Are there any moral choices in the story?

[REPROBEAN_CHILD]

At the moment, story-wise, the adventurer(s) seem to be on the path of a hero (being good and whatnot). But will there ever be a point where they get a chance to make evil choices or even prefer to be neutral? I don't want spoilers, but I want to know if it's possible to change morals. So far, the only "moral" choice I made was during the lvl 20 archer mission, where I choose to stand against a bigoted elezen comrade or be silent.

[Jinrya-Geki]

At the moment, story-wise, the adventurer(s) seem to be on the path of a hero (being good and whatnot). But will there ever be a point where they get a chance to make evil choices or even prefer to be neutral? I don't want spoilers, but I want to know if it's possible to change morals. So far, the only "moral" choice I made was during the lvl 20 archer mission, where I choose to stand against a bigoted elezen comrade or be silent.

You, do, but amounts to nothing. You have a choice during the main scenario. No matter what you pick for those choice it doesn't change your dialogue. Was on mumble with my friends when we did it, we all chose something different, but the things said by the npcs were all the same. Vastly disappointing.

[Enkidoh]

It's a Final Fantasy game - FF games have never had branching scenarios with 'good', 'evil' and 'neutral' moral viewpoints.

[monochromicorn]

It's a Final Fantasy game - FF games have never had branching scenarios with 'good', 'evil' and 'neutral' moral viewpoints.

Furthering this point, it's a JRPG, they don't do that
You want branching storyline and different moral choices, that's western RPG, two very different kind of games.

[REPROBEAN_CHILD]

Furthering this point, it's a JRPG, they don't do that
You want branching storyline and different moral choices, that's western RPG, two very different kind of games.

The reason I asked this was because of the choice option in the lvl 20 archer quest. It gave me an impression that there might be that type of mechanic in this game. Why introduce something if you're not going to use it?

No offense, but don't tell me "then try out a western game instead." Some jprgs have choices that lead to different endings; it's not wrong to assume there might have been a hint of it here. They don't have to have it in every game, but it seems like a problem if jrpg developers are actively avoiding ways to make their games have more depth.

[Belhi]

Basically there are a couple of choices but they don't really make any difference.

The story in this game is linear and the only differences between characters are little things like a NPC you've worked with before recognising you.

That said, the game does have some grey parts to its story. The whole conflict with the Kobalds for example. We are fighting them because they summon a primal but it was Limsa who started the war with them breaking the treaty the two had made. The Ishgard/Dravanian conflict has a lot of grey in it too.

[Risvertasashi]

In line with what the others are saying... FFs tend to be about fairly traditional heroes. FF stories do get pretty dark sometimes, but in the end, Good™ does triumph.

However, also as others have mentioned, there are shades of grey to the morality of our 'heroic' sides. Lots of shades, at times. But ultimately we don't get a choice in it. We're the errand boy/girl, exploited as much by our own side as the villains try to.

[monochromicorn]

snip.

This is true, but JRPG are known for being "do this and do that" no choice, you just do it. While there are exceptions, personal being the first that pop into my head, it isn't done by most jrpg.western, on the other hand, appeals to a completely different kind of gamer because it's known for the choices.

Overall, this is ff, the best that's happened is differing dialogue, which doesn't seem to be in this game.

[Niwashi]

There's two sides to incorporating significant choices into a game. On the one hand, it can offer more depth and a feeling that your actions have an impact on how the story unfolds. On the other hand, it means that whatever choice you make, you'll be cutting yourself off from whatever else could have happened if you'd gone with a different choice. That can be frustrating for completionists who see it as missing out on a significant portion of the game no matter which option they go with.

There have been Final Fantasy games that offered mutually exclusive choices, though I believe only with side stories and optional characters, never (so far as I can remember) with the main scenario story. Even side story choices, however, are rare. More often, all the story elements of the games (main and side stories) have been completely linear apart from some of the side stories being optional. There's a strong tendency to avoid situations where one choice would then preclude choosing its opposite and seeing what happens in that case.

You can tell how much this game caters to the sort of completionists who don't want to be cut off from any possible aspects of the game if you look at its class/job system. It's designed to ensure that you can do anything and everything, so that no choice you make will exclude any other choices. Within the storyline, ensuring that you don't cut yourself off from any available options basically turns into not having multiple options, so the story is very linear.


As for moral considerations, although there aren't really moral choices per se, the story does incorporate some depth in situations where not all objectives are morally based. Though we are generally good characters, sometimes the side we're on is simply the side we're on, rather than either being a clearly moral highground.

[REPROBEAN_CHILD]

snip

I see what you mean when it comes to being a completionist in an jrpg. But given that this particular game allows players to create multiple characters (as well as have a character selection screen for them) I started to figure that it might not be farfetched to make each of them experience the game differently. So far, I build characterization through class, emotes, crafting job, who does certain quests, etc,. In this case, different endings/outcomes might have been okay. I didn't buy the game expecting moral choices or branching outcomes (and definitely not to the extent of BioWare), but it seemed possible when I started see certain dialogue choices. I hate the thought of an idea not being fully utilized, just because of some "tradition."