The beauty of video games over any other art form is the freedom they grant players to steer the story in their own direction, and this is often achieved through dialogue options which shape relationships and potentially change the entire story's course of events.

With that in mind, it's a most basic expectation of video games that if we're presented with a series of dialogue options, that they're a genuine representation of what our character actually ends up saying.

But that's not always the case, and sometimes for one of many reasons, the option we pick isn't at all indicative of what ends up being said.

Perhaps the dialogue choice seems more diplomatic in nature, only for our protagonist to launch into an explosively aggressive tirade in practise, or the game just isn't remotely clear about the precise tone of a given turn of phrase.

In many cases the result is absolutely hilarious, but for players who value meticulous character development and meaningful storytelling, it can be frustrating when a game dares to betray its own choices so egregiously...

Let's kick things off with one of the all-time most infamous - if also hilarious - instances of a dialogue choice not quite vibing with the end result.

In the original Mass Effect, Commander Shepard is approached by a reporter, Khalisah al-Jilani, who asks some increasingly hostile questions criticising Shepard's relationship with the Citadel Council, at which point you're given a few options.

Among them is the retort "Time to shut you up!," which many players understood to mean that Shepard would fire up an aggressive clapback - but a strictly verbal one.

Yet if you pick this option, Shepard will straight-up sock al-Jilani in the face, sending her straight to the floor like a sack of you-know-what.

It's absolutely hilarious of course, but in large part because the action seems so disproportionately brutish and violent compared to the actual dialogue option offered.

BioWare evidently leaned into the meme of it all, though, by allowing players to smack her in the jaw again in both the second and third games.

Jack Pooley

Contributor

Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes). General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.

See more from Jack