Nothing says respect to players better than releasing good, complete and polished game.

One thing I really liked about RDR2 was an early mission where you take someones horse and Arthur says "He'll return it later" to a stranger. It feels like a throwaway line but after the mission is over you can actually return the horse. There is no prompt to do this but it feels like a nice touch for rewarding the player for attempting the action.

As a dev, seeing this make me happy, some of us really do enjoy making these variations

Skyrim has another mission that's got a way easier outcome by just making a couple choices before attempting it. The Greymane/Battle-Born quest to save the Greymane family member, if your a nobody or a Stormcloak you have to fight your way to save him which can be very challenging depending how early in the game you are, but if your an Imperial soldier you can speak to the General and gain permission to walk in and get him without issue

Also, in Cyberpunk 2077 there is an option to save Takemura even though game shows it like he is dead. Even Johnny tries to prevent V from rescuing him unintentionally.

I think Lies of P is that game that shows developers can optimize a game and deliver a AAA product when we weren't expecting it, thank you Neowiz and Round 8 Studios.

I played through the second Dishonored level for probably about 8 hours on my first play through, figuring out all the various methods and outcomes possible. It was great fun, and I appreciated the exploration and nuanced interactions 😁

In Fable 2 when you rescue everyone and the townspeople actually thank you and have genuine happiness talking to you about it

Imagine mentioning RDR2 for changing few dialogs *within* a single quest and not mentioning Witcher games where consequences often show up hours later... Plus mentioning Conrad and *not* acknowledging the fact that due to import bug in ME2 he would always claim you shove a gun in his face, so in ME3 he would refer to it as a bit of misunderstanding on his part.

I also love achievements that acknowledge clever choices or just unlikely choices. I remember in one of the Legos Harry Potter games, I think it was the first one, years 1-4, I had unlocked all possible companions to achieve things impossible in story mode. I had Snape sneak past someone while inside a barrel, and I got the achievement Solid Snape. I literally couldn't stop laughing for 10 minutes. Even thinking about it now makes me smile.

The Hitman series I would say is another. The multiple ways to finish off a target being scripted or experimental is seemingly limitless.

While it may not be the kind of respect and extra stuff that the devs of that game have done like those mentioned in the list, I would really like to give an honorable mention to Final Fantasy 14's dev team for a few things. - There are actually side quests that if you clear them before doing the Main Scenario Quest, there will be some dialogue changes. But there's one big Main Scenario Quest in the Endwalker expansion that really adds a lot of extra dialogue depending on which of the bigger side story content you've done(specifically pertaining to the optional raid stories you can do among other things). They've also had a few of the Main Scenario Quests where you get different dialogue based on your current class. - The other big thing is the Rising event done every year. It's FF14's anniversary event and every time, at the end of that event you get a cutscene where you meet Naoki Yoshida(the producer and director of FF14) as he thanks you for playing the game. It should be noted that in every seasonal events in FF14, NPC dialogue can also change if you participated in the previous versions of that event that happened in the previous years(because every year, the seasonal events' stories changes, it's never a static thing). Heck, the 2015 version of the Rising event had players visit a Developer's Room where they could meet avatars of several notable devs working on FF14.

To me, Spec Ops: The Line deserves to be on this list. It's the rare example of a linear campaign that has choices in it without making it ever obvious to the player. The only time the game ever slaps you in the face with actual obvious choices would be the ending; however, before all of that, the game actually remembers the stuff you did throughout. And it really emphasized the point of the story even tho such an acknowledgement of your actions can be considered minor.

how the random gossip of the soldiers in dishonored gives you clues for alternative ways to play is just amazing

Baldur's gate 3 is just the best game of the year looking at how much it values choices and consequences.

I remember my excitement during GTA III, when I realized there was several ways to complete the mission to take out Salvatore. My favorite was just camping out on a neighboring roof with a sniper rifle. Take him out as he's walking to his car with one well-aimed head shot, and the bodyguards that would mess you up, if you went with any of the car chase options, would just calmly Roomba off, while "MISSION COMPLETE" displayed.

I just started playing RDR2 last week. I love how detailed the game is! Looking around and trying things are so fun that I have already clocked 23 hours but still in chapter 2.

The level of detail and care the developers put into Red Dead Redemption 2 is incredible. I bought the PS4 Pro RDR2 bundle when it came out. Literally bought a PS4 just to play it so I didn't have to wait for the PC version. That was the only game I played on my PS4... LOL.

That black ops 2 mission had destroyed me when I killed mason. I caught on and figured it was mason and I never knew about shooting him lower until a friend of mine told me.

You didn't even mention Omeluum in the Iron Throne! He's in the Underdark in Act 1. He can attempt to cure your parasite and has a whole quest involved with getting the supplies for that. You move on and it turns out he's been captured by Gortash and sent to the Iron Throne to be experimented on. You can save him when you save the other hostages but he's at the farthest point and very hard to get to. If you save him he shows up again in the Society of Brilliance's headquarters and you can talk to him.

The amount of details in RDR2 is impressive.

For Elden Ring, Fromsoft forgot to deactivate the Phantom Margit outside of Lyndell Royal Capital if Morgott is defeated before Margit. There's no lore reason the Phantom Margit could appear there if Morgott is gone already.

Anybody else just smile when the credits say stuff like “and special thanks to you, the player!”

3 videos within 24 hours, thank you Jake and Falcon.

Call of Duty: Black Ops On the title screen you have the option to pull on your restraints which is a nice detail but if you pull enough you can break free and walk around the interrogation room. You're reward for breaking free? Treyarch put a hidden minigame in the area for players to unlock. Ingenuity which Call of Duty sadly lost long ago.

I felt appreciated when Mario said "thank you so much for playing my game" in Super Mario 64.

Mass Effect has many points to mention about your doings/conversation changes the dialog of the future, these are only surfaces - If you dismissed the Council even once in ME, Joker will do "lost of communication" jokes in ME3, but if you answered Council everytime in ME 1, Joker will never do that when talking to Liara - Khalisa al-Jilani, if you are good with her since ME 1, the dialogue will never really be harsh towards, you, but if you did harsh on her in ME1 and/or ME2, the conversation changed a bit - The pregnant lady and her brother in deciding to fix DNA of the baby, if you suggested the child might turns out having problem in ME3, but if you're not encourage her for that therapy she will thank you later in ME3

11 years later and I’m still eating for game that immerses me more than the Mass Effect trilogy. It’s my favorite game of all the only games that came close were the Witcher series, Kotor and BG3. But these games are still not as good in my opinion. The characters, choice/consequence, relationships,story, and lore in that game are an absolute 10/10 for me. Sure, the ending felt abrupt and somewhat disappointing, but the journey getting there is absolutely amazing.

I tried that thalmor diplomatic immunity thing in previous runs because thalmor embassy garments were blatantly displayed right over the box. I though "this should be useful". Then got attacked at first sight even though I was an elf. Then i felt even more stupid trying that in a bethesda game.

No mention of Witcher 3 is crazy.

I remember in the Early 2000s there was nothing but respect. Free manuals discs demos. Oh how we have fallen

I must have missed the "Iron Thorn" mission in BG3. XD

Thanks for the video Falcon! These are all really great! :)

5 yrs later, and I finally finished RD2. And what a ride! Mainly by horseback. But ye. Quite the experience. Good video. I like seeing games I'm playing on your lists. Keep it coming. 💪😁👍

For me, the citadel dlc just shows how much the developers hear, love and respect the players. The literary made Garrus and Tali romanceable since the players loved them

This was a great topic guys, good stuff!

Love you guys! Thanks for always bringing us entertaining and informative videos!

The early isometric Fallout games will always take the crown for players decisions having an impact

In that GTA IV mission, you can also break the windows behind the desk allowing you to jump straight out of the building to a quick escape (i.e., no need to fight the security if you opt for firearms).

Everything Rockstar makes (for the first time, no remasters) is hot Kool-aid. "I made this for you!!"

I love Falcon's voice!

That hold on the Margit clip is wild...

I never knew that about the Overseer mission in Dishonored. That is really cool!

RDR2? 5 years old?! It feels like it was released yesterday

Seeing dishonored reminds me of that one youtuber that posted them clearing levels looking like an absolute badass

If the requirement here is "respecting" the player's decisions by acknowledging their choices then FFXIV might have the most instances of that, and usually with great outcomes. Hundreds of times in the game your prior quest completion is acknowledged in another quest. Sometimes characters bring something up and you can be like, "Actually, I've totally done that." Or they will refer to you being a Healer or not. You are acknowledged endlessly in Heavensward as a Dragoon if you take Dragoon to the level 50 class quest. The one I always remember though is the guy who is super thankful I made him a fking Bronze sword early in Blacksmithing. You see that guy like 3 more times and he's always jolly to see you and reminds you, you made him that sword.

I love mass effect at least 1 and 2 were fantastic in my opinion.

I appreciate the work you guys do. Even when sick.

Rdr2 is beautifully made. I’ve never been a big fan of run-n-gun games, but what a STORY!

It's sad that BO2 is the only game in the series that offers the player with so many choices leading to 8 endings. Even Cold War tried it to some extent but didn't have the same amount of player choice as BO2.

Thanks amazing vidial details!

Thanks for this great video!

Deus Ex Human Revolution's The Missing Link. Save the kidnapped civilians or the scientist witness. Game tells you, you can only save one of them, but you can save both if you'd paid close attention when exploring and the game rewards you for saving both.

Always good to see people with something nice to say about ME3. I've been gaming since the 90's so a game having a static story/ending isn't the kind of thing that makes me angry enough to shit talk a game for years after. Frankly speaking the ME trilogy, and 3 in particular, are some of the few games that I ever have replayed entirely. 3 is a good game. Ending a bit bland, but if 99.9% of a thing is great then the last 0.1% being "meh" really shouldn't cause as much of a problem as people make it seem like it does.... The 1st game ends in a very specific way. The 2nd game ends in a very specific way. People getting so massively butt hurt that the 3rd game ended in a specific way is, and was, ridiculous.

It took me I guess three hours to finish the Iron Throne saving everyone. That was a challenge, but quite satisfying.

If you liked the reactivity of RDR2, you might give Witcher 3 another look... xLetalis has made dozens and dozens of hour of videos of stuff that may happen in this game depending on choices or simply approaching things in a different way or order than the "normal" way - and the game takes it into account. True masterpiece.

Mafia 2 is another example of a game that really rewards the players. For instance, on one of the earlier mission, you can disable an alarm (which the game doesn’t tell you to do so) so you can crack a safe without triggering the alarm & alerting the guards in the process (& you get full payment promised by Henry)

I'd like to bring up with Dishonored the fact that you can go through the ENTIRE game without killing anyone or anything (Achievement: Clean Hands). Doing this will give you a much easier and preferable ending mission, which is why I love the game so much. Each and every choice matters, hell, you can go through the entire game without being seen by anyone! (Achievement: Shadow). You can even do both! (Achievement: Shadow)

Great watch as always 👊🏿

It's crazy how much of these older games are so much better than their current gen counterparts!

rdr2 and black ops 2 are one of my fav games its another thing that i can only watch rdr2 the rest are og game i love

My favorite thing about RDR2 is it doesnt really judge you for your actions (at least not all the time) it lets you make your decisions acknowledges them but doesn't berate you for them

For me, respect is a game that does not take half of you SSD space.

Just Sub'd. Great consistent content, ty. Maybe do a list with the most choices/paths. I thought "diversions." But that might be an enirely different subject matter😂.

You want another game that respects the player? Code Vein, for having a million ways to customize your character and NOTHING LOCKED BEHIND MICROTRANSACTIONS. Same with Outriders

For Baldur's Gate 3, you could've chosen "saving all the tieflings throughout all acts" because that actually gives you an Achievement and it relies on every choice you have made throughout all acts. The Iron Throne is literally one throwaway line and none of the characters in there are even worth saving except Duke Raveengard and Omeluum; also no achievement and the loot is pretty meh.

Oh Prey, game that jumped straight in to my personal top 10 games right away.

When I think of respecting and appreciating the player, I think Tetris Effect and The Kirbtris, a 21 line zone clear. Named after Kirby703, a real player who achieved something the developers didn't think or know could be done.. when Kirby accomplished it, the devs added it to the game formally and named it after them. What could be more appreciative and respectful? Updating a game to honor a player.

I played through skyrim twice and I didn't know there was any different way to play through that mission other than having the robes.

I see this is more about choice but I think one developer that really respects it’s players is Neowiz with Lies of P. After a month of success they posted a video thanking us, added some more costumes, teased dlc and released the OST. It really felt like they respect the players.

Bruhhh, how you gonna make a list of some of the most player responsive games and NOT include Fallout New Vegas? I see people talking about all the neat little interactions they only just recently discovered in that 13 year old gem lmao

In Mass Effect 3 I still enjoyed the part when you choose the option to punch Khalisah. That scene was funny 😂😂😂😂😂😂

Wow that dishonoured one was cool, I've never tried that

Cracking list!

I could've sworn Skyrim tells you to dress up for the mission, only way I ever did.

Honestly I don't think Conrad Verner was the best example from Mass Effect as his quests are bugged so in ME2 he always acts like you pulled a gun on him (You can fix this on PC with an editer though). A better choice would have been Bring Down the Sky DLC as the main villain Balak can show up again in ME3 if you let him live, he doesn't show in ME2 so it was a nice surprise.

Love you guys keep going 🎉

Ah yes number 5 Conrand Verner...from what I have heard in the original trilogy on PC he was bugged where no matter your choice (except to completely blow him off) he originally reacted to you in the second game like you punched him in the face no matter what you did, was that fixed in the legendary edition re-rlease or no is my only question?

I appreciate any game that lets me fall off drops & die in crazy ways. If it lets me open random objects, pick up stuff, throw things around even if it's meaningless. Lastly is multiple play modes for side content. Against CPU AI bots modes offline, or other side things that games used to have back in the day before the Internet was such a big thing.

It’s ridiculous that AAA games still cant compete with rdr2. It truly is a gem!

I figured out the Skyrim one long ago but I also played way too much Skyrim 😅

For the GTA 4 one, sometimes when you take out a knife, he says "oh a knife, are you going camping?" before getting slashed

Actually, Skyrim DOES tell you this, even before you actually go to the embassy...

I miss Silent Hill 2. I've tried to play it on Emulator since my original playthroughs, but I'm not very good with the controls anymore. I would really love to systematically unlock all the different endings again. Woof.

Arthur busting open the door and saying “a friend of hers you goddamn animal” before knocking out the guy is just so good every time lol

Ah yes, your favourite BG3 mission is the well-loved "Iron Thorn" mission that you misnamed twice 😂

I feel respected Random chicken: yeah until your game crashes

Witcher 3 gaves us good respect, to the point that i was actually suprised. Im not counting the 2077 situation.

I just start playing Vampyr for the first time. And I have the idea this game respect the player too

4:50 Holy shit, I never knew you could do that! haha Time to another playthrough =)

It's crazy how Mass Effect 3 is one of the few games that could be on respected the player’s time and disrespected it.

What about the ShineSpark skip in Metroid Fusion?? It's goofy and I love it 😂

Yup. First time playing BO2 and completing it... I didnt know that would actually happen. Man was I glad.

Red Dead 2 also has two audio tracks. One where you are close, and the other shouting track when you are far away.

Give us ten games where we hated the protagonist more than the antagonist.

Wow I never knew any of that about Dishonored. I was just a brute when I played those games, I eventually stopped caring about stealth and just took down whoever was in my way.

The Skyrim Thalmor mission lets you know that a disguise will help. I knew it from the first time i played

GT7 when you complete all the menu races. Really cool

Wow you taught me something about Skyrim

as someone who played as a high elf in skyrim on my first play through i dont remember who but they hint at being able to sneak thru if u looked like a thalmor. so that made it easy to figure out