormenttakes players to a universe where the lines between good and evil are blurred. Controlling the Nameless One, an immortal protagonist with a mysterious past, players can make dark decisions that profoundly impact the plot. Through dialogues and actions, players can follow evil paths, manipulating characters and causing chaos across the planes.
Morally ambiguous choices allow exploration of deep themes about identity, redemption, and corruption. By aligning with dark forces or betraying allies, the consequences affect not only the protagonist but also the multiverse around them. The game, which offers one of the best narratives among all isometric RPGs, also excels in presenting evil choices.
Although deciding to venture on anevil playthrough inBaldur’s Gate 3causes players to lose access to some of the content the game offers, such as certain missions and companions, the entire narrative is still filled with moments where truly evil choices can be made. For example, during Act 1, it is possible to betray the location of the hidden druid grove to the nearby goblins, condemning not only the druids themselves but also the tiefling refugees to a grizzly end.
In the following acts, it is even possible to sacrifice the lives of thousands of people for Astarion’s vampire transformation — or even corrupt Shadowheart so that she continues on Shar’s dark path. Additionally, thanks to Patch 7, the game now has new endings for characters who follow this evil route, adding new, diabolical content to the game.
Based on the universe of Golarion, a TTRPG setting created by Paizo, which also publishes thePathfindersystem,Wrath of the Righteousis an isometric RPG that offers the richest and most varied experience for those who enjoy evil routes. The story places characters in the midst of a crusade against demons, but it allows for different choices and alignments, including dark ones.
This is achieved through the Mythic Paths the game offers — choices that grant unique powers and stories that shape the protagonist’s destiny and the world around them. Thus,options like Lich, Demon, Swarm-That-Walks, and Devil,when aligned with the decisions the game provides, become one of the most immersive experiences among isometric RPGs — and makes the game stand tall as offering the most thoroughly evil routes in a genre already steeped in evil choices.
