The perception of morality is highly fluid, shifting significantly depending on the narrative landscape.
Bethesda’s veteran writer Emil Pagliarulo, a key creative force behind both the Fallout and The Elder Scrolls series, recently explored the contrasting philosophies required to pen stories for these two iconic franchises. In a conversation with GamesRadar+, he admitted that constructing a narrative for a high-fantasy realm like Skyrim is often more straightforward than navigating the gritty, speculative world of Fallout.
According to Pagliarulo, fantasy traditionally thrives on recognizable archetypes. Within The Elder Scrolls, players are frequently pitted against a “monumental evil,” making the boundary between heroism and villainy quite distinct. The writer noted that these stories resonate more instinctively with the audience, remarking that “it is much simpler to determine who is in the right and who is in the wrong.”
The Fallout universe, however, demands an entirely different approach. In the wake of a nuclear catastrophe, Pagliarulo suggests that traditional moral laws are replaced by complex “shades of gray.” Absolute heroes and villains are a rarity in the wasteland; instead, every faction carries its own logical justifications for its actions. These deep-seated ethical dilemmas make the scripting process more intellectually demanding, yet ultimately more fascinating.
Source: iXBT.games