the Buddhist reincarnation narrative doesn’t quite work out if you do it with computers. To take memories away is to undermine the possibility of growth and change, IMO. To be trapped in a cycle of death and rebirth is one thing — to have a willful jailer is quite another.
Also, if every time you want to offer me a Trademark Choice ™ it’s a trolley problem that punishes‡ the player for taking any option but the most edgy, it’s not really a free will kind of situation, now is it
‡ When the game builds its loops around payoffs like narrative beats and in-game rewards, the quiet denial of either is absolutely a punishment and a negative outcome signal for the player, IMO. looks askance at any choice but the most edgy for Pascal’s ultimate fate — the one that turns out to be ‘canonical’ in side material — cutting players out of 100% completion
