What did everyone think of the ending?

[hololulu]

(Narrative and/or gameplay-wise)

[hololulu]

tbh all of that stuff went over my head and someone more dedicated than 99% of us has to make a video essay on it or something, lol.

[climaxversion]

Originally posted by hololulu:

tbh all of that stuff went over my head and someone more dedicated than 99% of us has to make a video essay on it or something, lol.

You're probably right lol
Until then, just hoping the fans here can figure something out together

[theyrewatching]

Originally posted by testicular torsion enjoyer:

It turns out that when I wrote that I understand nothing, I actually understood everything that's written in the guide.

Except Renzo's alleged homosexuality. In my playthrough he said something like "a dog's compliments won't work on a cat". It's clear that he is not romantically interested in Lorelei, and in some way perceives himself as a dog and Lorelei as a cat, but I am not at all convinced that "dog" means "man" and "cat" means "woman". In one of Renzo's films, the main character turns himself into a dog, believing dogs to be more valuable than himself, while in a different movie, a cat is killed for an experiment.

Don't think his sexuality has any relevance to the story either way.

What still confuses me is that I don't understand why the dog is present in the ending, whether it represents a person (like in one of Renzo's movies), and whether there's anything more than "a dying lady's last thoughts".

For the line about dogs and cats, if you choose the I'm not interested in flirting option he says "A dog can waltz with cats, but still only enjoy the cha-cha of another dog." The first reply option is "Ah, I didn't know." (which already implies that he's gay), and his response to that is "You don't read the gossip magazines, then. It does you great honor." It doesn't have much relevance to the story, but I don't think there's much room for doubt here that he's gay.

[hololulu]

Originally posted by theyrewatching:

Originally posted by testicular torsion enjoyer:

It turns out that when I wrote that I understand nothing, I actually understood everything that's written in the guide.

Except Renzo's alleged homosexuality. In my playthrough he said something like "a dog's compliments won't work on a cat". It's clear that he is not romantically interested in Lorelei, and in some way perceives himself as a dog and Lorelei as a cat, but I am not at all convinced that "dog" means "man" and "cat" means "woman". In one of Renzo's films, the main character turns himself into a dog, believing dogs to be more valuable than himself, while in a different movie, a cat is killed for an experiment.

Don't think his sexuality has any relevance to the story either way.

What still confuses me is that I don't understand why the dog is present in the ending, whether it represents a person (like in one of Renzo's movies), and whether there's anything more than "a dying lady's last thoughts".

For the line about dogs and cats, if you choose the I'm not interested in flirting option he says "A dog can waltz with cats, but still only enjoy the cha-cha of another dog." The first reply option is "Ah, I didn't know." (which already implies that he's gay), and his response to that is "You don't read the gossip magazines, then. It does you great honor." It doesn't have much relevance to the story, but I don't think there's much room for doubt here that he's gay.

Thank you for the quotes! From personal experience, the ending felt very ‘married-couple-esque’ to me at first, so I still feel like it’s an important distinction, even if it isn’t crucial for basic understanding of the story. I wish there was a transcript of the game’s dialogue somewhere so we could reread it without replaying the full thing.

[theyrewatching]

Originally posted by hololulu:

Originally posted by theyrewatching:

For the line about dogs and cats, if you choose the I'm not interested in flirting option he says "A dog can waltz with cats, but still only enjoy the cha-cha of another dog." The first reply option is "Ah, I didn't know." (which already implies that he's gay), and his response to that is "You don't read the gossip magazines, then. It does you great honor." It doesn't have much relevance to the story, but I don't think there's much room for doubt here that he's gay.

Thank you for the quotes! From personal experience, the ending felt very ‘married-couple-esque’ to me at first, so I still feel like it’s an important distinction, even if it isn’t crucial for basic understanding of the story. I wish there was a transcript of the game’s dialogue somewhere so we could reread it without replaying the full thing.

Getting purely into the speculation zone, if you read the ace of spades card description it mentioned that among other things it was a symbol of asexuality. I thought it was a nice thing to include but between that and Lorelei's history having a complete lack of relationships mentioned and her disinterest in Nero, I ended up thinking she was aroace. Complete speculation of course. But when I got to the ending scene I saw it more as her making peace with her past than being any indication they were involved. It fit in with the story better for me.

Also agreed, I would love to see a transcript of the little cutscenes and the different dialogue you get for different answers. I started a replay but sadly I'm pretty far in and haven't been recording them.

[hololulu]

I love the connection with the ace of spades you made—I read a ton of the item descriptions but haven’t thought of them with the added context of the ending. I remember the Lorelei’s car key having a specific serial number, maybe that links to something too!

[jmmontoro]

I completed the game with 99,2% truth, I have no idea what I could've missed except a few dollars, could that be it?

[miniscule gamer]

Originally posted by jmmontoro:

I completed the game with 99,2% truth, I have no idea what I could've missed except a few dollars, could that be it?

If you missed dollars, then you didn't buy everything with them.

[jmmontoro]

Originally posted by testicular torsion enjoyer:

Originally posted by jmmontoro:

I completed the game with 99,2% truth, I have no idea what I could've missed except a few dollars, could that be it?

If you missed dollars, then you didn't buy everything with them.

I bought everything, I believe I missed the stories, the last item in the photo memory.

[Dee.lisla]

I just finished it… and like I guess it was a good story but… I didn’t realise half the plot I was reading was fictional and now I’m just confused by what actually happened. Also completing this over a week with so many puzzles has meant I’ve forgotten exactly what went on moment to moment story wise.

Hololulu your explanation saved this story for me, before reading that I was really not getting it =p

I think replaying this with that context may make more sense now.

[Grug]

Does anything change if you reach 100% truth? I'm stuck because I didn't buy the extra video games so I can't get their covers in memory unless I comb the entire game for another 13 dollars. I knew I shouldn't have bought the espresso cup.

[Nixmachine]

Originally posted by Grug:

Does anything change if you reach 100% truth? I'm stuck because I didn't buy the extra video games so I can't get their covers in memory unless I comb the entire game for another 13 dollars. I knew I shouldn't have bought the espresso cup.

Not really, the ending doesn't change. The only "story-relevant" extra content (the one you use dollars) are the side shows in the magician's theater

[hololulu]

Originally posted by Dee.lisla:

I just finished it… and like I guess it was a good story but… I didn’t realise half the plot I was reading was fictional and now I’m just confused by what actually happened. Also completing this over a week with so many puzzles has meant I’ve forgotten exactly what went on moment to moment story wise.

Hololulu your explanation saved this story for me, before reading that I was really not getting it =p

I think replaying this with that context may make more sense now.

Aw, thank you! I’m just paying it forward, I read some other posts online that clarified things for me and wanted to share my thoughts here :)

[hololulu]

Originally posted by theyrewatching:

Originally posted by testicular torsion enjoyer:

It turns out that when I wrote that I understand nothing, I actually understood everything that's written in the guide.

Except Renzo's alleged homosexuality. In my playthrough he said something like "a dog's compliments won't work on a cat". It's clear that he is not romantically interested in Lorelei, and in some way perceives himself as a dog and Lorelei as a cat, but I am not at all convinced that "dog" means "man" and "cat" means "woman". In one of Renzo's films, the main character turns himself into a dog, believing dogs to be more valuable than himself, while in a different movie, a cat is killed for an experiment.

Don't think his sexuality has any relevance to the story either way.

What still confuses me is that I don't understand why the dog is present in the ending, whether it represents a person (like in one of Renzo's movies), and whether there's anything more than "a dying lady's last thoughts".

For the line about dogs and cats, if you choose the I'm not interested in flirting option he says "A dog can waltz with cats, but still only enjoy the cha-cha of another dog." The first reply option is "Ah, I didn't know." (which already implies that he's gay), and his response to that is "You don't read the gossip magazines, then. It does you great honor." It doesn't have much relevance to the story, but I don't think there's much room for doubt here that he's gay.

I added your insight to the guide! Thank you so much for the direct quotes.

Reposting here since I've made a lot of changes since first sharing it: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3250484731

[theyrewatching]

Originally posted by hololulu:

Originally posted by theyrewatching:

For the line about dogs and cats, if you choose the I'm not interested in flirting option he says "A dog can waltz with cats, but still only enjoy the cha-cha of another dog." The first reply option is "Ah, I didn't know." (which already implies that he's gay), and his response to that is "You don't read the gossip magazines, then. It does you great honor." It doesn't have much relevance to the story, but I don't think there's much room for doubt here that he's gay.

I added your insight to the guide! Thank you so much for the direct quotes.

Reposting here since I've made a lot of changes since first sharing it: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3250484731

Great write up!

I've gone back and forth on just how much Nero had planned in advance back in 1963. Did he plan the whole thing including his death before he even invited her and everything including his declining mental stability was an act, or did that plan emerge during her time there as he actually became more unhinged? The 1847 script points to the former, except I'm not sure if he wrote the whole thing before she got there, or if he was writing it as he went. Can't remember if there's anything that clarifies that.
Either way, she never depicted him as the antagonist in her memories (outside of the incidents directly before his death of course). The story about how she reacted the first time she saw one of his films (disgust followed by obsession) points to how much she was fascinated by him as an artist. Which makes a lot of sense given that her own art was about seeing the world through different and unconventional perspectives and he certainly did that (he reminded me of how Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí were exasperated when audiences liked their film Un Chien Andalou as it was meant to be a condemnation of said audience and the tastes of film goers of the time).
Basically what I'm saying is that her admiration of his work is all mixed in with the trauma of what happened which I think shows up in the game as everything we see is based on her memories and perspectives on the events.

Also completely unrelated, but I discovered that if you call 1847 and 2014 on the phone you get a unique answer. The 1847 one is lorenzo (nero)'s voice saying he's trapped in a maze, and the 2014 one is the nursing home that Lorelei is currently in. Neat little detail they added there.

Sorry, that got ramble-y. I just keep rotating the plot in my mind.