History GreyAndGrayMorality / VideoGames

* ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'' has a plot in which none of the sides the player can choose could be called fully good or evil. With the exception of the Golden Deer, every faction engages in morally dubious behavior and/or have to dirty their hands to achieve their ends after the timeskip. There are villainous individuals, but they never reflect the faction as a whole. The sole exception to this is those who slither in the dark, who have the pleasure of being the HateSink faction that even the more morally-grey characters hate and barely tolerate.

* ''VideoGame/{{STALKER}}'': The conflict between Freedom and Duty is this, combined with OrderVersusChaos. Duty are a faction of grizzled ex-military types who believe [[EldritchLocation The Zone]] is an abomination that threatens the world and should be destroyed. Freedom are a group of anarchists and thrill-seekers that believe The Zone is a miracle that provides beneficial eldritch artifacts and therefore should be freely accessed by the public. Neither is especially nicer than the other, and they both have their share of [[Jerkass dicks]] and [[NiceGuy nice guys]].

* ''VideoGame/SidMeiersAlphaCentauri'' isn't so much about "being neutral" as about "being way too worried about surviving in this DeathWorld of [[MindRape mind raping]] worms and deadly fungi." However, the playable factions in the game run through the entire gamut of alignment. The dominant alignment is TrueNeutral (with a total of 4 factions), and frequent references are made to factions being [[ShootTheDog forced to forget morality]] when it comes to survival, despite the character being a good governor and [[PetTheDog caring about their people]].

''VideoGame/GenshinImpact''. The entire relationship between Celestial and the Abyss Order can be summed up as this.On one hand, Celestial's actions of punishing the entire of Khaenri'ah for the actions of a specific group is going too far. Man, woman and child, none of them was spared from a terrible curse. However, at the same time, Khaenri'ah was responsible for the Cataclysm. An apocalyptic event that almost brought about the EndOfTheWorld. Every nation suffered terribly for it, with their people either being killed, or even forced to suffer a FateWorseThanDeath. Even after 500 years in present day, the [[PlayerCharacter Traveler]] is still helping the world through the damages it brought about. The extend of the damage it brought about was so extensive, there is no way to justify the damage Khaenri'ah did.

* ''VideoGame/DiscoElysium'': The main conflict is between a powerful and corrupt labor union and a group of scabs, backed by [[SociopathicSoldier sociopathic mercenaries]] and their CorruptCorporateExecutive masters. In the background, Ultraliberals (libertarians) oppress the already impoverished to line their pockets, Communists gleefully kill children for the crime of being born into the wrong social class, Fascists attempt to scour the world clean of foreigners, leftists, academics and women, and the Moralists are opposed to doing much of anything for fear of rocking the boat. Most people you encounter are either ideological militants, ruthlessly self-centered or, at best, trying to keep their heads down and look out for number one. There is only one truly heroic character in the game, and it's not you.

** In ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'', the Tenpenny Tower quest has this. On one hand, you have the residents of Tenpenny Tower, who are (mostly) a bunch of arrogant bigots... but, they have a ''point'' that ghouls are generally dangerous and unpredictable, and this band in particular are hardened raiders from the Wasteland; how do they know it'd be safe to let them in? On the other hand, you have Roy Phillips, a ruthless raider who is accompanied by his two followers: Michael Masters — former electronic/biological engineer who wants to fight for the place he used to vacation at in the pre-war days. Then you have Bessie Lynn, Roy's girlfriend who's probably the one innocent ghoul in this quest who's implied to be unaware of her boyfriend's plan. Roy and Michael do have a point that they are being held at bay from living in a safe, comfortable environment purely because they're not exactly human anymore. Both sides are perfectly willing to bribe the player into slaughtering the other for them. [[spoiler: And if the player negotiates a truce, Roy promptly takes advantage of having been allowed inside has all the humans murdered to keep the tower for himself and the ghouls; even those who support their entry weren't spared.]]

*** It turns out that [[spoiler:Super Mutants are sterile — they'll die after a single generation. This causes the Master to have a HeelRealization of the things he's done in the name of "progress and healing", sets the timer off a nuke planted in a warhead storage, killing him and everyone in the vicinity. He tells the Vault Dweller to, "Leave, now... Leave... while you still... (female voice) ...hope..."]]

** In the DLC "The Pitt", the two factions the Lone Wanderer encounters fit this trope. Wernher, leader of the slave rebellion, wants to steal the cure to the mutations that ravage The Pitt to use it as a bargaining chip for the slaves' freedom. Even when he finds out what that 'cure' is, he's still determined to exploit it, no matter what. Ashur, ruler of the Pitt, considers his Raider army and slave workforce necessary evils that gave The Pitt safety and industrial power; he hopes to use the drug to cure his constituents [[spoiler:(a cure taken from his own daughter, who was born immune to the radiation)]], allowing them to bear healthy children which would grow to eventually replace slave labor with a homegrown workforce. The player can side with either faction.
* ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' has this, hard: The New California Republic is well-intentioned and filled with good people, but are ruthless expansionists, suffocated by bureaucracy and corruption, and would be spread way too thin to bring true safety to the Mojave Wasteland. Mr. House is genuine in his desire to rebuild lawful civilization and has the intelligence and resources to do so, but only cares about New Vegas and enforces his laws with an iron fist, ruthlessly executing anyone who opposes his rule. The Wild Card route allows the PlayerCharacter to take over New Vegas themselves, but this requires the murder of Mr. House and there is nothing to indicate that they can succeed where the other factions would fail. The only completely evil faction is The Legion.
** There's also the main struggle in the DLC "Honest Hearts" between New Canaanites[[note]]Mormons[[/note]] Daniel and Joshua Graham. Both are guardians of a relatively "innocent" tribe that is under attack by an old enemy of the New Canaanites. Daniel wants to withdraw the tribe to where their enemies cannot follow, out of guilt over the situation the New Canaanites have brought upon them. Graham wants to teach them to fight and destroy their enemies, both as a just thing to do and to assuage his own personal demons, of which there are many.
* And, of course, the tradition continues into ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 4}}''. The Brotherhood of Steel has reverted back to their former conservatism, becoming arrogant, xenophobic, [[EnforcedTechnologyLevels tech-grabbing]] conquerors who are pushing their way into the Boston region and who are characterized by extreme FantasticRacism. However, they also dedicate themselves to wiping out real threats such as feral ghouls and mutants (as well as [[RidiculouslyHumanRobots synths]]) and actually have the military power to ensure security. The Minutemen are unambiguously good guys, but are notably inefficient, to the point of being virtually extinct at the game's start. Also, with the player character at the helm early on, ultimately the player's motivations dictate the course of the faction. The Institute are xenophobic manipulators who want to destroy all remnants of the "old world" and reshape the Commonwealth into what they want it to be -- but who prize innovation and scientific discovery, and want to create a world superior to the old one. Lastly, the Railroad seem to be good guys who oppose the slavery and oppression of Synths, who they believe are sentient beings, but they care very little for the Commonwealth as a whole and the methods they'll use and the lengths they'll go to in order to achieve their goals are a little extreme... There's also the fact that [[spoiler:the only ending in the game which doesn't involve you betraying and killing your BigBad son is through siding with the Institute, and doing so will mean you'll have to wipe out the sympathetic, helpful Railroad who helped you find him.]]

** The game also takes measures to humanise the previously AlwaysChaoticEvil Raiders through EnemyChatter and WhatMeasureIsAMook. Some are [[CardCarryingVillain psychos who enjoy their line of work]], and some are obviously strung out and tormented by what they have to do to survive. Shooting Raiders dead will sometimes cause their allies to cry out in anguish and horror.
** The Expansion Pack "Far Harbor" continues with the tradition: The synth refuge of Acadia is genuinely peaceful [[spoiler: but its leader [=DiMA=] has committed some terrible crimes to protect it and will need to commit more for a peaceful resolution to the conflict]]. The town of Far Harbor is wary of outsiders but that's mostly a product of their circumstances with them nearly being driven off the island by the fog. The local Church of the Children of the Atom is "very" antagonistic towards nonbelievers [[spoiler: and is planning to wipe the other two factions out]], but this is due to the influence of their (sincere) current leader. The majority of the cult is genuinely devout [[spoiler: and has nothing to do with the fogs' behavior.]]

* In ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'', the Tenpenny Tower quest has this. On one hand, you have the residents of Tenpenny Tower, who are (mostly) a bunch of arrogant bigots... but, they have a ''point'' that ghouls are generally dangerous and unpredictable, and this band in particular are hardened raiders from the Wasteland; how do they know it'd be safe to let them in? On the other hand, you have Roy Phillips and his ghouls, ruthless raiders who do have a point that they are being held at bay from living in a safe, comfortable environment purely because they're not exactly human anymore. Both sides are perfectly willing to bribe the player into slaughtering the other for them. [[spoiler: And if the player negotiates a truce, the ghouls promptly take advantage of having been allowed inside to murder all the humans for themselves, even those who support their entry.]]