Spoiler: Ending discussion

[MrApollo]

First off, I loved the game. My favourite part of the game was that every quest ended in a genuinely tough decision. It always felt like the no matter what, the good that comes out of your choice is only a silver lining to a big grey cloud. That kind of quest design I think lent itself really well to the sad state of a world on its last legs, but then you get to the end...

I had saved before not thinking anything of it so it made seeing both endings really easy and my god is there a clear good ending. I genuinely thought, based on the narrative of the entire rest of the game, that embracing too much power will inevitably lead to ruin, so I banished the angel. The end credits role and the outcome fit much of the rest of the game, some sad melancholic beats and a touch of hope. Then I merged with the angel and it's just hands down happy world, rainbows and sunshine, everything gets better for everyone and the world is perfect. Total tonal shift, what is up with that?

[Finn The Inhuman]

Crazy fan theory: actually in the merge ending the Angel completely fries your puny human brain. The ending is just what you hallucinate while you twitch drooling on the platform while the Oneiric Islands are blown up by your reality-bending seizure.

[Oishii Gaming]

I banished the angel in my initial choice and liked what I got (I went hard inquisitorial and thought I looked cool in the armor) but I reloaded the save to see what would happen if I picked merge. I think it'd make for a more interesting sequel. On a side note, I completely missed the flesh farms quest lol. Sucks to be mortal.

[skardtril]

I merged with the god. I didn't find it childish, there are many hints the world is not perfect according to my choices - i.e. the Apostatic Union growing in power with you being unable to stop it, or the life-death god dissapearing... Something is bound to go wrong, but its the happiest ending one could manage. An ending where a second world rend happens would have just annoyed me - I dislike stories that just punish ambition. That said, the game drills in your head merging is likely a bad idea and there is little in the end to make one feel it was a mistake of any kind. In most game choices I was left wondering if I did the right thing.

More than anything I was saddened Vela opted out from paradise, made me realize we never understood each other. I was supposed to reach for her about her wrongdoings but I considered she was right in sacrificing for her goal, I respected that. In the end I followed her ideals more than herself.

[Aidinthel]

My hot take is that choosing the second ending shouldn't have played the detailed ending slides. The ghost tells you she can't see the future past that decision, so just re-emphasize that point. You decide the current state of the world is intolerable, take a big gamble on an uncertain future, and the world changes forever. The End. I think it would have been much more thematically appropriate.

EDIT: Actually, I have a better idea: the ending slides are about what was happening in each place at the moment you merge with the angel.

[LovelyHick]

Originally posted by Finn The Inhuman:

Crazy fan theory: actually in the merge ending the Angel completely fries your puny human brain. The ending is just what you hallucinate while you twitch drooling on the platform while the Oneiric Islands are blown up by your reality-bending seizure.

might be a year late but i had to find this comment from someone to find rest, no way this happy go lucky free lunches for everyone ending came after all that "the deal was equitable, the price fair, now get in the mushroom belly acid lil boy" story that played before it xD