Halo Or Horns: 5 Video Games That Let You Forge Your Own Legacy

Implementing a system that puts us in charge of our own legacy is a perfect way to assure replayability. It's something video game developers have been doing for years, if not to maximise the number of hours people play the game from both sides of the track, then to help bridge unconnected gaps and tell more stories about the world they fought tooth and nail to forge.

Of course, being good in a video game has its perks, the same as it does when playing the Devil's henchman. But what are these perks we speak of, and which games showcase them in the best possible way? Well, let's explore them. Here are, in our opinion, the five best games that let you play both sides and forge your legacy. Horns or halo? You decide.

5. Fable: Anniversary

The idea of fighting for a halo above your head or a pair of horns glued to your temple is a sure-fire way of getting players to experience the same story twice. Although I'll admit, playing the good guy definitely had a surplus of perks, as opposed to being evil, where even my own in-game wife hated me. Sure, playing the devil's right hand man had its own perks, like being feared by all of Albion. But personally, I hungered to be the salt of the earth; a straight shooter without a misguided conscience.

Fable is hands down one of the best series to truck through if you're looking for some tough decisions and an ultimatum at every corner. Possessing an abundance of power, you can turn Albion into your own playground, where every choice you make can either mold it into an enchanting wonderland, or a cesspit deprived of civilization. Your legacy depends on how you toy with your peers.

4. Infamous

One of the first choices you're given in Infamous, quite simply enough, is whether to steal a crate of food from a city that's already on the brink of starvation, or share it with them to help drive back the desperation that holds Empire City captive. After that, anything goes, and it's up to you to either be the hero every citizen needs, or the enemy that the whole world shudders before.

Littered on the path to being either a kind-hearted hero or a morally bankrupt public enemy, you'll encounter plenty of split paths, both of which can have the power to navigate you to a whole world of opportunities. It's up to you to carve the route and pick the crossroads accordingly. Just remember, every decision you make changes the way the world evolves around you. Will you bring the city to its knees, or will you be the beam that supports it? Decisions, decisions.

3. Dante's Inferno

From the moment you plunge into Dante's Inferno, you defy the rules of death and put the infamous Reaper in his place, only to then assume the role of the cloaked escort by deciding who deserves to be absolved and who should rot in the fiery depths of Hell. And that isn't even your main goal. In fact, it's more of a side activity that you take on alongside your primary goal, which is saving your dearly beloved from Satan's hold.

Hack and slash your way through the layers of Hell and you'll be able to play the judge, jury and executioner, with the power to absolve the forsaken of their past crimes, or condemn them for their sins. By listening to their pleas and hearing out their reasons for their atrocities, you get to play the right hand of God and decide where their fate lies, be it with everlasting tranquility or eternal damnation. No pressure.

2. Red Dead Redemption 2

We'll put it out there and say, despite Red Dead Redemption 2 having an honor system to help push players towards either end of the morality scale, there's still no excusing the fact that Arthur Morgan, a diehard gunslinger, pretty much fails to check all the right boxes to punch a ticket to the pearly gates.

Of course, you can spend your fifty or sixty hours escorting poor farmers from one town to the next, but the reality is you're still an awful person with a stained legacy through and through. Having a high honor, however, does have its perks. Does it grant you access to a sweeter afterlife, though? Afraid not. But it does give you a couple of discounts at the local store.

1. Vampyr

There's nothing worse than being a vampire with a conscience, is there? It seems almost impossible to try and save everyone without feeling the urge to sponge their necks dry of all their blood in the process. And yet, Vampyr actually lets you do just that. You can, should you wish, choose to be the savior of 1918 London, or failing that, then the notorious blood-sucker that bleeds the veins of the city dry.

As a devoted doctor, as well as a vampire, your task is to balance out the scales of justice, keeping a lid on your hunger while also patching up those in need of treatment. Of course, you can play the good doctor and cure all of London without laying so much as a finger on its life source, but it'll take a lot of self-control. And if that proves to be a total nightmare, then just settle for doing what most of us do by going on an all-night blood bender. It's easier, I'm just saying.

So, what did we miss? Are there any other games that let you forge your own legacy? Let us know over on our socials here or down in the comments below.

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