J1M
Arcane
- Joined
- May 14, 2008
- Messages
- 14,642
Disclaimer: I played the game once, it is possible I missed some options or some choices cut off certain outcomes.
Setting aside that the main character is a 'Watcher', which is just a lame plot device to tell exposition through flashbacks, I would like to discuss the ending and why it felt lackluster.
Inside the barbarian city you are forced to research and seek out the blessing of one of the gods. If you attempt to complete the game without doing this, your character dies and the story ends. (Would like to be wrong about this.) This establishes the gods as very tangible things. They are real enough to have a conversation with.
A few maps later, we learn that while the recycling of souls is a natural phenomenon, the gods themselves are artificial constructs created by an ancient civilization. One of them was set to low-power mode by the others and has been working for a very long time to reverse this power dynamic.
We are told that the villain performs acts of brutality and sacrifice to maintain the status quo of the artificial gods because it somehow is better for mankind overall. This is a pretty extreme tough-love position. One that would normally be consistent with forcing the truth on people, not perpetuating a lie. It's inconsistent.
A) I was expecting some sort of option here to skip the final confrontation and have the main character's old soul fall back into line with the villain.
After killing the villain, the character has four options:
B) Return souls to the bodies they should have entered. The lack of mention of what will happen to the souls of the hallowborn that were killed is an oversight.
C) Return souls to the cycle. The basic 'good' option.
D) Divide soul energy equally among the living. A strange and very temporary outcome.
E) Erase the stored souls. Without more information about how reincarnation works, this is a jarring option. If souls can be destroyed, does that mean they can be created? The cycle/wheel discussions suggest that it is a zero-sum game and this just reduces the number of souls available on the planet forever. If so, this is a more evil outcome than A.
In addition to the missing option A to help revive Woedeca (sp), there are some other approaches with the machine that stand out as missing.
F) Kill Thanos and take his place as the Queen of Mystery's favored soul that can remember past lives and jump between bodies. One has to assume that once the souls from this small region of the world have been collected enough that she is revived/powered back on the hallowborn problem will also go away. This is the most obvious plot resolution for a cruel player character.
G) The player has just been given the revelation that the gods are artificial constructs created by man. The option to undo one or more of them permanently is missing. The lack of this option gives the impression that the writers agree with Thanos, and take the position that mankind cannot be trusted unless it believes in a deity. A somewhat offensive position to take regarding atheists and actually quite boring compared to the way the topic of "fantasy world atheist" was handled in Mask of the Betrayer.
Bonus questions:
Why does the hallowborn problem not affect animals, which are also known to have souls? With godlikes and furries, where is the dividing line between kith and mammal?
If trapping as many souls as possible is the goal, why build machines to trap 100% of souls and leave them on for 15 years? This causes people to move away/stop trying/die out. A soul-catcher set to 50% would actually be much more effective.
Along the same lines, why not build a soul catcher that snatches the soul at the moment of death instead of birth? There are ghosts and shades literally infesting every square inch of the Dyrwood, so they clearly aren't missed by man or god when they don't return to the cycle right away.
Setting aside that the main character is a 'Watcher', which is just a lame plot device to tell exposition through flashbacks, I would like to discuss the ending and why it felt lackluster.
Inside the barbarian city you are forced to research and seek out the blessing of one of the gods. If you attempt to complete the game without doing this, your character dies and the story ends. (Would like to be wrong about this.) This establishes the gods as very tangible things. They are real enough to have a conversation with.
A few maps later, we learn that while the recycling of souls is a natural phenomenon, the gods themselves are artificial constructs created by an ancient civilization. One of them was set to low-power mode by the others and has been working for a very long time to reverse this power dynamic.
We are told that the villain performs acts of brutality and sacrifice to maintain the status quo of the artificial gods because it somehow is better for mankind overall. This is a pretty extreme tough-love position. One that would normally be consistent with forcing the truth on people, not perpetuating a lie. It's inconsistent.
A) I was expecting some sort of option here to skip the final confrontation and have the main character's old soul fall back into line with the villain.
After killing the villain, the character has four options:
B) Return souls to the bodies they should have entered. The lack of mention of what will happen to the souls of the hallowborn that were killed is an oversight.
C) Return souls to the cycle. The basic 'good' option.
D) Divide soul energy equally among the living. A strange and very temporary outcome.
E) Erase the stored souls. Without more information about how reincarnation works, this is a jarring option. If souls can be destroyed, does that mean they can be created? The cycle/wheel discussions suggest that it is a zero-sum game and this just reduces the number of souls available on the planet forever. If so, this is a more evil outcome than A.
In addition to the missing option A to help revive Woedeca (sp), there are some other approaches with the machine that stand out as missing.
F) Kill Thanos and take his place as the Queen of Mystery's favored soul that can remember past lives and jump between bodies. One has to assume that once the souls from this small region of the world have been collected enough that she is revived/powered back on the hallowborn problem will also go away. This is the most obvious plot resolution for a cruel player character.
G) The player has just been given the revelation that the gods are artificial constructs created by man. The option to undo one or more of them permanently is missing. The lack of this option gives the impression that the writers agree with Thanos, and take the position that mankind cannot be trusted unless it believes in a deity. A somewhat offensive position to take regarding atheists and actually quite boring compared to the way the topic of "fantasy world atheist" was handled in Mask of the Betrayer.
Bonus questions:
Why does the hallowborn problem not affect animals, which are also known to have souls? With godlikes and furries, where is the dividing line between kith and mammal?
If trapping as many souls as possible is the goal, why build machines to trap 100% of souls and leave them on for 15 years? This causes people to move away/stop trying/die out. A soul-catcher set to 50% would actually be much more effective.
Along the same lines, why not build a soul catcher that snatches the soul at the moment of death instead of birth? There are ghosts and shades literally infesting every square inch of the Dyrwood, so they clearly aren't missed by man or god when they don't return to the cycle right away.
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