Endings (beware, potential spoilers)

[Mythily]

So... what happens after the good/secret ending is up to the player to speculate?
And am I the only one who thinks all the stab endings are disappointing?
Sunny's mom is never seen. It's like she doesn't know whats happening.

Omori route ending isn't worth mentioning at all. So much unanswered, you only get few endings you can get on the Sunny route so... unless I missed something.

[Kite]

Yeah, it obviously is up to you to decide whether the group of friends would forgive Sunny or not.

The game doesn't touch that matter, because OMORI is about overcoming your fears and being true to yourself - it's not about redemption or forgiveness.

[Xorik]

Originally posted by Mythily:

And am I the only one who thinks all the stab endings are disappointing?

Omori route ending isn't worth mentioning at all. So much unanswered, you only get few endings you can get on the Sunny route so... unless I missed something.

All events leading up to each ending matter. Endings beyond the Good Ending don't mean much by themselves. The events leading to the endings in the Hikikomori route still matter in giving certain perspective of some who do not leave their homes for many years. Stab endings are "lackluster" because they serve one purpose: to depict a real problem amongst hikikomoris. There's no point in adding onto them, and in terms of the game itself, they suit the emptiness at the end when there is nothing left to do, similar to Yume Nikki.

Sunny's mom is never seen. It's like she doesn't know whats happening.

Sunny's mom is not supposed to be present in the game to reinforce the build up of Sunny's stress, and she "doesn't know what's happening" because Sunny never says anything or shows signs of his internal struggles. Even when he went outside and went around Faraway Town, it was implied that he never said a word and was often understood by others based on his facial expressions if he ever showed any. It was also to be understood from the Black Space segment and other various dialogue that his internal struggle, lack of showing it, and the events in Headspace have been going on for the past 4 years without affecting Sunny's empty daily life. If Sunny had to do any stress-inducing tasks, it probably would've shown.

However, you should know that his mom is aware that Sunny had difficulty with enduring life for the last four years considering that she went through it all with him, but because she is an adult and his mom, she can handle it better for herself and is doing her best to help them both move on, which is why she eventually decided they should move away. We don't know how else she tried to help Sunny as we are playing through the last few days before they move. The situational irony is that this decision escalates Sunny's internal struggles as the day comes closer and forces the end to the cycle.

[Xorik]

And one last thing to consider regarding Sunny's mom.

I personally have day-to-day internal struggles of my own, some days worse than others. But, if I was my parents, I wouldn't know that. The only things they ever hear from me are when I'm letting them know I'm going to work, I say bye when they go out, when I'm doing chores, or when I'm playing games with my friends. None of these things would ever make them suspect something is wrong, and the absence of any external problems that could be caused by me further contribute to them not knowing.

Children often do not tell their parents of their internal struggles. They often instead tell their friends, but seeing that Sunny has spoken to no one other than his mom for 4 years, he had to bottle it all up. Relative to the game's story, it got so bad that he ceased to be in Headspace, gave himself a new name, and lived amongst its denizens as if he were one of them.

[Mythily]

Originally posted by Xorik:

Even when he went outside and went around Faraway Town, it was implied that he never said a word and was often understood by others based on his facial expressions if he ever showed any.

That's so weird, considering the things he can do during the last 3 days. But I think that makes sense. You only get to choose Yes/No in certain situations, as Sunny and Omori.
However, how did he manage to do the tutoring then?

Originally posted by Xorik:

which is why she eventually decided they should move away. We don't know how else she tried to help Sunny as we are playing through the last few days before they move. The situational irony is that this decision escalates Sunny's internal struggles as the day comes closer and forces the end to the cycle.

Is that really the reason behind them moving away? On the wiki I found this quote: Some 4 years later, SUNNY'S MOM decided to move for unknown reasons. Anyway, leaving Sunny alone for the last days before moving is a recipe for disaster. So we're just going to assume she thought it would be fine (which, looking at what endings you can get, is obviously wrong).

Originally posted by Xorik:

And one last thing to consider regarding Sunny's mom.

...

Children often do not tell their parents of their internal struggles.

... True. I have a personal experience with this.

----------------------------------------------------

What about BASIL's death? Why do his friends even let him in his room? Are they too traumatised to stop Sunny? I would assume that's the only reason, especially when Hero said not to look but unable to stop Sunny if he decided to do it.

[Xorik]

Originally posted by Mythily:

Is that really the reason behind them moving away? On the wiki I found this quote: Some 4 years later, SUNNY'S MOM decided to move for unknown reasons.

Wikis are community generated, but I don't know how many people actually manage one. Writings for them are typically general or copy-paste text and sometimes cannot be depended on for certain types of information (such as me checking a Nioh or Dark Souls wiki to find a specific number only to not find such a thing). The wiki has to leave this as "unknown" as the game is never explicit about it. I'm only using reality and the few possible reasons for a family moving after such a traumatic event as a reference for the reason. A lot of this game depends on the player to make connections between events in-game and general occurrences in reality to make conclusions about the game.

What about BASIL's death? Why do his friends even let him in his room? Are they too traumatised to stop Sunny? I would assume that's the only reason, especially when Hero said not to look but unable to stop Sunny if he decided to do it.

I wouldn't say they let him in the room, and this option is more for us as players to confirm our suspicions of what occurred after going back to sleep (which puts the player on the Neutral ending). Regarding us, we wouldn't be as forceful preventing someone from witnessing something as traumatizing if we ourselves lose our composure and sense of others around us from the same event.