[SPOILERS!] About the ending...

[Bitt]

Firstly, I must state I liked the ending, especially the scenario. "Whooooa!"

But there is actually no ending right? I mean, if you kill Ora you are also killing yourself and you are leaving Azai alive. He will keep stealing things and using the power of the clan to do bad things, he may also put "the mark" in other ninja to use as a weapon, just like you.

However, killing Azai means you will keep with the spirit of Ora telling you to do things, and she said your next move after killing Azai would be finishing the rest of the clan.

So you either end as the killer of your clan, destroying thousands of years of traditions and you will keep the rest of your life, suffering alone, mad and with nowhere to go. Or you just kill yourself and let a man use your clan to do bad things, and your clan would perish with a dirty name.

So... Sorry if my english is not good, I am brazillian, so there may be some grammar errors.
I don't want a good ending, many games should have ended bad, but the director puts something good and kind of ruin it you know? I just want to talk about it and see if anyone had the same vision.

Also do you guys think there is room for a sequel? In the ninja's place I would have killed Azai and then I would take the lead of the clan and make the other ninjas my students.

[Mike the Mighty]

I would most certainly enjoy a sequel to this fine game. I think they would need a new protagonist (which is easy, considering we have an unnamed "marked" hero; they could just pretend it was another victim, perhaps of a different clan.

The ending was interesting, I never considered for a moment that Ora was a hallucination, especially since she was the one warning you of them occurring. It is absolutely amazing the amount of depth this game has.

I killed myself at the end of game, it was an easier choice for me to do considering the ninja did not have any political motivations and everything, save for karajan's looting. Considering the character recieved the mark to become the clan's tool, I figured it was the characters duty to end his life.

I am more curious to discover why karajan was attacking the village, perhaps a hidden scroll will explain this; I have not recovered all of them.

[Skyrocitor]

That's funny. I instantly went to kill Azai the first time I played. I figured even if Ora was a hallucination she had a point, Azai had doomed me to an early grave just to get his clan some new toys. However I'm watching the scene where he says she is fake and though I notice Azai is careful never to say "she" he does look over in her direction. I rather like the idea that Azai is merely suggesting she's a hallucination, and she only flickers because you are seeing things but is still there. Killing yourself at the end is a subsequent action take after killing Ora, or feel the same because you are attached to her.

orrr she really is a hallucination, but I like how the game makes everything you've seen there unrelieable, opens thing up. hopefully for a sequel :)

I also agree a new protagonist would be neat, especially if the final boss was the protagonist of this one.

[Bitt]

It would be nice if in the sequel of this game you could get two storylines:

- You killed yourself:

You were born as the choosen one, you bear the mark, and your master Azai wants to use you for some "spec ops" kind of missions. You trained hard for this moment, BUT then you find notes about the one who beared the mark before you, as well as scrolls from past clan stories those stories uncover that Azai made a lot of vicious actions through his life, just like stealing high-tech weapons. You escape, and decides to give some honor to your clan, getting rid of Azai as well as his ideas and high-tech stuff.

-You killed Azai:

The "marked one" just gone mad and not only killed his master but also the rest of the clan, you are a survivor, willing to revenge your clan, you trained hard all of your, but is it enough to defeat "the one who bears the mark".

You got to complete the prophecy, "the marked one" must die and you must bring your clan honor again,

[Discrider]

I was disappointed because the choice I would've made in that situation if it had been available is to kill both of us.

I mean, my mind is gone and I've been running around the ninja facility tearing up my brethren, but still, Azai doomed the clan by pinching high tech weaponry in the first place, otherwise why were outsiders shooting up my clan at the beginning? And then my master doomed me to get rid of his mistakes.

Ideally you'd cut off his hands so he can no longer wield a sword, and let him live with his shame and/or have to explain the situation to another ninja so he can ask to be offed.

But really, any 'both' option would be a better ending than the double jeopardy of "Kill the guy who doomed you and go mad, or save everyone, innocent and guilty alike, and kill yourself". The current ending just made me want to quit and forego the decision entirely, which is what your character did originally anyway. Why he chooses to act one way or the other now when nothing new has been revealed (You're still going to go mad and your master is still looking dodgy), is beyond me

Plus it doesn't really make sense if you've just been stealthing it up all game. No real threat with going mad if all your character is going to do is smash stuff and hide from people.

[Osbo]

I would argue that Ora/You are the most logical choice, since you can't trust your own mind. The majority of the last fewlevels barely take place in reality. Further, what if modern technology does NOT damn the clan? The stalkers are pretty well equipped and skilled, after all. And one doesn't have to be marked (and driven mad) to be nearly as effective.

[Bitt]

@Discrider

Well, the problem is that I was not hiding and smashing stuff, I was killing innocent guys (because Azai started the fight with Karajan ), and I was doing a "kill them all" run. So maybe I am mad, I don't even know if I killed Dosan...

@Doc Clef

Even if the modern technology does not damn the clan, Azai stole them, this is against the clan rules, this is written in scrolls.

[BeastBox]

"However I'm watching the scene where he says she is fake and though I notice Azai is careful never to say "she" he does look over in her direction."

Azai looks after the ninja does ... he's following the ninja's gaze. He doesn't actually see anything, he's just wondering WTH you're looking at. :)

Anyway, I'm fine with what are essentially 2 bad endings. That's the ride you signed up for when you volunteered to get inked, champ.

[Bitt]

Yeah, you're right, if this game had a good ending it would ruin the story, it happens in many movies and games.

Actually you did not choose, it is your fate. You'd forever dishonored not accepting.

[Arlen Tektolnes]

Just thought I'd point out that Azai can't create the mark on other ninja as the flowers they use to make the ink have become extinct. This is why they needed modern technology in the first place :)

[Discrider]

But why do they need highly powerful ninja in the first place? All through the story the scrolls tell of the horrible consequences that stemmed from giving a ninja the mark in the first place. Ninja don't need the ink to remain ninja and remain viable. The mark just makes them all consuming forces of destruction.
And if they hadn't lusted for power again and stolen the tech in the first place, there would have been no need to create another agent of destruction.

[Arlen Tektolnes]

I interpreted it is the ninja becoming less viable as technology improves, to the point where -only- a ninja with the mark would be a reasonable threat. Azai wasn't evil as such, he just wanted to redress the balance.

[Discrider]

You could see it like that, but the gameplay never backs it up.

As a marked ninja, all the mark gives you at first is the ability to stop time with your mind. All your other moves, which you use to take down the majority of threats, are just due to your ninja training.

The point could be made that you were the ninja meant to succeed the master, which probably makes you the most skilled ninja in your clan, but still you don't need the armour so why should they?

[Gyrotank]

As far as I have understood, the new technology stolen from Karajan is the only way for the clan to survive since the magic ink is no longer available. So the 'right' choice is to kill yourself and join the ranks of the Heroes of the Clan. Killing azai means you succumb to your madness which will lead you to the top of the corpse pile seen in anumated historical cutscenes.

Originally posted by GL Discrider:

As a marked ninja, all the mark gives you at first is the ability to stop time with your mind.

Well, there's also a 'Vision through walls' and 'Teleportation', not to mention Ora which is basically your hyperstimulated intuition suggesting you a way around (and providing you with hallucinations). That's another reason why killing yourself in the end is right - if it already makes you perceive fellow ninjas as Karajan troops, it will get only worse, and you'll soon perceive ordinary citizens and children as your foes...

[Vλgaβoηđ]

I think tht Ora isn't a halucination, the part where Azai tells you that she is just a mere illusion, he still looks in her way + the fade effect is because of the "Sumi"( the marks), in his condition he is pretty easy to confuse and the mind is playing tricks on him, also Ora was with us from the beginning and what I mean is that the effects of the mark was only starting to effect him, so he didnt see illusions, he couldn't have seen them.

[Alexandropoulos]

If she isn't an illusion, then what is she? She came from nowhere without explaing who is she.