| 1 | %%% |
| 2 | %% |
| 3 | %% This page has been alphabetized. Please add new examples in the correct order. Thanks! |
| 4 | %% |
| 5 | %%% |
| 6 | |
| 7 | %% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1314564719072958700 |
| 8 | %% Please do not change or remove without starting a new thread. |
| 9 | %% |
| 10 | [[quoteright:320:[[VideoGame/BioShock1 https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/harvest_or_rescue_1462.jpg]]]] |
| 11 | [[caption-width-right:320: Who's under more stress, [[TheWoobie the girl]] or [[SadisticChoice the player]]? ]] |
| 12 | |
| 13 | ->''"I would do anything for you; I will protect you till the end of my days, and if this game does anything horrible to you before the end of this game, I will go down to their studio, and I will personally punch every single person who made that happen."'' |
| 14 | -->-- '''WebVideo/{{Markiplier}}''' talking to [[CanineCompanion Bullet]], ''VideoGame/BlairWitch'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZW-f_btEmoU&t=271s playthrough]] |
| 15 | |
| 16 | Not all games [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential inspire base cruelty]] in players; some games make you feel like a MamaBear or PapaWolf to the little AI bots in your virtual world. You'll go out of your way to save [[NominalImportance Sgt. Chavez]] because his FinalSpeech is just too [[TearJerker heartbreaking to bear]], or [[MechaMooks Mecha Mook]] #27 who bravely got the PlotCoupon when all his unit died... and is just so [[CuteMachines darned cute!]] |
| 17 | |
| 18 | In short, the game presents characters in such a way that [[NoCasualtiesRun you actually try to save the little buggers]] rather than do the sensible thing and use your MookMaker or ClownCarGrave to replace them like the RedShirtArmy that they are. [[RuleOfEmpathy Don't underestimate human sentimentality]]; even if the character is "just" a CompanionCube, their death will often inspire a PlayerPunch reaction which only gets more intense if the units or {{Non Player Character}}s [[HundredPercentHeroismRating were thanking you on doing a good job]]. Games designers might choose to do this to inspire loyalty, discourage ZergRush strategies, and get the player [[EmotionalTorque emotionally invested]] in the game, and generally to make gameplay less cerebral and more visceral. Failure to achieve this may lead to apathy and even cruelty towards the SidekickCreatureNuisance with the [[ArtificialStupidity dumb AI]]. [[CrossesTheLineTwice You know]] [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential the rest.]] |
| 19 | |
| 20 | [[AGodIsYou God games]] are usually a strange mix of both, with [[MoralMyopia players gleefully massacring some characters while carefully protecting others]]. If a mission objective requires you to protect someone, it becomes an EscortMission. |
| 21 | |
| 22 | Can lead to a chronic case of SaveScumming, especially if the {{Non Player Character}}s to be protected are MadeOfPlasticine. |
| 23 | |
| 24 | ---- |
| 25 | !!Videogame Examples: |
| 26 | |
| 27 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 28 | |
| 29 | [[folder:Action Adventure]] |
| 30 | * ''[[VideoGame/AncientDomainsOfMystery ADOM]]'': You get this message even if your character is a bloodthirsty trollish berserker or dark elf necromancer: |
| 31 | -->The cute dog attacks the ogre. The cute dog misses the ogre. The ogre attacks the cute dog. The cute dog is killed! You are direly saddened about the death of the cute dog. |
| 32 | * ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedII'' uses this to build up the PlayerPunch, by having you spend the first hour interacting with Ezio's family. This includes defending his sister's honor against a philandering boyfriend, doing favors for his sick little brother and his mother, and in general getting across the message that the Auditore are a very close and caring family. Later on there's a Quick Time Event that allows you to hug Leonardo da Vinci, who at this point is Ezio's best friend. Players have been known to go back and reload a previous save if they miss the prompt for the hug the first time. |
| 33 | * ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedBrotherhood'' allows the player to build up a crew of assassins that you recruit from the oppressed citizenry. You can outfit them with kit and send them out on missions. Also, destroying the Borgia oppression leads to the revitalization of Rome, and eventually ''The Renaissance.'' |
| 34 | ** As you progress through the game, the background chatter of {{Non Player Character}}s will include statements like "things are really getting better" and "there will be a special throne in Hell for Cesare Borgia when this is all over." |
| 35 | * ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIII'' has Connor interacting with members of the Homestead in various ways. From assisting [[ActionGirl Myriam]] in hunting a rare animal at the risk of your own life, to delivering a farming couple's baby, to assisting [[DoggedNiceGuy Norris]] win Myriam's affections, to rushing to defend the newest resident from her abusive husband, you will grow to love and care for these residents as if they were one of your own friendly neighbours you'd chat with over the fence. |
| 36 | * You can't save most of the guards slaughtered by the Joker and his goons in ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamAsylum'', but everyone you ''do'' save thanks you profusely, and the other surviving guards express their gratitude for you just being there. You even get an achievement on one level for saving all the guards and an escaped prisoner. |
| 37 | ** This is made somewhat worse, however, when you return to the same areas and [[spoiler:find the bodies of those same guards.]] |
| 38 | * Among the inmates of ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamCity'' are any number of innocent political prisoners. You'll hear them long before you see them, screaming and pleading for help as they're assaulted by criminals. And while you don't ''have'' to stop what you're doing and save them, it's very satisfying to [[BigDamnHeroes dive in]], kick their tormentors to the curb, and hear them thank you like only someone trapped in a war zone can. |
| 39 | * Following the same trend, whenever you're riding the Batmobile in ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamKnight'', you might come across a high-speed chase featuring two cars full of thugs pursuing a cop in a police car. While you won't hear the police officer asking for help through the radio and you don't have to stop whatever you are doing to save them either, if you choose to neutralize the thugs' cars, the police officer will thank you for saving them by radio before driving away. |
| 40 | * In ''VideoGame/BlossomTalesTheSleepingKing'', being a kind, helpful person is actually a game mechanic, as a large number of your powerups come from completing sidequests for [=NPCs=]. You don’t ''have'' to do the vast majority of them, but it makes the game much easier. |
| 41 | * ''VideoGame/ABoyAndHisBlob'' for the Wii features a ''Hug'' button just for this purpose. |
| 42 | * ''VideoGame/CannonFodder'' is particularly mean with this. Each and every one of your 200+ soldiers is individually named, with their ranks and kills, and any soldier surviving a mission will be promoted; those who don't survive are recalled by name at the end of each level, and possibly added to the honours board. The first four -- [[http://www.mobygames.com/game/genesis/cannon-fodder/screenshots/gameShotId,93639/ Jools, Jops, Stoo]], and RJ -- are beloved by game players everywhere; they're also {{Shout Out}}s to the main game developers. And you ''will'' give everything to try and keep them alive, because that Lost In Service list scrolling up between the [[UsefulNotes/ThePoppy poppies]] is devastating. The game satirises pretty much every single last one of the MilitaryAndWarfareTropes. Oh, and all the characters are about nine pixels high. |
| 43 | ** Not to mention that the screen between missions is a war cemetery featuring a little gravestone for each man you have lost. In the foreground, a long, winding line of men queue up for the chance to give their lives for your cause. The more casualties you take, the more men need to be admitted. |
| 44 | * ''VideoGame/CaveStory'' [[spoiler:has an NPC named Curly who sacrifices her life to save yours. But if you do [[GuideDangIt exactly the right things]], you can save her]]. Incidentally, this is the only way to access a bonus level and the best ending. |
| 45 | * The semi-sentient AI population, Darwinians, in Creator/IntroversionSoftware's ''VideoGame/{{Darwinia}}''. Though, if you move fast enough you can 'revive' them endlessly unless they get annihilated by a [[DemonicSpider Soul Destroyer]], in which case they leave saddening ghostly echoes of their bodies behind. And then there's the [[spoiler:Biosphere]] level, where most of the methods of winning involve sending wave upon wave of the cute little guys [[spoiler:against their virus-corrupted kin]]. Made worse because the Darwinians are voiced by one of the developers' pet cat and meow very sweetly as they die. |
| 46 | * You could say one objective of ''VideoGame/DeadRising2'' is all about this. You play as [[PapaWolf Chuck Greene]] whose daughter, Katey was [[ZombieInfectee bitten by a zombie]], to prevent her transformation into one of the walking dead, she requires a shot of Zombrex every 24 hours. Seeing how this is...well, [[TimedMission Dead Rising]], it's another thing you have to neatly fit into your schedule. You have to find Zombrex while finding the truth, then also administer a shot to save her. It's really easy to start caring for little Katey, you can even [[SideTrackedByTheGoldSaucer bring her gifts]] for experience points and achievements! However, you CAN ignore this fact and let her die since this is...well, ''Dead Rising'', but it condemns you to [[MultipleEndings Ending F]], which ends on an [[TearJerker absolutely tragic]] note, not only that, but you'll feel like a [[YouBastard complete bastard.]] |
| 47 | * The AI partners in ''VideoGame/DynastyWarriorsGundam 2'' aren't good for much aside from distracting enemy aces. However, it feels good to help out your partners and hear them express their gratitude. Mission Mode encourages you to do this, as having friendly relations with other pilots can unlock bonus missions, and there's even a set of missions specifically for improving relations with them. Conversely, when you're on opposite sides with the character you like, they'll express horror and rage when they see you're their enemy now and thoroughly guilt-trip you. To top it off, Kamille's path in Mission Mode allows you to reverse the DownerEnding of ''[[Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam Z Gundam]]'' by saving Henken, the Radish, and Emma. |
| 48 | * A cute game is trying to keep the AI-controlled player second player in ''VideoGame/FinalFight''. [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential And punishing them for their stupidity when they don't get out of the way]]. This is actually somewhat useful, as having two players means double the powerups. |
| 49 | * ''VideoGame/TheGodfather'' the game. You ''can'' get away with blasting a few innocent citizens, but every single person has a name that you somehow know. It's not so fun seeing Eduardo Mellini bleeding out in the middle of Fifth and Ten. Occasionally they will also shout things like "Don't do this! I have a wife and kids!" |
| 50 | ** Made worse by their lack of survival instincts! GET OUT OF THE WAY, SAL! THERE'S A HIGH-SPEED CHASE TAKING PLACE HERE! |
| 51 | ** Also, the security guards at banks. They're not even mob affiliated, they're just doing their jobs! For the small banks, you can get away with robbing it and not killing any of them. Doesn't work for the big banks... |
| 52 | ** There's also your Corleone allies who always help you out whenever they see you in trouble, and the guys you hire to help take down enemy strongholds. It's rather sad to see them get killed in action on your behalf. |
| 53 | * In the last part of the first ''VideoGame/GodOfWarI'', in a very intense battle, [[spoiler:you must protect your wife and daughter from an army of Kratos]]. If they get hurt, you can [[spoiler:heal them, by sacrificing your own health]]. |
| 54 | * As strange as it may sound [[CrapsackWorld given the series as a whole, ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIV'' does allow you to indulge in this, notably by giving you the choice to spare targets you have been assigned to kill. Note that all of them ''won't'' necessarily [[UngratefulBastard show much gratitude]] for you not putting a bullet in their head, [[BackstabBackfire forcing you to kill them later anyway]], but still. |
| 55 | * ''VideoGame/HeavyRain'': |
| 56 | ** The game makes it very hard not to get attached to the characters. Especially considering all the horrible things they go through. [[spoiler:[[TheWoobie Ethan]] is the most obvious example considering the death of Jason, and how determined the poor guy is to get Shaun back despite the trials. Just try not to care about him. And then there's struggling [[ByTheBookCop FBI profiler]] Norman, especially as you can help him get over his drug problem (not to mention it's painful watching him getting beaten up so many times). Even Shelby really wins you over with his heart-warming ways (we're talking about scrambled eggs and saving suicidal mothers, not drowning children here)]]. |
| 57 | ** Ethan's interactions with Shaun and Jason can also make you rather protective of them. |
| 58 | * ''VideoGame/HitmanAbsolution'' has two. In "Rosewood", you can rescue a man being tortured by a pair of Wade's men, and in the "Attack of the Saints" mission, where you can save the hotel manager from being executed by the search team, and have him profusely thank you in response. |
| 59 | * ''VideoGame/HollowKnight'': |
| 60 | ** The ''Godmaster'' expansion allows the player to offer Delicate Flowers to multiple characters. It doesn't give you an acheivement or anything like that. It's for the sole purpose of brightening the days of others. |
| 61 | ** You can save Zote from certain doom (twice) or help out Cloth against a group of monsters. [[UngratefulBastard Zote won't be thankful]], but Cloth will. |
| 62 | * In ''VideoGame/HotlineMiami'', the Biker may be a murder-happy psychopath, but if you want, you can have him spare the lives of [[spoiler: the Phone Hom Workers and the Janitors]]. |
| 63 | ** Evan from [[VideoGame/HotlineMiami2WrongNumber the second game]] runs on this. While you ''can'' kill your opponents while playing as him, doing so will award you with less points than if you simply knock them unconscious and unload their weaponry. |
| 64 | *** Also, after Evan [[spoiler: interviews Richter, you can read a letter from Evan's wife which tells him that she misses him. This presents you with two options; you can have Evan continue to write his novel in pursuit of the truth, or you can have him call his wife]]. |
| 65 | * ''VideoGame/{{Ico}}'' is all about this. You spend the entire game worrying about how Yorda is doing. Her ability to open doors certainly helps as well. |
| 66 | ** The first time Ico calls her across a gap she can't possibly leap, and she jumps ''anyway'', trusting Ico to [[TakeMyHand catch her and pull her up]]. |
| 67 | *** Although still images don't do it justice, you can get a good idea of the heart-in-throat moments from [[http://www.rose-tainted.net/ico/essays/17.jpg this picture]]. |
| 68 | ** Heck, Ico calling for Yorda and leading her by the hand through hordes of Dark Spirits. Or Ico fighting his way ''through'' those hordes to pull her out of their grasp with all the ferocity a twelve-year-old boy can muster. |
| 69 | *** All of this is made even more interesting because Yorda speaks an unknown language; Ico (and the player) haven't a clue what she's saying, and they have to communicate via body language. That she's so darned important to you when you can't even understand her is impressive, to say the least. |
| 70 | ** It's safe to say that the developers pulled this off well enough that there's plenty of people with fond memories of the game despite most of it being one giant EscortMission, which are normally the bane of many a gamer. |
| 71 | ** Of course, the main inspiration for ''Ico'' was ''VideoGame/AnotherWorld'', which has a similar caring relationship with a mute alien who looks exactly the same as your average mook. But it's easy to forget this when [[spoiler:you run down a corridor from a deadly laser cannon and are about to be cornered by enemies you have no hope of defeating, only for him to reach a hand out to you from a hatch above]]. And then there's the ending... |
| 72 | * Surprisingly, ''VideoGame/TheIncredibleHulkUltimateDestruction'' of all games has this trope. If you press the special button (Y in the Platform/NintendoGameCube version) while holding someone Hulk normally slams them into the ground. But if you do so while holding a civilian, Hulk just puts them down gently and pats them on the head. |
| 73 | ** [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential Of course, you can always follow this up by punting them halfway across the city...]] |
| 74 | * ''VideoGame/TheLastOfUs'': a father-daughter dynamic quickly forms between the player-character, Joel, and 14-year-old Ellie, with Joel [[AlwaysSaveTheGirl going to great lengths]] in order to protect and/or rescue her. Ellie, for her part, also puts Joel's safety above her own at times. |
| 75 | * In ''VideoGame/LegacyOfKainSoulReaver'', not attacking the vampire hunters near Zephon's territory when going after him, even as they attack you, will let you later enter the Human Citadel without hassle as the hunters will now ignore you, while the civilians will praise you and won't flee. |
| 76 | * ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'': |
| 77 | ** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast'': After draining the lake in the swamp south of Link's house, you'll see fish flopping around on the land left behind. Pick one up and throw it into another body of water and it will reward you with some rupees as thanks. |
| 78 | ** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask,'': |
| 79 | *** You have to complete a sidequest that revolves around reuniting a separated couple because the man, Kafei, has been cursed to become a child. Part of the quest has Kafei give you an item called the Pendent of Memories to give to Anju, which when shown, will convince her to stay in the inn during the last few hours until the Moon falls on Clock Town and wait for Kafei to return. The player can choose to not show Anju the pendent, and then help Kafei get back his Sun Mask. By doing so, Anju will not be waiting in the inn when Kafei arrives at the inn, as she had fled to Romani Ranch, causing Kafei to look at Anju's wedding dress and [[DownerEnding lament that he could not keep his promise to Anju]]. It's also possible to convince her to stay but then not help Kafei get the mask back, dooming her to spend her last moments believing he'll come for her. If you do it right, though, you'll be treated to their heartwarming reunion, as they combine their wedding masks into the Couple's Mask and then pledge they'll wait out the moon falling together, come what may. Plus, At the end of the game, you'll get to see the actual wedding. |
| 80 | *** It helps to remember that every character will only experience the GoldenEnding since Link will [[ResetButton reset]] time until he gets it right. |
| 81 | *** Romani. Dear god, Romani. Until the player gets the Goron Mask (enabling them to blow up the boulder blocking the path to the Ranch on the first and second days), showing up at the ranch on the Final Day, you'll find Romani sitting outside the barn, traumatised and catatonic. Turns out the 'Ghosts' that abduct the cows on the night of the first day did... something... to her. Cremia's horror at what has happened only increases the desire to help Romani. |
| 82 | *** The entire game is based around manipulating this trope. Termina is a world as alien to Link as it is to the player. By the end of the game, his burgeoning care for the people of Termina is mirrored by the player's growing familiarity with the world and its problems. |
| 83 | ** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'' has your grandmother become sick and delirious. You have the ability to cure her with a fairy. (Plus, after you do, she'll give you homemade soup -- [[KarmicJackpot 2 doses of the most potent healing item in the game.]]) |
| 84 | ** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheMinishCap'': Fusing Kinstones with a man who lives in the town will result in a portal appearing that takes you to the bedroom of an old man you've never met before. There's a ghost circling around him that only you can see, slowly killing him. You can use your Gust Jar to remove the ghost and heal the old man. Later in the game, you learn that the old man is a member of the Wind Tribe, and he'll give you a new weapon as thanks for saving his life. |
| 85 | ** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'' has instances where you end up shoving a goat to one side near the start of the game in order to stop its escape. Assuming you do so successfully, you can take a second to pet the goat; said goat bleats upon being petted. [[CutenessProximity You can also pick up and carry around stray cats and dogs in Castle Town.]] |
| 86 | ** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword'': |
| 87 | *** It has a sidequest with Peatrice, the Item Check girl, falling in love with Link. She eventually confesses to him and the player can choose to reciprocate her feelings and inofficially become a couple with her, though it's on hold until Link has [[ItsNotYouItsMyEnemies finished his journey]]. The player can also choose to [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential reject her confession and break Peatrice's heart]]. |
| 88 | *** Subverted with Cawlin who asks you to deliver a love letter to a classmate, or give it to a [[MythologyGag disembodied hand in a toilet]]. If you give it to the classmate, she rejects him and he balls up in his bed, crying. If you give it to the hand, the same scenario will play, but [[PlayedForLaughs the hand falls in love with him.]] |
| 89 | ** In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOracleGames'', a young farming couple asks Link to name their newborn. At various stages of the game, you can give them advice and money to help raise the youngster, and by the end of the game, he's a young adult ready to make his way in the world. There's also a strange deconstruction: If you're ''too'' generous with the Rupees, the child will become a spoiled ne'er do well with no interest in work. |
| 90 | ** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'': |
| 91 | *** Numerous examples, but some of the most noteworthy include helping a young Sheikah girl learn how to cook her dead mother's recipes, gathering people from across Hyrule to build a new community (including two of them who end up getting married), and helping the wandering minstrel Kass figure out the meaning behind the land's ancient songs so that he can return to his family [[spoiler:and fulfill his teacher's last wish to help out the legendary hero]]. |
| 92 | *** One of the sweetest aspects of the game is helping someone who's fighting with monsters. Even if it's as trivial as a [[GoddamnBats Bokoblin]], or as dangerous as a [[DemonicSpiders Lynel]], you'll likely drop everything, rush in, and kick the monster's ass. And whoever is in trouble will thank you immensely. You may be a hero of Hyrule, but that's no reason to not look out for the little guy. |
| 93 | ** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkBetweenWorlds'' has a minor example: You don't technically ''have'' to tell the Sages' loved ones that they're safe after you rescued them, and there's no in-game reward for doing so, but putting their minds at ease feels so damn good. |
| 94 | * In ''VideoGame/{{Limbo}},'' the protagonist is just a silent little kid in a [[DeliberatelyMonochrome freakish monochrome]] world where EverythingIsTryingToKillYou. If you don't have any platformer or puzzler skills at the start, you ''will'' develop them just to get him through. |
| 95 | * Occasionally in ''VideoGame/MadMax2015'', you'll come across helpless survivors who are stranded in the dunes without wheels (which, given the world of ''Mad Max'', means they're as good as dead). While you can't give them a ride to the nearest settlement, you can give them some of your precious water. While it's not completely selfless, as it's mainly done to get information, considering Max's [[{{Jerkass}} usual attitude towards his fellow man]], it's still pretty nice of him. |
| 96 | * ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'': |
| 97 | ** This happens once or twice in the introductory level of ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime3Corruption''. If you act quickly enough, you can save the lives of various Galactic Federation marines [[spoiler:when the GFS Olympus comes under attack by Space Pirates]]. You'll receive a reward for saving one in particular, who is injured and firing at his aggressors from behind a crate. |
| 98 | ** Saving the Etecoons and Dachora in ''VideoGame/SuperMetroid'' is a completely optional and easily missable event. Once you learn that it exists, though, good luck finding the urge to ignore their plight unless you're specifically doing a speedrun. ''VideoGame/MetroidFusion'' reveals that this is canon in the ending, even if you choose not to. You'd feel sorry if you didn't rescue them, though, since the ending to ''Fusion'' shows that they pilot Samus' ship during the escape sequence, effectively saving her life. |
| 99 | * ''VideoGame/NetHack'' is similar to ''ADOM'' with: "The spell hits the <monster>! The <monster> is killed! The spell hits Rex! Poor Rex is killed! Heartbreaking... |
| 100 | * ''VideoGame/{{Okami}}'': |
| 101 | ** The game allows the player, in their role as a [[AllLovingHero benevolent goddess]], to perform good deeds ranging from making trees and flowers bloom to finding water for reservoirs to battling demons. One good deed was to buy some charcoal for a little girl to play with. |
| 102 | ** If you use the Bloom power on friendly {{Non Player Character}}s, they cheer up and pet you. |
| 103 | ** Feeding the animals gives you a little cutscene of them eating. Afterward, they'll have little hearts floating around when they see you. |
| 104 | ** As a benevolent goddess, you earn Praise (for leveling up) not just by heroic deeds and beating the bad guys, but by feeding those animals, making trees bloom, turning dead land into fertile ground, and taking other totally non-violent actions to simply improve people's lives. It restores life ''and'' a sense of wonder to the world, enhancing your divine strength. |
| 105 | ** But in your own hour of need, will they remember ''you''? [[spoiler:Yes they will, and you just might [[ManlyTears weep]].]] |
| 106 | * ''VideoGame/{{Overlord}}'': |
| 107 | ** The game can enter into this at times -- your Minions are ultra-expendable, but the basic (brown) ones can pick up pieces of equipment from fallen enemies... (actually, they all can, but while the other variants just get generic graphical upgrades that reflect how good their equipment is, you can actually SEE what the Browns are carrying). Since certain pieces of equipment are unique, gained from defeating specific bosses or one-time-only encounters -- or just plain rare -- you can easily end up wanting to protect the one who's wearing a golden crown and wielding a giant fondue fork, partially because they're unique and powerful items (which will be [[PermanentlyMissableContent lost for good]] if he dies) and partially because they serve as souvenirs of an interesting boss fight. |
| 108 | ** The sequel encourages players to keep their minions alive more since the Minions now have names, personalities, manageable equipment, mounts, levels, and the ability to raise favorites from the dead at a graveyard. However, as an EvilOverlord, you're mainly motivated by the fact that you don't want powerful Minions carrying special equipment such as {{BFS}}es, Gladiator Helmets or one-of-a-kind hats to go to waste. |
| 109 | * ''VideoGame/PandorasTower'' has Elena. You can keep her company, chat with her, give her gifts, and in exchange she will make medicine and translate the documents you find, even if you do nothing of the above. Also, even though beating a boss resets the [[StalkedByTheBell progress of her curse]], you really '''don't''' want to see [[BodyHorror what happens to her]] if you let the meter drop below red because you really ''had'' to finish the dungeon in one run. Even though you can easily heal her back, the moment is still heart-wrenching. |
| 110 | * ''VideoGame/{{Pikmin}}'': |
| 111 | ** Losing Pikmin can cause players to feel bad. Something about their screams is upsetting, and then there are those water vapour ghosts to remind you how badly you let them all down. It's even worse if you just leave some behind after dark. And they're dying for capitalism in the second game. Which makes the massive Pikmin carnage in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' somewhat of a PlayerPunch for those who also played ''Pikmin''. |
| 112 | ** ''VideoGame/Pikmin2001'': Olimar himself, as an extension of the player, becomes attached to the little critters, as evidenced in his log entries. He amusedly notes their various quirks as the days go by, and he berates himself if they get caught in a bomb blast or if the Pikmin race dies out. |
| 113 | * ''VideoGame/{{Portal}}'': |
| 114 | ** [=GLaDOS=] spends an entire level trying to make the player bond with the CompanionCube, only to tell you at the end of the level that [[spoiler:you must euthanize it by tossing it into a furnace in order to complete the test [[labelnote:*]]Although the ending of the sequel shows that it survived[[/labelnote]]. She brings this up at the end of the game when you fight her, admonishing you for killing your "best friend." After praising you for being the quickest of all test subjects to do so, no less.]] |
| 115 | ** In the sequel, you encounter a turret-bot reclamation facility that is called [[MaximumFunChamber "The Turret Redemption Line."]] Among the piles of scrapped turrets, there is one that was scrapped because it won't kill, easily spotted due to its active laser sight. If you pick it up and carry it off, it says "Thank you" in that strangely endearing robotic voice. You even get an achievement for saving it. |
| 116 | ** Generally, the turrets talk to the player in a very endearing way. "Please put me down,", "Where are you?" and "Good night," are all great examples of this. And then you remember that [[DissonantSerenity they're trying to kill you...]] Still, if you feel like it, you can spare quite a few of them by portalling behind them, picking them up, and putting them down gently against the wall. |
| 117 | * ''VideoGame/{{Psychonauts}}'' |
| 118 | ** The first level gives you the option of escorting Dogen Boole across a minefield safely in the very first level. As long as you don't go too far ahead, it's pretty easy, you get a few arrowheads, and you feel like you've just started on your way to becoming a hero. |
| 119 | ** There are also articles of [[WorldOfPun emotional baggage]] scattered throughout all the mental levels. They are all so sad and crying because they miss their tags... and they happily rejoice once you find them. |
| 120 | ** It's not hard for fixing Fred, Gloria, and Edgar to end up feeling like a personal responsibility. They start off more funny than anything but interesting, then you get to know them [[JourneyToTheCenterOfTheMind personally]] and you're bound to really get attached to at least one of them, and from there you gradually find out the rest. Sometimes it's easy to forget you're doing this to get a PlotCoupon because the satisfaction of helping them seems a better reward. |
| 121 | ** You don't have to rescue [[spoiler:the brains of every camper]]. However, doing so gets you the reward of seeing them active in the camp again, as well as a HeartContainer. |
| 122 | * ''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption'' has this in spades. There's several chances for you to help out the random bystanders, from saving a woman who's about to be stabbed to death, preventing innocent people from being shot down, or even helping a guy recover his stolen horse. Not only that but you're even given the means of acting in self-defense through lethal ''or'' non-lethal means thanks to your lasso, which means if you work for it you can really build yourself up as a man of honor. It certainly feels rewarding when your fame goes up enough so that random citizens you pass by actually start saying "hi" or even praising you for your efforts. [[spoiler:And that actually makes it all the more tragic when your character gets killed at the end and the ManipulativeBastard behind it gets you remembered as a monster.]] |
| 123 | * ''VideoGame/ScarfaceTheWorldIsYours''. Some of the mooks that will fight by your side get unique conversations with Tony; a nice bit of character development. Of course, the fact that they kick so many kinds of ass will also inspire the desire to keep them alive. See how many missions you can do with the same minion! |
| 124 | ** In addition, Tony Montana himself invokes this trope: If you try to fire on civilians unprovoked, he simply refuses to respond to the players press of the trigger button, muttering to himself things like "Naw, I ain't gonna do that, mang." |
| 125 | * In ''VideoGame/ShadowOfTheColossus'', [[spoiler:the trusty steed named Agro helps the player get from point A to point B. The player eventually bonds with her. Heartbreaking when after riding across a collapsing bridge, Agro throws you safely to the other side before falling to her death...only for you to find out during the credits that she is still alive, but with a broken leg.]] |
| 126 | ** Sadistically, the game manages to make you care about practically every other Colossus you kill. As they fall dead, the music becomes somber and melancholy, and the Colossi simply go limp and fall, collapsing under their weight with little drama or fanfare. It makes their deaths seem like a tragic event rather than something worth celebrating. This doesn't keep you from being pulled along, with the character, on his grim path, or being perversely thrilled by the challenge even while knowing [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone you will be devastated by your own actions]] in a moment. |
| 127 | *** Some of them you can't feel bad for killing, like that damned boar, but yes, about half of them make you feel like you've destroyed something ancient and majestic. |
| 128 | ** Go up to Agro without a weapon out (with your hand showing as the cursor) and tap the attack button. Wander will stroke his horse's flank lovingly. No reason, just a sign he cares about his mount. |
| 129 | *** Of course, this may be a subtle admonishment for a player [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential trying to attack their horse.]] |
| 130 | * In ''VideoGame/ShadowOfDestiny'', the player can take the time to fetch a kitten and let a small girl adopt it. There's no reward for doing so, just giving a child a kitten. |
| 131 | * In ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure'' and ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure2'', the player can partake in a mini-game to raise Chao, which are essentially tiny (and cute) alien-like creatures. Powerups acquired in the main game can be brought back to 'Chao World' and used to raise the Chao's stats and change their appearance, among other things. The joy a player gets when their Chao evolve from a baby to their next form is hard to reproduce. The mini-game can also be a source of [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential cruelty potential]], if you're really feeling sadistic. |
| 132 | * The last chapter of ''VideoGame/TalesOfMonkeyIsland'' ends in a brutal NoHoldsBarredBeatdown by the BigBad on the happy-go-lucky main character, Guybrush Threepwood. It looks extremely painful and brutal but it's made even worse when you can hear the pain in Guybrush's voice every time he talks. [[spoiler:Being a zombie at the time, he can't even die to escape the pain.]] The idea was that as he's getting thrown all over, you're supposed to come up with a way to get him out of it. In the commentary, the creators said a lot of people had trouble playing because they felt so terrible for Guybrush. |
| 133 | * ''[[VideoGame/TombRaiderUnderworld Tomb Raider: Underworld]]'' added tranquilizer guns to Lara Croft's arsenal, giving players the option to take out some enemies non-lethally. This is no doubt an attempt to salvage Lara's reputation as a cold-blooded killer who guns down endangered tigers with no remorse. |
| 134 | * ''[[VideoGame/Warhammer40000Spacemarine Space Marine]]'' has this through raw storytelling; there is neither in-game reward nor punishment for allowing the Imperial Guard units to be slaughtered by rampaging Orks or daemons, short of having that much less fire support as you carve a bloody swathe through that portion of the green tide. You do, however, start to feel for the plucky little guys, not just for the fact that they look upon you in awe like literal angels from heaven come to save them (with bits of NPC chatter making some seem like their lives are now complete and would be satisfied if they died fighting alongside you), but from the way the [[SuperSoldier genetically enhanced, gigantic]] OneManArmy main characters praise them for [[{{Determinator}} holding out a last line of defense against seemingly insurmountable odds]]. You ''will'' end up rushing headlong into those xenos scum, just to make sure that many more brave Guardsmen don't get crumped while you hang back and shoot at things. |
| 135 | * A new gameplay feature that was added in ''VideoGame/WatchDogs2'' took the ATM hacking this way. The original purpose as used by [[VideoGame/WatchDogs Aiden]] was to siphon money from bank accounts without people knowing. Marcus, however, has the option to do the opposite, ''giving'' money to {{Non Player Character}}s he sees in the city. And just like the original, there's no repercussion or acknowledgement for doing so. |
| 136 | * ''VideoGame/YandereSimulator'', being [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin exactly what the name suggests]], contains a lot of ways to creatively MurderTheHypotenuse, or just ruin their lives. However, there are two methods that don't require hurting the rivals -- Befriending (in which you help a rival out with major life problems, and they're so grateful they give up on being a rival) and Matchmaking (in which you set them up with other students with crushes on them). |
| 137 | [[/folder]] |
| 138 | |
| 139 | [[folder:Adventure]] |
| 140 | * ''[[VideoGame/SixteenWaysToKillAVampireAtMcDonalds 16 Ways To Kill A Vampire At [=McDonald's=]]]'': The first time you talk to Bess, a homeless woman who can help you defeat the vampire, you can offer her a dollar. She takes it and thanks you. |
| 141 | * ''VideoGame/DieAnstalt'': These poor little fluffy animals are so screwed up, you can't help but feel for them and genuinely want them to get better. Especially the alligator. Dear God. The poor thing cries when you finally help him. |
| 142 | * ''VideoGame/ClamMan'': |
| 143 | ** At the beginning of the game, when Clam Man is at his desk, he frequently gets calls from customers. Even though you're supposed to be going to the boss' office, you can still answer the phone and try your best to help the customers out. You get an achievement for doing this three times. |
| 144 | ** When Natalya incorrectly guesses how much Clam Man's rent has been increased, you can [[LyingToProtectYourFeelings tell her she got it right]] just to make her happy. |
| 145 | * ''VideoGame/FarnhamFables'' has various actions you can do which have no bearing on your progress in the games but are still nice to do: |
| 146 | ** In Episode 1, Fredrick can playfully hug, kiss, and tickle Gloria and Rachael. In Episode 2, Wendy can do the same to Winona and William (minus the kissing, due to them being her siblings). |
| 147 | ** In Episode 3, after helping out the animal in the respective rooms, Philip can wipe the smudges on the mirror from the gryphon kissing it, and put away a misplaced book in the library. The narration will mention that you didn't need to do that, but that it was nice of you to do it anyway. |
| 148 | * ''VideoGame/MinecraftStoryMode'': You can protect Reuben from harm, support Olivia and Axel's endeavors, encourage Lukas, assist [=NPCs=], etc. |
| 149 | * ''VideoGame/TheWalkingDead'': Many examples. Here's a few of them: |
| 150 | ** [[MercyKill Choosing to shoot Beatrice to save her the fate of being devoured alive]]. |
| 151 | ** Finding the dying [[ZombieInfectee Duck]] water and snacks. |
| 152 | ** Helping Kenny MercyKill his son. |
| 153 | ** Refusing to steal food from the station wagon. |
| 154 | ** Comforting [[JerkassWithAHeartOfGold Lily]] after [[{{Jerkass}} Larry's]] death. |
| 155 | [[/folder]] |
| 156 | |
| 157 | [[folder:Air Combat]] |
| 158 | * ''VideoGame/AceCombat'' games usually have a RedshirtArmy alongside the player's plane. While it's possible to go ahead and focus on destroying the targets while leaving the other planes to go down, there's some satisfaction to be gained in helping allies to fend off enemy planes and gain air superiority. ''Fires of Liberation'' explicates this by rewarding the player for helping out in secondary operations, such as by letting them call down {{Macross Missile Massacre}}s. |
| 159 | ** More importantly, your [[{{Wingman}} wingmen/-women]]. If you don't feel sad about PJ in ''Belkan War'', you have emotional capacity of a tree stump, but on the other hand, can you really get yourself mad enough at Pixy, after all you've been through together, can you? And how about Edge, Grimm, and Chopper in ''[=AC5=]'' -- don't you feel really close to them, despite not really knowing anything about them except their names and appearances? |
| 160 | * The ancient PC game ''VideoGame/GPolice'' inspired a feeling of protectiveness over the nearly helpless ground units that filled the missions. The player character's fellow law enforcement officers that are on the ground need your air support, or they aren't going to last. The small, weak but relentlessly persistent vehicles engender a PapaWolf feeling. |
| 161 | * In ''Star Wars: Battle for Naboo'', you play a Naboo pilot leading a resistance movement against the Trade Federation occupying the planet. At various points, farmers are being slaughtered and their homes razed by droids. It's hard not to veer away from the main objective to quickly dispatch the metal bastards, especially as you listen to the terrified screams and desperate pleas over the comm channel. |
| 162 | ** Likewise, when you free prisoners from internment camps and lead them to safety. Only one or two of the vehicles have to make it, but it feels terrible knowing that they've suffered in those camps for weeks, only to die just when freedom was within sight. Unfortunately, it's damn near impossible to keep all of them alive. |
| 163 | [[/folder]] |
| 164 | |
| 165 | [[folder:Beat 'em Up]] |
| 166 | * Occurs frequently in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfTianding'', as your titular character is a GentlemanThief who's JustLikeRobinHood. You can perform good deeds, favours for the locals (by completing quests and tasks), give alms to beggars, and get rewarded by experience points allowing you to obtain new skills. |
| 167 | [[/folder]] |
| 168 | |
| 169 | [[folder:Fighting Game]] |
| 170 | * ''VideoGame/{{MUGEN}}'' has a rare and odd Fighting Game example with [[Website/SCPFoundation SCP-999]]. Its "attacks" deal no damage nor even flinch the opponent, and consist of heartwarming acts like hugging them to ''make them happy''. If the opponent's happiness bar fills up, they do a HappyDance for the rest of the fight, essentially [=KOing=] them in a friendly and non-harmful manner. |
| 171 | * Several ''Franchise/MortalKombat'' games have a finishing move called a Friendship which allows the winner to do something nice to their opponent instead of killing them, such as giving them a cake or doing a dance. |
| 172 | [[/folder]] |
| 173 | |
| 174 | [[folder:First Person Shooter]] |
| 175 | * ''VideoGame/{{BioShock|1}}'s'' Little Sisters sit on the thin line between this and VideoGameCrueltyPotential. Yes, they are [[CreepyChild creepy little wretches]], but you feel like a [[BigDamnHeroes Big Damn Hero]] when you save one of them. |
| 176 | ** A sequence in the end shows [[spoiler:you become personally responsible for protecting a little sister who's been made into a normal girl. Usually the Little Sisters are invulnerable, but not anymore... meaning that she has no survival instinct. But she trusts her daddy to keep her safe...]] |
| 177 | ** Even more so in the sequel. You'd be shocked how much more incentive you have to protect them when they call you 'daddy' and all the creepily cute dialogue they have is directed at ''you''. |
| 178 | ** In ''VideoGame/BioShock2'', Mark Meltzer and by extension his missing daughter Cindy. Anyone who followed the ARG Something In The Sea is very familiar with Mark, and you can find audio diaries detailing his search for Cindy in the game. Many players became obsessed with the idea of helping Mark. [[spoiler: Ultimately {{subverted|Trope}} when you later kill what seems to be a run-of-the-mill Rumbler Big Daddy -- only to approach his corpse and discover that it was Mark, who chose to be turned into one in order to protect Cindy. And God help you if you harvested the Little Sister who was with him...]] |
| 179 | ** It's not just the Little Sisters. There are players who actively try to find a way to collect and cure the girls without harming the Big Daddies... or failing that, get through the game [[SelfImposedChallenge without collecting]] any Little Sisters except the ones the storyline forces them to. This is due to the sequel revealing that, whether the Big Daddies were biologically the girls' fathers or not, they still react with utter grief when their "fathers" are killed. This retroactively has the effect of making players who went through the first game feel guilty recalling all the Big Daddies they killed the first time around. |
| 180 | ** Sadly, there is no way in the sequel to get around having to kill the Big Sisters, which is tragic when the game reveals that they are [[spoiler: actually onetime Little Sisters, all grown up]]. |
| 181 | ** Elizabeth in ''Videogame/BioShockInfinite'' was designed for this. The player character is tasked with finding and protecting her, and she's very powerful. She's also very cute, has OfCorsetsSexy, her head proportions and hair seem to make her look younger (Okay, she's modeled like a Disney Princess), and the early stages of game development had a feature where overusing her powers actually harms her. However, the final version of the character is actually indestructible. |
| 182 | ** Apparently, melee attacks will upset Elizabeth, causing here to cringe or whimper. A lot of gamers have stopped doing it as a result out of concern for her. |
| 183 | ** This carries on into the ''Burial at Sea'' downloadable add-on game, particularly Episode Two where Elizabeth becomes a player character. The game encourages the player to avoid using deadly force (though the weapons are provided) as Elizabeth maintains her distaste for killing. [[spoiler:The ending of Episode Two is particularly upsetting for players for whom this trope applies.]] |
| 184 | ** Another minor instance in ''Infinite'' occurs right at the beginning, at the sick raffle doubling as the [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain public stoning of an interracial couple.]] You have the option to try to bean the guy running it with the baseball: it doesn't work, but it does kick off a chain of events that help the couple escape. The couple appears later to thank you if you take this option. One of the developers noted in an interview that not a single tester decided to throw the ball at the couple on their first play-through. |
| 185 | ** It should be noted that although for most of ''Infinite'' and its ''Burial at Sea'' spin-off you are playing a male character, and a little bit of flirting occurs early on (especially at the start of ''Burial at Sea'' Episode 1 due to [[spoiler:that version of Elizabeth being depicted as a FemmeFatale]]), the caring potential for Elizabeth soars when the player learns towards the end of the storyline that [[spoiler:Booker is actually Elizabeth's ''father'']]. |
| 186 | * Your squad members from ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty'' would probably count if the interesting ones weren't [[GameplayAllyImmortality immortal for plot reasons]]. |
| 187 | ** There are achievements for saving certain soldiers in ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty4ModernWarfare'' and ''World at War''. |
| 188 | ** The first game strips Private Elder of his invulnerable status after Sergeant Moody gives you the explosives during the assault on Brecourt Manor, meaning he'll usually buy the farm about the time you reach the last gun. [[SelfImposedChallenge Screw that, says I.]] |
| 189 | ** In ''Modern Warfare'', you get an achievement for saving an innocent farmer in one of the missions from being gunned down. |
| 190 | ** In the Vorkuta level in ''[[VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOps Black Ops]]'', you'll face several times your prisoner allies being clubbed down by the guards. You've the potential to try to save them by stabbing the guards with your shiv to death. The sad part however is that no matter as fast as you try to be, the prisoners die anyway. |
| 191 | ** A couple of the achievements in ''[[VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOpsII Black Ops II]]'' are awarded for preventing harm to various [=NPCs=]. Most notably, there is one for saving all the civilians being assaulted by out-of-control Panamanian soldiers in "Time and Fate"... [[EvenEvilHasStandards while playing as]] the BigBad, no less! |
| 192 | * ''VideoGame/DeusExInvisibleWar'' the entire Leila Nassif mission involves you finding a young girl, establishing that they're safe from the evil man who is killing the students who don't meet his extreme views, then telling her father that she's safe. There is no difference in the end result, but if you didn't stop at the police station first then expect to feel like crap. |
| 193 | * ''VideoGame/DeusExHumanRevolution'' -- who would follow [[spoiler:Malik the VTOL pilot's advice to leave her to attacking mercs after being shot down]]? Players have [[RoaringRampageOfRescue outright abandoned]] their [[PacifistRun pacifist runs]] without regret to [[spoiler:save her]], either because non-lethal takedowns weren't getting the job fast enough or because ''those bastards deserved it''. |
| 194 | ** Similar [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge rampages]] have also occurred upon players finding [[spoiler:Malik's body in the Harvester hideout (assuming she wasn't saved)]] and/or witnessing the absolute ''massacre'' of terrified, innocent civilians in the [[spoiler:Alice Garden Pods]] hotel. |
| 195 | ** HR gives you the option to talk several people out of suicide, and one man into releasing a hostage. You don't have to, but you get a nice bonus (Silver Tongue achievement) if you do. |
| 196 | ** When discussing Megan's death with her mother, you have the option to spare her the most gruesome details, telling her simply, "She didn't suffer," and to return a bracelet of Megan's that had been taken as evidence. Unlike above, neither of these actions grants any additional XP or tangible bonus -- in fact, there is a hidden achievement for ''not'' returning Megan's bracelet. |
| 197 | ** One side quest in Hengsha involves tracking down a young woman whose social enhancement aug was paid for by the Triads and convincing her to either pay that month's debt installment/extortion fee or return the chip. After locating her, you have the option to pay the balance of her debt out of your own pocket. |
| 198 | ** The Missing Link DLC mission gives you the option of replacing a stasis pod's battery, saving the anonymous occupant's life. You can also TakeAThirdOption when faced with a SadisticChoice. Reaching a hidden back room where you can stop the poisonous gas and save both the scientist and the prisoners. |
| 199 | *** Special mention to those who do the latter on a "factory zero" run. Managing to reach the room in time [[SelfImposedChallenge with no augmentations, weapons, or explosives]]. Going as far as to break the gas valve by ''throwing a fire extinguisher at it'' since they can't use a gun. |
| 200 | * ''VideoGame/FarCry2''. Keeping your buddies alive and doing what they ask gives instant return any time you are gunned down by the enemy mercenaries. Your health drops to zero, you fall to the ground, black out... and instead of being treated to a load game screen, you come to a 48-year-old Kosovar PapaWolf shooting people left and right and dragging your bleeding hide to cover in one of the most movie-like moments ever pulled off in a 1st perspective game. |
| 201 | ** Not to mention they can sometimes die for real, while you continuously give them your healing items to ease their suffering. |
| 202 | * ''VideoGame/FarCryNewDawn'' allows you to pet domestic dogs. It serves absolutely no purpose beyond getting to pet the cute doggy! |
| 203 | ** Besides dogs, you can also get to stroke [[FullBoarAction Horatio the boar]], in between sending him to attack Highwaymen. |
| 204 | * ''VideoGame/FarCryPrimal'' allows Takkar TheBeastmaster to pet any of the prehistoric carnivores he's tamed on his jaunts through the Oros valley, ''and'' heal them from injuries sustained in combat with the mysterious red flowers and meat he's collected from anything-or anyone- he's killed. [[RuleOfFunny If he tries to stroke a]] [[BadOlBadger badger]], however, the [[KillerRabbit vicious little mammal]] will [[UngratefulBastard try attacking him again]]. |
| 205 | * The scripting in ''VideoGame/HalfLife'' is often fairly loose, and it's possible to save many of the scientists and security guards who are scripted to die in front of you (usually by interrupting them before they can run into whatever is supposed to kill them). |
| 206 | * The resistance soldiers that join you in ''VideoGame/HalfLife2'' ("Follow Freeman!") are infinite in number and they die easily. They're more or less supposed to be cannon fodder, making your life a little easier, but there is something inspiring about losing as few of them as possible. ''Especially'' the ones that look like [[Webcomic/{{Concerned}} Gordon Frohman]]. |
| 207 | ** Which also happens to look just like [[Fanfic/HalfLifeFullLifeConsequences John Freeman]], making them even more worth saving. |
| 208 | ** On a more specific note, you ''will'' become very attached to Alyx. She's arguably tougher than Gordon is thanks to her insane health regeneration (thankfully sparing you the normal pain of an EscortMission) and can fight off zombies at close range, but you ''will'' go out of your way to protect her regardless. And when [[spoiler:she's near-fatally wounded by a Hunter at the beginning of Episode 2]] you ''will'' do anything to save her. |
| 209 | *** And who among us doesn't think there should be a "hug" button for after the Stalker car incident? |
| 210 | * In the ''VideoGame/HalfLife1'' FanRemake ''VideoGame/BlackMesa'', many [=NPCs=] that are there to demonstrate threats can be saved, and have lines if such a thing happens. You can even give a scientist stuck in a bathroom stall some toilet paper, making him thank you and granting the achievement "[[{{Pun}} Brownian Motion]]". |
| 211 | * ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'': |
| 212 | ** The original trilogy especially has this, with such amiable and go-get-em Marines that you can't help but feel bad when they die. And then [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome Legendary Difficulty happens...]] |
| 213 | ** The Huragok/Engineers. They, alone, pose no threat; instead they shield the nearby Covenant. However, in ''VideoGame/Halo3ODST'', if you defeat the Covenant they're shielding, the Engineer/Huragok will...explode. It's...a bit of a lose/lose situation. It can end up either I Have to Leave One Covenant Alive Caring Potential (there's an achievement for not killing a single Huragok, ''explosions included'') or Screw It They're Going to Die Anyways But I'm Still Sad Caring Potential. |
| 214 | ** In ''VideoGame/HaloReach'', certain troopers will join you as fireteams, which now means the people who are essentially RedShirt now have names, making it more tragic when they eventually die. |
| 215 | * ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVThePhantomPain'': Quiet is a buddy you can obtain a short way into the game. A very effective scout sniper, she is invaluable in-game. In addition, she has face and motion capture, as well as the likeness of, Stefanie Joosten, making Quiet extremely lifelike and easy to bond to. This is only increased by the fact that even though she never talks, as you raise your bond level with her she begins to act more and more fondly towards Snake, eventually becoming coquettish and then outright flirtatious with him, as well as her endearing hum in the background in missions as a constant reminder that she is watching out for you. However, near the end of the game [[spoiler:we discover she is infected with the English strain of vocal cord parasites, and after she is forced to speak English in order to rescue Snake, she walks off into the desert to die to avoid infecting Snake and Mother Base]]. This caused such an uproar in the community that an extra mission was added where [[spoiler:after 7 completions of the original mission where you meet Quiet, the player can complete the full story of the game and still be able to get her back and keep her as a buddy for good]]. |
| 216 | * ''VideoGame/JetForceGemini'': The ants. Although most of them are heartless monsters and shoot you or even the tribals without hesitation, there are some ants that are just throwing their weapons away when they see you and capitulate because they want to live further. Made it cruel when you have to kill them all to open an energy door... |
| 217 | * In ''VideoGame/{{Mercenaries}} 2'', most of the various factions are either idiots or complete jerks to you. The sole exception is the [[LaResistance PLAV]], who actually act like nice guys, and it becomes hard ''not'' to think of them in a positive light when they yell things like "Viva la Mercenario!" and "The Merc's on our side, we can't lose!" or even "The Mercenary is here! ''We're saved!''" Everyone else is an asshole, but these guys ''like'' you and make you feel welcome and give you the impression that you're doing some good. No wonder everyone favors them over Universal Petroleum's jackass mercenaries. |
| 218 | ** The Chinese General somehow fits, too, as he gives you the final nuke without hesitating, thanking you for your assistance. Unlike the UN dude. |
| 219 | *** This is not surprising considering Peng is the leader of the Chinese faction in "Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction" but his helpfulness is even more endearing to the player assuming they were previously on good terms with him. |
| 220 | * Depending on what game you're playing and what mods you have installed, ''[[VideoGame/{{Stalker}} S.T.A.L.K.E.R.]]'' games allow you to sell weaponry and equipment to NPC's. If you sold them good stuff like a primary weapon and some ammo to go along with it, they ''will'' equip it right then and there. In vanilla, you can also approach wounded stalkers that are neutral or friendly to you and hand them a medkit to heal them, which also makes the neutral a friend of yours. In a place as unfriendly as the Zone, few things are as satisfying as getting a badly-armed rookie back up and handing him an Abakan so he can survive a few days longer. |
| 221 | * While ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'' is, at heart, a game about blowing up as many members of the opposite team as possible, it still highly encourages you to protect your own teammates. That's why you can air-blast or douse burning players in Mad Milk or Jarate at the expense of your own ammo/weapons. Similarly, many players will sacrifice themselves to protect their Medic or Engineer over themselves. |
| 222 | ** The characters have various automatic responses depending on what's going on around them. One of these is the 'thanks' response after being healed by a friendly Medic or traveling through a friendly Engineer teleporter. Many Medic and Engineer players attest that it's those little shows of appreciation that keep them playing even if the job itself is horrifically stressful. |
| 223 | ** One of the Pyro's weapons, the Manmelter, actually rewards you for utilizing caring potential. It has the ability to extinguish burning teammates, similarly to the airblast. But doing it with the Manmelter rewards the player with a free CriticalHit. This can prove very useful against the enemy team. |
| 224 | ** One of the best things you can do with the Heavy's Sandvich is... give it to your teammates so they can eat it ([[HyperactiveMetabolism and heal!]]). One of the most common recipients of the Sandvich is the Medic. He can heal everyone except himself, so it's only fair that you return the favor by healing him with the Sandvich while he heals you with the Medigun. |
| 225 | ** Becuase the Medic is one of the most valuable and most vulnerable classes, other players will often go out of their way to help the Medic, letting them take health packs or getting first dibs on using teleporters to help them get to the front lines faster. |
| 226 | ** In more recent updates, the Pyro's airblast grants them 20 health when used to extinguish teammates. In addition, throwable equipment such as Mad Milk and Jarate used to extinguish teammates will be granted a faster cooldown on their recharge, to encourage players to use them in this fashion more often. |
| 227 | * In ''VideoGame/UnrealI'', the Nali, the game's SlaveRace, grant you secret goodies and shortcuts, provided you protect them from attacking Skaarj and other baddies. [[PlayerCharacter Prisoner 849]], who usually hates Na Pali, lampshades this in the ExpansionPack ''Return to Na Pali'' after the Eldora Well level: |
| 228 | --> ''"As much as I hate being back here, I have to say it was good to see the Nali again."'' |
| 229 | * The single-player campaign of ''VideoGame/WorldInConflict'' continually emphasizes that you're leading an undersized, overworked company of troops in desperate last stands and daring blitzkriegs. It feels like you ''must'' keep tabs on the health of all units and minimize losses, but in reality, you get as many reinforcements as you need, and a decent number of objectives let you TakeYourTime. |
| 230 | * An InUniverse example in Videogame/TinyTinasWonderlands [[spoiler:where your character has the Dragon Lord down on his knees after battle. The Dragon Lord knows this is where he dies, and even cuts to the chase and exposes his neck so you can stab it. Your character then proceeds to throw the sword aside and refuses to do so, which catches the DM of the game (Tina) off guard as she never considered it as an option against the final boss.]] |
| 231 | [[/folder]] |
| 232 | |
| 233 | [[folder:Horror]] |
| 234 | * ''VideoGame/DeadByDaylight'' heavily encourages players to look out for each other. You are rewarded [[ExperiencePoints Bloodpoints]] for unhooking fellow survivors, healing their wounds, using a torch to rescue them by temporarily blinding the Killer. Keeping each other alive also has a practical purpose -- the more survivors there are alive, the easier it is to avoid the Killer and escape. However, there's nothing stopping you from going back to rescue a downed survivor after the gate has opened and you can escape; you even get an achievement for doing so. |
| 235 | ** In an interesting variation of this, it's not unheard of for people playing as the Killer to help the last survivor escape by refusing to attack them and even carrying them to the exit. This allows the survivor to collect a lot of Bloodpoints for surviving, at the cost of the Killer losing Bloodpoints for not sacrificing them. As such, doing so is usually just an act of altruism from whoever is playing the Killer. |
| 236 | * ''VideoGame/DeadlyPremonition'' -- You play as an FBI agent visiting a small town afflicted by a series of murders. You first meet up with the sheriff and his deputies, who are very unhappy with your interference. Later on, they get to know you, and you genuinely start to like them; they take you out to dinner, romance blooms with one, and you help them and the other different and likeable characters around town with their own individual problems. [[spoiler:This is almost heartbreaking when you reach the end of the game.]] |
| 237 | * The first chapter of ''VideoGame/DeepSleepTrilogy'' says that a boy named Cody won't be able to wake up without his toy tiger. While exploring the area in the second game you'll find Cody's bed in an orphanage, along with the toy tiger in question. If you remember to put the tiger on the bed... nothing happens, it doesn't advance the plot in any way. But you do get a special scene in the ending of a newspaper clipping where a comatose child named Cody will wake up from a coma. |
| 238 | * A few chapters in ''VideoGame/EternalDarkness'' will give you human [=NPCs=] that you can save from the monsters roaming the areas. Doing so will usually have them reward you with some information and a helpful item, or at the very least their gratitude. |
| 239 | * ''VideoGame/{{Fatal Frame II|Crimson Butterfly}}'' gives this to the player in the form of protagonist Mio's twin sister Mayu. Mayu has a permanent limp from a childhood injury and [[TheLoad can come across as quite a nuisance]], the emotional aspect that she is supposed to fulfill works. She is Mio's twin sister and is obviously in need of Mio's help, not just because of her being physically incapacitated, but also because Mayu is too easily influenced by the spirits in Minakami Village. The plot of the game mostly revolves around Mio trying to find Mayu and get her back home. [[spoiler:Though [[WordOfGod it's been revealed]] that Mayu is manipulative and purposefully fell and injured her knee, to cause Mio enough guilt to never leave her behind.]] |
| 240 | * The ''Anime/GregoryHorrorShow'' videogame has Neko Zombie, who teaches you the rules and dangers of the hotel. You can bring him food to help him with his constant starvation, sometimes receiving items in return (in particular, giving him his favourite food is one of the few ways you can get the rare [[OneUp Angel Herb]]). |
| 241 | * In ''VideoGame/HauntingGround'', you pair up with a white German Shepherd named Hewie early on. He becomes your main defense as you try to escape from your deranged pursuers. A major contributing factor towards what ending you get is how well you treat Hewie. You are given the option to praise him at any time and can heal him if he is injured by giving him dog-only restorative items. If Hewie becomes so injured to the point where he lies incapacitated on the ground, you can go over to him and press the 'praise' button to comfort him and get him back on his feet. There is also a part later on in the game where [[spoiler:Hewie is shot after he runs off into a forest. The player must search for him, their only clue being his whimpers of pain. If the 'call' button is pressed, Fiona will say Hewie's name in a very sad and concerned voice.]] |
| 242 | * ''VideoGame/Left4Dead'' can be this way sometimes when it comes to the survivor AI. Sure, they may get in the way sometimes when you are shooting and they may always snatch up health items first, but it's hard not to care about them when they are so willing to give up their health kits and pain pills to keep you alive, even if they are on the verge of death themselves. On the other hand, many players find the AI so intolerable ("What the hell!? You could have saved me from that Smoker, you were standing right next to it!") that they [[MakesUsEven punish the computer players by withholding assistance and letting them suffer]]. |
| 243 | * A rather bizarre example with the old Infocom text-adventure ''VideoGame/TheLurkingHorror''. At one point you pick up a dead hand. At another, you encounter a vat of liquid which reanimated dead tissue. Drop the hand in the vat and, it comes to life, clambers onto your shoulder, and just sits there. It will occasionally point you in the right direction if you're lost, and it can scare the crap out of an irritating NPC. Since it's one of the only friendly things in the game, many players get [[BerserkButton extremely angry]] if anything (re-)kills the dead hand. |
| 244 | * ''VideoGame/TheMedium:'' There is an Achievement for feeding the cat in Jack's apartment, and you can feed the dog you meet in the woods. |
| 245 | * In ''VideoGame/OtterIsland'', even after collecting all the items needed to get off the island, you can choose to delay your escape and go look for Connor; [[spoiler:rescuing Connor leads to the good ending]]. |
| 246 | * ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'': |
| 247 | ** ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil2'' has Sherry Birkin, a twelve-year-old girl whom player character Claire Redfield must protect. Sure, she's not as handy as Leon's partner character (badass LadyInRed Ada Wong), but she's just so ''[[TheCutie adorable]]''. What's more, when you walk through a level with Sherry in tow, and you stop long enough for her to catch up, she walks up and holds Claire's hand. It's hard not to feel at least a ''little'' protective of her. |
| 248 | ** ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil4'': Rescuing the dog caught in the BearTrap at the beginning. You'd have to have ice in your veins not to free him with the whimpers he makes. And rescuing him makes the first Gigante boss battle much easier. |
| 249 | * Shows up on occasion in the ''Franchise/SilentHill'' games. |
| 250 | ** ''VideoGame/SilentHill2'' has a very insidious subversion of this trope. [[spoiler:Being caring and protective of Maria is the ''wrong'' choice, and nets the player the worst ending, since Maria is a demonic creation of the town designed to test James' faithfulness to Mary.]] |
| 251 | ** Likewise subverted in ''VideoGame/SilentHill3''. The game has an invisible KarmaMeter that works in the background, with every monster killed netting ten points and every point of damage taken worth one point. Getting more than 4,000 points leads to the "evil" ending, in which [[spoiler:Heather is possessed and kills Douglas]]. The single greatest thing you can do to get the "evil" ending is to... go into the {{confessional}} and forgive a woman who exacted vengeance on the girl who killed her daughter, later [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone realizing what she had done]]. This single act nets a thousand points.\ |
| 252 | \ |
| 253 | What really pushes this into a subversion is that the true meaning of Heather forgiving the woman isn't made clear until you play through a second time. By forgiving the woman for her crime, Heather isn't merely soothing her fear and guilt. [[spoiler:She's accepting the ''responsibility'' of forgiving her or not, which Heather, as the reincarnation of Saint Alessa, has the divine right to do. Forgiving her means embracing who she really is, while saying nothing is a rejection of that and a decision to remain on the side of good.]] |
| 254 | ** Played straight in ''VideoGame/SilentHill4'', which ends up with you playing lonely [[FriendlessBackground Henry]] protecting his [[GirlNextDoor next-door neighbor, Eileen.]] With Henry having been trapped in his hellish room for five or six days and counting, Eileen having been beaten within an inch of her life and limping around pitifully behind him, and the player being terrified (this IS Silent Hill), it's hard not to go out of your way to keep Eileen safe and healthy, either out of sympathy for one or both characters or simply out of not wanting your lone companion to [[DemonicPossession lose her mind]] and leave you braving the Otherworld all alone. |
| 255 | ** ''VideoGame/SilentHillDownpour'' puts a ton of focus on your ability to show empathy to others, humans and monsters alike. To get the best ending in the game you have to attempt to save and/or comfort every person you meet, even the cop who wants to kill you, and not kill a ''single'' monster. [[spoiler:This determines whether Murphy was a good man to the bitter end who went to prison to avenge his son and was merely framed for killing Frank (best ending), or if he was a delusional psychopath who murdered his own son, murdered Frank, and didn't give a damn about either (worst ending).]] |
| 256 | * ''VideoGame/TheWalkingDead'' has this in ''spades'' in the form of the MoralityPet, Clementine, a 9-year-old girl that [[PlayerCharacter Lee]] finds in an abandoned house near the start of the series. Aside from that, you can opt to feed others without taking any food of your own in the second chapter and take burdens on yourself to spare others a SadisticChoice throughout. |
| 257 | [[/folder]] |
| 258 | |
| 259 | [[folder:Interactive Fiction]] |
| 260 | * In ''VideoGame/WorldsApart'', an optional puzzle involves making an antidote for a small woodland creature called a pakal that has eaten poisonous berries. |
| 261 | [[/folder]] |
| 262 | |
| 263 | [[folder:MMORPG]] |
| 264 | * In ''VideoGame/DCUniverseOnline'' you'll occasionally find citizens on top of tall buildings contemplating suicide, who hero players can console for a small EXP gain. Villain players instead have the option to [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential punch them off the building.]] |
| 265 | * In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'', red mages, summoners, and healers all have access to a version of the Raise spell, letting them revive KO'd allies. However, this also works on players outside of your party, be they in other alliances or fallen players out in the field. A good samaritan can stop to revive these players so they don't have to teleport back to town. There's even an achievement for it, "The Kindness of Strangers", with five levels culminating in the Good Samaritan title. |
| 266 | * ''VideoGame/GuildWars'' second chapter, Factions, has a mission on the Luxon side, Gyala Hatchery. Normally, escort missions can be a pain, particularly if the AI you are guiding is prone to wading into combat (I'm looking at -you-, Rurik). Gyala Hatchery inspires players to go for the Master-level mission completion due to the fact that you must protect [[RidiculouslyCuteCritter 3 newly hatched Siege Turtles, which waddle around in the middle of the group]]. Sure, they'll grow up to be artillery-carrying weapons of mass destruction, but it's hard not to feel bad when one bites the dust. |
| 267 | * ''VideoGame/GuildWars2'': half the quests boil down to search and rescue and disaster relief. Loot and experience are far less persnickety than one might expect, so you've nothing to lose by pulling a BigDamnHeroes on any random player about to keel over. That's right, they've encouraged caring about other players! |
| 268 | * Ever lose a cat in ''VideoGame/RuneScape''? A kitten becomes a cat after ten real-time hours of being fed and petted. Alongside loving being stroked and enjoying play, a cat is the key to at least three quests. One of those quests involves mucking around inside a [[DeathCourse pyramid]] ''without'' being able to set the cat down. Since the rules concerning item loss-on-player death are linked to the price of items (your armor ''is'' more expensive than your cat) and you can only lose what you are actually holding, this can be [[GoshDangItToHeck frustrating]]. |
| 269 | ** Hell, it's easy to get attached to any of the pets. You'd be surprised how much you can like a giant crab. |
| 270 | ** When players die in ''[=RuneScape=]'', all of the items they lost on death are kept under a short-lived gravestone. Given that the most dangerous areas and a long way from the nearest respawn, it's not unlikely that you'll lose a lot because you couldn't get back in time. However, other players can repair your gravestone, giving you precious minutes so you can get your armour back... [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential or they can just watch the gravestone wither away and take what used to be yours...]] |
| 271 | ** The game's most infamous emotional gut-punch comes in the WhamEpisode quest "While Guthix Sleeps," in which a whole bunch of the players allies from previous quests and skill training are unceremoniously slaughtered by the BigBad, with you powerless to do anything about it. Particularly mourned is the wise old gnome Hazelmere, who is the first to die; he's burned to ashes by a bolt of lightning, leaving [[DeadHatShot only his hat behind]]. And the only reason he dies is because he used up an item that would've given him a guaranteed escape to save ''you'' when you were nearly killed in a previous quest- something highlighted with a short cutscene where he looks down at the item, which can no longer save him. |
| 272 | * Invoked in ''VideoGame/StarTrekOnline'': A lazy or selfish player could send his away team ahead on ground missions to do all the dirty work for him, and if they die there's very little in the way of penalties. Similarly, Tactical Captains gain a power to summon RedShirt security officers; as one might expect, they have very low health and their primary usage is as cannon fodder. It can be quite satisfying to keep them alive, though. |
| 273 | ** For the space segments, there are a few missions with NPC ships that are under attack when you warp in. In particular, the Deferi sector has a repeatable mission that involves stopping an attack on a convoy of weakly armed transport ships. There's absolutely no reward for saving them, aside from a little extra firepower throughout the rest of the mission, but it's hard to let them just get destroyed. |
| 274 | ** Also in Deferi sector, there's an optional encounter with a Breen starship. Your tactical officer will detect Deferi life signs aboard, so you're given the option to hail the ship. The Breen will let you talk to the (Obviously scared) Deferi captive, who pretends to be an exchange officer. At this point, there are several choices: You can buy the Deferi slave outright with Latinum, you can destroy the ship with the Deferi still aboard, or you can employ a sensor-disrupting tactic to beam the Deferi straight to your ship. In an especially unusual twist, you can then either destroy the Breen ship or take the Deferi and leave the Breen ship intact. This is one case where not only is it wise to show compassion for your allies, but for your enemy as well. Unfortunately for the Klingons, the only option to rescue the Deferi is to buy them with Gold Pressed Latinum. If you destroy the ship (which Klingons would suggest doing anyway) while the Deferi is on board, then you blame them for being weak enough to get captured in the first place. |
| 275 | * Creator/BioWare follows their usual standard in ''VideoGame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic''. If you do a good turn for the various [=NPCs=] you meet during your quests, they'll frequently send you an in-game email with their heartfelt, and heartwarming, thanks. |
| 276 | ** Likewise, each of the eight character classes has five Companion Characters. Being a dick to them usually makes you feel like an utter heel. Win their affection, though, and you can unlock new quests or even trigger a romance subplot. |
| 277 | * Invoked in ''VideoGame/{{Vindictus}}''. Ellis, who happens to be an annoyingly naive cadet who follows around an army official and happens to eventually grow on you. Eventually, [[spoiler:in Ainle, where you are supposedly exploring a dungeon with him, you watch his face get smashed in by a boss. Against the camera.]] |
| 278 | * ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' slightly invokes this trope in the Death Knight starting quest line when you have to execute a member of your own race that you knew way back after he/she pleads with you to come to your senses. |
| 279 | ** And again in the quest [[TearJerker The Mosswalker Savior]], which can very suddenly turn around the player's feelings about the Oracles. |
| 280 | ** You get decent [=XP=] for the quest line, but that's ''not'' why you will [[{{Determinator}} go through hell]] to help little [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LcJXckn0Lo Pamela Redpath]] [[TearJerker find her]] [[DeathEqualsRedemption daddy]]. |
| 281 | *** While the Redpath questline is less intensive in Cataclysm, now the Eastern Plaguelands has an entire group of [=NPCs=] you travel with. Hearing things like the two paladins are childhood friends, or the Argent Crusader has been having trouble the last few years with his duties due to age, or even just that Gideon wants to kiss Fiona all make the player more attached to them. Which makes it so that Gideon's kidnapping results in a RoaringRampageOfRevenge. At the end of the extremely long questline, Fiona gives the player a rare item, saying that it's something the entire caravan worked on for you, and tells you that you're welcome to join her caravan any time. |
| 282 | ** Similar to Pamela Redpath is [[http://www.wowhead.com/uuna-storyline-a-dark-place Uuna]], a ghostly draenei girl. By the time you've wrapped up her storyline, you've killed the monstrosity she was fused into, befriended her, leapt across the fragments of a ruined world to find her doll, [[{{Determinator}} killed yourself to search for her]] when she's dragged into the spirit world by shadowy tentacles, and protected her from innumerable and unkillable nightmarish shadow-mobs. There are no tangible rewards for doing this, nor for the victory lap of taking her to see the sights around Azeroth and Draenor: these aren't quests, just [[GuideDangIt often-hidden options for interaction and dialogue triggered by particular locations]], so there is no gold nor XP. At the end, though, when you've shown her that there are people of her race still alive and well, she's happy to stay with you a while longer. And when you /hug her, she'll /hug you right back. You've earned it. |
| 283 | ** The game invokes this in a TRINKET with the badlands quest reward [[spoiler:[[SomeoneToRememberHimBy Rhea's Last Egg]]. Especially with the descriptive text "Please take care of him for me."]] |
| 284 | ** The craft skill Inscription has 'Forged Documents' as one of the higher-level items. Once per day, you can make them and get a quest to turn them in to one of about six random people in the major city. One of them on the alliance side is Thomas Miller the baker, but if you give them to him you will probably feel like you just kicked a blind kid's one-legged puppy. "My bread made someone sick? I hope my meager savings will help..." |
| 285 | ** There is a zone in the Hillsbrad Foothills, Horde side only, where the player can find humans buried by a MadScientist in the ground with their heads sticking out, while surrounded by man-eating ghouls. The player, who at that point has done a good number of dog-kicking and killed plenty of humans, can choose to use a shovel to set them free -- or to MercyKill them with a ShovelStrike. Even at this early point in the game you've already run into characters gone crazy from trauma (especially if you are playing a Blood Elf, or helped a friend kill Dar'khan Drathir). So it's genuinely difficult to tell whether the kinder option is to set them free or kill them, given how screwed up this scenario is. |
| 286 | ** A minor example for Alliance players in the Twilight Highlands is the "Small Comforts" sidequest. You're sent to retrieve various trinkets for dwarves who've lost their home. While it does mean you have to fetch them all over again, you can choose to give them to the dwarves in question instead of the quest giver. One of them insists that there will always be a spot for you at his dinner table after giving him back a hammer that had been in his family for generations. A very young dwarf asks if you've lost your home too and offers to let you sit next to her before you even give back her bear. The last is a widow who thanks you profusely for retrieving some dried flowers her husband gave her. |
| 287 | ** The quests in Westfall as of Cataclysm all revolve around clearing the zone of hostile beings, gathering supplies, and feeding the homeless. In other words, you're helping these people get back on their feet and stay there. It's very satisfying. |
| 288 | ** One of the Tillers dailies has you collect debts from various {{Non Player Character}}s around town. Every day two of them have trouble paying. While a couple of the [=NPCs=] just don't want to pay, one is saving up to leave town and the other needs the money to either repair her inn or feed her family. Players can choose to threaten them into paying or pay the debt themselves. |
| 289 | ** By the end of the Tarecgosa's Rest legendary questline you feel like the blue dragon's mom/dad despite never having actually met her. Not only has her brother Kalecgos talked about how kind she was at length, but he has also roped you into risking your neck playing dragon politics on her behalf. See, dragons were literally created to boss the rest of the beings on the planet around: and they generally can. Just to further drive home the point, you can actually refuse Kalecgos halfway through the questline and not lose the [=XP=] you've earned up to that point (the way you would if you declined the quest normally). Nobody ever does though, and not for fear that Kalecgos will hold a grudge. At this point in the questline, it has become evident that Kalec is one of the kindest creatures in the entire universe and it seems pretty probable that he doesn't even know what the word "grudge" means: meanwhile though, ''he'' has been raving about how kind and selfless Tarecgosa was. When it is all over, and she is bound to your soul, Tarecgosa proves that Kalec wasn't overhyping her with some thoroughly adorable emotes in your chat. Although it's a relatively short questline and not particularly difficult to complete, most players who have gotten the staff will wear it whenever they can: despite the fact that it has been useless to max level players for several expansions, and as a legendary it's appearance can't be transmogrified. Although intended for mages and priests, at the time this questline was added to the game any class could pick up any weapon. Lots of people of all classes acquired it. Later expansions restricted which weapons the different classes could pick up, and a lot of people don't like these restrictions primarily because of Tarecgosa's Rest. |
| 290 | [[/folder]] |
| 291 | |
| 292 | [[folder:Other]] |
| 293 | * Touched upon in [[http://kotaku.com/5467695/the-daddening-of-video-games this Kotaku article]] about "The Daddening of Video Games" -- the trend of making the player character a father (or father figure) to a younger character that must be protected. |
| 294 | * This is invoked in ''VideoGame/TheAmazonTrail'': |
| 295 | ** At one point, you encounter Teddy Roosevelt who has developed a fever from an infected wound, and you give him a medicinal plant (or [[AntiFrustrationFeatures a medkit, since it's possible to have used, lost, or accidentally traded the medicinal plant by that point]]). |
| 296 | ** One person you encounter, when you offer to trade, says "I only have this gold staff to offer" and of course -- since their boat is out of food, the right thing to do is to give him anything edible. |
| 297 | ** In another time period, you encounter [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isabel_Godin_des_Odonais Isabel Godin]], who will say "I don't have anything to offer" when you offer to trade with her -- naturally if you give her a map, she will say "Thank you!" because it helps her find what she's looking for: her husband. |
| 298 | ** Said gold staff becomes a ChekhovsGun when you find out it's an Incan artefact and trade it to an Incan person, who is glad that you have given an artefact back to his people. |
| 299 | ** One level has you encounter Julio Arana, who brags about what a piece of shit he is. Of course, the right thing to do is tell the locals to get out of there. |
| 300 | * ''VideoGame/AzurLane'': Your ships start out as subordinates but through bonding, they can grow to trust, like and then love the Commander. Give them reasonable time off, provide them with plenty of food and nice lodgings, and keep them from getting damaged during sorties. For some girls like [[Characters/AzurLaneEagleUnion Arizona, Yorktown]], [[Characters/AzurLaneRoyalNavy Hood and Glorious]] who are at the point of DespairEventHorizon when you first meet them, you will be able to bring peace to their lives after the suffering they have gone through. Another special mention is Gascogne, the prototype French battleship that was never built and begins life as an utterly emotionless RobotGirl (as she has no life experience and no basis for her existence outside of combat), but eventually becomes able to understand her emotions and feelings to become less robotic through bonding with the Commander; by the time you can romance her, she sounds like a normal person and says this: |
| 301 | -->'''Gascogne''': I finally understand this feeling called 'love' - it's the flutter of your heart when you and another give and receive of each other with no expectation of reward, and share your desires, your passions... your light. This ring is the greatest treasure Gascogne could ever hope to receive. Maître... I love you, so very much! |
| 302 | * The early FMV computer game ''VideoGame/CriticalPath'' was marketed as featuring a new level of interactivity that would make the player truly care for the game's lead character, Kat. The reality is the game simply was an interactive movie with limited actual interaction by the player (basically of the "save her" or "let her die" choice variety), and any "caring" was limited to players who might have developed a crush on the actress playing Kat, given that the scenes occasionally called for her to express fear, etc. on occasion. |
| 303 | * ''VideoGame/DragonQuestBuilders'' does its best to try to get you to ''want'' to help the assorted villagers you come across. You don't have to build them unique rooms and decent beds; but they'll return the favor when you do with applause, battle support (if they're capable), and crafting items like food while you're away that you can pick up later. |
| 304 | ** ''VideoGame/DragonQuestBuilders2'' takes this even further due to changes in how towns level up compared to the first game (where it was solely determined by the combined quality of all the buildings). [=NPCs=] will drop Gratitude Points (which functions as both EXP and currency for getting items in the post-game) any time they feel thankful towards the Builder, which happens every time you complete a quest, do tasks for them, or just as they go about their days and use the various buildings you've made for them. Making sure that all their needs are met is key to bringing in a steady supply of Gratitude Points, and they'll drop more if the rooms match up with their personal tastes (measured in size, mood, and fanciness). |
| 305 | * The story of Noh is a legendary ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' example. It goes like this: A group of players were doing a [[DungeonCrawling dungeon crawl]] when they came upon an ornate and obviously magical sword and chainmail shirt. The items were guarded by a young girl (really a physical manifestation of a minor spirit) who could only say 'no' and (if saying no would be misleading) 'please do not take these items'. It was ''supposed'' to be a simple SecretTestOfCharacter just wanted to see if they would take them when the girl was asking them not to. The party bard tried to use music to 'awaken her dormant soul' and rolled high enough that the DM let her shed a single tear. The players promptly suffered CutenessProximity and [[OffTheRails decided to take the girl instead of the items]]. They took her with them (when she tried to return to the items to fulfill her purpose they simply put the items on her instead), risked their lives for her, and named her 'Noh' since it was what she said when asked her name. The DM allowed them to keep her for good. |
| 306 | * In ''VideoGame/FallGuysUltimateKnockout'', you can grab other players to slow them down. Or, alternatively, two players can grab each other from the front at the same time to hug each other. This is a common sight near the finish line of Race rounds when there's plenty of spots left for qualification, and you even get an achievement/trophy for it. |
| 307 | * The Christmas 2007 event on ''Website/GaiaOnline'' had users fostering adorable shabby orphans, who would hang out by the user's avatar. The goal was to respond to the orphan's occasional requests and improve their ([[HilariouslyAbusiveChildhood Dickens-esque]]) living conditions a little before returning them to the orphanage and receiving an item as a reward for every few orphans so helped. Many users decided to "adopt" their orphans by never returning them to the orphanage. Then, when the event ended and the orphans went away anyway, ''the users stormed the forums to demand them back''. |
| 308 | ** This led to the February 2008 Chance Item... [[AscendedMeme adoption forms for the Christmas event orphans]]. |
| 309 | * ''VideoGame/GhostReconFutureSoldier'''s second mission involves the Ghosts hunting down a warlord who has taken over a refugee camp. You get Challenges to avoid civilian casualties and kill every last one of the warlord's mooks terrorising the people. |
| 310 | * ''VideoGame/Journey2012'' was specifically designed to evoke this. During multiple test playthroughs, the developers gradually removed the players' abilities to prevent them from griefing other players. The only way left to interact with your companion is to help them. By the end of the game, the strange other character you've been wandering around with will be your best friend ever. (Of course, you could also [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential leave them behind]]...) |
| 311 | ** Some clever folks have figured out how to [[spoiler:send messages to the other player]] by drawing lines in the sand [[spoiler:at the end of the last level]]. The most common symbol drawn? [[spoiler:A heart.]] Aww. |
| 312 | * The [[VideoGame/MinotoSeries Minoto version]] of "Literature/TheLittleMatchGirl" is all about undoing the story's TearJerker ending by saving the eponymous girl. It begins with her lying frozen and apparently dead on the ground... but a nearby snowman will donate his arms to use in building a fire to save her. After you've built the fire, she wakes up and kisses the snowman out of gratitude, giving him {{Blush Sticker}}s. From there you move on to giving her a decent meal, and then to buying so many matches that she can move into a castle. |
| 313 | * Sparadrap from ''Series/{{Noob}}'' cares about his pets [[spoiler:enough to go berserk when they get killed in front of him]] and goes an extra mile by trying be friendly to enemies whose sole purpose is to be killed by players. This is also the reason for which the name of the [[PlayerKilling Player Killer]] guild should really be [[spoiler:Player, Mount and Pet Killer guild]]. |
| 314 | * ''VideoGame/TheOregonTrail2021'': You can give food and other supplies to random people in need of help en-route. Sometimes you don't get anything for it but other times doing so will boost your party's morale. You can also help out people in specific quests such as the "Star-Crossed Lovers" and "Reuniting the Peoria Party", etc. |
| 315 | * ''VideoGame/Progressbar95'' gives a Bin as a virtual pet in later systems and you can take care of him by feeding him, caressing him, cleaning him daily, and answering his questions positively. |
| 316 | * In ''VideoGame/SabresOfInfinity'' You may choose to be an honourable soldier and a fair, generous leader, abiding by the rules of engagement, with your men's best interests at heart. |
| 317 | * Used during the "Years of Yarncraft" storyline from ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'', when Torg and Zoe play a [[MassivelyMultiplayerOnlineRolePlayingGame MMORPG]] and save some virtual puppies from being drowned. ''Then'' they discover that the bad guy they stopped [[PerpetuallyStatic just comes back to drown more puppies]], only now they can't stop him because they already completed the quest. Eventually [[CrossesTheLineTwice the mountain of dead puppies blots out the sun]]. |
| 318 | * ''VideoGame/{{Subnautica}}'': |
| 319 | ** The cuddlefish is basically designed for this. They are cute, pudgy fish with big eyes, a face that looks like it's smiling, and four little tentacles. There are only four eggs in the game, and once hatched they behave like dogs, following the player around unless told to stay and doing tricks for treats. You can even pet them. Players will murder any predator who even looks like they might be a threat to their cuddlefish, and many a player has become upset when they finish the game and realize that they can't take their cuddlefish with them when they [[spoiler:launch the Neptune escape rocket]] and leave the planet. |
| 320 | ** Other fish sometimes are treated as pets by the players and left in time capsules for new players to find when they complete the game. Hoverfish are particularly popular. |
| 321 | * In ''VideoGame/TangerineTycoon'', refusing to put the cat into your tangerine machine will force you to skip one tier of upgrades, but in the next playthroughs, you will get thanked by the cats and its friends with some extra tangerines to help you get started. |
| 322 | [[/folder]] |
| 323 | |
| 324 | [[folder:Platformer]] |
| 325 | * In ''VideoGame/TheAdventuresOfLomax'', you can make it your holy mission to defeat every single enemy you come across since it turns them back into normal lemmings. |
| 326 | * The ''[[VideoGame/OddWorld Oddworld]]'' games really inspire this, not only because rescuing the lanky, bug-eyed Mudokons and little furry Fuzzles is the goal of the game and not doing so has... [[EarnYourBadEnding unfavourable consequences]] for the heroes. Even though [[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7AE34ADD446E674A some people]] prefer to [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential kill off as many as possible]], most players get really attached to their buddies and constantly quicksave and quickload when they die. |
| 327 | * In the Downpour DLC for ''VideoGame/RainWorld'', you can eventually find and even adopt slugpups, which are juvenile slugcats. Take an already RidiculouslyCuteCritter and make it smaller, give it bigger eyes, and the personality of a kitten--that's a slugpup. Slugpups will sometimes help you in combat, but that's no guarantee, and it's hard enough to survive as is. Yet many players will adopt one or even two of the little guys to keep them company, and go out of their way to keep pups fed and sheltered. It helps that pups are randomly generated in both appearance and personality, and as such each pup is a unique child in its own way, encouraging players to get emotionally attached. It also causes players to empathize with the otherwise unapologetically violent Artificer ''much'' more once they learn the [[MamaBear full]] [[OutlivingOnesOffspring details]] her TragicBackstory. |
| 328 | * In the rematch against Toad Man in ''VideoGame/Rockman4MinusInfinity'', you can turn him into a toad then spare him by not squishing him. He (as a toad) appears in the credits if you do this, and you get points added to your score. |
| 329 | * A central theme of a lot of ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' games is freeing WoodlandCreatures (or [[VideoGame/SonicColors aliens]]) by opening the capsules that mark the ends of certain levels or, optionally, by [[VideoGame/SonicLostWorld finding smaller capsules scattered around levels]] and smashing the [[MechaMook robots which use them as energy sources]]. An odd example since it means you are doing more good simply by being ''more violent''. |
| 330 | * ''VideoGame/{{SOS}}''. The object of the game is to rescue seven passengers. Depending on who you rescue and whether or not the player characters' essential passenger(s) are among them, you will get a better ending. You ''especially'' get rewarded if you go out of your way to rescue certain passengers, which include an entire family, a married couple, a mother and her ill daughter, children, and an Engineer who otherwise would die. |
| 331 | * ''VideoGame/ThomasWasAlone'': Despite the game's protagonists being simple 2D mute rectangles, the narration makes you care for their welfare more than many more defined video game characters. |
| 332 | [[/folder]] |
| 333 | |
| 334 | [[folder:Puzzle]] |
| 335 | * ''VideoGame/{{Catherine}}'' gives you plenty of opportunities to encourage, teach and save from themselves other guys in the same situation you are in. In fact, they'll even thank you for it. In fact, discouraging them from continuing the climb will result in their deaths. Some dialogue options actually make it very hard to tell which is which, so [[SaveScumming Save Scum]] early and often. |
| 336 | * 100% Completion in ''VideoGame/{{Lemmings}}'' seems like a moral imperative. The lemmings' cute character designs don't help. |
| 337 | * In ''[[VideoGame/QuiltsAndCatsOfCalico Quilts & Cats of Calico]]'', there's an achievement for feeding Billy each time he asks you for food. |
| 338 | * ''VideoGame/{{Scribblenauts}}''. You can sit in a level writing item after item to make [=NPCs=] happy and safe. Helping characters out is the entire point of ''Scribblenauts Unlimited''. |
| 339 | [[/folder]] |
| 340 | |
| 341 | [[folder:Real-Time Strategy]] |
| 342 | * ''VideoGame/AgainstTheStorm'': Certain glade events let you choose an "empathy" outcome. These include feeding giant wild animals, putting ghosts to rest, and sparing the Treasure Stag. |
| 343 | [[/folder]] |
| 344 | |
| 345 | [[folder:RPG]] |
| 346 | * One of the first quests in ''VideoGame/AncientDomainsOfMystery'' provides this (along with ThatOneSidequest): Why would you risk your brand-new level one character going up against giant ants (fast carapace-armored psych-immune killing machines), an underground river (in a world with SuperDrowningSkills) and four more levels of early-game hell? Because an adorable little girl admiringly calls you a "true hero" for bringing back her puppy dog. That's why. [[LuckBasedMission Too bad the chance of succeeding at this is small even if you play perfectly]], and SaveScumming is not an option. |
| 347 | * Near the end of ''VideoGame/{{Bastion}}'', the player is given the opportunity to save [[spoiler:Zulf]], rather than leaving [[spoiler:him]] to die. If you choose the first option, [[spoiler:the Ura become so impressed with your {{Determinator}} status that they back down and let both of you leave alive.]] |
| 348 | * Creator/BioWare [=RPGs=] all feature engaging casts of secondary characters that look up to the protagonist. While you can do [[KickTheDog mean]], [[MoralEventHorizon terrible]] things to them [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential if you want]], it's usually [[GoodFeelsGood more satisfying to be nice to them]]. Most of the games also feature certain scenarios with diplomatic solutions. Sure, it's easy to wipe out a tribe of kobolds or lizardmen, but it's much more satisfying to earn their trust, arrange for peaceful cohabitation with humans, and have them consider you an honored friend. |
| 349 | ** ''[[VideoGame/BaldursGate Baldur's Gate II]]'' |
| 350 | *** Minsc's epilogue will have you shed a tear, guaranteed. |
| 351 | *** Imoen in the first game is your childhood friend and also the first person coming to help you after the ambush at the end of the prologue, triggering many sensibilities. She's also one of the best thieves in the game (and perhaps the best, considering she's available right at the beginning and you can later dual her to a mage/thief), thus a good asset per se. In the second game, she suffers atrocious physical pain and psychological abuses that leave her more than a scar, not counting what it's taken away from her in midgame, and basically the first half of the game revolves around rescuing and assisting her. You also discover that [[spoiler:she is your actual sister]]. Finally, she won't leave the party even if your reputation is abysmal, such is her loyalty to you. If you already liked her before, now you'd bet that you would go even to hell for her. |
| 352 | *** Still about Imoen, in Siege of Dragonspear, you have plenty of dialogues where you can say her that you care and one occasion where you might choose to magically farsee one person that is relevant to you: what the new BigBad is planning, what the mysterious hooded man is doing, or how is Imoen while recovering after being poisoned. It's almost a one-sided choice for fan-service. |
| 353 | *** Who would break the relationship between the old, faithful Keldorn and his family? Also, his epilogue is tearful just like Minsc's. |
| 354 | *** Aerie's romance arc, as long you can endure her initial whining. This girl has gone through hell. Being captured by slavers, sold as a circus freak because of her wings. Having said wings becoming diseased and amputated medieval style to save her life have turned her into an almost literal BrokenBird. However, if you romance her and follow the arc through, her ending is one of the [[EarnYourHappyEnding happiest in the game]]. [[spoiler:Travelling to her former home, finding her parents who never gave up their search for her and getting married with [[PlayerCharacter Gorion's Ward]] there.]] |
| 355 | *** Even if [[spoiler:Yoshimo]] can't help but betray you, you can still follow his last wish and bring his heart to a priest of Ilmater in order to relieve his soul from his curse. If you do that, the priest asks to tell him about this man and you have two dialogue choices: either coldly point out that he was simply a traitor and you don't know if he was lying with his request, or call him "a friend that was forced into treachery". |
| 356 | ** ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights'' gives you Deekin. Anyone who can be cruel to Deekin is a monster with no soul. And those few who didn't care for him probably found themselves attached to Grobnar from ''Neverwinter Nights 2.'' |
| 357 | *** Aribeth's reaction if you convince her to come back at the end of ''Neverwinter Nights.'' And her reaction if you reassure her in the face of her apprehension at returning to the world of the living at the end of Hordes of the Underdark. |
| 358 | *** In the same expansion in which Deekin debuted, there were certain quests early on involving the victims of a kobold attack. One woman has a child who is stolen by a straggling kobold, you can either negotiate with the kobold or otherwise to return the child safely, fail the negotiation, [[TearJerker resulting in the child's death]], or [[JerkAss either hold the child hostage for money or the mother's wedding ring]] or [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential keep the baby yourself, killing the mother.]] |
| 359 | ** ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'': the dialogue involved in turning [[spoiler:Bastila]] back from the DarkSide. |
| 360 | *** Seeing Carth recover from his paranoia and vow to help you despite The Reveal. |
| 361 | *** Finding out that [[spoiler:you were]] Juhani's inspiration for becoming a Jedi. She can be touchy and temperamental but crack that and you have an awesome friend. |
| 362 | *** And while you ''can'' cross the MoralEventHorizon by [[spoiler:killing Mission and Zaalbar]] the fact that you ''have'' to do it playing Dark Side has stopped many players from actually following through. |
| 363 | ** ''VideoGame/JadeEmpire'': the Drowned Orphan Quest. The ghosts of the orphans desperately want peace, as does [[spoiler:the orphanage keeper, who was unable to save them]]. The Open Palm ending allows you to bring peace to the spirits of all parties. Hell, half the fun of Open Palm is being able to settle the restless dead. |
| 364 | *** It's hard to be cruel to cute little Wild Flower...and ''so'' satisfying to kick that nasty demon that's bothering her into next week. |
| 365 | *** Kicking [[spoiler:Sun Li]]'s ass is ''very'' satisfying after hearing him insult Dawn Star (the sweetest, nicest person in your party) to her face. It's also a CMOH to free the enslaved spirit of [[spoiler:Sun Kin, who had been forced into being Death's Hand for his corrupted brothers' benefit]]. |
| 366 | ** Picking the Colonist backstory in ''[[VideoGame/MassEffect1 Mass Effect]]'' results in a sidequest where you find a character who was from the same colony as you, but who was captured and enslaved and became severely messed up. She was rescued, but grabbed a weapon away and hid. She talks about herself in the [[ThirdPersonPerson third person]], and you can either rush in and jab her with a sedative or talk to her, approaching slowly, and administer it without spooking her. On the way you can learn some of the details about what happened and tell her it's not her fault. If you play it right, you can convince her to take the sedative herself, then, as she falls asleep in your arms, whisper the following to her: |
| 367 | --->'''Shepard:''' You'll dream of a warm place. And when you wake up, you'll be in it. |
| 368 | *** That scene in particular is a ShoutOut to Aliens. It's much more noticeable if you're playing a Female!Shepard. |
| 369 | *** In the sequel, you get an email from her with her using the first person, thanking you and saying she's getting better. Yep, GoodFeelsGood. |
| 370 | ** ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' is replete with these. In particular, Miranda, Thane, Kasumi, and Tali's loyalty all have endings that are bound to warm even the hardest hearts. And, of course, [[spoiler:the (completely necessary) Paragon Interrupt to hug Tali.]] |
| 371 | *** The Suicide Mission is a big one. It's possible to lose nearly everyone (including Shepard!) -- in the worst ending, only [[spoiler:Joker and EDI]] survive, but [[GoldenEnding it is possible to get everyone through]]. |
| 372 | *** You can encounter a quarian on her Pilgrimage, being harassed by security on a false claim of thievery. Shepard can mention he/she has knowledge of the quarians, and he/she's genuinely shocked that an alien would bother to know anything about her race. The tone suggests that s/he's the first person to speak to her like a normal person since she left the Flotilla. And you can tell the people harassing her to piss off with an Interrupt. |
| 373 | *** Sharing a bottle of brandy with Dr. Chakwas. |
| 374 | *** The ending of the Overlord DLC: [[spoiler:leaving David with his brother to suffer more of his experiments]] is something [[EvenEvilHasStandards even the most die-hard of Renegade players shy away from]]. The ending also has die-hard Paragons clamour for an option to [[spoiler:take David and kill Archer.]] If you do the right thing, this is later followed up in ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'': [[spoiler:David has recovered from his ordeal, and is safe and happy.]] |
| 375 | *** Early on in the game you're hunting down Archangel and find out about a concerted effort by nearly every local crime syndicate to take down a vigilante. They're sending in wave after wave of dumb mercenaries as cannon fodder -- death is a guarantee. Just after Shepard signs up to infiltrate the groups, a dumb hotshot kid comes in to join. It's obvious that this kid won't last two seconds, and a Paragon interrupt has Shepard take his gun from him, sabotages it and send him off. Later, you get an email from him thanking you for saving his life. |
| 376 | *** After Jacob's loyalty mission, it's nice to hear from [[spoiler:one of the women his dad abused]], saying she's getting better. |
| 377 | *** After Grunt's loyalty mission, it's not something that comes immediately, but you essentially gave Grunt a reason to live. You gave him a family in Clan Urdnot, a proper father figure if Wrex survived Virmire, and, if you killed the thresher maw, you gave him the respect of God knows how many krogan. For a [[FantasticRacism tank-bred]], that's not bad. |
| 378 | *** Pretty much every loyalty mission has this in some way if you get the best result. You get [[HeWhoFightsMonsters Garrus to realise he was becoming the very thing he swore to stamp out]], [[MoralityPet Miranda to reconnect with her beloved sister]], [[DestroyTheAbusiveHome Jack gets to bury her demons regarding her past]], [[EvilParentsWantGoodKids Thane stops his son following in his footsteps in a job he regrets]], [[TheWoobie Tali is welcomed back to the Migrant Fleet after she was threatened with exile]], [[KleptomaniacHero Kasumi engages on the most important heist of her life to recover the last remaining fragment of her partner and lover]], and [[TakeAThirdOption prevent Samara from killing herself to save her last living daughter]]. |
| 379 | *** After the suicide mission, if you romanced a crew member and they lived, you can invite them up to your cabin to cuddle. |
| 380 | *** If you romanced Tali in 2 and make sure she survives the suicide mission when you meet up again in 3, she says that she left a present for you in your cabin. What do you find? [[spoiler:A picture of her without her suit on]]. |
| 381 | ** ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'' has this both in companion-related quests and in dialogue at camp. Though in one case there's an odd subversion: Alistair's companion quest. [[spoiler:He wants to go to Denerim to meet his long-lost half-sister. No matter what dialogue options you choose, there is no way for this encounter to end well, and Alistair is badly upset by it... but if you choose the "some people are selfish" dialogue option afterwards, this turns out to be a crucial turning point that can result in Alistair being "hardened"... which opens up some positive outcomes later on. In fact, if you're playing as a female character romancing him, it's the only way outside of playing a human noble and becoming queen yourself that your relationship will survive if you end up making him king.]] |
| 382 | *** Leliana and Alistair are this in general, especially if you romance one of them. They're both just too damn sweet and cute. |
| 383 | *** The team's resident DarkActionGirl, Morrigan, comes across as a StupidEvil JerkAss to most of the cast. This can also extend to the player. But if the PC shows her respect and treats her well, it is possible to befriend or romance her. Considering what a dick she can be at times, it can be very satisfying to see Morrigan [[DefrostingTheIceQueen slowly soften up when she's around you]] and basically tell you that you are the only person she gives a damn about. |
| 384 | *** The male Dwarf Noble has the option to sleep with Mardy, a casteless [[HookerWithAHeartOfGold noble hunter]], in their origin, which opens up a later mission in Orzammar where you can fight for her and her son by the Warden to be raised to Noble status, allowing Mardy to escape from the absolute bottom of the FantasticCasteSystem to the very top. |
| 385 | *** Your [[TeamPet dog.]] From the way he fetches items for you, fights alongside you, interacts with your teammates, and rolls around happily on his back when you pet him at camp, even the most ruthless Warden will probably be nice to their poochie. |
| 386 | ** ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'' has Merrill, a shy elf girl who turned to blood magic and is now hated by her whole clan. Once she befriends Hawke, she's the most adorable little thing. Heck, even your snarky companions act nice to her! |
| 387 | *** Through conversations that your party members have walking around, it's revealed that Varric is paying money to thugs to leave Merrill alone while she walks around at night. |
| 388 | *** [[http://bagoflimbs.deviantart.com/art/DA2-Wuv-at-first-sight-253907206 This short comic]] neatly sums up many players' reactions upon first meeting her. |
| 389 | *** Though ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'' also makes this trope ''hurt'' like hell, what with all the horrible things that your characters go through (or do...) |
| 390 | ** ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'' has a situation that [[spoiler:can end with Hawke sacrificing his/her life to save the Inquisitor and a Grey Warden]], [[HeroicBSOD something that almost completely breaks Varric -- with his character card turned black and red, depicting him mourning at Hawke's grave]]. He later tries to tell the Inquisitor an amusing story about [[spoiler:Hawke]] but looks about ready to break into tears for the entire story. The Inquisitor has the option to hug him at one point, something that he clearly appreciates. |
| 391 | ** Non-Bioware but definitely closely related example: talking to the Handmaiden after Atris nearly tortures her to death with Force Lightning for falling in love with you in ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic 2''. |
| 392 | *** Possibly more so is the speech Visas/Mical (depending on player character gender) gives you after the final trip to Dantooine if you were nice to her/him. |
| 393 | * ''VideoGame/BugFables'' has sidequests and optional moments that just consist of Team Snakemouth making someone's day better. The player is some times given the option to do a good deed without even getting a reward in return, such as giving a starving child food in the Wasp King's dungeon, giving a Berry to a beggar, and Kabbu giving his beloved plushie to a girl who missed the chance to buy one. |
| 394 | * In ''VideoGame/Cyberpunk2077'', the PlayerCharacter V is a JerkWithAHeartOfGold who tends to be much more even-handed compared to others in the WretchedHive of Night City and, depending on player choices, can help people out even without the promise of a reward. One particular example is during TheBoxingEpisode questline where one of your opponents is a gangster trying to do right by his pregnant wife and earn enough cash to support them. You have the opportunity to let him keep the money you bet, the car he bet, or both if you're feeling especially generous. |
| 395 | * ''[[VideoGame/DarkSouls1 Dark Souls]]'' has Quelaag's Sister aka. "The Fair Lady", the leader of the Chaos Servant covenant who is a beautiful naked woman from the waist up and a hideous demon spider below that (just like her sister, who you had to kill to reach her as one of the game's more iconic bosses). Unlike Quelaag, though, the Fair Lady is deathly ill due to selflessly [[HeroicSacrifice sucking the blight pus from the infected people of Blighttown]], [[EmpathicHealing taking their illness onto herself]] and leaving herself near death. She was bonded to the fire to save her life (itself a FateWorseThanDeath) but she was still left blinded, completely bleached white, her spider legs twitching feebly and talking in an agonised whisper (if you have the right item that allows you to understand her at all). She mistakes you for her beloved sister due to her blindness, and you can level up in the covenant by giving her Humanity to help ease her suffering (and possibly [[YouBastard your own guilt for killing Quelaag, robbing her of the one she loved the most]]). You get all the practical rewards from the covenant (the powerful Chaos Storm pyromancy and access to a useful shortcut) once you've donated 30 Humanity to reach the 2nd tier; the 3rd tier (at ''80'' Humanity) does nothing except visibly relieve the Fair Lady's pain (her legs stop spasming and she talks in a less-pained voice). Expecting players to go that far for a merely cosmetic reward would be enough, but some people have actually gone beyond it to hit the {{Cap}} on how much Humanity you can gift her, even without any kind of reward. The cap? '''''60,000 Humanity.''''' Talk about [[EnsembleDarkHorse a character people can empathise with]]! |
| 396 | ** ''Artorias of the Abyss'' adds the Lord's Blade Ciaran, who can be found [[spoiler:kneeling at the small grave built in Artorias's arena after killing him]]. She requests [[spoiler: Artoria's soul]] from you so that she may pay proper respect. If you oblige you gain her weaponry, though you can kill her for those and also gain her armor set. Declining her request just has her dejectedly apologize for being presumptuous. [[spoiler:After giving her the soul, she will disappear for the rest of the game cycle.]] |
| 397 | * Many of Nippon Ichi's games have ending flags based on the number of allies you killed. In particular, the first ''Franchise/{{Disgaea}}'' game, ''[[VideoGame/DisgaeaHourOfDarkness Hour of Darkness]]'', locks you out of the best (and ultimately canon) ending if you kill even one of your own characters. |
| 398 | ** ''[[VideoGame/DisgaeaD2ABrighterDarkness Dimension 2]]'' turned this trope into a mechanic, the Likeability System. The higher it is among two or more units, the better chances you have for follow-up attacks in a chain and having one character take an attack for another. |
| 399 | * In ''VideoGame/DragonsDogma'', the wealthy merchant Fournival is accused of multiple serious crimes, and it's up to the PlayerCharacter to decide his guilt or innocence with a guilty verdict resulting in his teenage daughter Symone being thrown out onto the street as their home is repossessed. You have the option to buy it back for her. |
| 400 | * ''VideoGame/DragonQuestV'' was ''built'' on it. For starters, your main protagonist begins as a six-year-old, and about as competent in combat -- but your father Pankraz frequently helps you travel the world, fights your enemies, and heals your wounds. Come the second act, you're on your own, with nothing more than an enigmatic quest to find your mother and make your father proud. Along the way, you will marry a woman and bear children (and name them, as well) -- [[spoiler:Only to be separated from them for eight years and forced to watch the childhood, and subsequent capture, of another boy.]] Come third generation, you will almost feel the determination the protagonist has to save the world, his mother and his wife with the help of his kids, his father's right-hand man, a ragtag group of {{Mons}} (some of whom you recruited in the second generation and fought beside you when you had no other allies) [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg and a random soldier]]. |
| 401 | * ''VideoGame/EarthBound1994'': Ness abandoned the cookie. |
| 402 | ** There's also the Bird Men in [[spoiler:Magicant]]. If you get one of them killed on your way to [[spoiler:the Sea of Eden]], another one will gladly join your side if you go back to their house. [[spoiler:However, there's a marked grave just outside of the house for every one of them you let die.]] |
| 403 | * ''VideoGame/EldenRing'': |
| 404 | ** Torrent can be fed Rowa Raisins to heal him- or, if you have extra, just to give your faithful horse a treat. |
| 405 | ** There's an [=NPC=] in the Roundtable Hold named Fia whose purpose is to give your character hugs. The hugs grant you an item called 'Baldachin's Blessing' that reduces health in exchange for a short poise boost. Following her questline [[spoiler: has her reveal a dark side as she kills D for his hunting Those Who Live In Death, but if you ''complete'' it you can gain her friendship and allow her to fulfil her life's goal of ending persecution of Those Who Live In Death by creating a Mending Ring that will alter the Elden Ring to make death (and life within) a natural part of life. She dies in the process, but expresses no regrets.]] |
| 406 | ** Boc the Seamster is a demi-human who hates his species (partially because his fellows beat him up for wanting to be a seamster instead of a fighter) and wants to be human. You can help him out by finding a Prattling Pate item that says "You're beautiful," which will remind him of his mother and grant him peace with his nature. |
| 407 | ** Giving Roderika the Chrysalid Memento will help her come to terms with her exile to the Lands Between and the loss of her fellows to Grafting. |
| 408 | ** Exhausting Ranni's dialogue will have her genuinely fall in love with the player Tarnished. |
| 409 | ** Giving Nepheli Loux the Stormhawk King ashes will reignite her determination and allow her to take the throne of Limgrave, presumably to take much better care of it than Godrick ever did. |
| 410 | ** Progressing the game usually requires a major character ([[spoiler: your MysteriousWaif friend Melina]]) to make a HeroicSacrifice, but this ''can'' be averted. It'll require fighting multiple extra bosses (including [[Characters/EldenRingMalenia Malenia]], [[{{Superboss}} Blade of Miquella]]), running all over the map, completing some PlatformHell, and [[GuideDangIt probably consulting a guide]], but the end is worth it, since you get to [[DidYouJustScamCthulhu scam the Frenzied Flame]] into helping you restore the world and save the life of a friend. |
| 411 | * ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion'' has given all the [=NPCs=] personality, unique quotes, a friendship minigame that will have them fight for you if they like you enough, and they don't come back to life. |
| 412 | ** Well, there's [[FanBoy one who comes back to life naturally]], but he inspires more Cruelty than Caring. |
| 413 | ** It's also easy to become loyal to causes within the game. Try not to feel proud when you wear a Kvatch cuirass after saving the town. |
| 414 | *** Pillaging your way through [[{{Mordor}} Oblivion]] -- especially just after completing the Crusader quest -- can bring with it a healthy sense of retribution as you lose a hundredfold the pain and suffering of Kvatch on those poor, poor Dremora. Good for LevelGrinding, too. |
| 415 | *** Or sad when your little Imperial Legion helpers run to help (and die)... |
| 416 | ** Baurus, the only other character to survive the attack in the tutorial, will pledge loyalty to the player and accompany him on several quests -- assuming he survived the last one. Emerging from the Oblivion Gate onto the Bruma battlefield where Martin is giving a victory speech only to see Baurus among the dead can be quite a PlayerPunch. |
| 417 | ** One of the quests for the Dark Brotherhood involves you killing an entire family, and [[spoiler:the mother herself gives you her children's names and locations when she thinks you're from a professional gift-buying service.]] It's hard to not feel like a terrible person for what you're about to do. |
| 418 | ** One quest in the Fighters Guild has a woman named Biene Amelion hire you to raid her family's crypt and fetch some artifacts that she hopes she can sell off and clear some debts accumulated by her father. You can choose to forgo that entirely and just pay the debt off yourself. |
| 419 | * In ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'' during the quest 'The Heart of Dibella' you can take the girl to say goodbye to her family before she moves to Temple of Dibella in Markarth. There is no quest requirement for this. |
| 420 | ** The Dragonborn can play tag with Skyrim's children. |
| 421 | ** The ''Hearthfire'' DLC allows you to adopt and raise orphaned children. They will live in one of your houses and you can give them gifts and play games with them. |
| 422 | ** The game allows the player to actually marry a companion. Although domesticity is at a minimum, the option does exist for one to keep a spouse out of harm's way, and a spouse can also be killed in action. |
| 423 | ** The first time the player enters the city of Markath, they have a front row seat to a man drawing his weapon and sneaking up behind an NPC named Margret. ''Most'' players, the first time they see this will be so shocked and confused that they won't have time to act before the man kills her. Unlike most other games, you can not only protect this person, but the questline will continue on as normal with slightly changed dialogue to reflect your good deed. It's a really feelgood moment when you speak to Margret afterwards and she sincerely thanks you for saving her life. |
| 424 | * ''VideoGame/{{Fable II}}'' allows you to marry and have a son or daughter, which will rapidly mature into an adorable child that calls you "dah-dee" or "mum-mee" depending on your gender. [[spoiler:BigBad Lucius kills them at the end of the game. Which hurts ''less'' than when he kills ''your dog''.]] |
| 425 | ** [[spoiler:You can get them back though, but you'll lose all that money and sacrifice everybody else who has died]]. Guess it depends on what you care most for...it's got to be the dog surely! |
| 426 | * ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'': |
| 427 | ** A great many players developed an attachment to recurring NPC Dogmeat, going to great lengths to keep him alive despite being more of a liability than anything else. ([[ArtificialStupidity Hell, the AI practically]] made him [[TooDumbToLive play fetch with sticks of thrown dynamite]] in [[VideoGame/Fallout1 the first game]]). Bethesda seemingly took note of this trend, as the ''VideoGame/Fallout3'' DLC ''Broken Steel'' introduced a Perk called 'Puppies!' that specifically lets Dogmeat respawn if killed. He even [[CameBackStrong comes back]] [[TookALevelInBadass tougher]]. |
| 428 | ** ''Fallout 3'' in general can involve a lot of this for a good character. Things like saving Big Town give you a real warm and fuzzy feeling, especially if you don't ask for a reward. Although it makes money a little harder to come by, the role-playing satisfaction inherent in being good to Big Town and Megaton and Rivet City and anywhere else decent people are just trying to get by is one of the best parts of the game for a good character. |
| 429 | ** In ''Fallout 3'', reports of your exploits are also spread by the disc jockey Three Dog, who pays increasing tribute to you. You also get random encounters from inhabitants of the wasteland thanking you for everything you're doing for them. It can increase the warm-and-fuzziness. |
| 430 | *** Though sometimes at the cost of [[AnnoyingVideoGameHelper sheer rage induction]]. Try making regular roundtrips to Megaton to maintain your stash when your Karma hits Very Good status (which is actually a lot harder to avoid than you think). The [[ButThouMust limitations]] and [[ScrappyMechanic mechanics]] of the dialogues will turn your rewards into an unbearable punishment. |
| 431 | ** Both excessively Good and Evil karma will also cause random encounters from [[MortonsFork either the Regulators or Talon Company]]. Or both, if you've crossed the line more than once. |
| 432 | ** In ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'', there is [[RobotBuddy ED-E the eyebot]], who is also a loyal CompanionCube to a degree, as it doesn't talk unless prompted to (at first) and then only in a series of unintelligible beeps. In the base game, it's a pretty useful companion that the player is encouraged to bond with, but then it got a DLC focused around its counterpart. In Lonesome Road, a clone of ED-E is your only companion in The Divide, which is a post-Apocalyptic Hell-scape. This ED-E's beeps are more diverse and it reveals more of its backstory through Audio-Logs, and your dialogue options with it become much more conversational and diverse. You can either choose to respond to it with love and acceptance or blatantly tell it that it is a machine and that you don't care about its problems. |
| 433 | *** In the first story quest, you can either protect Goodsprings from the Powder Gangers or help them wipe it off the map. [[EvenEvilHasStandards Even evil players]] tend to lean towards the former. |
| 434 | *** In Fortification Hill, you meet a little slave girl named Melody, whose teddy bear was stolen by one of the legionnaires. To get the bear back, you can swipe it from him or you can fight a few of his hounds while armorless and armed with only a machete. The fact that she's a little slave girl you can't rescue without mods makes this the only act of kindness the player could afford her, short of massacring the entire legion. |
| 435 | *** Of course, mods ''do'' exist to save both her and other slaves, and the fact that people went out of their way to make them is a sort of Caring Potential in its own right. |
| 436 | *** There's your companions. Each of them is well-written, well-voiced, incredibly helpful, and, thankfully, in casual mode, quite immortal. However, in Hardcore Mode, they can (and almost certainly will) die. For this reason, more than a few people avoid taking companions with them in Hardcore Mode, seeing as how they [[ItsNotYouItsMyEnemies couldn't bear the thought of seeing their friends die.]] |
| 437 | *** Then there are the towns, filled with nice, charming, helpful citizens who will give you discounts and free stuff once you've done them a few small favors. Makes it a hell of a lot harder for you to come back in your next playthrough and [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential murder them all horribly with a chainsaw,]] [[YouBastard doesn't it?]] |
| 438 | ** In ''VideoGame/Fallout2'', if you have Restoration Project mod installed, you can do various little favors to your companions. This includes rescuing Sulik's sister from the slaver camp, curing Cassidy's heart condition, buying a set of armor for Marcus and K-9[=/=]Dogmeat, and preventing [[spoiler:peaceful talking deathclaws being massacred by the Enclave]]. |
| 439 | ** In ''VideoGame/Fallout4'', you can help build a number of safe, comfortable settlements for destitute wastelanders to take refuge in, including [[spoiler:the lonely old Vault-Tec salesman you meet at the start of the game]]. You can rebuild the Minutemen and help them keep these settlements protected. You can [[spoiler:retrieve a young girl's last message to her toymaker father]]. You can even [[spoiler:help free a lost ghoulified kid who got stuck in a fridge for 200 years, reunite him with his parents, and protect them from slavers]]. |
| 440 | * In ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'', using the same Servant for several quests slowly raises their Bond level. Increased Bond unlocks more conversations in the "My Room" interface, and Interlude quests for extra lore about that character's real-world legend or the Franchise/{{Nasuverse}} version thereof. Some Interludes also feature low-difficulty enemies with rare item drops. At Bond levels higher than 5 they gift you with golden apples or extra Saint Quartz depending on their rarity. At Bond 10, ''each and every Servant'' gives you a Craft Essence reflecting their personal story and intended gameplay use. |
| 441 | * ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'': |
| 442 | ** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIVTheAfterYears'' puts Calca and Brina in the player's team and has them [[spoiler:rescue Rydia and Luca from an attack. After this, they malfunction and Luca is [[PlayerPunch forced to deactivate them.]] Later, under normal circumstances, Luca is forced to scrap them for parts in order to get her airship off the ground. This can be skipped, actually. The way to skip it is a complete GuideDangIt that involves [[RandomlyDrops random drops]] in a game where the drop rate is simply inexcusably low, but let's be honest, who ''wouldn't'' do it?]] |
| 443 | ** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' |
| 444 | *** There is a segment when you have to take care of another character by feeding him fish. Whether he lives or dies doesn't matter to the story as the game progresses either way, but there's something oddly rewarding in keeping him alive. |
| 445 | *** On the other hand, the emotional impact of the story is much greater if he dies, so some players try to make him die on purpose. Of course, since the mechanics of the fishing minigame are never explained, there's high chance the result during your first playthrough will be random anyway. |
| 446 | *** Perhaps especially notable, as the person you save is in fact [[spoiler:the guy who created and maintained the machines that suck the life energy out of magical creatures, and who was utterly furious at you when you turned said machines off.]] |
| 447 | *** [[spoiler:He's also the closest thing the character you're controlling has to a father figure.]] Just for the record. |
| 448 | *** When you are trying to escape from your [[DiscOneFinalDungeon first visit to the]] FloatingContinent, there is a timer showing how long you have to escape before a NonStandardGameOver. [[GratuitousNinja Shadow]] doesn't show up at the end at your airship with the rest of the party, and if the player leaves immediately, he's KilledOffForReal, but they can save him if the wait for the timer to almost run out, giving him time to catch up, allowing him to be recruited back into the party later. As Shadow proved to memorable character even among this game's cast, many players that know that opt to save him. Likewise, while getting most of the characters back in the [[AfterTheEnd World of Ruin]] is optional, they're likable enough that you're likely to want to help them. |
| 449 | ** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' has this trope twice. The most famous one, near the end of the game, is when you confront the Turks one last time. If you did a sidequest earlier in which you teamed up with them, you can choose not to fight. The two sides make peace and go their separate ways. An earlier example is when you steal a submarine and encounter a trio of Shinra goons guarding it... except it's those same goons you befriended earlier in the game when you were undercover. You can choose to simply take the guards prisoner instead of killing them. |
| 450 | *** Also, in an inversion, Rude has a crush on Tifa, as he tells Reno at one point. If she's the only party member left standing, he has a 50% chance of hesitating and skipping his turn! So the game cares about you, too! |
| 451 | *** Another moment comes when your party is on the way to Corel. You can investigate a Cokatolis nest and find some adorable baby chicks... which happen to be surrounded by Phoenix Downs. You can choose to leave them be or grab the treasure.[[spoiler:If you pick the second option, their angry mother comes to call.]] |
| 452 | ** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX'': During the invasion of Cleyra, you can hurt the Alexandrian soldiers enough to make them flee, rather than killing them. After all, they didn't start the war either... |
| 453 | ** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics'' |
| 454 | *** That sort of thing happens with Miluda, which is an enemy example. You have to fight her twice and there's no way around it. |
| 455 | *** It's quite the Wham moment the first time you go to the effort of having a Mediator with Invite in the party specifically for that fight, go out of your way to incapacitate all of her allies, and then learn that no, there's no way you can convince her to join your side. |
| 456 | *** Some players will go out of their way to save their generic party members from death (if any character stays at "knocked out" status for too long, they die permanently), even if it means restarting a battle that is almost over. |
| 457 | *** Similarly in ''Tactics'', if you ever try and manually dismiss a party member from the menu screen, they give a "Do you really want to do this" speech. With generic teammates it hurts the soul a bit, and with unique characters, it hurts a bit more, but at least they're just sad about leaving. Monsters, however -- all but one of which the player will have personally recruited via Mediators -- are heartbreaking because not only are they sad at having to leave, ''they don't understand what's going on.'' |
| 458 | ---->"...'expel'? Is 'expel'... good?" |
| 459 | * ''VideoGame/GenshinImpact'': In one of the caves on Dragonspine, you'll find a note by a lost adventurer saying that the snow foxes native to the mountain kept him company as he was trapped there, asking anyone who read the note to feed the foxes. From there, you can place berries in a basket near the note. Come back the next day and the basket will be empty with a snow fox hanging around the area, though it will flee if you approach. Feeding the foxes five days in a row without killing them will result in a treasure chest and the achievement "Untellable Tale". |
| 460 | * In ''VideoGame/GoldenSun'' 1, the town of Kolima has all of its residents turned into trees -- frozen in whatever position they were in at the time. If you visit the town before this happens, you'll see a group of kids playing by a river just outside of the town. They stand on each others' shoulders to try to get a persimmon out of the tree. When you come back and they've become trees, the children were still standing on each other, and so they collapsed, with one of the children landing in the river. At this point, you can either walk into the water and pull the kid-tree into the shallows or go on with your business. Once the plot's moved on and the people are restored to human form, the child will thank you and give you a little reward. It doesn't take much effort to save her, and the reward is small. However, if you don't save her, the other two children she was playing with will mope around and give heartrendingly sad statements about the fate of their friend. That alone is enough to make you want to restart... |
| 461 | ** In ''VideoGame/GoldenSun: The Lost Age'', a trading sequence which ultimately unlocks a bonus dungeon begins with rescuing an injured penguin from a ledge where she stranded herself. |
| 462 | ** In ''VideoGame/GoldenSunDarkDawn'', an elderly NPC couple in Kaocho asks you to take a letter to their daughter in Tonfon. She asks you to take a care package back to them. [[spoiler:By this time, Kaocho has been destroyed and all its citizens killed by the Grave Eclipse. You complete this sequence by having Sveta use Spirit Sense to communicate with the dead elders and show them their daughter's gift so they can find peace.]] |
| 463 | * ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts3DDreamDropDistance'' has the Dream Eaters, colorful creatures who fight alongside Sora and Riku as they venture through the sleeping worlds. Not only can you name them, pet them, change their colors, and play training games with them -- the higher their affinity for you is, the stronger they are. Alternatively, you can just kill them off and [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential harvest their Dream Fragments to make better Dream Eaters with.]] [[YouMonster Monster.]] |
| 464 | * ''VideoGame/LostInBlue'', which has DS and Wii incarnations, is another game built around this. You play as Keith, a young man who finds himself stranded on a desert island with Skye, who has lost her glasses and is BlindWithoutEm. You must forage for food and water to keep you and your partner alive, and since she doesn't leave the cave you call home unless you're dragging her by the hand a la ''VideoGame/{{Ico}}'', you have to plan ahead to leave her adequate food and water while you're away unlocking new parts of the island or hurry back when her stats drop too low. "She's getting thirsty... She's hungry..." |
| 465 | * The key for getting the best endings for the adult RPG ''Perpetual Change'' is to be as consistently as nice and cooperative as you can to [[AlphaBitch Fiona]], as long as you don't [[KarmaMeter act too immaturely]] while doing so. |
| 466 | * Although {{RPG}}s can be a mixed bag when it comes to this trope since most tend to revolve around a group of plucky young adventurers who can go on for days about ThePowerOfFriendship, the later games in the ''Franchise/{{Persona}}'' series are ''rife'' with it in the form of Social Links. Because it's unlikely that a player will be able to successfully complete all of them in a single playthrough, and there's no consequence for ''not'' doing them, the ones the player does complete are probably going to be the ones for the characters they like best (like the little girl whose parents are divorced in 3, or the boy whose sister was murdered in the main plot in 4). |
| 467 | * ''VideoGame/{{Persona 3}}'' and ''[[VideoGame/{{Persona 4}} 4]]'' have this in the form of [[LevelUpAtIntimacy5 Social Links]], each modeled after [[TarotMotifs a particular tarot card]]. There is something incredibly satisfying in maxing someone's link out, knowing they're going to be alright, ''4'''s [[TheCutie Nanako Dojima]] (Justice) in particular, with the words "I love you, Big Bro!". [[spoiler:Nanako almost certainly [[InvokedTrope invokes]] this, considering [[PlayerPunch what happens to her]] and [[MultipleEndings what you can do to the one responsible]].]] ''[[UpdatedRerelease Persona 3 Portable]]'' has [[spoiler:[[EnsembleDarkhorse Shinjiro Aragaki]] (The Moon)]]. Maxing out ''his'' Social Link can [[spoiler:delay his death by five months]]. |
| 468 | ** ''VideoGame/{{Persona 2}}: Innocent Sin'' places the characters and their relationships at the absolute heart of the story, fleshing them and their motivations out so deeply that the decision of which LoveInterest you prefer can feel simultaneously like powerful Caring Potential for the one you choose, while equally great VideoGameCrueltyPotential for the one(s) you pass over. |
| 469 | ** ''VideoGame/Persona5'': ALL Confidants are extremely troubled people and pursuing their stories will bring great relief to them. Even better, the protagonist pretty much invokes this trope because a lot of the people are tormented by real assholes but you can get their names and kick their Shadow's ass in Mementos. The guys need the relief that action brings them. |
| 470 | * There's a '''''lot''''' you can do in ''VideoGame/PlanescapeTorment'' to fulfill this trope, from helping a terrified and mentally shattered woman find her way home after decades of searching to helping a shy guard and a lonely but cheerful woman come together. But what really deserves special mention is [[spoiler:playing the very end of the game several times until you figure out how you can save all of your dead companions]]. |
| 471 | ** Not to mention that it gets a lot harder to [[spoiler:let your character "die" frivolously]] once you've played the game to the end and know the true cost of [[spoiler:each of [[BalancingDeathsBooks The Nameless One's averted deaths]] ]]. |
| 472 | ** It's also possible to go above and beyond with Dak'kon's therapy and not only completely restore his self-confidence and courage but make him even stronger than he was before his city was destroyed. Unfortunately, it's next to impossible [[GuideDangIt because it's so buggy and counterintuitive]] and it's unfinished in the unmodded game anyway. |
| 473 | * Pikachu in ''[[VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue Pokémon Yellow Version]]''. This version introduced the happiness mechanic, but ''only'' for Pikachu -- you could look at it and see how it liked you. So you wanted to keep it happy by using it in battle but not letting it faint, not keeping it locked up in the PC, etc. (Or you could just [[GoodBadBugs repeatedly use the Potion from your PC on it at full health and get it to love you in two minutes flat.]]) |
| 474 | ** In the remakes of ''VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver'', ''[=HeartGold=]'' and ''[=SoulSilver=]'', you can have not only Pikachu out and about with you, but ''any'' Pokémon you want. So if Pikachu couldn't earn your love, now you've got options. |
| 475 | *** Not only that but can get to interact with them on a much deeper level. At first they will get angry at you repeatedly, but if you care well about them they will go as far as play with you and look for flowers and things to give to you. |
| 476 | ** Nicknaming your Pokémon will inevitably lead to you caring about them. And getting pissed at enemies who K.O. your little Pichu. [[DisproportionateRetribution And then you bust out your Level 100 Charizard and barbecue the NPC's team of Grass-types.]] |
| 477 | ** Ever since the happiness system was introduced in Gen II, you try to keep your Pokémon happy, even if only for those that evolve because of it. Interestingly, there's a move that increases in power for this (Return), and one for [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential how much they hate you]] (Frustration). |
| 478 | ** Forging a deeper connection with your Pokémon is pretty much the whole point of a [[Webcomic/NuzlockeComics Nuzlocke]] [[SelfImposedChallenge Challenge run]]. If a Pokémon faints, it is "dead" and [[KilledOffForReal can never be used again]], the number of Pokémon you can catch is also limited, which makes you use species that would've been overlooked otherwise, and you also have to name every one you catch. When done right, every lost party member [[PlayerPunch feels like a punch in the gut.]] |
| 479 | *** [[http://pettynuzlockelg.smackjeeves.com Petty,]] an author of a Nuzlocke comic, just knows how to pull at your heartstrings every time she has a friend die. |
| 480 | ** Something completely unrelated to the Pokémon themselves, however, is an optional sidequest in ''VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl'' and its remake, ''Platinum''. In it, there is a cave beneath Cycling Road named Wayward Cave, which is ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin. In the furthest point of the cave is a young girl named Mira, whose sprite looks to be about half the height of your character's. She has a lone Kadabra without Teleport, Dig, Rock Smash (required to get through the cave), or Flash. She begs you to escort her out, [[ButThouMust which your character does without your input]] (you'd have to have a heart of ice to refuse, though). What really makes this an example is that Mira really doesn't give you much of a reward for saving her, other than you being able to rebattle her in the Battleground or team up with her in the Battle Tower later, neither of which are very significant in themselves. Saving her is completely optional, too. FridgeHorror kicks in when you think about the real-life implications of being stuck in a dark cave with literally no way of escape, and exactly how terrifying it would be to a little girl. |
| 481 | ** Pokémon-Amie in ''VideoGame/PokemonXAndY'' was made with this in mind, allowing you to interact with your Pokémon by petting them, feeding them cake, playing games with them, and making faces at them (which they'll try to imitate), among other things. A Pokémon that's become fond of you through this will also gain numerous benefits in battle, along with the battle text being changed to emphasize the bond they share with you. This feature was retained for ''[[VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire]]'' and ''VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon'', with minor changes, in the form of the [=PlayNav=] and Pokémon Refresh. |
| 482 | *** One of the benefits to a Pokémon with high affection is that sometimes it will tank a hit that would otherwise knock it out, only to say that it "hung on out of love for its Trainer." Likewise, a particularly affectionate Pokémon may muster up all their willpower to break through StatusEffects "to keep you from worrying," as well as dodge enemy attacks regardless of their accuracy. |
| 483 | ** Metagame example: The internet interaction beginning with ''X/Y''. For Wonder Trade, send over a rare Pokémon, or, any Pokémon with perfect [=IV=]s, Egg Moves, and/or Pokérus. For O-Power, send your highest O-Power. For the Global Trade Station, offer a rare Pokémon for something more common. |
| 484 | ** There's a small example in the [[VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire Hoenn]] remakes; on an early route, you'll encounter an NPC who complains that his Pokémon is really tired and he should have brought a potion. The NPC was also in the originals, but this time around, if you have a potion, the game will allow you to give it to him. You don't get a reward for doing this, other than the NPC thanking you, but it is a nice little touch. |
| 485 | * The ''VideoGame/QuestForGlory'' adventure/RPG series has the character classes of fighter, mage, thief and paladin. Becoming and playing as the latter requires going well out of the way of the rest of the game mechanics to do Right. Some of a paladin's deeds are too rewarding to count as simple altruism (returning a reward, telling a disarmed enemy to re-arm -> FlamingSword), others likely count (snuggling a rotting undead -> one released spirit, you smelling and waist-deep in a lake). |
| 486 | * ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'' has this with the demon negotiation system. If you encounter a demon who has a same-species already in your party, you can talk your way out of doing battle with them, which spares the lives of both you and the demon ''and'' in some cases rewards you with an item, HP and MP restoration, or Macca. So you just recruited one of the cute little Jack Frosts, and you encounter a wave with another one of them...forget battle, they're too adorable to kill! |
| 487 | ** In ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiStrangeJourney'''s fifth sector, you'll occasionally find comrades, Jimenez included, who have fallen asleep due to sleep floors. You can kick them awake, which tends to reward you with an item. |
| 488 | *** Some demons will actually beg for their lives if you beat them within an inch of it. It's surprisingly satisfying to have something like a giant snake demon thank you for sparing him, or even join you out of appreciation. |
| 489 | * In ''VisualNovel/{{Snatcher}}'', you can reconcile with your wife, or help an elderly Freeman return to his family before death. You are not rewarded for doing so beyond the congratulations of your RobotBuddy. |
| 490 | * In the ''VideoGame/{{Suikoden}}'' series, sometimes your characters can [[KilledOffForReal die for real]], be it in a cinematic event or a less-dramatic death on the battlefield. Either way, you do feel lousy for the death of your characters, which are sometimes friends with your other characters, or even family. It also doesn't help that many of the best endings and secrets are unlocked by making it to the end of the game with all 108 characters alive. |
| 491 | ** Certain characters will die outside of your control in final stages of each game. There's absolutely nothing you can do about it; their deaths are part of the ending. But despite the sheer number of characters, the games tend to make you care enough about them that it's still a PlayerPunch. |
| 492 | * In ''WebVideo/TalesFromMyDDCampaign'', the first major plot arc is the party trying to retrieve the three Spoons Of Plenty, powerful artifact versions of Sustaining Spoons. Normal Sustaining Spoons can make enough bland (but nutritious) gruel to feed six people a day, but the only limit on how many times you can use the Spoons Of Plenty is the amount of time it takes to activate them for each bowl. In Episode 18, the party finally delivers them to the government of Vistria, a human kingdom overrun with refugees after the evil [[FishPeople Kua-Toa]] conquered the adjacent human kingdom of Verandi. By Episode 20, the spoons are in full swing and are lifting ''twenty-five thousand'' war refugees out of borderline starvation. Especially sweet for Draven, whose ancestors were among those refugees. |
| 493 | * In ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'', not only can you spare every monster in the game, up to and including the bosses, you can take it one step further and hang out with several of the boss monsters after fighting them. In fact, you have to [[PacifistRun avoid killing anything]] and make friends with several characters in order to get the GoldenEnding. The game also gives you several chances to back out of a No Mercy run, and not doing so will have the game remind you [[YouMonster just how terrible of a person you are]]. |
| 494 | ** You can talk to a snowman who wants to see the world and agree to carry a piece of him with you on your travels. The snowman piece is a very good healing item which can make it tempting to just eat it but if you instead keep it all the way through the final boss fight, the epilogue will have either Sans comment that "you made a snowman really happy" or the snowman himself thank you if you backtrack to talk to him again. |
| 495 | *** Turns into VideoGameCrueltyPotential if you choose to take a piece and eat it in front of him. He will refuse to give you another piece, and [[spoiler:will still think badly of you in the PlayableEpilogue.]] |
| 496 | ---->'''Snowman:''' [[spoiler:Everyone may think you are a good person, but this snowman knows the truth.]] |
| 497 | ** Burgerpants has a side-quest you can do for him to set him up on a hangout with Bratty and Catty. Other than more dialogue from all three characters in-game and [[spoiler:a different set of dialogue when you talk to him in the PlayableEpilogue of the pacifist ending,]] you don't gain anything for helping the guy out... but after hearing him give you advice, call you "little buddy" and talk about how stressful his work and social life is, it's hard not to grow fond of him, (or at least pity him,) and it's genuinely satisfying to help him out and see him happy. |
| 498 | --->'''Burgerpants:''' Little buddy... thank you. You've brought a tear to the eye of this old man. |
| 499 | ** Constantly buying Nice Cream causes the Nice Cream Guy to be more optimistic and helps out his failing business, saving Monster Kid from the ledge makes them [[spoiler:continue to regard you as a friend, prevents them from hating all humans, and helps them find a new idol in Papyrus in the PlayableEpilogue,]] you can purchase from Muffet's spider bake sales to help her cause and/or buy one of her pastries in Hotland for [[{{Cap}} 9999 G]] to skip her battle entirely because she's so touched you were ''that'' eager to save the spiders, and you can provide room service to patrons at MTT resort. None of these actions affect the endings other than small dialogue changes -- in fact, except for Muffet (who has one by default), the characters don't even get yellow names -- but it still feels nice to help out. |
| 500 | ** The GoldenEnding credits tell you what happened to each of the monsters you encountered after the game. The bosses all get short cutscenes, but the random enemies just get short blurbs, which can either be white or yellow. Yellow blurbs have different text and indicate that the monster's life has been more fulfilling because of some action you took when you encountered them. Getting every single yellow blurb is something of a GuideDangIt, but it's ''incredibly'' rewarding to know that the monsters are all leading happy, fulfilling lives because of your actions. |
| 501 | ** The whole backtrack after a GoldenEnding is itself this. If you go back to the very first Froggit you met, who asked you to spare a little mercy towards monsters you may encounter, it will say, "I don't know if it's because of what I said, but it appears you have grown to be a kind and conscientious person.", basically thanking you for following his advice and saying how proud he is of you. |
| 502 | ** Nothing is stopping you from being a complete jerk throughout the game, and doing so doesn't bar you from the GoldenEnding, just so long as your jerk behavior doesn't extend to killing. Still, most players find they don't have it in them to do things like call Papyrus a loser or [[spoiler:refuse to forgive and comfort Asriel.]] |
| 503 | ** No matter how you play the game, one of the characters will always pass judgment on you right before the final boss. If you didn't kill anyone, he'll say that you didn't gain LV, but you did gain love, and that though you didn't kill anyone, that doesn't make you naïve or a coward, it only means you kept a tenderness in your heart and that even when you ran away from a fight, you did it with a smile. |
| 504 | * In ''VideoGame/ValkyriaChronicles'', you command a small squadron of Militia soldiers in a WWII-ish war. Each and every one of those 50-odd soldiers have their own appearance, traits, skills, backstory, and future life that they will go on to after the ending -- IF they're still alive. And thanks to the fairly well-balanced AI, the only way they're going to die, is if YOU screw up. And yes, they have death-sequences with lines, calling out to loved ones, declaring their loyalty to the nation, the unit, or even just to you, as they draw their last breath... which, of course, makes you hate [[GeneralRipper General Damon]] with the burning intensity of a thousand suns when he starts treating the militiamen as expendable CannonFodder. |
| 505 | * ''VideoGame/VampireTheMasqueradeBloodlines'' has a few times where you technically don't need to save the NPC to finish the quest, but it feels so much nicer to pull it off. |
| 506 | ** Zhao, a Chinese ex-gangster, gave you information to fulfill a debt of honor, and now his gang is trying to kill him for helping you; he's so stoic about his fate that it just seems wrong if you can't kill the enemy fast enough to keep him alive, even though you get the information either way. |
| 507 | ** A Japanese girl came to America hunting a demon that slaughtered her master, and you've helped her find that demon; even if she dies in the fight, you can still kill the demon and get the mission XP, but who really wants to see Yukie die after coming so far for vengeance? |
| 508 | ** A confused elderly scholar got kidnapped for his knowledge of an ancient sarcophagus, and you needed to rescue him for that same info. When you find him, he's polite, helpful, scared, clad only in a bathrobe, locked inside a damp corner of a cave, and willing to tell you everything he knows for even a hope of rescue. Once his captors set off the bombs and bring down the entire cave in a last-ditch effort to kill you, you can either sprint off on your own and make much better time, or take the time to lead out Dr. Johansen while trying to ignore that big flashing death timer on your screen. |
| 509 | ** Therese and [[LesbianVampire Jeanette]] Voerman, two feuding sisters [[spoiler:actually two sides of a Malkavian's split personality]]. If you've come to like both, it can be a PlayerPunch when you're forced to [[CrueltyIsTheOnlyOption choose which one of them dies at the hands of the other]]. If you have high enough social stats and you've been nice to both of them, though, you can talk them into forgiving each other and reuniting. |
| 510 | ** And then there's a dying girl you can save by turning her into a ghoul. The process creates a "blood bond" meaning she falls in love with you (though this is closer to an addiction to your presense and blood), and she will ask to stay with you, offering you her college money and other assistance, including ultimately the best armour in the game. However [[spoiler:if you keep her around she will tell she is being followed and will eventually be killed by your enemies in a cutscene]]. Heartbreaking though it may be, [[ShooTheDog it really is better for her to turn her away when she approaches you to thank you for saving her life and begs to let her help you with whatever you need.]] |
| 511 | * ''VideoGame/Warhammer40000RogueTrader'': The ''Iconoclast'' [[KarmaMeter ideology]] involves a lot of decisions where you [[NiceToTheWaiter treat your subordinates kindly]], try to help the unfortunate, and maintain a degree of tolerance and acceptance towards the non-human races. The twist is, ''Iconoclast'' contrasts with the ''Dogmatic'' ideology [[DeliberateValuesDissonance which is how a citizen of the Imperium of Man in the 41st Millennium is "supposed" to think and act]] - even the more moral party members like [[GoodIsNotSoft Abelard]] and [[FriendToAllChildren Sister Argenta]] will be [[EvilCannotComprehendGood baffled]] by a Rogue Trader who takes mostly ''Iconoclast'' decisions. |
| 512 | * In ''VideoGame/TheWitcher'', your character is, at one time, entrusted to take care of a young ChildMage who seems to be a minor NPC early on in the game. You're tasked with teaching him lessons about life, morality, and just general stuff which sort of endear him to you over time, especially given the number of times you need to protect him. [[spoiler:Which makes his sudden and irreversible disappearance roughly three-fourths of the way into the game all the more painful, not to mention the possible TwistEnding that [[TomatoSurprise hints at what happened to him afterward]].]] |
| 513 | [[/folder]] |
| 514 | |
| 515 | [[folder:Simulation]] |
| 516 | * Heck, this is the whole point of "virtual pet" games... ''Franchise/{{Tamagotchi}}'', ''Franchise/{{Digimon}}'', ''Website/{{Neopets}}'', etc. And the plaintive pleas to reconsider will make you feel like a real bastard if you ever put a Neopet up for adoption and leave the game. |
| 517 | * ''Franchise/AnimalCrossing'': |
| 518 | ** The games can bring this up, seeing as it's basically a neighborhood simulator. You can easily get attached to your villagers, who are all [[AmazingTechnicolorWildlife colorful]] {{Ridiculously Cute Critter}}s, (many with CutenessProximity) that you can befriend. It can be extremely heartbreaking if one randomly moves away because of your neighbor limit. Sometimes, neighbors will move to friends' towns. This can potentially cause an estranged relationship with that real-life friend. |
| 519 | ** Uchi/"Sisterly" villagers, introduced in ''New Leaf,'' are the "big sister" types that care about you. They also can get excited if you decide to sell your furniture that the villager wants. If you are at high happiness with that villager, after you accept the offer, she will ask if it's really okay, and another option appears between the option to sell the furniture or decline the sell--the option to just give the furniture without obtaining the bells that were offered. Should you select it, the sisterly villager will be at a loss for words, and as the animation of you giving the villager your furniture finishes, they will burst into tears and tell you that you are the best before thanking you, resulting in her being in a happy mood. |
| 520 | * In ''VideoGame/BlackAndWhite'': |
| 521 | ** Many quest characters remain in your village after they stop being important, so you can keep them with you until the end. If you keep track of names, it's possible to watch over specific villagers throughout their entire lives and take them with you into new lands, even as their [[WeAreAsMayflies age and infirmity]] makes it harder and harder to forestall the inevitable. |
| 522 | ** No matter how much of a monster you are, your creature always loves you and believes the best of you. You can pet it until it turns into a puddle of happy goo, decorate its pen with things it likes, and teach it to become a beloved guardian of the villagers. |
| 523 | * In ''[[VideoGame/ChoiceOfGames Choice of Broadsides]]'', you can become good friends (and even lovers if you take the GayOption!) with Villeneuve, an [[FriendlyEnemy honorable pirate]]. If you do so and have high enough combat skills, you can choose to merely disarm him/her instead of outright killing him/her, upon which he/she will surrender voluntarily and say that if he/she has to give up his/her ship, [[WorthyOpponent at least it's to you]]. Tends to be much more satisfying than just offing him/her. |
| 524 | * This is the purpose of ''VideoGame/{{Creatures}}'', more or less. Though VideoGameCrueltyPotential does exist of course. |
| 525 | * ''VideoGame/DwarfFortress'' names every single one of your dwarves, all the elves, all the humans etc. It also names monsters and animals that kill things, which can lead to situations like having a giant bat called "Bridgebane the Hammer of Pacifism". And who ''wouldn't'' want to keep a bat with a name like that alive? |
| 526 | ** The guy who lost half his military to the damn thing. The "batman" creatures ([[BatmanCanBreatheInSpace according to the DF Wiki, they CAN breathe in space]]) are often assigned names because your dwarves feel like it, and are far better for the purposes of this trope because they didn't get that name by ''butchering your dwarves''. |
| 527 | *** This happens because your dwarves have ''favorite animals''. A fortress with a dwarf who likes a certain type of [[FunnyAnimal anthro creature]] will end up with every member of a tribe of, for instance, slug men each having unique names. |
| 528 | ** Nor the detailed relationships between all your dwarves with spouses, children, lovers, friends, acquaintances, enemies, and several levels between. |
| 529 | ** Add to that making personality a factor in behavior -- an irritable noble who demands crap you can't produce gets sent quickly to the killing chambers, a laid back noble who requests things you're producing anyway is an unexpected gift. |
| 530 | ** Your original 7 dwarves work ''so hard'' to get your fortress off the ground. It's not fun when one of them dies, especially if it's a particularly stupid death. (Which is unfortunately very easy to accomplish.) |
| 531 | ** There is a notable gameplay aspect to this tendency in DF. Even if you don't particularly care about a given entity in the game, ''your dwarves do''. If your dwarf's pet or family member or close friend dies, they can get ''[[AxCrazy very upset]]''. |
| 532 | ** All of which lead to some of the most creative VideoGameCrueltyPotential as the player tries to build the most inventively vicious deathtraps possible to turn goblin sieges into paste. Or even better, catch them all in cages and let your happy little dwarves use them for sparring practice. Especially once you've lost a few favorite dwarves to the goblins. When everything wants to kill your beloved dwarves, a bit of PapaWolf savagery is in order, after all. |
| 533 | ** No matter how long its owner has been dead, a war dog will [[UndyingLoyalty always keep the title "pet of (name)"]]. |
| 534 | ** Companions in Adventurer Mode can inspire this as well. |
| 535 | ** [[http://www.dfst.org/en/stories/311 This]] DF fan comic has a player caring too much about an enemy kobold to have his dwarves stop it from stealing from him. |
| 536 | * Caring for cute little lambs, ducklings, and puppies is one of the reasons ''VideoGame/{{Farmville}}'' is so popular. |
| 537 | * ''[[VideoGame/StoryOfSeasons Harvest Moon]]'' and ''VideoGame/StoryOfSeasons'': |
| 538 | ** Just try not to feel any affection for your character's spouse and child. Even after every ScriptedEvent has been shown and there is nothing left to do but repeat the same days in some games, it is near impossible to stop playing thanks to the PlayableEpilogue. |
| 539 | ** Being kind and connecting to the fellow citizens of your small rural town--especially remebering a fellow townsperson's birthday in advance and preparing in advance to give them their favorite gift. Sometimes even just giving them something random they enjoy and seeing how happy they are is enough. |
| 540 | ** There's also your pets and farm animals, the latter of which produce more and/or higher quality products the more you show them affection. (Everyone else panicked and brought their dog in at the chance of rain, right?) Some games even have your dog like you more for holding it when you go to sleep--and if you always let your pet sleep on your bed anyway, there's no chance of leaving it out in a storm in the first place. |
| 541 | * ''VideoGame/KerbalSpaceProgram'' players often go to great lengths to protect (and/or rescue) their little green astronauts. Funds and unlocks aside, there's nothing stopping creative players from building elaborate escape systems. |
| 542 | * ''VideoGame/IdolManager'': While it can be extremely tricky to make the agency financially sustainable without at least temporarily depriving the idols of ''something'', it's possible for the player to [[EveryoneHasStandards still have standards]] as to how much they are willing to exploit the idols. |
| 543 | ** For instance, there are some events involving an idol that can be turned into opportunities for free publicity, but said events can be either something negative that is best forgotten from the perspective the idol involved or a genuine feel-good story that might lose that quality if the player does anything other than let it play out. |
| 544 | ** It can very tempting to overwork the idols in an attempt to make up for previous bad financial decisions. If the agency continues running in the red despite doing just that, the player may get a visit from their investor, who used to run a brothel, and basically be told "Hey, if you'd be willing to have the girls sent out on CompensatedDating and get a cut of the profits, I can make arrangements". Both accepting and refusing are options. |
| 545 | * Also played straight in ''VideoGame/{{Majesty}}: The Fantasy Kingdom Sim''. In an innovative, if sometimes frustrating twist, you do not have direct control over your troops; rather, you are the sovereign of the land, and you hire heroes and they wander about questing on their own. It's like a more interactive version of Progress Quest, really. With nifty sprite graphics. If you want something attacked, either wait for the hero to wander by it, which will cause other heroes to hear the sounds of battle and join in; build a guard tower close by to direct your free guardsmen there; or place a bounty on the object and they will attack until either they destroy the object (for example, the elven buildings in the abducted prince quest) or pick it up and bring it home (for example, the titular items in the "Bell, Book, and Candle" quest). |
| 546 | * ''VideoGame/MonsterLovesYou'' presents many opportunities to be a positive force. Your character is capable of doing many noble feats -- saving lives of both humans and monsters, preventing catastrophes, and even brokering peace between humans and monsters. |
| 547 | * ''VideoGame/MonsterRancher'' has plenty of this as you work your Mons up to tournament champions. Doubly so if it's a game where they can die. |
| 548 | * ''VideoGame/MyChildLebensborn'' is very much a StrugglingSingleMother simulator in its RaisingSim aspect. The resource and time management is built in such a way that meeting one of the child's needs all too often results in neglecting another. Doing one's best to care for the child as well as possible remains the caring way to play the game. |
| 549 | * ''VideoGame/MyLittlePonyFriendshipGardens'' runs off this. You create your own Little Pony and can feed her apples, play games with her, brush her hair, teach her how to jump, and generally keep her happy -- [[spoiler:and then, in the end, let her go free.]] |
| 550 | * ''VideoGame/NoUmbrellasAllowed'': |
| 551 | ** You're encouraged to be kind to your customers, [[NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished even if it risks making you an enemy to AVAC for defying their laws]], and you're rewarded with a boost to your store's reputation. Some customers even ask you for money for things such as medical bills or advocating good causes, and giving it to them will eventually have them pay you back in kind by decorating your store. |
| 552 | ** When Eggie loses sight of her pet cat Guylian, she asks you to find her and give her a warm smile after work. It makes the little girl happy, and Guylian eventually drops by your store to take a nap, making your customers fawn over her and donate money to you. |
| 553 | ** If you maintain your kindness throughout the game, it eventually proves to [[spoiler:your OldFriend Jihye]] that [[spoiler:you're Jisu Cha, the caring researcher who defied AVAC by trying to develop the cure for [[EmotionSuppression Fixer.]]]] |
| 554 | * ''VideoGame/PapersPlease'' provides players with numerous opportunities to bend the rules to help others out ([[NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished although doing so]] [[BeingGoodSucks can often cost you money]]): |
| 555 | ** You'll occasionally come across a migrant who lacks the proper paperwork but has an important reason to immigrate to your country (their husband got in, they need back surgery only available in your country, etc.). You can grant them access. Just be prepared for a citation. |
| 556 | ** Early on, a sex worker will leave you a note telling you that she is worried about another man in line who wants to force her into slavery. If you want, you can detain him. Better still, doing so does not lead to a citation. |
| 557 | ** Halfway through the game, a guard asks you for a favor: [[spoiler:a girl he met while serving abroad is coming over, and he really wants you to let her in.]] You can grant him his request, but you will be cited. |
| 558 | ** Late in the game: [[spoiler:your sister is arrested, and her daughter is put up for adoption. Taking her in means one more mouth to feed, but at the very least you'll be given your sister's savings.]] |
| 559 | ** In the later days of the game, the Inspector can become friends with a guard named Sergiu. Should you take care enough to keep him alive from various terrorist attacks, he'll reward you with $100 before he gets shipped off to another post. That $100, if saved properly, can help get a not-"bad" ending as a last-ditch resort. |
| 560 | * In the iPhone game ''VideoGame/PocketGod'', you control a small tribe on an island. You can kill them in various horrible ways (feeding them swordfish, drowning them, etc), but you can also set the sky to sunset and the little looks of wonder on their faces is possibly the cutest thing ever. You can also light a fire, make it night-time, and watch them all curl up in a group to sleep like they didn't just spend all day getting attacked by dinosaurs and ice monsters. |
| 561 | * Your main goal in ''VideoGame/PotionPermit'' is to cure patients and gain their trust by talking to them every day and helping them out with their problems. Victor even wonders if you're being kind because you're a Chemist or if that's what you really are. |
| 562 | * This is the major premise of the ''VideoGame/PrincessMaker'' games. And it ''works''. |
| 563 | ** Heck, even Website/SomethingAwful was so damn proud of their adoptive brat by the end of it. [[spoiler:Helps that she ended up becoming an EnfanteTerrible who not only commits regicide but ends up usurping {{Satan}}.]] |
| 564 | * In ''VideoGame/{{Rimworld}}'', you can shelter fleeing refugees from marauders and rescue crashed survivors, where they'll stay on as colonists once the danger has passed. If you fend off a raid, you can offer the fallen the proper respect DueToTheDead by burying them in graves and sarcophagi instead of leaving them for the carrion. If a raider is wounded in the battle, rather than finishing them off, you can take them on as a prisoner and nurse them back to health, and if they are well looked after and socialised well with the wardens, [[DefeatMeansFriendship they may be open to the idea of joining the colony themselves]]. |
| 565 | ** The Biotech DLC adds children, along with mechanics for raising them. You can give your children wonderful childhoods where they're safe and free to pursue their education in a number of ways. Doing so properly can result in them becoming adults with lots of useful passions and positive traits, meaning that they'll always be excellent members of your colony. You can also rescue children in quests and take them in, care for child refugees that come in groups, or even safely down and recruit child soldiers that were sent to raid you. |
| 566 | * ''VideoGame/TheSims'' is both this ''and'' cruelty potential, depending on the kind of player you are. |
| 567 | ** ''Webcomic/AliceAndKev'' is an example of just how powerful this can be in ''The Sims''. |
| 568 | ** A {{creepypasta}} actually shows this too. [[spoiler:A ghost of a child who was abused in his life and died in a housefire uses the game as a second chance at life, and the player grants it to him upon seeing the state that he was in when he played the family.]] |
| 569 | ** ''VideoGame/TheSims2'' presents you with a pre-made family, the Newsons, adoptive siblings whose parents died at the same time and the teens decided to take care of the younger children themselves instead of [[DontSplitUsUp splitting the family up again]]. As frustrating as it can be running a household of 2 teens (who can't get more than a part-time job because they also have to go to school), 2 children and 2 toddlers, it's also heartwarming when you do it right. |
| 570 | ** ''VideoGame/TheSimsMedieval'' balances this and cruelty potential just as the main series does. While you will die if you're too mean and don't complete necessary tasks, the amount you can do to care for your hero sims, their families, and even the random civilians caters to this trope. The fact that murder, plague, alcoholism, political tension, etc mean that Sims can have worse problems than in the main games just makes you care for your kingdom more. Notable moments include finding a giant crab-man and ''befriending it'', finding a lost child, and freeing a genie. |
| 571 | * Likewise the case in ''VideoGame/StardewValley''. Players can befriend the townsfolk and help them with their personal issues, [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome even if they are a farmer and not a therapist]]. Notably, a lot of players opt to [[RescueRomance "rescue" the more troubled romance choices]] by marrying them and inviting them to come live on the farm; for example, Penny (who happens to be one of the most popular female choices) lives with her abusive alcoholic mother in a dingey, stuffy little trailer by the river, and going to live on the farm alleviates the problem and gives the girl her own space. Then there's poor Sebastian, who barely ''has any'' relationship with his family due to his status as TheUnfavourite. |
| 572 | ** After purchasing some of Robin's renovations for the farm, you are given the option to purchase a house for Pam (and Penny if she still lives there). You the Farmer get no benefit from doing this apart from the gratitude of the two women -- and that's if you choose to disclose you were the one who paid for it, you may instead choose to be an anonymous benefactor[[note]]If you choose to stay anonymous and are married to Penny, you get special dialogue with Robin where she is baffled as to why you would keep such a generous gesture a secret from ''your own wife''. Alternately, you can disclose to Pam you paid for her new house and tell her the only condition attached to it is she must try to mend her relationship with her daughter.[[/note]]. |
| 573 | * Though not strictly a video game, ''Music/{{Vocaloid}}'' is a brilliant demonstration of this principle. Think about it: It's a digital ''voice simulator'' built on samples of a voice actor or actress' donated data, each with a cute anime-style mascot character, but with no explicit personality. After you've listened to those characters sing, it's hard not to think of them as people and even have incredible loyalty to the programs you use the most. |
| 574 | ** Miku Hatsune is a full-on Idol, and ''adorable''. Although her most popular video is her cute [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbbA9BhCTko Ievan Polka]] (waving a leek), [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jf1pg3NI6Do this one]] will leave you wanting to [[TheWoobie hold and love and protect her]]. |
| 575 | ** And then there's ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xtEy951Dic The Disappearance of Miku]]'' where she [[FinalSpeech sings her last song]], recognizing that [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman she is just software]] and saying goodbye as her memories disappear, [[TearJerker as the user uninstalls her]]. |
| 576 | ** To the uninitiated, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKv7cw_Z1P4 many]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qb4xkEiewIw songs]] tend to elicit reactions like, "It's a ''computer program!'' Why am I ''[[{{Utsuge}} crying?]]''" |
| 577 | * ''VideoGame/WorldNeverland'' allows you to do a lot of things just for the sake of being nice. You can grant free citizenships to the random travelers who visit your kingdom. You can decorate any house in the game, just to brighten things up for the [=NPCs=] who live there. You can give food and special costumes to your friends. You can play matchmaker with younger NPC characters. You can go around giving hugs to babies, just because. And somewhat more solemnly, you can offer comfort to dying [=NPCs=] and fulfill their last requests. |
| 578 | * ''VideoGame/YesYourGrace'': |
| 579 | ** Aside from the ritual materials, none of the items that can be purchased for members of the royal family are essential to getting the GoldenEnding and the effects of getting them can end as soon as the same turn. On the other hand, if the player has spare gold on hand, they can just buy the present for the sake of it. |
| 580 | ** The level of population contentment at which tax revenue maxes out is way lower than the maximal contentment value. The player can very well have Eryk continue helping as many people as possible despite it no longer resulting in more tax revenue. |
| 581 | ** [[spoiler:Alena and Velek]] can be sacrificed to fix problems during the siege and whether they are kept alive or not doesn't matter to the game's ending. They can be saved by [[spoiler:one of the rewards for meeting Fabioun's objectives]] for one, [[spoiler:having mining equipment]] for the other. Both require the player to plan in advance. |
| 582 | ** When needing to decide whether to execute the deserter during the actual final siege or not, the player may choose to consider that killing the man would [[spoiler:make a little girl an orphan]] rather than their opinion about deserters. |
| 583 | * ''VideoGame/ZooTycoon'' and its sequel are all about this. You grow ''very'' attached to the animals you care of, and the guests, while very demanding, will be rewarding assets if you serve their needs correctly. Getting a 5-star zoo is all about making sure all your animals and guests are happy, and it is very rewarding when you finally get a 5-star zoo considering how difficult it can be. |
| 584 | [[/folder]] |
| 585 | |
| 586 | [[folder:Space Combat]] |
| 587 | * ''VideoGame/FTLFasterThanLight'', there's nothing stopping you from being as caring as possible to your crew, especially denying events that result in crew loss (or using blue options to circumvent them) to the point there's an achievement called "No [[RedShirt Red Shirts]] Here". It's also caring to choose the more caring decisions such as letting enemies surrender, freeing slaves to join your crew, and one event has an Engi ship mistake you for a pirate and offers to transfer goods for it's survival. If you explain you're friendly, it either gets underway without saying anything or gives you the goods anyways for realizing you need every scrap of help you can get. |
| 588 | * Each part of the ''VideoGame/{{Homeworld}}'' series has a single moment where extra efforts aimed at saving people are more or less optional and are without material reward of any kind but are extremely compelling and self-satisfactory: |
| 589 | ** In the first game you return home after a hyperdrive test run only to [[spoiler:find your planet in flames and the Taiidan destroying the cryo trays with the last remnants of your race]]. One of the trays is already damaged by the time you arrive, and unless you go the extra mile and probably sacrifice some of your forces the invaders will destroy it before you can destroy them. There is no reprimand for that and no bonuses for saving the tray, but, goddammit, there are a hundred thousand people, ''your people'', in it! |
| 590 | ** In the semi-sequel, ''Cataclysm'', you encounter a civilian convoy under attack by [[TheVirus nanovirus delivery]] missiles. Here efforts to protect the transports are more justified from the pragmatic point of view, since each converted transport starts launching missiles itself, and once the enemy runs out of clean transports it turns on you. Still you can't help but feel a moral obligation to protect as many transports as possible. Especially once you ''hear'' the screams of a ship's crew being [[TheCorruption "converted"]] and realise just how many people are supposed to be in there... |
| 591 | ** The finale of Homeworld 2 [[spoiler:reenacts the tragedy that destroyed Kharak over Hiigara when three Progenitor weapon platforms start barraging the surface of Hiigara with [[AtmosphereAbuse atmospheric deprivation warheads]]]]. Intercepting every rocket is quite difficult as it must be done manually and you'll have to constantly switch between the tactical screen, where the rockets are visible, and the game screen, where all the fighting takes place, but these inconveniences are completely blotted out by a single thought: "Not a single rocket must reach the surface. You hear me? NOT A SINGLE ONE!!!" |
| 592 | * In ''VideoGame/RaidenFighters'', one of the stages has a tank boss firing at houses before proceeding to attack you. If you use your {{Attack Drone}}s or bombs to block its shots, you'll get a "DEFENDED THE HOUSE!" bonus. ''Raiden Fighters 2'' has a similar bonus involving defending friendly tanks from a medium-sized enemy tank. |
| 593 | * In the finale for ''VideoGame/StarFoxZero'', [[spoiler:James flies right on in during the end sequence to deal with Andross, who is chasing Fox out of the dimensional hole in one last attempt at revenge for his soon-to-be death.]] You can choose to keep on flying... [[spoiler:or, as Andross' head turns around to deal with James, you can pop a U-turn for one last (fully-charged) parting shot.]] |
| 594 | -->[[spoiler:'''James''']]: [[spoiler:"You've become so strong, Fox..."]] |
| 595 | * ''VideoGame/{{Starlancer}}'', a space fighter from the makers of ''Wing Commander'', has an entire squadron of RedShirt wingmen, none of whom are actually useful in battle and tend to [[ArtificialStupidity ram things to death (their own)]]. ''But''...they each have their own backstory in the game's information system, like the petite blonde girl who joined the Navy Fighter Corps after being a star in a barnstorming show...[[MST3KMantra in space]]. Or the bitter little Frenchman, or the black-market dealing Scot, or the sultry Italian chick...the list goes on. Also, when they die, they die screaming in a ''truly'' disturbing manner. |
| 596 | ** Speaking of ''VideoGame/WingCommander'', it's not uncommon for players to replay missions where their wingmen were killed in the first game, in which AnyoneCanDie was in full force. Except for [[TheLoad Maniac]], who can [[TheScrappy just stay dead.]] |
| 597 | ** Also, in ''VideoGame/WingCommander III'', on the later missions where AnyoneCanDie comes into play. There's a reason you can take fewer wingmen along the final stretch [[spoiler:You get the single ending if you picked the pilot as your love interest and bring her along -- all wingmen die at some point along that series of missions.]] However, if you bring Maniac along, he actually listens, sometimes, and becomes a little more competent, so he's not as bad a choice. |
| 598 | * In ''VideoGame/StarTrekBridgeCommander'', you encounter a vessel belonging to the enemy who, during a large firefight, has kept out of battle with their shields down. Your crew makes note of it before it turns away and warps out. You encounter the same ship later, guarding your objective, but again, with its shields down and making no effort to attack you. This is where you ought to slow down, take a breath, and think, "What Would Captain Picard Do?" Open hailing frequencies. The result is gaining a new ally and making the last level much easier (the alien ship will accompany you on your final run, and if he's with you then a big chunk of the enemy fleet will ignore you), your sector admiral giving you huge glowing praise, more detail about what's going on with the plot, and the satisfaction that Gene Roddenberry's view of the universe is still alive and well, even in an action game. |
| 599 | * {{Non Player Character}}s killing one's PlayerMooks in the ''[[VideoGame/{{X}} X-Universe]]'' games has been known to spark a RoaringRampageOfRevenge on the part of the player. That Xenon Q that just blew up a helpless transport has no idea that there's about to be a [[CurbStompBattle Boreas-class destroyer dropped on him]]. |
| 600 | [[/folder]] |
| 601 | |
| 602 | [[folder:Stealth-Based Game]] |
| 603 | * In general, stealth games are the most likely for players to attempt a PacifistRun in, due to the standards of the genre discouraging direct combat anyways. |
| 604 | * The non-lethal runs of ''VideoGame/{{Dishonored}}'' always have better endings for Corvo, Emily, and Dunwall than if you run around killing everyone you meet. This is seen most of all through Emily's actions towards you -- in low chaos, her drawings will show Corvo maskless, [[spoiler:labeled "Daddy"]], while the same drawings in high chaos will feature masked Corvo brutally killing people. |
| 605 | * ''VideoGame/Hitman2'' has one challenge in Columbia which tasks you to complete every tasks involving helping out the town (which include helping out the people in your hit list), and another in [[CutAndPasteSuburb Whittleton Creek]] where you help out an old man with his day, enough to make him do a happy walk (who you then have to kill). |
| 606 | * ''VideoGame/Hitman3'' has a potential encounter in Chongqing with a nameless civilian waiting in the rain for her friend. If you stick around, she'll ask Agent 47 if he's seen her, and when he responds "no", the two will have a lengthy conversation as she talks about how they were supposed to go out for drinks and expresses doubts of their friendship, with 47 offering comfort and even some advice to keep them together. There is absolutely no mechanical benefit to this encounter, [[PetTheDog but dang, does it feel nice]], and even [[HiddenDepths a little impressive considering how notoriously distant 47 is known to be]]. |
| 607 | * VideoGame/MetalGear: |
| 608 | ** Beginning with ''[[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty Sons of Liberty]]'', every game can be completed [[PacifistRun without killing a single soul]], with the exception of exactly one character in ''[[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater Snake Eater]]'': [[spoiler:the final boss, The Boss, who must be executed]], though there are a few very rare occasions where Snake guns down some mooks in cutscenes. The player is even encouraged not to kill enemies, with the best [[EndGameResultsScreen codenames]] requiring zero kills. And as all of the mooks are (usually) JustFollowingOrders and bear no real malevolence towards anyone, why would you want to kill them? |
| 609 | ** Despite all of the moral ambiguity in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidPeaceWalker'' and ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVThePhantomPain'', the player can still go out of their way to rescue innocent prisoners of war and (in the latter game) wild animals and [[ChildSoldier child soldiers]]. |
| 610 | * ''[[Videogame/SplinterCell Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory]]'' definitely qualifies with the American pilots during the Seoul mission. Heading to a downed jet containing data that could potentially spark World War Three, Fisher finds the jet being watched by Korean forces and is ordered to immediately call in an airstrike before another party can acquire it. Sam objects as the unconscious pilots ejected too late and are within lethal range, and [[ContinueYourMissionDammit is shouted down by Lambert]], but players can go out of their way to and risk death to save them: |
| 611 | -->'''Lambert:''' Fisher! If you compromise this mission for those men--\ |
| 612 | '''Fisher:''' Save it, Irving. You gave me my orders already.\ |
| 613 | [...]\ |
| 614 | '''Lambert:''' Alright Fisher, good job. He should be safe from the blast here, designate the wreckage with your EEV.\ |
| 615 | [...]\ |
| 616 | '''Lambert:''' Sam, you need to designate the--\ |
| 617 | '''Fisher:''' No point rescuing one and leaving the other.\ |
| 618 | '''Lambert:''' You don't even exist, Fisher. You can't get a medal for this.\ |
| 619 | '''Fisher:''' [[WhatYouAreInTheDark Medals don't help me sleep at night, Lambert.]] |
| 620 | * It is entirely possible to play ''VideoGame/YandereSimulator'' without killing your romantic rivals. Instead, you can [[MatchmakerQuest set them up with other boys]] or just simply talk them into leaving Senpai alone (assuming of course you can ignore the button prompt to kill them). |
| 621 | [[/folder]] |
| 622 | |
| 623 | [[folder:Strategy]] |
| 624 | * In the later ''VideoGame/AdvanceWars'' games, troops now get "Veteran" statuses etc. for defeating troops -- making individual units theoretically more unique. This was done to discourage the [[ZergRush Infantry Spam]] tactics from previous games. Unfortunately, with the boosts so meager for the unit's usual unlikeliness to survive for much longer, it doesn't work very well. |
| 625 | ** ''Game Boy Wars 3'', on the other hand, has Materials in addition to the standard Gold for building units. The price gaps with Materials are much smaller in the game than the ones with money in other installments -- and with the Gold price gaps being outright immense in ''Game Boy Wars 3'', this does mean infantry spam is weakened, as replacing units is punished, and just repairing them could easily deny you better units. Good thing too, because enemy units are weakened when adjacent to multiple units. |
| 626 | *** As if the EXP system (which was also in Super Famicom Wars) wasn't enough, eh? Add unit promotion in [=GBW3=] and there's plenty of reason to stay alive. |
| 627 | ** The latest ''Advance Wars'' also changed how the Technique-rating was calculated. Before, you could spam units towards the end of the game to make your survival look good, but that actually ''lowers'' it in the new one. Now, the best strategy is to let many of them live. |
| 628 | *** The method of calculating tries to anyway. Unfortunately, it fails spectacularly the way the formula is handled. |
| 629 | ** ''None'' of the above have anything on Arrangement in Campaign mode of ''Game Boy Wars 3''. In Campaign, completing a map puts your surviving units in the reserves and then on a subsequent map, Arrangement will let you send out a unit, with its Experience retained, on an allowed property near your HQ, and you don't have to pay anything for it, just the property's liberty for the turn. You can even promote certain units before putting them out on the field if they are at S Rank. Obviously, the key to succeeding in Campaign would be to plan out your units so as to deal with any possible situation and concentrate on keeping them alive. |
| 630 | ** Andy from Advance Wars encourages this kind of gameplay, as his CO power and SCO power allows him to repair any damaged units up to five HP as well as upgrading them for a turn. You can take away your troops without much issue, since the SCOP will repair 50% of the unit heal, allowing them to fight another day. |
| 631 | ** ''VideoGame/BattalionWars'' does the same thing by making everything ''adorable''. The first time you take control of a tank and a grunt quietly goes "Take good care of her, sir" may make you go "aww". The trouble starts when you realize that the opposing forces are just as cute, ''and'' they have accents. |
| 632 | * Somewhat averted in CDV games, notably the Conquest series. Despite almost EVERY SINGLE UNIT having its own experience, morale, and even phobias! ''VideoGame/AmericanConquest'' is especially bad for this, as human wave tactics are pretty much the only way to take a fort due to the sheer number of defences. See, even though you have all these stats, non-hero units tend to take damage like the squishy pink fleshlings that they are... Just created or alive since the start of the battle, a few shots from a musket will ruin any militia or trapper's day. The damage indicator is more an indicator of how accurate their weapons are, as you may see if you watch the spot of the impact graphic closely. Bullet impacts seem to deal percentages, not numerical, while high health only really helps in melee. Also, cannonballs can mow through troops ridiculously accurate for their time period. One of the largest reasons behind the human wave requirement is how deadly fort cannons can be. |
| 633 | * ''VideoGame/BattleForWesnoth'': Not only can you recall units from previous scenarios in the campaign modes, but they also have ''quasi-unique names'' and randomized traits such as "Swift" and "Intelligent" which give them certain bonuses. There just ''has'' to be at least 1 guy out there who has mourned the death of a unit. |
| 634 | ** Helped by the fact that units can gain experience and level up not unlike RPG characters, which comes into play especially in campaign mode where they take that experience with them from one scenario to the next. A higher-level unit that you've ''worked'' to get to that point is naturally easier to feel invested in than just another random new recruit (while on the other hand, any such new recruit has at least the potential to get to that point itself in turn...). |
| 635 | * In all iterations ''VideoGame/{{Civilization}}'' starting with III (including the console game ''Revolutions''), the "Cultural Victory" path rewards you for building an enlightened Democracy with Cathedrals and Universities to contrast your cruel and warlike Communist neighbors. It makes you go all warm and fuzzy inside to see neighboring cities defect en masse and welcome those poor, oppressed people into your civilization. |
| 636 | ** Also your subjects will occasionally throw "We Love the King/Queen Day" celebrations in your honor, complete with fireworks. It's good to see them acknowledge how great you are |
| 637 | ** In ''Civilization II'' (at least; might also be present in some of the others), "We Love the X Days" give celebrating cities some kind of bonus. Usually this is the resource-gathering potential of the next-best government form, but Republics and Democracies, as the top-tier govs, instead give the city in question an additional population point ''every turn''. This effectively turned those two government forms into a kind of GameBreaker for experienced players. Like they weren't already. |
| 638 | ** Democratic-type governments in general are the "grow and make money like crazy" systems in all ''Civilization''-type games. |
| 639 | *** In ''II'' and ''III'' they give a direct boost to the economy by boosting Trade/Commerce. |
| 640 | *** In ''VideoGame/SidMeiersAlphaCentauri'' (''Civilization'' [[RecycledINSPACE in space]]), Democratic Politics gives a boost to Growth and Efficiency, which you can combine with Knowledge Values and Cybernetic Future Society to achieve a Paradigm Economy (i.e. maximum Efficiency) with pretty much every faction (even the [[ObstructiveBureaucrat Peacekeeping]] [[UsefulNotes/UnitedNations Forces]]), meaning you can run a very large empire with ''far'' less money lost to corruption than under any other system, or combine with Planned Economics and Eudaimonic Future Society (which is basically Videogame Caring Potential in the form of a Social Engineering option) to get to a state of Population Boom (i.e., maximum Growth), which is a GameBreaker. (The direct boost to income is provided by Free Market Economics.) |
| 641 | *** In AC, you can build an enlightened democracy with peace and justice for all, cultivate your talent pool, adopt environmentalist economics and build Centauri Preserves. Enjoy a string of Golden Ages and wealth and productivity coming out your ears; Planet may even thank your kindness by [[SuperweaponSurprise sending an army of mind worms to protect your new society]]. |
| 642 | *** There's also [[http://alphacentauri2.info/articles/?sa=view;article=5 "Interlude 6: despair"]], which the player receives if his first mindworm unit is killed, along with its commander, who's a friend and pupil. [[spoiler:"For all the gene splicing and longevity treatments, all the manmade miracles of [your faction], death remains as final, as capricious, and as desolate as it has ever been. No matter what happens now, no matter what journey of wonder humankind now embarks upon, [name] will never see it, never know the end of it. And no matter how many centuries you continue to cheat eternity, you will never again have the company of your student and friend. And you cannot cheat eternity forever."]] Makes you want to just keep it far from any real battle. |
| 643 | *** In that prompt, you are directed to conquer one of the cities of the faction that killed your protege. When you conquer it, it is automatically renamed "[name]'s Rest" |
| 644 | *** In ''IV'', Representation increases Research and Happiness in large cities, and Universal Suffrage increases the amount of money produced by Towns (the direct boost to income is provided by Free Trade economics). |
| 645 | *** The downside to all of these, however, is that they all reduce your ability to support troops and make war. On the other hand, starting with ''Civilization III'', you support your troops and make war by direct expenditure of money from the treasury. When you're turning a large surplus already, building a large army just makes your surplus smaller. |
| 646 | ** Early combat units that have accrued a ton of combat veterancy may apply for this. The unruly band of warriors you start off with may go on to fight dozens of battles, eventually going on to become some of the finest formations under your control, having fought for hundreds of years against your civilization's foes. (A land "unit" in ''Civilization'' is approximately equivalent to a division, or maybe a brigade or regiment depending on era and which iteration of the game we're talking about.) |
| 647 | ** When you conquer a city that was itself conquered, you have the option in the later games of either incorporating it into your empire... or Liberating it, returning it to whoever initially owned it. If that player was already eliminated from the game, [[BackFromTheDead this even returns them to life.]] [[CantCatchUp They'll probably be way behind everyone else,]] and the resulting city is going to take a while to recover from being conquered twice, but they'll be loyal to you basically forever, and this undoes any warmongering penalties you might have picked up over the game. |
| 648 | * ''VideoGame/{{Dominions}} 3'' has both named commanders and generic ordinary units, each represented by individual sprites on the battlefield. Watching enemy heavy cavalry ride down my troops (complete with individual screams), or seeing a veteran commander fall victim to assassination (or worse, disease, which causes them to lose 1 HP a turn until they die), made it ''very'' satisfying to utterly annihilate the enemy gods responsible. |
| 649 | ** This is exacerbated by the popular supercombatant strategy, where one goes through the process of summoning a select commander, loading them up with hand-picked magical items, and sending them off to war. Seeing these guys on the receiving end of a well-made trap is just depressing. |
| 650 | * In ''VideoGame/EndWar'', you are given a persistent battalion that you upgrade and improve, with unique callsigns, consistent voices in response to your orders (including sounds of abject panic that convey the fact that they're getting ripped apart much better than the dispassionate voice of your XO saying they're getting hammered), and carried over experience... ''if'' they stay alive. While a defeated unit will be evacuated if possible, it's still possible for an enemy to kill them entirely. It eventually hits the point where you can get paranoid about using [[LimitBreak WMDs]] for fear that the enemy will kill your units with a reprisal. It eventually becomes a fairly major point of Heartwarming when you hear them say they won't let you down and worrying when they yell for evac or support, and an outright kick in the teeth when their unit card glows with the skull and crossbones that says that the unit is dead instead of evacuated. |
| 651 | * In ''Franchise/FireEmblem'' EVERY character you control is named and has their own head-shot. Add to the mix a bit of KilledOffForReal (minus restarting the game), specific endings for every character, and lots of character interaction, you wind up with players wanting to restart every level multiple times so that no one ever dies. |
| 652 | ** ''[[UpdatedRerelease Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon]]'' introduced a system whereupon the game will provide your army with generic units if your numbers get too low, and secret chapters only accessible if you have below certain numbers of units, finally providing players with the perfect opportunity to take the pain of resetting in earlier games out on their army... yet the overall tendency of players is still often to reset on every death. |
| 653 | ** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776'' features the option to "capture" an enemy rather than killing them, which is more difficult (it requires you to defeat them with halved stats), but allows you to defeat a large number of the game's encounters without killing the person involved. Though this has in-game benefits, as it allows you to take their equipment and is required to recruit some characters, it also comes into play with a large number of bosses, who have alternate defeat quotes if they're taken out nonlethally. This especially applies to Gomes, who is both notoriously hard to capture and [[TragicVillain one of the game's more sympathetic villains]], making it all the more rewarding to have him finally declare he's turning his life around. |
| 654 | ** Games of the series that have a relationship system inspire this in additional ways; you will want your characters to live so that you can see through their own little story arcs. |
| 655 | ** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening'' takes this to a whole new level with the ability to marry off your party members and even [[spoiler:recruit their children, sent to the past through the time stream.]] We need to emphasize this point: your characters are a ''very'' tightly-knit RagtagBunchOfMisfits. They have multiple friendship and romance options, they all have their little quirks, they're all quite likeable, and you'll have more than your fair share of laughs and smiles at their antics. You'll even find yourself feeling happy for them when they actually get hitched, specially with how romantic some of them are. ''[[PlayerCharacter You]]'' can get married, and your spouse gets their own special confession scene, complete with special artwork and a voiced line to seal the deal. This leads you to being able to recruit [[spoiler:[[MommasBoy your very own]] [[DaddysGirl child from the future]],]] who absolutely, unabashedly ''adores'' you to death. Bonus points if you married a character who has [[spoiler:a child of their own]], which means you get [[spoiler:Morgan a loving older sibling.]] More bonus points if you proceed to marry these new units between members of their little group, which results in [[spoiler:entire families joining together into one large BadassFamily.]] Even MORE bonus points once you take into account [[DarkAndTroubledPast just how much]] [[IronWoobie said units]] [[ApocalypseHow have had to go through]] [[{{Determinator}} in order to get to this point]], and then you only [[{{Protectorate}} feel the need to protect them even more]]. What's more, [[PlayerPunch if they die]], entire families will end up heartbroken. And since ''you're'' the Tactician, it means that if their families end up broken, ''it's all your fault.'' If ever a game designer wanted to make the player truly love and care for their units, and make them feel like complete assholes if they failed to keep them alive, this game is an excellent example of when they succeed spectacularly. |
| 656 | ** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'' has a "Poach Student" mechanic where, after you choose one of the three houses, you can recruit students from the other two by fulfilling their recruitment requirements, and later on you can recruit your fellow instructors. Not only does this open them as playable units, [[spoiler:but once the {{timeskip}} happens and the three nations of Fodlan go to war, any students or teachers recruited will side with your nation and won't have to be faced as enemy units and ''not'' [[PlayerPunch have to be killed]].]] |
| 657 | * In ''VideoGame/HaloWars'', it is common to become attached to units with stars, to the extent of not actually using them for fear of their deaths. Especially your starting scout unit. |
| 658 | * The ''VideoGame/JaggedAlliance'' series always penalizes you if you let too many of your hires die. If named characters lack a proper burial (say, you dumped the body in a river instead of securing the area in order to transport it out) then your reputation will plummet and only the will-work-for-anyone dregs will join you. For generic guards, if too many die it will be harder or more expensive to secure their replacements. |
| 659 | ** If you help the local villagers (instead of trying to use them as meat shields), your reputation in the town (which affects a town tax-rate stat) won't plummet. |
| 660 | ** The actual voice clips of characters when they refuse to work for you, or when they're already working for you and think you're an asshole, just serves to ram it home for how big of a screw-up JerkAss you are. Now, in Jagged Alliance 2, hire Raven and her husband, Raider. Have one die. How big of a jerk are you? The survivor will let you know ''all. The. Time.'' |
| 661 | * ''VideoGame/KnightsInTheNightmare'' supplies you with 112 loyal knights (plus three additional recruits) whose [[DeadToBeginWith tragic deaths]] you're forced to watch. They're your only available means of fighting demons, but if you don't pay careful attention to their vitality, they will die again, permanently -- and [[AllThereInTheManual there is no afterlife for extinguished souls]]. |
| 662 | ** And because it just needs to be said -- you will grow to care for Maria and Meria, who are both built up as incredibly lovable, sympathetic characters. Their inevitably miserable fates lead some players to ''deliberately'' miss finding Ancardia in Maria's route so as to [[spoiler:let her live her life as herself and save her from becoming a FallenHero later on in VideoGame/DeptHeaven continuity, even if you yourself won't be there to take care of her for much longer]]. |
| 663 | *** Probably because this is what Meria wants most, there's no way to get it for her. [[DownerEnding Thanks, Sting.]] |
| 664 | * You'll come to care for your various Mechwarriors in the ''VideoGame/MechCommander'' games. Each one is uniquely portrayed by a real actor and each has their own personality. Spend enough time with them and you'll grow to appreciate their individual quirks, such as Baron's lovable smugness, Siren's eternal cheerfulness, or Twitch's jittery neuroses. Many players also do their best to hold on to their early pilots, since even rookies can eventually grow into capable warriors, and it's hard not to get attached to someone who's been with you since your first mission together. |
| 665 | * ''Medieval 2: VideoGame/TotalWar'' encourages the player to be a jerk since gaining money is much easier when being evil. Being a chivalrous general has benefits since you gain a morale boost for your men when fighting the enemy which means they are less likely to rout, while dread bonuses for ruling towns have at times a negative effect on the population. Sadly, most people opt for the crueler option most of the time. |
| 666 | ** All ''Total War'' games have an experience mechanic for units, which encourages some players (those that don't just rely on [[ZergRush Human Wave]] tactics) to try to keep their own armies' casualties to a minimum. |
| 667 | ** This can overlap with VideoGameCrueltyPotential. "Hmm, the enemy are making their last stand in the city center, but I don't want to lose any more men finishing them off..." So what do you do? Wheel a crude cannon into place and go bowling. Or, if you're taking a castle and the last enemy units are all cavalry, get your archers on the walls of the keep and just execute the helpless horsemen with direct-fire arrow volleys. |
| 668 | *** It is actually ill-advised to do so if you're settling down for a long war, something which is especially likely in the limited-nations expansions. A high command, high morale general, with high valour high morale peasants? Those spearmen and militias are about to get chewed. |
| 669 | ** You should care for your generals and Royal family in all Total War games because the more battles they win the better they become at war, the more likely they are to win if you auto-battle and of course the men are less likely to run from the battle. Oh and at least in Medieval if you lose (or kill your enemies) all your generals and family then you get a non-standard game over. |
| 670 | ** The trait system in general can foster this trope, as it has the effect of making your generals and agents come across like real people. |
| 671 | * ''VideoGame/MenOfWar'' is likely the best WWII RTS for caring potential. Let's review: All soldiers have their own names and inventories. The ability to loot gear off the dead means that a bit of effort makes soldiers much more effective. The ability to loot hats off the dead means personal touches. The AI is helpful beyond contemporary standards, e.g. when an enemy tank rounds a corner, a soldier throws an AP grenade, takes cover in the opposite direction, and tends his wounds. A lack of hand-holding means room for crazy plans. The option to switch to FPS controls for individual soldiers means opportunities for death-defying heroism. A fairly interactive environment means, for example, removing weapons from disabled tanks and adding them to the defensive lines, or some fool driving through a battlefield on a hijacked tractor, hauling machine guns and ammo. Playing the game means sending these people to die by the hundreds. Ladies and gentlemen, video games as a learning tool. |
| 672 | * ''VideoGame/MountAndBlade'': Your army is comprised entirely of recruits who are rather unique from one another, all of which are trained up by you to be powerful and fearless soldiers. It is not uncommon for even the largest player armies to have a troop that is the "odd one out", either by being a neutral faction troop that you rescued from another lord's captivity or the last survivor of a recruitment run you made while in another faction's borders. It is not uncommon for that specific soldier to survive months' worth of fighting under your command only to be unceremoniously listed on the casualty report after a skirmish. |
| 673 | * ''VideoGame/{{Myth}}: The Fallen Lords'' and ''Myth 2: Soulblighter'' were some of the first strategy games to have veterans systems. The more kills a unit got the faster it would attack and the more damage it would deal. And since you don't start out with many units to begin with and are always outnumbered quite a bit, you do everything you can to make sure they stay alive. |
| 674 | * ''VideoGame/{{Nectaris}}'' gives units from 1-9 xp, they earn one for an attack, one extra for attacking with no losses, and of course each xp slightly boosts all combat-related stats. Much like Myth, however, you only get what you have, instead factories are for repairing units that aren't totally destroyed. |
| 675 | * ''VideoGame/OgreBattle'' has several special characters that you can draw into your ranks as you move through the game. Some of them are likable characters and you can feel like crap for getting them killed. Even the generic characters make your heart wrench when they fall in battle. Although, this can be because you spent countless hours leveling them to reach a certain class and your hard work just died out. |
| 676 | * ''VideoGame/OriginalWar'' is built around this trope. Every human unit in the game is a unique individual with RPG-like stats, and when they die, they are KilledOffForReal. It is often better to deploy inferior remote-controlled or computer-controlled vehicles just to avoid risking your precious soldiers. (Honestly, this is a lot like the use of military robots in RealLife.) |
| 677 | * In ''VideoGame/PlanetBlupi'', you can keep the Blupis energized by feeding them tomatoes and cure the sick ones by giving them medicine. Returning lost Blupis to their home also counts. |
| 678 | * ''{{VideoGame/Rebuild}}'' |
| 679 | ** Survivors all have randomly generated names and appearances and individual stats that grow over time. Naturally, losing one is a big blow to your efficiency (and some deaths are unavoidable if you want certain endings). |
| 680 | ** Several survivors escaped from the Last Judgement, a fundamentalist gang of sex slavers. One of the multiple endings involves wrecking their base ([[PayEvilUntoEvil both with your soldiers and by letting the zombies overrun them]]) and seeing their leader tied to a pole and used as archery practice. |
| 681 | ** Gustave is a trader who visits once a week to trade valuable items for food (or give you food if you're starving), gamble, or [[BandOfBrothels advertise his Love Caravan's services]]. At one point he'll offer a job in said caravan to one of your female survivors (she isn't happy about it, but if it's what everyone wants...). Agreeing will get you a rocket launcher and a lingering sensation that the zombies are better people than you. |
| 682 | * In ''VideoGame/{{Sacrifice}}'' there are certain missions that reward you for doing good deeds. In one mission where you're sent to slay a powerful dragon that's under the control of another wizard; if you spare her and defeat the wizard, the dragon goes with you throughout the game, meaning you get a high-tier unit in the earliest part of the game. |
| 683 | * The computer game ''Franchise/StarTrek:VideoGame/BirthOfTheFederation'' (think ''VideoGame/{{Civilization}}'' in the style of ''Franchise/StarTrek'') can occasionally invoke this trope. When the Borg [[YouWillBeAssimilated assimilate]] a race you know and love from the series (or, you know, [[EarthIsTheCenterOfTheUniverse Earth]]), or they get subjugated by the Cardassians or there's a negative planetary shift, your heart aches a little. |
| 684 | ** Of course, this game has an equal, if not greater, amount of VideoGameCrueltyPotential. |
| 685 | * ''VideoGame/{{Stellaris}}'': |
| 686 | ** Despite the game's reputation for VideoGameCrueltyPotential, Paradox once released the statistics on what the most popular "ethics" were among the player base. "Egalitarian Xenophile" (i.e., a free and equal society eager to make friends) was the most used ethic combo by far. |
| 687 | ** The player can protect young species and even ''uplift'' them (that is, give the technological knowledge for a species to ''take to the stars''). Just hope there's no kinks in the process, and that the science teams don't pull a species-wide prank. |
| 688 | ** One common event in a game grants you control over a friendly Space Amoeba. It's little more than a curiosity, since it never grows strong enough to be an actually ''useful'' asset to your fleets, but most players are very fond of "Bubbles" and the usual response to something in the game killing it is [[DisproportionateRetribution complete annihilation]]. |
| 689 | * While the biggest draw of ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'' is its FanService-filled MassiveMultiplayerCrossover nature, but there's also the major FixFic aspect, as Banpresto allows players to save characters who died in their original series[[note]]Unless their death is too integral to the plot; for example, [[Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann Kamina]] always dies because it's necessary for Simon's development[[/note]], or to induce HeelFaceTurn in redeemable antagonists and turn them into heroes. While sometimes it happens automatically as a consequence of the plot, other times it requires conscious effort, usually in the form of protecting the character in question in battle or by having your team [[WarriorTherapist talk them through their problems]]. Hang around any forum that discusses mecha anime, and you'll find at least one person saying things like "I can't wait until this show gets into ''SRW'' so I can save him/her!" |
| 690 | * ''VideoGame/TotalAnnihilation: Kingdoms'' gives units bronze, silver, and gold ranks as they rack up kills. And, after a while, you grow attached to them, to the point where one may send out their whole army of flying dragons of doom to incinerate the enemy if they dare to kill your 'pet'. |
| 691 | * The detail of the economic simulation of the ''VideoGame/Victoria'' series allows this, as you can lead your country into the Industrial Revolution while carefully setting policies to provide for the poor and avoiding war, vastly improving your citizens' standard of living. |
| 692 | * Played straight in the ''VideoGame/{{Warcraft}}'' clone/superior cousin ''War Wind'', where veteran units may be kept until the next stage for a minor pre-game boost. You may even keep the 'epic' units with you, though most of the time you'll want something faster, or you'll want to bring an extra artisan for resource/build tier boosts. |
| 693 | * Because of the way scoring works in the standard multiplayer modes, ''VideoGame/WargameEuropeanEscalation'' and its sequel ''VideoGame/WargameAirlandBattle'' encourage you to preserve the lives of your soldiers in a somewhat underhanded way: The player gets points for killing the enemy's units, but the enemy gets points for killing the player's, units, too. So a player that [[Main/WeHaveReserves spends the lives of his/her men like water]] in a Main/ZergRush early on to take all the objectives will often still wind up losing to a more conservative player who only managed to hold onto one part of the map but kept all his units alive while defending it. Troops also function better with higher morale, encouraging you to keep them from getting too beat up. When you do find yourself having to sacrifice a unit for the sake of victory, it eats at your heart a little every time. |
| 694 | ** Not to mention that, in Campaign mode, when you lose a unit, [[DeaderThanDead they're gone]]. [[KilledOffForReal For good]]. [[{{Unwinnable}} Irreplacably]]. That means that losing certain units early in-game ''will'' cost you an advantage (if not victory) at some point in the future. |
| 695 | * In [[VideoGame/{{XCom}} X-COM]], it is ''extremely'' hard not to get attached to a few of your veteran soldiers. Sadly, since AnyoneCanDie, your favorites will almost inevitably be killed off [[strike:unless you keep them stationed on the dropship or your base]] by a blaster bomb into the dropship or an attack on your base. |
| 696 | ** You'll also become attached to your veterans because the rookies are ''so'' useless that soldiers who can shoot straight are worth their weight in [[{{Unobtainium}} Elerium]]. |
| 697 | [[/folder]] |
| 698 | |
| 699 | [[folder:Visual Novels]] |
| 700 | * In the ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorney'' games, your partner Maya may be an annoyingly naive, [[BigEater burger demolishing]] [[GenkiGirl bundle of energy]], but it still feels like a punch in the gut ''every time'' she's accused of murder and/or kidnapped. [[DamselInDistress Which happens an awful lot.]] |
| 701 | * ''Franchise/{{Danganronpa}}'''s Free Time Events are designed so that you can spend time with whichever character you want to get to know better. The event serves to give the character some HiddenDepths and gives you the option of giving them presents. Since AnyoneCanDie in the series, the intention is probably to [[PlayerPunch make you feel sad when they die]] or betrayed when you find out they’re a murderer (possibly a [[SympatheticMurderer sympathetic one]]). |
| 702 | * ''VisualNovel/DokiDokiLiteratureClub'' starts out as a romance game where you can get closer to some cute young women, so of course it's natural to care about them. That would be barely worth mentioning since it's so standard, but this is another case where it makes it hit you harder when [[DisguisedHorrorStory the story takes a turn]] and bad things happen to the characters. This itself has the potential to make you care even more. It's a perfect chance to indulge your masochism. |
| 703 | * All of the girls in ''VisualNovel/{{Melody}}'' are written so that the player cares about them. According to a number of them, it worked. |
| 704 | * ''VisualNovel/MinotaurHotel'': |
| 705 | ** The player has the option to make P do nice things towards Storm during the Hinterlands segment, such as giving him new clothes or console Storm after an uncomfortable visit to his old home. |
| 706 | ** Soon after you first meet Asterion, you're immediately given choices to help him do various tasks. As the game goes on, you can treat him with even more kindness, which in turn, will cause him to trust you and eventually care for you a lot as a person. |
| 707 | * ''VisualNovel/ShinraiBrokenBeyondDespair'' |
| 708 | ** By the end of the night, [[spoiler:at least two]] of the main cast members will be dead- [[spoiler:[[HateSink Hiro Shiratake]], who's an AssholeVictim, and [[BigBad Momoko Mori]], whose murder plot involved killing Hiro and herself in a MurderSuicide.]] However, if you make the right decisions, you can save [[spoiler:Kotoba Gaikoku, who, while a pervert and a StalkerWithACrush, is also a genuine friend to Taiko.]] |
| 709 | ** Kamen Eiga is unusually nasty to Raiko, although it later turns out that [[spoiler:she's grateful to Raiko for saving her and possibly has a crush on her, but is bitter that Raiko is no longer the person she remembers, and doesn't seem to remember Kamen.]] There are three points in which you can choose to try to be friendly to Kamen- having Raiko say she came to the party for Kamen, promise to tell Kamen more about herself someday and [[spoiler:agree to be friends with her]] in the good ending. Choosing all three unlocks a diary entry that reveals more about Kamen's backstory. |
| 710 | * The HGame VisualNovel ''VisualNovel/TeachingFeeling'' is literally "Video Game Caring Potential: The Game". You play as a small city doctor who one day is visited by a wandering merchant whose life you had once saved who has come to repay his debt to you. He entrusts you with a [[TheWoobie small, horrifically abused former slave girl]] called Sylvie whose former master (now deceased) used to torture her daily for fun, leaving her with grotesque acid burns all over her body. The entire focus of the game is caring for her, repairing her damaged psyche with kindness, compassion, and [[MemeticMutation head pats]] and, as the name suggests, teaching her to feel again, until she learns to be happy, hopeful, and eventually fall in love with you. It's in fact ''mandatory'' to treat her this way as, although you start out being given options to [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential treat her poorly, or even rape her right off the bat]], these are all traps as treating her in any way other than pure kindness will lead to her unavoidably [[IncurableCoughOfDeath catching a cold]] [[DownerEnding and dying]][[note]]This can lead to the almost laughably tragic scenario where she dies because you bought her sandwiches for lunch when you took her to the restaurant rather than pancakes[[/note]]. It's also worth noting that, although the game is a [[HGame hardcore eroge]] with a big emphasis on sexual content (once you reach the stage where she's both willing and able to freely consent to it), there are several people who have reportedly played it by actually rejecting her advances, skipping ''all'' the sexual content, getting Sylvie to call them "Daddy" and raising her as their ''daughter,'' because she's just ''that'' {{Moe}}.[[note]]Later versions have [[AscendedMeme even acknowledged this]], as when you get to the stage where you can choose to choose something else for Sylvie to call you other than "Master", if you put in something like "Daddy" or "Papa" she'll wonder aloud whether this means you think of her like a daughter.[[/note]] |
| 711 | ** With a later update, you can also start teaching her medicine and turn her into your assistant, complete with white (or black or pink) nurse outfit and she will smile in return for you giving her a purpose in life. Heartwarming doesn't begin to describe it. |
| 712 | [[/folder]] |
| 713 | |
| 714 | [[folder:Wide Open Sandbox]] |
| 715 | * ''VideoGame/ArkSurvivalEvolved'' has the process of "imprinting" baby dinosaurs (or other creatures). At timed intervals, examining the growing creature will show a desired interaction: cuddling, going for walks, or being hand-fed a random treat food. Once the creature becomes an adult, it will have increased stats while ridden by a player who fulfilled these requests. |
| 716 | ** While taming creatures, feeding them a preferred food and protecting them from attackers doesn't just make the process faster, it adds up to 50% their wild levels as a bonus. You can also nickname them for that personal touch. |
| 717 | * ''VideoGame/EndlessSky'': Choosing to repair damaged NPC ships may reward you with a handful of [[WeWillSpendCreditsInTheFuture credits]] or a bonus mission, as well as gratitude from its captain. |
| 718 | * ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoSanAndreas''. The nameless Grove Street mooks you pick up to assist in missions will chatter with C.J. on the way to the goal, giving him shit like all his named friends. Makes it hard to watch them mowed down like wheat. Of course it doesn't help they tend to fire wildly at every cop that comes by. |
| 719 | ** An even better example is [[http://venturebeat.com/2010/06/05/my-four-year-old-son-plays-grand-theft-auto/ this story]] of a four-year-old whose father let him play San Andreas, only to discover that the innocent kid used the WideOpenSandbox potential to arrest criminals, help firefighters, and drive the wounded to the hospital in an ambulance, refusing to steal any cars or drive recklessly because that would be wrong. |
| 720 | * ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIV'' actually gives you the chance to spare several targets that you've been assigned to kill. Some of them even show up with little sidequests you can follow if you proceed to do so. |
| 721 | * ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoV'' has several moments of these: often you'll randomly encounter people in trouble, such as being held hostage, having their valuables stolen, or even trapped in a car wreck. You can ignore 'em, make things worse, or even go out of your way to help them out. |
| 722 | * ''VideoGame/OneHourOneLife'': The whole game runs on this trope. Every new player is reliant on an unknown mother to get them through infancy. |
| 723 | * Numerous players in ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'' have adopted pet slimes, since a bug prevents them from despawning. The addition of wolves and cats also encourages this, since they can be tamed and will subsequently fight alongside you or shun creepers respectively as long as you can keep them healthy. |
| 724 | ** The LetsPlay'er SnapWave adopted a pet creeper he named Mr. Creepy, which saved his life on numerous occasions. He almost started crying after it died. |
| 725 | ** Treating villagers (or "Testificates" in early versions) nicely. Someone once [[http://imgur.com/a/m7gOi rounded up Testificates]] [[http://imgur.com/a/ddNWY to give them a nice new home]]. Giving them happy, safe, monster-free dwellings is also rewarding, since a grown village will eventually spawn friendly, powerful iron golems that will attack hostile monsters. Furthermore, you can trade with villagers to get items, and Farmer villagers can automatically tend farms for you. |
| 726 | ** Being nice to noobs (more often just new to the server than just multiplayer) is not the norm as they are usually characterized as all being thieves and griefers. Many players will even try to scam them out of what little they have or raid their dirt and cobblestone houses. However if you let them stay at your large manor house or secret underground base they will usually be more than grateful, (so long as you made sure they weren't a thief) and it can be rewarding to have another person help out. And come on, everyone is a noob once. |
| 727 | ** Tamed wolves. Part of the appeal is having them serve as attack wolves to do your hunting and fighting for you. The other half is getting together a small entourage of those cute puppy-eyed critters and either keeping them home safe or taking them on adventures with you. The same can be done with the Creeper-repelling cats. |
| 728 | * ''VideoGame/{{Palworld}}'' became [[RefugeInAudacity infamous]] for the massive amount of BlackComedy regarding its {{mons}}, but offers just as many opportunities to be a loving Tamer. You can pet and handfeed them, prepare gourmet meals and luxury accommodations for them, and rescue them from {{Evil Poacher}}s. They have a SanityMeter which measures their happiness, performing their best when it's close to full. |
| 729 | [[/folder]] |
| 730 | |
| 731 | !!Non-Videogame Examples: |
| 732 | |
| 733 | [[folder:Webcomics]] |
| 734 | * The readers of ''Webcomic/LittleRobotBigScaryWorld'' got very attached to BIP as the comic continued and worked to help him find a happy ending. |
| 735 | * In ''Webcomic/{{Oceanfalls}}'', due to the RPG-style nature of the webcomic, Nino [[spoiler:choosing to help Five]] is played as this InUniverse. |
| 736 | * Being nice saved the players' bacon in ''Webcomic/RubyQuest''. Had they not tranquilized Stitches and left him a portrait of the Metal Glen's patients happy together (from before everything went to hell in a handbasket), then [[spoiler:He wouldn't have pulled an AndroclesLion and saved them from [[ImplacableMan Ace]]. They also managed to make the ending just that much sweeter by saving another patient, Jay, who was trapped in the water filtration system by hooks]]. It's notable that they weren't ''supposed'' to do this, as they were only able to take Stitches down non-lethally because they [[CuttingTheKnot bashed open]] a cabinet with tranquilizer inside instead of getting the key, [[spoiler:and Weaver had never even considered that they would try to save Jay, and allowed it because he couldn't see any reason why they ''couldn't'' do it.]] |
| 737 | [[/folder]] |
| 738 | |
| 739 | [[folder:Western Animation]] |
| 740 | * ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'': Hank Hill comes across "Pro-Pain," a ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto''-stylized game starring a Propane Salesman that is a blatant expy of Hank himself. While being told to explore the game by Buck for any examples of copyright infringement on Strickland Propane that Buck could sue for, Hank discovers that not only are there moments of mayhem that ''Grand Theft Auto'' is usually known for; but there are also moments of the game that rewards human decency as well such as getting back money stolen from a mother on the street or stopping a mini-mart robbery. |
| 741 | [[/folder]] |
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/context.php
FollowingContext Main / VideogameCaringPotential
Go To
- Show Spoilers
- Night Vision
- Sticky Header
- Wide Load
