10 Bad Video Game Decisions You Didn't Understand Until It Was Too Late

One of the many incredible things about video games compared to other mediums is the freedom granted to players to steer the story in any direction they like.

But sometimes the narrative pathways aren't as obvious as you might expect, and you can't always be sure of the ripple effect a choice will have on the story later down the line. Or, you know, five minutes from now.

Even if you had a bit of an iffy feeling about these decisions, you likely couldn't have predicted how bad things would get in the long run, and how much you'd probably regret your deeds.

These ten video games all offered up dilemmas clearly designed to trip the player up, whether testing their "goodness" or their mere ability to sniff out a ruse.

What perhaps didn't initially seem like quite so hefty a decision ultimately reverberated throughout the rest of the game, costing lives, eroding sanity, and just causing downright horrific outcomes.

Some are certainly more traumatic than others, but in each case you didn't realise quite how dire things were going to get until it was way, way too late...

Bar a few exceptions, true choice in Telltale's stable of episodic adventure games is pretty few and far between, and so when Batman faces off against Vicki Vale aka Lady Arkham in the final episode of Batman: The Telltale Series, fans probably weren't quite prepared for what was coming.

Batman shows up to rescue a kidnapped Alfred from Vicki, at which point players are presented with a choice - either remove their cowl to stop Vicki assaulting Alfred, or attack Vicki directly.

Now, given that Batman is a highly skilled combatant, revealing his identity risks the lives of his loved ones, and Alfred straight-up tells you not to compromise yourself for his sake, players can't really be blamed for choosing to attack Vicki.

However, this is soon enough confirmed to be the "bad" option of the two, given that it results in Alfred being shot and blinded in one eye by Vale.

If you decide to unmask instead, Bruce simply gets shot in the ear, which while blowing a decent chunk of his ear-flesh away, doesn't seem to have any impact on his hearing ability.

With that in mind, it's clear that unmasking was the right choice - albeit only in retrospect.