8 Times You Failed To Be The Hero In Video Games

The heroic knight in shining armour has always been part of the lifeblood of gaming – from Super Mario Bros' scrappy underdog plumber to Ghosts & Goblins' literal knight in shining armour (and lovely spotty boxers). We have all aspired to be these heroes. That is, until Grand Theft Auto III came out and we all decided we'd rather beat sex workers to death like the edgy twelve-year-olds we were.

Since then, gaming has begun to take a more nuanced approach to morality, putting us in the shoes of anti-heroes, mercenaries, all-powerful artist gods and just about anything in between. We're frequently even afforded moral choices within these stories; will you be a paragon, a noble peacekeeper to whom nothing is more important than saving the galaxy – or will you be a renegade, a scowling tosspot whose every action runs counter to their overarching goal?

But what about those times where even playing the hero results in unavoidable tragedy? When despite having the best of intentions, you inadvertently make everything worse for those you were sworn to protect?

The Witcher 3 differs from the remainder of the list in that these choices the player makes as Geralt have variable outcomes as opposed to the unavoidable disasters detailed in the upcoming entries. These bear a similarity to moral choices, but rather than bombard the player with big flashing colour-coded symbols to indicate such, they are incredibly subtle and are hidden amongst any amount of other inconsequential actions.

At various points in the story, the player will face certain small decisions relating to Ciri, Geralt's young ward and Witcher-in-training. Said decisions are presented no differently to any of the many other choices you make throughout the game, but will in fact have far-reaching consequences.

When she asks for advice on how to manage her negativity, whether you choose to simply reassure her that she doesn't have to be good at everything or whether you choose to have a snowball fight with her will contribute to her ultimate fate at the end of the game. These decisions can, at times, be misleading as well: late on during the story, Ciri discovers she has been wronged by sorcerer Avallac'h and wishes to trash his lab. Should you calm her down and convince her to refrain, as a disciplined mentor would? No! That will weaken her resolve and may very well result in her death at the end. Trash the joint with her!