I’ve seen people (I won’t mention names) condemning anyone who plays Greedfall, because how dare people want to play a game that centers around the genocide and colonization of a race of people. First off, that is NOT what the game centers around. You haven’t even played it, Please don’t base your salty, always-looking-for-the-worse-in-games attitude on a blurb that was poorly written by the developers. Second, if you’re going to condemn Greedfall for this then you need to also condemn the Dragon Age franchise (I use this as an example because I know these people are avid players and lovers of the franchise); wave to the elves and mages!
So, let me go over what this game is about. I’ve played 23hours and still feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface. This might contain spoilers so…
The MC (main character) is called De Sardet, a nobleman (or woman) who is cousin to the soon-to-be Governor of one of the colonies on Teer Fradee. YOUR JOB - YOUR CHARACTER (I cannot stress this fucking enough) - is to basically be a diplomat dealing with the populace there (which includes two other colonies and the natives there), you are a neutral party. Not only that, you’re also going in search of a cure to a horrible illness (the Malichor)) plaguing your continent - including your mother, though the illness acts quickly and your mother will be gone long before you even arrive on Teer Fradee.
Like any RP game you have to deal with factions, you have the natives (don’t ask me what the people are actually called, I can’t tell if some of the titles that are used some times are in reference to their people as a whole, to a clan, or an individuals station), the Ordo Illuminus (The Inquisition), missionaries, Nauts (the sea-men/women who ferried you over and the only sea dwellers), The Guard, and the list could go on. You have factions inside of factions.
You come to Teer Fradee after colonies have already been established. Some factions there long enough that they have caused all sorts of problems, including all out war with some of the native clans. And the Ordo Illuminus conducting their ‘convert or die’. Now, like any good RP game, you get to CHOOSE. You can choose to approve or condemn the actions of the people you encounter, and from what I understand it can be more beneficial to you to not ‘rock the boat’ (so to speak), but in no means do you have to go that route. I’ve personally killed and locked up my fair share of Inquisition members and aided the natives numerous times to try and have a peace and trade agreement.
During all this, like I said you’re also searching for a cure - hastened even more when its discovered that your cousin (the Governor of New Serene) now has the Malichor - you’re also searching for it’s possible origins, discovering secrets about your ancestors that came to Teer Fradee and discovering secrets about your personal past and why you resemble the natives. I won’t go into too much detail here.
So, to hone in on a horribly written blurb doesn’t do it justice. Is there the potential for genocide and/or colonization? Yes. But so did Dragon Age. The point is choosing whether or not to go down the path of a villain. And to say that it’s either being the villain or a white savior isn’t accurate either. You’re not being a ‘white savior’, you’re helping to put out the fires that your people started in the first place. And I never thought cleaning up your own messes was ever a bad thing.
