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Guilty Moments
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Dix
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October 5, 2015 - 9:35 pm
Member Since: June 6, 2011
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So I'm working on a little bit of a musing about how games invoke guilt in the player.  I have a couple specific moments in mind, since I hit them back to back last week, but I certainly want to consider other examples.  One obvious example is how a lot of people felt guilty about incinerating their Companion Cube in Portal.

What are some examples that stuck in your minds?

"Home is not a place.  It is wherever your passion takes you."

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Steerpike
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October 5, 2015 - 10:19 pm
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Good topic. It's rare for a game to really conjure guilt, Companion Cube being an exception more than a rule.

Ones that stick with me... killing Crossbreed Priscilla in Dark Souls. That one's especially bad because I chose to go back and attack her for no particular reason, and her story is so tragic to begin with.

The end of The Last of Us. That stayed with me for a long time.

Several scenes throughout the Mass Effect series. In particular the end of ME2. I'd put off Jack and Samara's loyalty quests because I didn't like them; kept telling myself I'd get around to it eventually. They were both killed in my Suicide Mission and I felt very bad, less because they died and more because it meant I couldn't keep my promise to them. There was an implied betrayal in that because I hadn't yet earned their loyalty and they nonetheless loyally did what I told them to.

It's surprisingly difficult to come up with good examples of this. Those are all AAA examples, but I feel like there's been a great current of guilt in indie games recently. I just can't think of anything specific there.

Life is the misery we endure between disappointments.

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Dix
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October 5, 2015 - 10:34 pm
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The Last of Us is one that I had in mind.  I will say that the game (juxtaposed with Phantom Pain) that pushed me onto this topic was Undertale, which is about as indie as it gets.  It's well worth your time and $10 to give it a run or two.

The thing that I'm trying to unpack for myself is the difference between those instances where I have some choice in the matter (or, rather, where I am as a player responsible for the outcome I feel guilty about, i.e. in the Mass Effect examples), and those instances where I either do something or choose not to play the game.  Phantom Pain and The Last of Us obviously fall into the latter category: neither game gives you the latitude to avoid or mitigate these moments, as they are just part of the story.  We should arguably feel no different about these instances than we would if the same thing happened in a movie: they might make us sad, but not guilty.

And yet.

"Home is not a place.  It is wherever your passion takes you."

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geggis
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October 6, 2015 - 4:55 am
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Yeah, I can't say I ever feel guilty when I've been railroaded into an outcome. It would be like me feeling guilty over something that happened in a film. It's not like I had any real agency in the matter. If anything it can sometimes frustrate me.

The Companion Cube example is kind of interesting though because you have to do it. I didn't feel guilty disposing of it, not because I was forced into it, but because I didn't really have any sort of attachment to the thing. Perhaps people who get attached to Companion Cubes also get attached to chirping nobodies in Journey? lolwut! Still, I loved that whole section because Valve expertly anticipated players' guilt and ribbed them with GLaDOS' amusing teasing and taunting. That's the mark of a fine developer when they can read the minds of their players like that. See The Stanley Parable for more of this.

So, guilty moments for me. They come in different forms.

First up: failing to hit the on-screen prompts in time and getting Norman Jayden killed (horribly) in the crusher on Heavy Rain. I could have redone the chapter but Hailey and I had vowed to take everything on the chin and keep moving. That element alone made the whole game way more intense. Everything was permanent, including death. Guilty as a result of poor reflexes.

Second: attacking (and later killing) Patches on Demon's Souls because the asshole had fooled me and because my brother and friends egged me on to kill him. There was no going back after attacking him and I was too deep into the game to even consider starting again. Patches was the only merchant in the game to sell heavy arrows too. This cost me a lot of time grinding a dragon's health down later in the game with standard arrows. Guilty as a result of poor judgement and listening to friends who have no care for the repercussions of my actions!

Third: sending Lady Boyle down the river (quite literally) with some guy I'd only just met (who's made out to be a lover or admirer of hers) to eliminate her non-lethally. As he's paddling away with her in the back of his boat, he says "You'll never know how happy you've made me. Someday she'll learn to appreciate me. After all, she'll have her whole life." FUCK. Oh Jesus. Joel and I both did this and both had the same reaction. Guilty as a result of poor judgement and trusting a complete stranger. (This is my most guilty moment I think)

Fourth: 2v2 co-op with Luke on Rocket League and jumping to knock the ball away from the goal (when it might not have gone in), knocking it into the goal with three seconds left on the clock taking us into overtime. Shortly after we conceded a goal and lost the game. Three seconds left. Three! Guilty as a result of poor judgement and a terrible 'save'.

Fifth: talking to a Dustman in Planescape: Torment who was terrified of death and thinking it was okay to tell her that I was immortal. It wasn't okay. The conversation had been going really well, so much so I thought I could let that 'interesting' fact slip but she just got upset, clammed up and told me to sod off. She never spoke to me again. I know this because I kept going back to her over the course of the game. Guilty as a result of poor judgement.

Sixth: this win on Frozen Cortex (I'm green): Guilty for giving no quarter and narrowly getting that last tackle. I think it was my opponent's first game too.

That's all I can think of for the time being.

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