The element of choice is a fascinating beast in video games, whereby a player’s most minor decisions can end up having a major impact on the overall gameplay and especially the story.
In rare cases, a small decision can end up negatively affecting your experience with the game one way or another.
And so, inspired by this recent Reddit thread on the very subject, here are 10 video game decisions that ended up ruining your whole damn playthrough.
There are certainly varying degrees of ruination going on here – in some cases you were left with a negative mark on your save file or were forced to del with an inferior gameplay experience, while others straight-up soft-locked you out of getting through the rest of the game at all. Ouch.
Whatever the outcome, few could’ve appreciated the dire impact these decisions would have on each game, in some instances leaving you exasperated and forced to restart the entire game from the beginning.
It just goes to show – even the most “insignificant” of actions can result in something you never had a chance in hell of predicting. So, uh, good luck out there…
The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening will basically brand you with a scarlet letter if you deign to commit thievery.
If you manage to steal an item from Mabe Village’s Town Tool Shop, a message will pop up reminding you that you got a five-finger discount before asking, “Are you proud of yourself?”
But that’s just the start. Link will also be renamed to “THIEF” for the entire rest of your playthrough, with basically every NPC calling you it, ensuring you’re constantly reminded of your misdeed.
Short of reverting to a prior save, you’re stuck with the digital shame, and if you’re brazen enough to then try and revisit the store for some more goodies, the shopkeeper will kill you with a blast of lightning that’d make Emperor Palpatine himself blush.
If Nintendo wanted to instill the ills of theft into the hearts and minds of their young players, then this was certainly an effective and memorable way to do it.