"Ethical dilemna" games?

[minakichan]

I need to play a video game that raises ethical questions, particularly through ethical dilemnas presented in the actual gameplay or scenario, for this class I'm taking. Of course, I'm an otaku and a weeaboo, so I really want to play a Japanese weeaboo animu game, but I don't really know much about games, so I can't think of one. Does anyone have any ideas?

Originally, I wanted to play School Days, but there isn't an English patch... same with Love Plus, although that's not quite as relevant. Alternatively, I was thinking of playing this one really sketchy eroge, but I'm not sure I want to subject myself to that.

There's some examples of Western games that kind of fall into this categorization here: http://www.projecthorseshoe.com/ph09/ph09r3.htm#_Toc249978150

[blkmage]

You were going to play School Days but don't want to play an eroge?

[Mr. SmartyPants]

Bioshock 1 & 2. Fallout 3. Your best option however would probably be Mass Effect 1 & 2.

Not weeabo games, but I can't think of any that come to mind.

[MasterDias]

Western RPGs tend to be the ones that have the ethical/moral dilemmas...and yeah, from that link, I guess I can see how games like Civilization apply.

The only Japanese series I can think of that actually uses any sort of ethical dilemmas to any great extent would be the Shin Megami Tensei games, particularly the main series installments and Devil Survivor.

[minakichan]

You were going to play School Days but don't want to play an eroge?

School Days level is okay... I was thinking [spoiler]Rapelay[/spoiler] though, which, you know, is NOT okay ahahahaha.

Yeah, I know it's really weeaboo to not include Western RPGs... to some extent, I just don't really like the visuals of Western games as much, and I'm bad at playing a lot of the genres in Western games. (Western casual games though? I love them.)

Shin Megami Tensei

Oh, I didn't think of that. I honestly don't know too much about the games, but sounds like it could work.

[Peanut]

There is always GTA...always...

If you don't want to spend money, Iji actually is a decent ethical dilemma game since you don't have to kill anyone to beat it. Pacifist runs are not only possible, but they actually affect the game.

Postal 2 supposedly is "similar" in that you can beat the game without killing anyone...but it tries so hard to make you snap.

[ich1990]

Actually, the best game I can think of for you would be uc's A Bloody Peace. I believe it is still in beta, and I don't know if he has gotten all of the bugs worked out yet, but none of them make the game unplayable.

It isn't Japanese, obviously, but the character art is. It also contains lots of ethical discussion/dilemmas concerning war, self defense, church/state separation, nature of evil, monster slaying ethics, etc. Very fun RPG and about 10 hours straight through. I would recommend PM'ing him and seeing what the game's status is if you are interested.

[minakichan]

Thanks for the suggestions =w=

I found an English translation guide for School Days, so I think I'm going to go with that after all; it's not exactly the deepest or most innovative of games, but I like that it's an original take on a beaten-to-death (or should I say stabbed? bad joke) genre... and I like the art as well =w=;;; if it doesn't work out (I have to install VMWare and Windows to get it ughhh) then I'll look into something else.

[Fish and Chips]

Following Master Dias up on this, Shin Megami Tensei is probably in the ballpark of what you're looking for, though I should comment that the ethical dilemma in Megaten games is usually more ideological than moral, though moral issues float to the surface occasionally.

The classic Megaten conflict is Law vs. Chaos. Law alignment is orderly and protective, but also inflexible and judgmental, whereas Chaos is free and unrestrained, but also anarchic and destructive. Games in the series have juggled different terms, but it all really boils down to Law vs. Chaos; Nocturne has Henosis vs. Solipsism vs. Darwinism, and Raidou Kuzunoha is selfishness vs. selflessness, but you get the picture.

For your money, if you care to spend any, Devil Survivor is probably your best bet if you're considering the series, since it has the most day-to-day ethical situations, such as abandoning responsibility or taking justice into your own hands (one character, Keisuke, is basically Light from Death Note, except not deluded into thinking he's a god), or whether we should blame God or fate or ourselves for our predicaments.

Probably though, if you're not very familiar with games, you don't really own a Nintendo DS, so most of this post is me talking to hear myself talk, but nonetheless consider it food for thought if it in any way helps.

[minakichan]

@Fish: actually, someone brought up Devil Survivor in class, though I'm not sure what she was getting at about one of the moral dilemnas in the game (something about causing the apocalypse or something). I do indeed have an NDS (and buying a game is much less hassle than installing VMWare, getting Windows, and finding a way to translate School Days into English), so I'd consider it. Can you give me a better explanation of what the situation is (spoilers are okay since I don't have much time to play the game)?

[Nate]

Ethical dilemmas? Ooh, like Wild Arms 2 where during the course of the storyline you find out that
[SPOILER]the guy who created a small group of soldiers free of any country's loyalty to fight a terrorist organization, also was the guy who created the terrorist organization because he needed to unite the countries of the world against a greater threat.[/SPOILER]
or when
[SPOILER]that same guy does his sister to trap an encroaching parallel universe inside a physical vessel so that it's possible to fight it.[/SPOILER]
Even though you don't make these decisions yourself. I'm guessing you're talking about games where you personally make the choices of good vs. evil for your own character. In which case I don't know. Those kind of games seem to be more like Western games, since most Japanese games are more geared to telling a story.

Although I remember in Mega Man Legends 2 there was this one place where you could kick a pig a bunch of times and your armor would turn black. I don't remember what effect this had on gameplay though.

[Jingo Jaden]

Not sure if this counts, and I would think you would know about this game. Nippon Ichi's Soul Nomad and the world eaters. Without spoiling anything, your character shares his soul with a rather virtuous character who gives you power for control. Aside from having a fine story, it also unlocks the demon path once you have finished, which, by far has the most evil storyline I have seen in a game. It is however strictly linear and with very few and often insignificant choices.

[Azier the Swordsman]

Not sure if this is what you are looking for, but in the game Deus Ex, you found out halfway through that the [SPOILER]anti-terrorist organization you are affiliated with are actually the bad guys and the terrorists are the good guys. (This is a very conspiracy heavy game.)[/SPOILER] While you as the player are unable to make a decision regarding who to fight for, you DO get to pick from three different possible endings in the final stage which involve [SPOILER]destroying all global communication to plunge the world into a new dark age, thus preventing anyone from taking control of the entire world, or you, or you can bring the Illuminati back to power and rule the world with an invisible hand, or rule the world yourself as a benevolent dictator with an infinite amount of knowledge and reason.[/SPOILER]