FULL ARTICLE HERE (may contain spoilers) Spoiler-free version: "If you've ever had the unfortunate experience of working as a manager for a large company, you're already well-versed with Tyranny's version of evil. At a preview event last week, I had the opportunity to sit down and play through the first few hours of Obsidian Entertainment's ‘evil has won’ RPG. As the type of person who sometimes gets a kick out of being contrarian, I went into that demo with the purpose of poking holes in Tyranny's attempts to seduce me to the dark side. If Tyranny wanted me to be bad, I was going to do everything in my power to do just the opposite. I thought it would be funny, but instead it left me feeling depressed. It's not because Tyranny doesn't accommodate being good, but because I found myself too weak-willed to choose it. You see, in Tyranny, evil isn't some otherworldly demon that only wants to cause suffering. Instead, it's the kind of evil manifested in bureaucracies, ignorance, and ‘the greater good’. (...) Part of what makes these decisions tough is how incredibly well-realized Tyranny's world is. The writing and characterizations promise to be some of the finest that Obsidian Entertainment have ever done, and I immediately felt invested in the story. Strangely, I also found myself resenting Tyranny for that exact reason. You see, that investment also lets Tyranny manipulate me in ways that few RPGs ever have. (...) Being good in Tyranny doesn't mean simply picking the blue coloured dialogue option. It means defying the cultural norms of a society you're invested in and jeopardizing lives and objectives. It means putting yourself at risk. My instinct to acquiesce to that pressure is what depresses me as the evening ends and I return home. When our moral compass points to absolutes, we're forced to make decisions that can negatively impact not just our own lives but the lives of the people around us. But at what point does that pressure begin to bend the compass needle? Even though I can't wait to play more, Tyranny's take on evil troubles me because it mirrors reality alarmingly well. When you sit down to play a fantasy RPG, the last thing you expect is to be reminded of the issues plaguing the real world. In that sense, Tyranny might just end up being the most politically relevant game of this year. Not because it has an agenda to push but because it has a disturbing understanding of the concessions we're willing to make when standing up for what's right demands sacrifices. Like a beloved relative spouting racial slurs while we quietly avert our eyes and say nothing, doing the right thing in Tyranny is complicated.