10 Video Games That Punish You For Making The Ethical Choice

4. Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey

assassins creed odyssey plague family
Ubisoft

When Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey was set up as the first game in the series to allow you to make meaningful decisions, Ubisoft didn’t do things by half measures.

They also seemed to have a pretty fun time trolling you as one of the earliest decisions where a no-brainer good guy move seems to be the right call actually results in devastating consequences. The Blood Fever quest kicks off very early when you’re still on Kephalonia.

You encounter a plague ridden family including small children and you either defend them from those intent on killing them to stop the spread or allow them to be executed. Now, to be fair, this is an ethical conundrum. Leaving the family alive could put others at risk of catching the virus, but murdering them in cold blood seems inexcusably wrong.

If you make the kinder choice in the interim and spare the family their violent fate, you actually end up dooming the entire island.

If you do make the trip back later you’ll find the entire place has been ravaged by the plague, so, that’s a bit of an oops on your part.

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Jess has been a journalist and content creator in the games industry for over 15 years and has been WhatCulture's resident Australian import and sorry cop since 2020, upping the quotient of swearing and apologising in WhatCulture Gaming's annual blooper videos considerably. She previously worked at GameSpot for 10 years, most notably hosting GameSpot News in addition to E3 live shows, and PAX panels. She regularly livestreams a variety of games on her 'jessmcdonell' YouTube and Twitch channels and hosts the 'Do It On The Day' podcast. She has won awards for her news and feature work in gaming as well as an accolade for her comedic writing (likely an admin error). She can be found on X at @jessmcdonell and Instagram at @jessicamcdonell sharing her current videogame fixations, industry insights, and videos of her cat, Karma.