An Aesop/Video Games

• Sonic the Hedgehog has one in "Sonic and the Black Knight". It ended with Sonic teaching Merlina how life simply works:

Sonic: Merlina, every world has its end. I know that's kind of sad, but... that's why we gotta live life to the fullest in the time we have. At least, that's what I figure.

• The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess is all about not judging people or things by their appearances.
  • Similarly Wind Waker focuses on letting go of the past and starting anew.
  • And Majoras Mask tells us to "Have Faith", but you kinda forget it when doing all those sidequests as it's only outright stated at the first two temples.
• Persona3: Live your life to fullest and don't let anything to regret. Also, : Help your friends, that what friends are for.
  • Shin Megami Tensei V: Act II, Don’t allow your anger and hatred to boil inside of you, because it is threatening to both yourself and people around you. If your best friend offers you help, you should take them up on their offer. Don't side with someone you just met over those you love. And never do what an online and/or sexual predator tells you to do.
• Ogre Battle 64 is about what it truly means to be noble. Will you rule by power alone Yumil, or will you rule based on what is right Magnus, but only if Lawful.
• The World Ends With You is all about not closing yourself off from other people.
• In-universe example: The Harrowing in the Mage origin of Dragon Age is designed to teach apprentices who are ready to become full mages that you should never judge anything in the Fade by appearances alone.
• In the Framing Device of Dragon Age II the Seeker Cassandra is trying to find out who is responsible for starting the conflict between the Mages and Templars that threatens to tear the world apart. The message that Varric is trying to get through to her (and by extension the player) is that no one person—not Hawke, not Orsino, not the Arishok, not Meredith, not even Anders—was wholly responsible. It was simply the unfortunate result of a bunch of well meaning people with different ideas of right and wrong being pushed beyond the point of compromise. Moreover, these tensions have been building up for centuries and any possible solution would be both horrific and necessary, with the status quo being just as intolerable. Sometimes there is no Big Bad whose defeat will solve everything.
  • Another major Aesop of the game is that prejudice is a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you oppress, harass, or treat a group of people as an enemy by default because of what they might do, they WILL become your enemy in truth because you've given them a reason to hate you.
• The teaching of tolerance is a big theme in the Mass Effect series but nowhere is it more clear than at the end of "Priority: Rannoch" in Mass Effect 3: a planet is big enough for everyone—just put down your guns, blockheads, and you can share it all in peace.
• The Aesop of the Assassin's Creed series is that people should be allowed to choose, and that free will is what makes us human. This is shown with the Assassin's reaction to the Crusades-era Templars plan, and Ezio's speech at the end of Bonfire of the Vanities.
• The Reconstruction has one that's never explicitly stated, but it's definitely an important part of the ending and Dehl's Character Arc. A single person cannot save the entire world, and if they could, the psychological stress would break them first. So, instead of shooting for over-ambitious goals or lamenting the fact that we can't accomplish them, we should focus on what we can do to make the world a better place.
• Grand Theft Auto:
  • Grand Theft Auto III:
    • Betrayal is sometimes paid back with Revenge best served cold.
    • Trusting no one can be dangerous than trusting anyone. This perfectly sums up Salvatore Leone's paranoia ultimately leading to Claude killing him.
  • Grand Theft Auto: Vice City: Your real friends are the ones who care for you, people who you think they are your friends will only use you to further their goals and discard you once you have worn out your usefulness.
  • Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas: No one is above the law. Tenpenny is an example of a corrupt police officer who thinks himself that the laws he's protecting do not apply to him; abusing his authority to coax anyone (other street gangs and even his lackey, Pulaski) into doing his dirty work, and sending CJ to rub out anyone trying to expose his crimes and escape any accountability.
  • Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories: Proving your Undying Loyalty through respect towards your superiors through respect and hard work.
  • Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories: A slightest mistake can easily ruin your life.
  • Grand Theft Auto IV: Is revenge really worth it? Taking the lives of your enemies won't bring back those you love that have died.
  • Grand Theft Auto V: Learning to forgive yourself and those who done wrong to you. All three protagonists are confronted with their own issues and must find a way to set things right, even more prevalent with Michael and Trevor regarding the truth about Brad's fate in "Bury the Hatchet". Despite their animosity, Trevor cannot bring himself to kill Michael because he is his Only Friend and adheres to his virtue of Undying Loyalty and would eventually settle their differences in the final heist. In hindsight, it hits home if you choose the two bad endings (Kill Trevor/Kill Michael), if you (as Franklin) kill one of the two playable characters, the surviving protagonist (along with their associates; Jimmy included) will blackball you for making the decision to sell out the other and the other surviving character in turn cannot forgive themselves for not letting it happen.