Many games allow players to shape their character’s morality through dialogue choices, letting them play as heroes or villains. A great example is the Karma system in Fallout: New Vegas, which encourages multiple playthroughs. Some games even let you start as a villain, exploring the origins of an evil character.
Some games take a surprising turn, leading players to believe they’re the hero only to reveal they’re actually the villain. While not always perfectly fitting that mold, the games below are full of unexpected twists that might still surprise players years later.
There will be spoilers for all of the games in these brief wrap-ups.
Braid
Let Her Go
Braid is a good example of a game with a unique concept. It’s a straightforward puzzle platformer where you can rewind time to correct mistakes. This time-rewinding isn’t just a gameplay feature; it’s a hint about the story. The main character, Tim, is actually moving backwards through time as he tries to rescue a princess held captive by a knight, and discovering the truth involves a surprising twist.
Surprisingly, it wasn’t the princess who needed saving from a knight – it was the knight who had to protect her from Tim’s relentless pursuit. This was a really unexpected twist for a platforming game from the late 2000s.
BioShock Infinite
Will The Circle Be Unbroken?
I’m a huge fan of BioShock Infinite, and the story is just mind-blowing! It starts with this detective, Booker, heading up into the sky to this incredible floating city called Columbia. He’s been sent to rescue this girl, Elizabeth, from a really controlling guy named Comstock. But then you find out the real twist – Booker is actually another version of Comstock himself, and Elizabeth turns out to be another version of his own daughter, Anna! It’s a crazy reveal that totally changes how you see the whole game.
Okay, so the story’s pretty complicated, but if you want the best ending, you basically have to make Booker sacrifice himself instead of getting baptized. Doing that stops him from becoming Comstock, and finally breaks the whole crazy cycle of violence. Honestly, the BioShock games are known for endings that really split people’s opinions, and this one’s no different!
Stranger Of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin
A Prequel All Along
Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin was advertised as a challenging, action-packed retelling of the original Final Fantasy, inspired by the ‘Souls-like’ genre. Players control Jack, who leads a group of heroes known as the Warriors of Light. However, as the game progresses, it becomes clear that something is amiss. The story mirrors the beginning of the first Final Fantasy, where the Warriors of Light battle Garland, a former hero. This leads to the discovery of a repeating time loop and a powerful being called Chaos.
The game Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin delves deeper into a surprising story: Jack transforms into Garland and intentionally sacrifices himself and his friends. They do this to become the villains needed for future heroes to finally end a repeating cycle of events. Time travel stories in games can be complicated, but this secret backstory reveal was genuinely shocking.
Castlevania: Lords Of Shadow
A Villain’s Origin Story
At the time of its release, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow was designed as the first game in the Castlevania storyline. The game follows Gabriel Belmont as he hunts the powerful Lords of Shadow, who command monsters throughout the land. As Gabriel defeats each boss, he’s forced to embrace darkness, ultimately transforming him into Dracula.
As a long-time Castlevania player, Dracula is obviously the big bad throughout the whole series, and the Belmont family are always the heroes tasked with taking him down. I thought Castlevania: Lords of Shadow was a really cool twist though – it turned out the Belmonts were actually responsible for the curse in the first place, but also the only ones who could lift it. It was a pretty unique take on the story!
Heavy Rain
Riddle Me This, Detective
Heavy Rain is an exciting adventure game where players control four different characters. The choices you make in each chapter change the story’s direction. The main character, Ethan, is a father desperately trying to rescue his kidnapped son, Shaun, from a criminal called the Origami Killer. He must solve challenging puzzles, similar to those found in the Saw movies, to save Shaun.
Norman is an FBI agent investigating a case, while Madison is a journalist and Scott is a private detective. The twist is that Scott is secretly the Origami Killer, which changes how players view their actions during his sections of the game. However, if players achieve the good ending, Scott is finally brought to justice, and Ethan and Shaun are reunited.
Shadow Of The Colossus (2018)
They Did Nothing Wrong
In the action-adventure game Shadow of the Colossus, the protagonist, Wander, is driven by a noble goal: to bring a girl named Mono back to life. He does this by taking a powerful, ancient sword and venturing into a forbidden land to defeat massive creatures known as Colossi, all according to a tale told by the gods.
I was honestly really impressed with those Colossi – they looked terrifying, but it turned out they weren’t just monsters! They actually held pieces of this really dangerous spirit called Dormin. This tricky god basically tricked Wander into bringing Dormin back to life, and it ended up possessing him. Luckily, some brave warriors managed to seal Dormin away again, and Mono woke up. The sweetest part? She found Wander reborn as a little baby! It was such a bittersweet ending.
Spec Ops: The Line
War Crimes
The game Spec Ops: The Line takes place in Dubai and centers on Captain Walker and his two soldiers, Lieutenant Adams and Sergeant Lugo. They’re on a mission to find their missing commander, Konrad, who communicates with Walker during the game—but these conversations are actually a product of Walker’s own mind.
Konrad has been dead for quite some time, and everything Walker does in the game is a result of his imagined beliefs about Konrad. This explains why Walker’s teammates behave oddly towards him – they all eventually die, while Walker’s fate is determined by the player, with multiple endings ranging from his death to his survival as a troubled, yet heroic, figure.
A Way Out
An Antihero Betrayed
A Way Out is a cooperative game where players control Leo and Vincent, two inmates who team up to break out of prison. But the escape is just the beginning – the majority of the game follows their attempts to evade the police and navigate various challenges as they pursue Harvey, the man responsible for framing Leo and trying to have him killed while incarcerated.
Once Harvey’s operation is shut down and an artifact recovered, Vincent reveals he’s been an FBI agent in disguise. He manipulated Leo into helping him get revenge on Harvey, who was responsible for his brother’s death. The story builds to a final confrontation where one of the characters must kill the other, ultimately positioning the player controlling Vincent as the antagonist in this tale of flawed heroes.
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2025-12-05 11:35