Violence, revenge, and malice have been with video games for about as long as computers had enough rendering power to depict one humanoid figure standing over another. However, there have been games about one of humanity’s more graceful aspects: redemption.
The protagonists in these games not only have a lot to teach about respect, community, and self-betterment, but they can also offer vicarious catharsis for those who carry regrets about wrongs that can never be righted. Whether theirstory ends in tragedyor salvation, or they explore societal or personal forgiveness, these games demonstrate the great virtues of growth, atonement, and reconciliation. Beware of spoilers for the games ahead.
Considering the title, the central theme of bothRed Dead Redemption 2(and the original) should surprise no one. Rockstar has always taken inspiration from classic cinema (for example, the stories of GTA are modeled on too many crime movies to count), and both games in theRed Dead Redemptionseries adhere to some of the core elements in the revisionist Western tradition in similarity to True Grit and Unforgiven.
To support this more mature depiction of “cowboys on the dying frontier,” it would have made complete sense to tell the story of a man who has already done bad things but one who might (or might not) turn it around before his final hours. The"good" and “evil” choicesare commonplace in video games, but it is particularly impactful when the protagonist has explicitly done bad things in the course of his life and has the chance to do at least a little good. Doing the right thing might not ultimately make Arthur a hero, but it does add a great deal of depth to his character, potentially even prompting players to reflect on the course of their lives.
Unlike the earlier games in the God of War series, which focused on Kratos' rage-fueled quest for revenge,God of War (2018)shifts the focus to his relationship with his son, Atreus, and his desire to see himfreed from the cycle of violencethat dominated his own life as the former god of war.
Kratos' struggle is not just with the gods and monsters he encounters on the journey to scatter his wife’s ashed atop the highest peak in Jotunheim but with his inner demons and the need to reconcile who he was with who he wishes to be. Through teaching Atreus the values of respect, restraint, and self-control, Kratos attempts to redeem himself,striving to be a better fatherthan he ever was a god.
Even to those players who immediately set out to complete the game with the “good” pacifist ending,Undertalebrims with subtle messages about redemption. Whether returning to the world of monsters with an open mind and heart is a continuation of a story that played out before the player arrived ora subversive messageabout how RPG players grind up monsters for personal empowerment,Undertaleasks its audience to reject selfishness and visceral catharsis for compassion and mercy.
It isn’t just the protagonist (or their ostensibly flowery manifestations of guilt) who is put on this journey. Many prominent characters (most obviously a king and a scientist) grapple with their own feelings of regret. Over the course of the story, these characters may have the chance to put their rotting feelings of guilt out in the open without a guarantee of acceptance.
Any story with a multiverse can get confusing, butBioShockInfinite’sthematic message is as clear as the midday sky in a floating city above the clouds. Booker DeWitt is haunted by the guilt of a terrible past action, in which he sold his daughter to pay off a gambling debt. He unwittingly accepts the job to free his daughter fromhis alternate reality selfand, by doing so, gets the chance to confront the side of him that wants so badly to relinquish his conscience and morality for the pursuit of power: Comstock.
This alternate version of Booker, who changed his name after accepting a baptism, chooses to weaponize religion and fear to oppress others for some lofty, fascistic ideal. Comstock was born out of unearned redemption and rebirth after committing atrocities at Wounded Knee. Although protagonist Booker’s uncompromising embrace of guilt led him down a path of pain, addiction, and eventually, the decision he regrets the most, the sale of his daughter, it also turns him into the man who would storm an ethnonationalist city in the sky to rescue her, destroying their racist designs in the process.
On the face of it,Dishonoredis about clearing the name of the Empress' former bodyguard, Corvo. However, guilt can manifest in more ways than committing ill acts. Corvo failed the Empress and her daughter, Emily, when cruel-hearted men finally let their ambitions tear apart the empire.
Though Corvo did not directly cause the tragedy, he failed at his only responsibility, and his inability to protect those he was sworn to safeguard weighs heavily on his shoulders. He is given a choice oftaking bloody revengeor rising above the spirit that led to his and the Empress' downfall. By doing what they could never do, the right thing, he restores not only justice but honor to his name.
