Discussing the ending (Spoilers, obviously)

[Herbolife]

Is it me or does it feel a little unconclusive? I don't mind open endings but.. does she make peace with her other side? Or do we just have to hope/assume that she will? Also, I'm still not sure why she'd attack the teacher lady? It kinda feels like the ending is so "artsy" and "open to interpretation" that it just feels like a non-ending.

I still really enjoyed the game. What are you guys' thoughts on this?

[PurpleInu]

Spoilers ahead:

Just finished it, so bear with me as I'm collecting my thoughts.

I could be wrong but I have this feeling that we as the player are separate from Alta in a way. As if we are the forest in some manner witnessing Alta and influencing her?

Or maybe we're a different force?

The only thing that makes me think this is Alta's dialogue when she drinks tea. It's an internal monologue, but she's addressing it to someone. It usually feels like she's talking to us. An example is when she's drinking the tea that makes you think of non-existent song names. She get's flustered as if trying to explain to someone she has no musical sense and in the end asks 'them' to leave her alone.

So all this to say that something tells me that we are the forest influencing her and being a part of her journey, hence when she leaves we no longer are able to witness her journey afterwards.

As for the choices you help her make you have to assume that it helped nudge her in the right direction, that we helped her internal drive and other ego learn to trust what was 'good' for Alta, not just what was needed.

Nana also confirms that everything happening in the forest is a reflection of Alta, and that everything that happens, especially in the clearing, is due to Alta, from the visitors to the changes and even the guests losing the ability to speak.

This thought also is supported by the idea that many people enter Alta's life, give her true self some food for thought and then leave, move on with their own lives. Only giving us a glimpse into their struggles and desires over a cup of tea, before journeying on.

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Another thought about what Nana said, she expressed her frustration that Alta is able to 'change' her self and control the change, she's essentially capable of choosing her destiny, while Monster was at the whim of others to change her, which frustrated Nana as Monster didn't have the same kind of agency as Alta. Which also might lean into frustration at us, the player, since we help shape Alta's destiny as a player and can choose her path but Monster isn't able to make her own choices and is instead bound by our choices.

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Suffice to say there was a lot to digest and in the end it all felt like a concept of using tedium, boredom and reflection to help find fresh perspective on oneself. But how you use this new perspective is up to you, and in this case, Alta. We helped her gain perspective, through her interactions with guests and self reflection with tea, and hopefully as we send her on her own journey of change, she will make choices healthy for her.

But of course this is all just my take and I'm always happy to be wrong or hear other's opinions.

[LGHunter]

Here is my personal take:

This game is written in such a way that the player's life experiences will colour their interpretation, and no one will agree on how right or wrong Alta is or how "bad" her actions are. Everyone's conclusions will be different, and that's the beauty of it. If I play this again in a year or ten, my opinion will change because of a perspective shift; that's the how well the game is laid out.

Due to all the games, films, web comics and novels I've read I have a rather bizarre view on all of the guests. I honestly think that:

only Boro, Nana, Zenith and the dancing fairy are real people in the forest.

Boro has known Nana for a long time and have connections with the forest, while Zenith has the power to add something to the glade. I'm a little iffy on the dancing fairy because she's described as being ancient, but it's still possible.

Everyone else, the businessmen, the bird person, the curious little bat girl, every "customer" that comes into the Wanderstop is a fragment of Alta the forest is showing her.

The Knight at the beginning is a silly father on an improbable quest and gets taken over by the curse. (Alta wants to be the best forever, which is impossible).

Ren the warrior is pushing Alta to return to being the best fighter, and is the "never meet your heroes" type; he then comes back humbled, with his right arm missing. (Alta has been a warrior for so long it became her identity, and it's been ripped away from her)

Monster is the child part of her, wild, unpredictable, chaotic. (Alta comments on how Monster is like how she was as a child)

Zenith had to be the most sledgehammer of all the guests, slowly turning into the businessmen they are fascinated by. (Alta wanted a "fast cure" from someone else, but that does not exist)

The businessmen are bland, boring, are trying to climb the ladder, and must follow their routine without fail. (Alta's single-mindedness about training and being the champion)

Alta's attack on Master Winters was her anxiety and desperation lashing out; being told that she can't be trained any more made her completely crack because fighting was her reason for being, her identity and it's been completely taken away.

Think about it this way: imagine you went to University, got a Master's degree in something you're utterly passionate about, held a job in that field for years and became an expert, but are made redundant because technology now does your job for you (or cost-cutting downsizing). How would you react to that? Anger, anxiety, worry, and thinking "what do I do now, it's all I know" are probably somewhere in there.

I could go on, but space...

Alta has been confronted by a lot of information and realisations through the people and the tea. She reveals that she may have a form of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, which can sometimes lead into perfectionism (never being good enough, training enough, winning enough). Losing her warrior status after more than a decade of single-minded training and wins in the ring is debilitating, so a case can be argued for her having a form of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Alta has finally learned that there is so much more to the world than fighting, and it terrifies her because it's all she's known. Everyone who came to the Wanderstop was travelling and growing mentally/spiritually/psychologically, but she stayed still.

She's taken the first step to her own personal change, but because we are not in her mind we don't know where that's going to take her. Alta could go back to how she was, become a free-lance mercenary, be regarded as the next Master Winters training the new warriors, or open up a shop somewhere.

Basically, it's been left open for our own version of fan fiction, and what we as singular players want for her. It was a satisfying ending for me, and shouldn't have a clean, clear finish; it's bothering us enough to think about it and "what could be" and I feel like that is the point.

[Svintoo]

I believe the customers are real people, but the forest decided to let these specific people in because they reflect an aspect of Alta. But maybe this is what you meant, LGHunter.

Everything LGHunter wrote I think fits really good. Thanks for sharing.