Player agency is the most important part of any video game. However great the combat might be, or however good the graphics are, or even howeverbig the open world is, the player needs to be able to meaningfully engage with the setting, or else they’re essentially paying AAA prices for a movie. How games do this varies from genre to genre, of course, and has also evolved over the years. Boomer shooters with destructible environments were among the first to tout this agency in their games, and so were early RPGs with branching stories.
However a game does it, a player needs to feel like they’re having an impact on the space around them -even multiplayer shootersneed the player to feel like every kill is progressing somewhere, and every utilization of the terrain is a smart one. Some games in particular, however, take it the next step further. Some games verify to give players a level of agency that can’t be topped, and give them the tools they need - whether mechanically or narratively - to completely change the world.
The simple request on the part of the Courier to regain the platinum chip and get revenge on the person who shot them takes some incredibly strange detours. Before long, the Courier isn’t just on a personal quest, but on a quest that will decidethe fate of the Wasteland.
Each major faction has its drawbacks and virtues, except maybe the Legion, which is all drawback, but every leader has their own unique vision for how New Vegas should look - and the Courier has an active role in shaping the wasteland.
The conquest of the Tiers is a difficult and lengthy task, even for the mighty empire and its two armies. Beforethis fantastic gameproperly starts, the player is welcomed to a battle map where they can make several key choices about how they had conquered the Tiers up to this point.
Their choices in this area change what locations are available throughout the game, what state they’re in, and the state of the people within the Tiers as well. They are world changing decisions that should not be taken lightly.
Players are expected to accomplish big things very early on in theOuter Worlds -their very reason for being released from hibernation is for something far greater than themselves, that being the rescue of the Hope - but if and how they accomplish this has massive implications for the colony.
Intwo of the three endingsinThe Outer Worlds, the player’s decisions irreversibly changes what life is like for the citizens of Halcyon, which gives an incredible amount of weight to the story overall. These world altering decisions are the culmination of how the player has acted and behaved throughout the story.
There are many moments in Terraria where the player changes a small part of the world, and then there are a few huge moments where the player completely changes the world. One of the mostfearsome bosses in the game, the Wall of Flesh, is essentially the guardian to half the game’s content, and defeating them introduces new ores, biomes, enemies, NPCs, and events to the player’s world.
For players wanting a more hands-on approach, the Clemtaminator, sold by the Steampunk NPC, allows players to cover every biome in a solution that swaps it to a different biome. Craving an world made entirely of glowing mushrooms? Better get spraying then.
Wasteland 3is a fantastic and worthy successor to its two predecessors, each a monolith within the post-apocalyptic RPG genre. Players would be hard-pressed to find a game with more wit and substance thanWasteland 3.
But the players are here because their homeland, Arizona, is dying, and the people controlling Colorado are the ones who can help. Thus, the player’s choices will impact not just the land they’re currently in, but also their land back home in huge ways. The choices in this game give players colossal consequences to how the world of theWastelandsetting functions.
TheMass Effect Trilogyis renowned for how much the player can shape or change the galactic setting. Shepherd,in tow with their companions, can be making world altering decisions from the very first game that will shape how the third turns out.
By the end of the third game, players will have completely changed theMas Effectsetting in ways unique to their playthrough, but it’s the final decision that really decides once and for all what kind of world Shepherd wants to live in.
WhileCrusader Kings 3is a game that gives plenty of attention to the small scale sides of being a ruler, such as family conflicts, childhood memories, orin the latest DLC, landless wandering, it’s a game also very, very focused on the big picture.
Players are able to completely change the political, cultural, and religious topography of Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and parts of Asia. Disband the Papacy, conquer the world as a Mongol Horde, conquer the world as an Irish Horde, have the Norse take over England, there are plenty of alternate history-focused ways to change the world in this title.
Worldboxis a fantasy-focused world simulator that puts the players in position of a god, essentially. Shape or destroy the world however you see fit, with abandon and glee. Create continents, watch them war, then burn them both down with abandon.
Players can let fantasy cultures grow naturally or directly influence how they grow. They can watch villages, cities, and kingdoms form naturally, or gently guide these civilizations with nuclear bombs and sky lasers.
