#sorry for crosstagging! <- lying im not sorry

[damazcuz]

One thing I really and truly do love about Metro is the moral points system. Narratively I feel it serves the story well from game to game and contributes to the feeling that every little thing Artyom experiences really matters down the line.

In 2033 the moral points (MPs) serve to show not just that Artyom is doing good things or bad things, but showing that he's learning about the world. Hes never left his station before and he's naive and he has to learn how the world is, how it works. Whenever you find some hidden cache with a skeleton and get a positive MP it's not because it was morally correct to find it, but because Artyom has learned something new about the world outside of his station. You get moral points listening to enemies chat about the world. Finding things. Passing through the world unseen. And by the end of the story it doesn't just come down to x number of points = good ending, it's more like, if he's seen enough and learned enough he gets to choose. Peace or violence.

And we know the peaceful option is the noncanonical ending. Because he learned a lot, but Artyom was afraid, and naive, and in that split second, chose wrong. And he has to live with that. Then Last Light gives us moral points again, but this time the points serve to show "can Artyom, and by extension humanity, ever change?" And if you do show that you've changed, by sparing lives, by forgiving, the little Dark One sees that its possible to do so for you, so maybe for humanity too... and the ending isn't a choice this time, not on Artyom's part, but a choice of the Dark Ones to come back and reach out one last time to save humanity, even the man who tried to wipe them out. You're given another chance because you showed that you could continue to learn and grow.

And then in Exodus, the MPs serve to show that your actions have consequences not just in the grand scheme, but immediately. If you can't spare the religious cultists who fear you, their leader won't call them off from killing your blood brother. If you don't do enough to help the enslaved people of Caspian, your friend will step up to do what you wouldn't and leave you. If you terrorize the forest brotherhood and kill them, no one will stand up for you and your companion will be wounded. And by the end of the game, the cumulative consequences of your actions hit you; did you keep your people together and keep them safe so that they can save you in turn, or did you drive them away and lose them? I really do love it; your choices and actions matter and it's different from game to game and level to level. I've lost Damir before because I didn't kill any innocents, but I also didn't do enough to help the people in a level. I've also saved Alyosha purely by not killing anyone.

Anyway I'm sure there are other games that do the same thing but it really REALLY works in Metro and drives Artyom's story along. I love these games.

#metro 2033 #metro last light #metro exodus #sorry for crosstagging! <- lying im not sorry #long post