Whether it wins 'Game of the Year' or not, Red Dead Redemption 2 has dominated gaming discussions since its release. It hasn't all been good. Rockstar became the centre of controversy when it revealed that it had people working round the clock to get the game finished, and sparked a furious backlash from fans, gamers and workers' rights supporters. Since then though, RDR2 has been met with applause for its content. However, the game also raises fundamental questions about the role of RPGs in society.
Role playing games have always been controversial, and they have often sparked conversations about whether players should be allowed to be able to make any choice without any responsibility. Even games which are open world, but not strictly RPGS such as Grand Theft Auto, have had to face these debates. The topic has been reignited again thanks to RDR2. Users have filmed their journeys through this glorious world, but some have even filmed suffragettes being shot in the head, or fed to crocodiles. These videos have thousands of views. The game is being hailed by some precisely because it is a world where, in their own words, "they can finally murder feminists."
Open world games are loved for their freedom. Gamers love to roam and explore new places and characters. Greater options often means more fun for the player. But games are essentially a medium to engage people in stories, and storytelling comes with a responsibility. Just because games can do something, doesn't mean they should.
The point of role-playing was to always examine the consequences of our choices as players, not to do what we want without consequences. There is supposed to be a stricter narrative experience to RPGs than many will allow. It is not about doing whatever we want. It is about exploring choices and how they ripple out across our fictional worlds. This is why role-playing games can be so intricate and difficult to create. In Detroit Become Human, admittedly a terrible story, we do get to see visually (on a very simplistic level) how choices can lead to different outcomes through flowcharts at the end of each chapter. This is because a role-playing game becomes meaningless without consequences. The choices we make are supposed to change worlds and the lines between open-world games and RPGs are quickly becoming blurred due to freedom of choices. However, both distinct genres do have a responsibility.
The gaming community is still in denial that Gamergate was actually a problem and our responsibility. It came from our community and helped empower the far-right to chase down marginalised people on social media, and even threaten their lives and safety. It was designed to get women and marginalised people out of gaming. Developers need to acknowledge that this happened and fight against that part of the community which is still very loud. Releasing a game where it's okay to kill feminists is not okay and does nothing to challenge gamers, tell new stories or change the industry for the better. Sure, it's a fun game but that's really all it is. If gaming wants to be known for the powerful stories it creates then it must be brave enough to stand up and call out its audience, and show them a better way.
Games don't exist in a void. They explore issues in society and are influenced by them, as are the players. Games are filled with metaphors taken from and inspired by real life. Can a truly free choice game exist? They do, but we must be cautious about why they are being created. If there are no call outs and no consequences, then all we have done is create a realm of fantasy that can be used for real harm. The greatest stories challenge us to think beyond our own assumptions, and open world explorers are starting to abandon that philosophy in the pursuit of games where clips shared can get big audiences because of how shocking they are.
A game that allows the murder of feminists without any consequences, teaches us nothing. It's just wankbait for misogynists. It isn't good storytelling and it isn't responsible game developing. Make no mistake that RDR2 is far from alone in what it is trying to explore. Games often depict brutal choices, but some way along the line they all lost the point. It stopped being about asking why people were making choices, and examining whether they were good or not. It became about indulging the most shocking cinematic material we could just to provoke a reaction. I've always loved RPGs, but I think the genre has been gutted from what it was supposed to be. The focus on open world exploration is just diluting its concept even further.