History Main / BigFirstChoice

** If you don't sell the rock to Darcy but hide it from the girl when she comes back, she'll criticize you for it and leave. Then, you can sell it for a high price of 400+ [[FictionalCurrency Vana]], and people will start commenting on how focused you are in running your shop because [[spoiler:you're actually Sangsu Ahn, a greedy businessman.]]

* In ''VideoGame/NoUmbrellasAllowed'', what you do with the blue-haired girl's moonrock on Day 1 will ultimately establish your true identity later on, as shown through your weekly nightmares starting at the end of the first week. If you keep the rock for her and return it to her later, she'll take a liking to your kindness because [[spoiler:it reminds her of her OldFriend Jisu Cha]]. If you sell it to Darcy instead, the girl won't show up at all, and instead, Dr. Gonam Choi will visit you and task you with returning two important artifacts to AVAC [[spoiler:so he can prove to them that you're his loyal apprentice, Bok Bae]]. If you don't sell the rock to Darcy but hide it from the girl when she comes back, she'll criticize you for it and leave. Then, you can sell it for a high price of 400+ [[FictionalCurrency Vana]], and people will start commenting on how focused you are in running your shop because [[spoiler:you're actually Sangsu Ahn, a greedy businessman.]]

* ''VideoGame/IWasATeenageExocolonist'': The player is faced with one after unlocking the possibility to recalibrate the ''Stratospheric'''s shields at the beginning of the playthrough. To have the option at all, specific choices must be made for two out of the four sources of starting stats, forcing to choose Reasoning and Engineering over alternatives. There are also three different shield settings to choose from: one leaves things as they are, one prevents the famine in the fifth year and one [[spoiler:sacrifices the ''Stratospheric'' to end the time loop via destroying the wormhole, which leads to a glimpse of what would have happened if Sol had been born on Earth]].

* ''VideoGame/IWasATeenageExocolonist'': The player is faced with one after unlocking the possibility to recalibrate the ''Stratospheric'''s shields at the beginning of the playthrough. To have the option at all, specific choices must be made for two out of the four sources of starting stats, forcing to choose Reasoning and Engineering over alternatives. There are also three diffrent shield settings to choose from: one leaves things as they are, one prevents the famine in the fifth year and one [[spoiler:sacrifices the ''Stratospheric'' to end the time loop via destroying the wormhole, which leads to a glimpse of what would have happened if Sol had been born on Earth]].

One method of StoryBranching. Subtrope of ForWantOfANail. Compare MultipleGameOpenings, where the the story branches even ''before'' you make the first in-game choice, and LastSecondEndingChoice, where you play through ''most'' of the game before a major and [[PointOfNoReturn irrevocable]] plot split. Contrast ButThouMust, which might ''look'' like a big choice, but really isn't; and NonStandardGameOver, for where one of the choices ends the game almost immediately.

* ''VideoGame/MassEffect'': The first thing that happens in the game is choosing Shepard's service record and personal history. The personal history choice determines which of three side quests you'll get on the Citadel, while the service record chooses which of three NPCs in different side missions Shepard has a personal history with.

* ''VideoGame/StrayGods''' first big choice is a song where Grace can choose to join her friend Freddie, the god Pan, or neither and strike out on her own.

* ''VideoGame/FrontMission3'' has quite possibly the most extreme example in all of gaming: an innocuous choice at the beginning (whether or not you want to accompany your friend on his delivery job) determines your ''entire path'' through the game. There are two complete storylines with wildly different results throughout, all hinging on that little choice.
** If you choose not to go with your friend, you have time to read your email and learn that your sister is working at a military base in town. Later, when an explosion occurs while you are at the base, you try to find your sister.
** But if you do go with your friend, you don't check your email before going to the base, so you leave after the explosion and don't learn until later that your sister was there, causing you to try to sneak in to find her. In both stories you get help from opposing factions which leads to the very different plots, and characters who are allies in one route are enemies or throwaway [=NPCs=] in the other one. It's very nearly two games in one.

* ''VideoGame/BattleRealms'', at the beginning of Kenji's journey, he must choose whether to slaughter or save peasants. If he saves the peasants the takes the Dragon path, if he kills them he takes the Serpent path.

* In the opening mission of ''WolfensteinTheNewOrder'', the evil Dr. Deathshead forces you into a SadisticChoice by making you choose which of your two allies you want to sacrifice to his research: Fergus, an old war buddy; or Wyatt, a fresh-faced young soldier. The survivor becomes your [[TheLancer Lancer]] later in the game, and the story plays out slightly differently depending on your choice.

* ''VisualNovel/LongLiveTheQueen'': If neither Julianna nor Selene are taken on as a Lumen mentor within the first few weeks of the game, the player is giving up on being able to learn magic at all for the rest of the run and locking themself out of any skill checks that require magic. Some of said skill checks have an entire ''story path'' hiding behind them. Meanwhile, a player keeping the option to learn magic open will still have to take the time to learn it, which means giving up on another skillset and the choices allowed by having it.

* ''VideoGame/TheOuterWorlds'' gives a morally gray example. To power up your ship, you need an item that can create enough energy for it. There are 2 in the surrounding area: one powers a nearby town, and the other powers a small settlement held by outcasts. Where it gets difficult is that A) While the town is a [[WretchedHive terrible place]] to live, its mayor genuinely cares for it's citizens and holds no ill will towards those who left and B) The settlement may not be able to support everyone from the town and its leader personally dislikes the town and its mayor. You want off the planet, so either the settlement or the town has to go.

* ''VideoGame/QuestForGlory'': The choice of [[FighterMageThief class]] for the Hero has a major impact on which side quests, characters, and locations will be accessible to him in the current game and, if you [[OldSaveBonus keep importing your saves]], in every subsequent installment. For example, in ''VideoGame/QuestForGloryIV'', non-wizards never meet Tatiana the Faery Queen, non-thieves cannot enter the local ThievesGuild and help the Chief Thief undo his BalefulPolymorph, while non-paladins[[note]]with ThePaladin class only available in this game via OldSaveBonus[[/note]] never meet the ghost of Paladin Piotyr and cannot help the Rusalka of the Lake.

[[quoteright:350:[[VideoGame/TheStanleyParable https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/twodoors_2869.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:When Stanley came to a set of two open doors, [[{{Railroading}} he entered the door on his left]].]]

* A decision made early in ''VideoGame/SawIIFleshAndBlood'' determines who survives at the end of the game.

* An early choice in Creator/KimNewman's adult {{Gamebook|s}} novel ''Literature/LifeLottery'' is whether your favourite character in ''Series/TheManFromUNCLE'' is Napoleon Solo or Ilya Kuryakin. The answer decides whether you end up joining the social in-crowd at your primary school or becoming a misfit, which branches the novel into two completely different decision trees.

* An early choice in Creator/KimNewman's adult {{Gamebook|s}} novel ''Life's Lottery'' is whether your favourite character in ''Series/TheManFromUNCLE'' is Napoleon Solo or Ilya Kuryakin. The answer decides whether you end up joining the social in-crowd at your primary school or becoming a misfit, which branches the novel into two completely different decision trees.