The Quarry is a self-described cinematic horror game that places players in the middle of a dangerous night at Hacket's Quarry summer camp. Every choice matters if players want to survive the night; one wrong move and it's game over for these unassuming camp counselors.
Like The Quarry, many other games place a high value on the choices made by the players. Each decision leads to a new possibility, and the wrong one can provoke unexpected consequences that become clear later in the game. And while they remain thoroughly entertaining, players must pay extra attention to get the best possible outcome.
The Quarry
Debuting earlier this year, The Quarry became an instant success with horror fans. The game features an all-star cast, including David Arquette and Brenda Song, and an interactive plot that demands players pay attention to every move and decision.
The Quarry includes a series of major choices that will determine the fate of several characters. Players have the camp counselor's lives in their hands and can either save them or submit them to gruesome deaths. The game includes several points-of-no-return, and players must plan ahead if they expect to finish their playthrough with the best possible outcome.
Until Dawn
The spiritual predecessor to The Quarry, Sony Computer Entertainment's Until Dawn follows a group of characters trying to make it through the night while dangerous creatures stalk them.
Like The Quarry, Until Dawn features a slew of crucial choices that can change the plot's course. The game uses a butterfly effect system where one simple and seemingly meaningless decision can trigger an avalanche of possibilities. The entire ensemble of characters can die should the player want it; on the contrary, they can survive as long as players follow the necessary steps. Although Until Dawn is a demanding playthrough, fans will get the best out of it so long as they don't get easily scared.
Heavy Rain
Sony Computer Entertainment is also behind Heavy Rain, a 2010 interactive action-adventure game. The plot concerns four characters who get caught up in the mystery of the Origami Killer, a serial murderer who drowns his victims during times of heavy rain.
Players' decisions affect the game's narrative, determining whether the main characters live or die. Heavy Rain features a branching narrative that evolves depending on the player's choices throughout the plot. The game also includes several endings, including one that's so negative and depressing that players may be left with severe guilt for failing to stop the Origami Killer.
The Witcher III: Wild Hunt
Long before The Witcher was a gleam in Henry Cavill's eye, it was a successful video game franchise based on an equally popular book series. The plot centers on Geralt of Rivia, a witcher who forms a makeshift family with the former princess of Cintra and a powerful witch.
The third entry in the franchise, subtitled Wild Hunt, follows Geralt as he tries to find Ciri, who's on the run from the otherworldly Wild Hunt. Wild Hunt features several crucial choices at key points in the narrative; their outcome will determine the game's ending and whether Ciri lives or dies. The Witcher 3 features multiple side quests, and while it doesn't have a plot as diverging as other decision-based games, it still relies heavily on the choices made by the player.
Life Is Strange
The Life is Strange series blends science fiction elements with a classic romance, creating a unique RPG that instantly hooked fans. Using an episodic release, the series explores themes of school romance and trauma, becoming a milestone in LGBTQ+ gaming.
The series uses a complex and branching narrative based on dialogue exchanges between the main character and the franchise's numerous NPCs. Decisions that may lead to immediate positive outcomes can turn out detrimental in the long run, meaning players must be vigilant to secure the best outcome at the end of their playthrough.
Fallout: New Vegas
Set in a post-apocalyptic and retro-futuristic world, the Fallout franchise includes four main-series games and several spin-offs, including New Vegas. The plot concerns the Courier, a character who goes on a quest to find the attacker who stole a package from him and left him for dead in the Mojave desert.
Fallout features multiple scary quests and endings, depending on numerous choices made by the player throughout the plot. These decisions range from saving characters to stopping events from happening. The Courier can also kill many NPCs, determining the larger fate of the character at the game's end.
Detroit: Become Human
With an ambitious plot that explores some of sci-fi's most enduring themes, Detroit: Become Human is a one-of-a-kind game. The plot concerns three androids -- Kara, Connor, and Marcus -- who each have a role to play in the liberation of androids who have developed sentience.
Decisions in Detroit: Become Human have genuine consequences for the three main characters and the NPCs that cross their paths. The game features multiple decisions, and even if only a few have major effects on the plot's eventual conclusion, they all help shape the characters' journey and define the player's playthrough.
Dragon Age
Decision-making is a vital part of the Dragon Age franchise. Origins and Dragon Age II include several crucial choices that alter the state of Thedas in Dragon Age: Inquisition. Players hold the key to the fates of many organizations in the fictional continent, including the Grey Wardens, the mages, and the templars.
Inquisition ups the ante by placing the future of the Kingdom of Ferelden and the Empire of Orlais in the player's hands. The game also allows the Inquisitor to shape the war against the Dread Wolf, thanks to many crucial choices throughout the story. Because of the many available options, BioWare will need to canonize many decisions for the upcoming Dragon Age: Dread Wolf.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
The Elder Scrolls is one of the most celebrated and acclaimed open-world franchises in the video game industry. Combining medieval elements with high fantasy, each entry focuses on the conflict between a rising hero and an emerging threat.
The series' fifth installment, Skyrim, follows the Dragonborn, a hero on a quest to defeat the World Eater, a dragon meant to destroy the continent of Tamriel. The gameplay features multiple crucial choices throughout the plot, including saving or killing NPCs and other creatures and even adopting children. Other choices are more about the Dragonborn's ethical code, leaving the character's morality in the player's hands.
Mass Effect
The Mass Effect trilogy is possibly BioWare's crowning achievement. The series focuses on Commander Shepard's struggle to warn the galaxy against the Reapers, an advanced and highly destructive race of synthetic-organic starships aiming to destroy all organic life in the universe.
Players trying to get the best outcome at the end of Mass Effect 3 must mind their decisions in the two previous games. Shepard's choices on who lives and dies will directly alter the final choice, in which the brave Commander must decide what to do with the Reapers. Shepard can only survive if players follow a series of precise steps, and considering several choices date as far back as the first Mass Effect, many fans might not make it out with their Commander alive.