Are we the baddies?

The lines between good and evil were clearly demarcated in the first videogames: you always knew which side you were on. But as technological barriers have come down, it’s no longer a simple binary affair – that divide is becoming blurrier all the time.

These days, there’s nuance on both sides. Take Persona 5 Strikers’ Monarchs, for example: these characters’ destructive choices may have come at a human cost, but in each case they’re a response to personal trauma. Granted, you end up fighting a demonic Shadow form that represents their darkest impulses, but the upshot is a pep talk that encourages them to change their ways; the humiliating contrition that follows is deemed punishment enough for their sins.

Talking of both sides, Tim Sheinman’s political satire Conspiracy! aims its shots left and right, showing how dangerous conspiracy theories take root as we join the dots in an apparent deep-state plot to control the southern US states. Sure, no one’s going to start following QAnon once the credits roll, but it does allow us to see how the easily led might be persuaded to believe. Meanwhile, our heroes are coming in ever darker shades of grey. In Little Nightmares 2, original lead Six is responsible for moments of shocking cruelty – showing you why the adults, grotesque as they may appear, might fear these children.

Asking us to feel sympathy for the devil doesn’t always work, as Bloober Team’s The Medium rather clumsily proves. And while this month’s best game, Hitman 3, asks us to play the role of a cold-blooded killer, our targets – assuming we stick to the script, at least – are pretty much unambiguously evil. The only moral quandary here, in other words, comes when an innocent civilian is standing in your way. Otherwise, being bad rarely felt so good.