Summary
Obsidiantitles are renowned for being games where theplayer’s choices truly matter. A few of them also have the theme, unfortunately, of being games where developers gave them unreasonable crunch periods to work on titles. Whether an Obsidian title is a rough gem or a fully realized masterpiece, the dedication to emergent storytelling and player choice remains the same, and this is why they’re so celebrated today.
But player choice means offering choices thataren’t always good. Any game may offer the player a chance to save a kitten from a tree, but, philosophically, that choice is only the ‘good’ choice if there is also the option to launch the kitten out of a cannon, and chop the tree down to fashion into so many cudgels used for beating. Luckily, Obsidian titles have a little more nuance than usual, and these games give players great evil routes.
Neverwinter Nights 2stands amongBaldur’s Gate 3as one ofthe best CRPGs of all time.This is a series of campaigns utilizingD&D3.5, the edition that saw the most popularity before the more streamlined 5e sometime later.
This game truly lets players take quests and content to their most extreme, and gives players unparalleled freedom to experience both the benefits - and consequences - of being unrequitedly evil in nature.
Stillholding up years after release,The Outer Worldsis a game that few can hold a candle to in terms of its wit and game design. Part of this philosophy is in the game’s evil route, which offers a completely unique experience of the game.
The evil route in this game makes players feel bad - in the best way possible. Players get to be vile, violent, and cruel towards an already suffering colony, and seal its fate with one of the most twisted villainous plans in a video game.
Pillars of Eternity 2is a fantastic continuation of the game set forth by Obsidian some years prior, with both titles being more relevant than ever in the wake ofAvowedand its upcoming release. The first game and this game both never really put the player in a ‘heroic’ position - the first title has them working more out of self-preservation, and in this title, as a pirate.
Players who take evil routes in video games typically end up being loathed or feared - and inFallout: New Vegas, the end result is a healthy mix of both. Characters have moments of existential breakdown as they attempt to wrap their heads around how such an evil character could exist.
For everyNPC who is amoral, the player has an opportunity to make them look like a canonical saint. It’s cathartic and gruesome in equal measure and a great testament to this game’s quality.
One of the best roleplaying games of all time, one of the bestStar Warsgames of all time, and oddly enough not the only instance of Obsidian picking up the sequel to a BioWare RPG it was only natural that a game focused on the light and dark side would have such an engaging evil route.
The singularly most satisfying part about being evil in this game is that players can take their companions down with them to the dark side. They can turn force-sensitive players into evil Sith, which is incredibly cathartic and deliciously evil.
If there is one thing that unites all the other games on this list besidesTyranny, it’s that evil is oft the road less traveled. Evil truncates the game inOuter Worldsand can make people physically uncomfortable in other titles. Good routes, or where available neutral routes, are usually the mainstays in these titles.
While this may be the case withTyrannyas well, what makes this game so unique is that evil is the default route. Players pick between shades of evil, there’s so much evil. Whether players are malevolent and relish in anguish, or they’re begrudging followers in a system they feel is too big to defeat, or they take on the genuinely arduous task of trying to rebel against the Empire,Tyrannyoffers a unique and satisfying sense of character development in any game.
