Kostas
Dormant Watcher
First things first, if you have not played and completed the game this thread is of no use to you. The only thing you could gain from reading this post or the answers I'm hoping for is destroy your chances of having one of the very best video games experiences you're likely to get.
Alright, I hate opening new threads as much as anyone and realise that I am little more than embarrassingly Johnny-come-lately having posted this in 2013 but since I appreciate the game as much as I did I cannot feel that I am finished with it until I am no longer troubled by the ending I felt like I had to get this post out.
Basically my "question" comes down to the ending feeling wrong in that after TNO is reunited with The Transcendent One the player loses all control over the matter and TNO feels in a way like he's being controlled by TTO rather than me. From speaking with ALL CAPS, to the tone and most importantly the lack of options regarding what is going to happen after the reunification. The descent into the lower planes and the eternal fighting in the Blood War seemed more like forced Karma than a satisfactory/complete or more importantly fitting conclusion to the tale of TNO (and TNO's incarnation that I've controlled-experienced during the game).
Don't get me wrong, talking and reuniting with the 1st incarnation and thus ending the torment (or at least one important part of it) was the strongest gaming moment I've had and the rest of the build-up leading to the end was magnificent and I'm far from wanting a happy end or a nice Bioware-esque closure. However I can't help but feel that in a game in which thinking and wanting could shape reality, the climax felt forced rather than fitting.
Having done a bit of reading I have seen accusations of Christian influences (to put it mildly) being thrown around and while I do not fully subscribe to that position the analogy isn't completely unfounded.
As a side issue the last post in this short topic suggests that the ending suffered from a very familiar to RPG players case of unfinished content (Good/Neutral ending scrapped to meet deadline) but given the top notch quality of the rest of the story I have much trouble full believing that. Your thoughts or maybe even link to the mentioned interview or thoughts on that?
One obvious counterargument* would be if I can think of another ending but apart from killing himself (poinless?), staying in the fortress (pointless), becoming one with the Planes or some merry happy ending like ascending to some paradise/Higher Plane (lame anyway) or leaving the fortress to live his life as a complete individual (vague) I can't think of anything better but then again that is the job of the writer and there has to be something that feels more complete than that.
I would appreciate some thoughts on the matter rather than straight up argumentative post ripping this OP apart, that is unless I have missed something big enough to render my whole troubling needless.
*Aside from pointing to points of the ending I may have missed, I will certainly replay the ending while paying closer attention to the dialog between TNO & TTO rather than looking for alternative endings.
I know that was wordy and the structure is incoherent and messy but this is the only way I can get longish posts out instead of taking hours to write them or dismissing the halfway through for various shortcomings.
Basically my "question" comes down to the ending feeling wrong in that after TNO is reunited with The Transcendent One the player loses all control over the matter and TNO feels in a way like he's being controlled by TTO rather than me. From speaking with ALL CAPS, to the tone and most importantly the lack of options regarding what is going to happen after the reunification. The descent into the lower planes and the eternal fighting in the Blood War seemed more like forced Karma than a satisfactory/complete or more importantly fitting conclusion to the tale of TNO (and TNO's incarnation that I've controlled-experienced during the game).
Don't get me wrong, talking and reuniting with the 1st incarnation and thus ending the torment (or at least one important part of it) was the strongest gaming moment I've had and the rest of the build-up leading to the end was magnificent and I'm far from wanting a happy end or a nice Bioware-esque closure. However I can't help but feel that in a game in which thinking and wanting could shape reality, the climax felt forced rather than fitting.
Having done a bit of reading I have seen accusations of Christian influences (to put it mildly) being thrown around and while I do not fully subscribe to that position the analogy isn't completely unfounded.
As a side issue the last post in this short topic suggests that the ending suffered from a very familiar to RPG players case of unfinished content (Good/Neutral ending scrapped to meet deadline) but given the top notch quality of the rest of the story I have much trouble full believing that. Your thoughts or maybe even link to the mentioned interview or thoughts on that?
One obvious counterargument* would be if I can think of another ending but apart from killing himself (poinless?), staying in the fortress (pointless), becoming one with the Planes or some merry happy ending like ascending to some paradise/Higher Plane (lame anyway) or leaving the fortress to live his life as a complete individual (vague) I can't think of anything better but then again that is the job of the writer and there has to be something that feels more complete than that.
I would appreciate some thoughts on the matter rather than straight up argumentative post ripping this OP apart, that is unless I have missed something big enough to render my whole troubling needless.
*Aside from pointing to points of the ending I may have missed, I will certainly replay the ending while paying closer attention to the dialog between TNO & TTO rather than looking for alternative endings.
I know that was wordy and the structure is incoherent and messy but this is the only way I can get longish posts out instead of taking hours to write them or dismissing the halfway through for various shortcomings.