Facebook Twitter YouTube Frictional Games | Forum | Privacy Policy | Dev Blog | Dev Wiki | Support | Gametee


Thread Rating:
  • 2 Vote(s) - 4.5 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
Feedback wanted: Some questions on Ending (spoilerish)
hollowleviathan Offline
Posting Freak

Posts: 863
Threads: 2
Joined: Oct 2010
Reputation: 2
#53
RE: Feedback wanted: Some questions on Ending (spoilerish)

I hope Frictional is still interested in feedback and thoughts on this! It took me a long slow brooding time to finish; I only played in the dead of night and played slowly, paranoid, instead of quickly and hysterical - both of which have their merits for immersion.

1) When entering the Orb Room (where Alexander is), what where your feelings toward Daniel (ie yourself), Alexander and Agrippa.

Alexander has had some hints that he is seeking his lost love, but those hints are so seldom and undeveloped that either he or the game has forgotten that mission long long ago. It rings false for a motivation of centuries of cruel unspeakable research and work to be spoken of so seldom, and not at all in the final confrontation.

Daniel has done terrible things, and has to doubt himself in every way. How can he trust his former self to be speaking the truth? How can he trust his current self to be worth saving? Daniel at this point could be thinking several things. The only indications we have of Daniel's thinking are either the diary notes, or ourselves as players. Daniel's mind prior to amnesia was clouded by rage, and paralyzed by fear, and it's not clear if he has conquered one or both, it's left for me to decide, immersed as I am with his identity. His horrible acts tainted me, and I as Daniel desperately wanted salvation, exoneration.

Agrippa appears to have done no wrong, unless we assume that he and not Weyer instructed Alexander in using torture to generate vitae for collection. His predicament is confusing and he comes from a position of weakness. Either he is very conniving and playing us for a fool, or he is above the cruelty of Brenneburg. His voice is eerily silent after I beheaded him. Was he now dead? Had my diseased mind imagined some dialogue to justify yet another murder? His head gave me no answers.

2) What was the ending that you got the first time? Was this a choice?

I got the Agrippa ending on purpose, the final scene did not confuse me. I first attempted to reach Alexander, to probe his defenses. His stony silence after the initial talk unnerved me. Had he so little to say, after yearning for this moment for so long? Agrippa also said nothing, quietly waited for me to act. Was he hiding from Alexander's notice?

Alexander's nakedness was twofold; he was powerless against me. Had I become the unstoppable horrors against which I was naked and useless? Waiting for the portal to open was agonizing, second-guessing my choice, worrying about Alexander's power, doubting the clarity of my sanity to make such a powerful decision for the world.

3) How did you like the ending?

As I threw in the head, and was swept away into the beyond, it seemed that I had been purified as Alexander thought impossible. By refusing to surrender to rage I had destroyed him, and by refusing to listen to my fear and insanity, I had become absolved and safe. I had found true teachers who would guide me to finality and closure. This ending meant the most to me, felt most true to a complicated man, scared but bold, not running away, but through, to a solution.

4) Did you get any other endings? If so, which one was your favorite? And what where your motivation for seeing more endings?

I assumed immediately that there were three endings, which I called Agrippa, Alexander, and Shadow. All of them could easily be canon and make sense for both Daniel and the player, which compounded my appreciation for the writing for inherently difficult game/interactive storytelling.

The Alexander ending indicates he has been beaten by the fear he had hoped to escape. He'd been one half step ahead of the shadow, but the fear had never left his frozen heart. Alexander ascends, his are crushed by his inadequacy, death being only what he deserves.

The shadow ending is the Daniel defeated and inhabited by anger. He has lost his mission, like Alexander, and lives by short-sighted anger. He thinks he has removed his guilt, and banished the shadow. Perhaps the blood sacrifice of a being such as Alexander has protected him for a time, or perhaps at some point, perhaps before he even got to Brenneburg, he became the agent of the shadow, its puppet for destroying Alexander.
10-04-2010, 11:51 PM
Find


Messages In This Thread
RE: Feedback wanted: Some questions on Ending (spoilerish) - by hollowleviathan - 10-04-2010, 11:51 PM



Users browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)