Morality systems are always a tricky thing to get right in gaming. Far too often, morality systems can feel too linear, with the player being presented with just two choices: good or bad. More often than not, these choices end up feeling rather artificial, and whilegames likeFallout: New VegasandDisco Elysiumcapture a novel sense of freedom with their morally gray choices, it’s often better for some games to just avoid a morality system altogether, just likeGhost of Tsushimadid.
WhileGhost of Tsushimafeatures a handful of choices that impact the game’s story and ending, there’s no morality system tied to the decision-making. This was a smart choice for the first game, but if a hypotheticalGhost of Tsushima 2wanted to go above and beyond, it could introduce a morality system fairly easily by repurposing the first game’s Legend system. And if it needs some help along the way, Sucker Punch only needs to look to games likeRed Dead RedemptionandMass Effectfor inspiration.
While they may still offer black-and-white approaches to morality,Red Dead RedemptionandMass Effectare two franchises that set the bar for morality systems in gaming, providing both gameplay and narrative rewards for players who invest their time in the systems. InRed Dead Redemption, players get a sliding scale referred to as the “Honor” bar, where players' choices are either perceived as morally positive or negative. InMass Effect, these two moral extremes are called “Paragon” and “Renegade,” both of which are influenced by specific dialogue options.
The more players choose to devote themselves to one half of the spectrum, the moreRed Dead RedemptionandMass Effectreward them for it. For instance, reaching maximum positive Honor inRed Dead Redemption2will grant the player a 50% discount in most shops, and going full Paragon inthe originalMass Effectwill grant players a 5% reduction in the cooldown of abilities. But the most rewarding aspect of these morality systems is how they affect each game’s story.
InRed Dead Redemption 2, the player’s Honor level directly determines which lines of dialogue Arthur Morgan will say during cutscenes and key moments in the story, and it drastically affects the game’s ending.TheMass Effectseriesfunctions similarly, with players receiving extremely different endings and narrative beats depending on their moral choices. Though these choices are pretty binary across both franchises, the extreme differences in the story that the player can experience are worth seeing.
Though it doesn’t need a morality system,Ghost of Tsushima 2could implement one fairly easily with tools already present in the original game. In the first game, it’s hammered home that the duality ofJin Sakai’s identityis a major point of contention between him and his superiors, particularly his uncle. While being the Ghost is saving Tsushima, it flies in the face of the Samurai code. This dynamic lends itself perfectly to a morality system.
In apotentialGhost of Tsushima 2, players could be given a new version of the first game’s Legend meter, where performing Ghost actions would move it one way, and performing Samurai actions would move it in the opposite direction. Much likeMass EffectandRed Dead Redemption 2, these choices could determine certain story beats during the sequel, including the game’s main ending, giving players more agency in determining Jin’s journey.
Ghost of Tsushima
WHERE TO PLAY
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