A complex RPG where one decision completely ruins a perfect story

In large and complex RPGs with a ridiculous amount of freedom, we usually expect a compelling story to keep pushing us forward. It's easier to stay invested in a 100+ hour epic if you actually care about the characters, where they're going and what they're doing. We often have some input into how that story ultimately plays out through narrative choices that can affect the ending. Some games force players to jump through all kinds of absurd hoops to reach a good or best ending.

The requirements can be frustratingly specific, and it's even worse when there's no concrete indication as the game progresses of what the right decisions are to achieve them. The thing that players really dread is when one seemingly innocuous decision along the way can doom you to lose the perfect conclusion to your story. Here are some titles that make it easy to fall into this trap.

5

Triangle strategy

A chain of decisions where one mistake can break the chain

Triangle strategy is a turn-based tactical RPG with excellent combat developed by Square Enix, set in the realm of Norzelia. Here, the uneasy peace between the nations of Glenbrook, Hyzante, and Aesfrost, fostered after a long period of warfare, is shattered once again when Aesfrost stages an invasion of Glenbrook. She plays Serena Wolffort of House Wolffort, the leading military force in Glenbrook. The player begins with a core cast of allies, including the kingdom's Prince Roland and new fiancée Frederika Aesfrost, and can recruit others as their actions and decisions determine. Each is a completely unique unit with a different selection of abilities to learn, weapons to upgrade and skills.

Your decisions in the game will not only affect the units you can add to your roster, but also the different paths the story will take. The game is best known for its Scales of Conviction mechanic, where the main characters of Sereno's party vote on one possible course of action or another during key moments in the story. However, during the climax of the game, three members of your party will each come up with a completely different plan, incompatible with the others, and choosing any of them will cause the opponents to leave the party. However, through a very specific series of events throughout the game, Serenoa dramatically arrives at an idea that works for everyone, solving the lingering problems in each nation and uniting them in a new age of peace (plus marrying Frederika, of course). However, in order to achieve this best ending, some very specific decisions must be made, including refusing to use any fire trap against the army invading Wolffort territory in Chapter 7, making it much more difficult to force the invading army back. You must also agree to help the illegal merchant transport his precious salt and reveal the truth about Prince Roland's identity to Svarog of Aesfrost when he is questioned. There is also a very strange item hidden in the village of Roselle, Frederica's people, that must be obtained. Some of these choices seem insignificant at the time or have no effect on the overall outcome, but each one is necessary to keep you on the path to the best ending.

4

Persona 4 Gold

Don't make one false move

The Persona RPGs are one of the most popular and certainly one of the longest. So it would be completely understandable if a player decides that one playthrough is enough, at least for a pretty long time. If you don't return to the title for this reason, it's important that you reach the desired ending. For the best ending in Persona 4 Goldit all depends on a series of decisions made right at the very end.

For one thing, there's a requirement that fans of the series will already be familiar with: Maximum use of the associated social media link. In this case it's Marie, probably because the game wants to make sure you get to know her as much as possible Gold– exclusive character. The other main players will likely be maxed out as well, and anyone you talk to on the last day (i.e last last day, in March) will add another one of those emotional little scenes that games do so well. After that, resist the game's repeated insistence that you should return home and instead travel to the riverbank again and then the Velvet Room. Talking to your allies in these places opens the way to one final stop, the South Shopping District and the staff at its gas station. This sequence of events opens Yomotsu Hirasaka, the very last dungeon of the game. It must be visited on this day, can only be accessed through this sequence, and is the home of Izanami. If you really want a perfect closure, this is the way to do it.

3

Vampire

Let your humanity triumph over vampirism

As a doctor during the great flu epidemic that arrived after World War I, Jonathan Reid has a demanding professional life, to say the least. That's before another complicating factor is thrown into the mix: He's also been bitten by a vampire and turned into one himself. This is the deeply troubling dichotomy of his life. After fighting in the conflict, he traveled back to London and got a job at Pembroke Hospital, where he can develop a close relationship with patients and secure the medicine needed to help them. However, he can also choose to embrace his vampiric side and feast on them.

The game takes place in several London neighborhoods, each populated by its own cast of characters. The health of each NPC affects the health of the district as a whole, and this is the decision the player must make: Be a dutiful doctor, produce the necessary medicine for their ailments and cure them, or devour at will and let the districts fall into chaos and be filled with enemies. The latter may not sound appealing, but be aware that the more you talk to the characters and get to know them better (the characterization is surprisingly in-depth), the more the experience will be worth it if you decide to make a living out of them.

It's much more difficult to level up if you refuse to feed this way, but you only get the best ending if you save everyone. So note that one NPC, Dorothy Crane, is quite infamous. She is a “pillar” or key figure in the Whitechapel district, and in the storyline Reid confronts her about her blackmail of a prominent figure, Lady Ashbury. You can choose to spare, charm, or embrace (feed off of) her. As the first option sees her resigning her post as a healer, the safest option seems to be a spell to make her forget, but it actually causes her to disappear and eventually return as a rock, a hostile vampire. Whitechapel's health is destroyed by this seemingly innocent choice to the point where many players have been forced to restart after making this common mistake.

2

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

The smallest decision changes Ciri's fate

In some RPGs, the decisions the player must make are huge and universe-defining. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt it also has its share of huge designs, but sometimes the smallest decisions are the most impactful. After the battle at Kaer Morhen, Geralt may decide to try to lift Ciri's spirits. Doing so leads to him sparking a snowball fight with her, a bit of silly fun, but also a powerfully emotional moment in its own right. What newcomers may not know is that it's the smallest things like this that ultimately determine whether Ciri lives or is lost.

The specific choices the player can make through the game offer Ciri a chance to prove her trust and develop a belief in her own extraordinary abilities. To do this, she sometimes has to be trusted to act on her own. For example, in another crucial case, she can talk to Margarita and Phillipa alone if Geralt encourages her that it will be okay. Alternatively, he may join her, but what may be intended as a supportive and protective act actually counts as a negative choice. If the “wrong” choice is made in enough of these moments, Ciri may perish trying to subdue the formidable White Frost.

1

Undertale

It is not easy to be friendly to everyone

Players spend a lot of time in RPGs killing enemies in battle after battle, all just to get stronger. IN Undertaleit's quite refreshing to go the pacifist route instead. The truly dedicated can complete the True Pacifist run, but as always in this game, there are plenty of surprises ahead that make it incredibly difficult.

If you get too fixated on simply avoiding defeating enemies during this utterly unique adventure, you'll miss these seemingly insignificant decisions, which will also immediately end your quest to become a true pacifist. For example, say you defeat and spare Papyrus, but just keep going. Yeah, the attempt is there. You also have to complete the encounter with them afterwards. After that, reviving Undyne with a splash of water is also a crucial requirement, as is meeting Alphys later. You need to have already played the neutral game to attempt the True Pacifist path, and some of the requirements for it are things you might want to skip once you've seen them. However, if you do, your story will be ruined. One of the most challenging challenges of all.