Broken Roads Will Torment You With Character-Altering Moral Choices (and That’s Brilliant)

ign.com:

Your journey in Broken Roads, an isometric RPG set in the post-apocalyptic wastes of Western Australia, begins with a test. Akin to the Voight-Kampff of Blade Runner, it poses a series of hypothetical situations and asks how you’d respond. What would you do if you discovered that a man being taken for execution was probably innocent? How would you deal with scavengers looting from a place you found first? How would you treat a captured bandit who raided your home? Each of your answers is plotted on a literal moral compass, a persistent and permanent mechanic that will shape your character’s worldview across the next 25 or so hours.

That compass is split into four segments - humanist, utilitarian, nihilist, and Machiavellian - and your location on that spectrum dictates what dialogue and actions your protagonist can perform. A humanist character, for instance, will be locked out of saying the most heinous responses simply because they’d never consider saying them. But experiences shape us, and your character’s worldview can gradually shift over time. A utilitarian could slowly find their heart and become a humanist, or slip down a slope of manipulation and end up a Machiavellian. Sometimes your world view widens to take in multiple perspectives, opening up more dialogue options. Other times it will narrow, locking out options but also granting you special abilities that pay off your dedication to a specific worldview.

Broken Roads' moral compass represents your philosophical leaning. The white dot plots your current worldview, while the yellow cone highlights your wider range of potential thought. (Note: 'existentialist' was 'humanist' in the demo.)

That is the promise from Australian developer Drop Bear Bytes, at least.