***MAJOR SPOILERS*** How did you experience the ending?

[SevenSpirits]

This game really moved me, and I've looked around to see how other people experienced the end of this game. It seems that the buttonpress moment people talk about most is the swimming at the end. Also, I've watched two people play through the end of the game and that was the moment for them, as well, in which they realized they could still use the left trigger.

For me it was only the second of two equally powerful moments. The first was during the burial. After the cutscene where little brother realizes that big brother is dead, when I got control back, I a) tried to rush over to big brother with little brother and b) simultaneously, frantically, tried to get big brother to do something. I fervently hoped he was still alive, and that I could get him to move. But he didn't move. And little brother just broke down sobbing. He walked a few steps and then started crying again.

I couldn't help but cry, too. And shortly after, I realized that the left trigger wasn't controlling big brother any more. It was literally controlling little brother, making him think of big brother, and making him wish he were still there, in the game. It was detecting my actual emotion in real life and having little brother act it out. That's when I just started full-on crying like a baby.

Later, when I had to think of big brother to swim again, it flowed completely naturally. And, it was really powerful too.

I hope it doesn't come across as bragging - I don't think it took any kind of skill for me to get the result of me discovering the sobbing mechanic in the grave scene. It was luck, and being manipulated by the devs. But I do feel like, through luck, I got a fuller experience there than the others I saw play through that part. Both didn't run into the sobbing, and both therefore had a somewhat immersion-breaking period of frustration before figuring out the swimming after, not that this latter moment was any less powerful for them. And as I mentioned before, from what I've read about this online, people just mentioned the swimming epiphany. (Well, they do mention the grave scene, but only in terms of having to bury your brother manually - not the controls.)

So I am wondering, who of you ran across the sobbing mechanic? Who of you got stuck for a while at the swimming? How much did the end of the game move you?

Thanks for reading and have a pleasant day.

[deadcantdance]

Never got stucked for more than 5 minutes the puzzles were fair and interesting. I enjoyed the little bossfights. I don't expected that The big brother will die at the end of the game.

[Beatnik-Filmstar]

I just thought about the Crocodile Hunter and laughed and laughed.

[bassdad06]

I didn't discover the sobbing mechanism even after I went back and replayed that chapter to see if I could replicate what you found. Little brother does put his head down, is that what you mean by sobbing? If so, I did notice that.

[SeriousCat]

The story was very clichéd and hammed up, but I grant you there were some rare moments (e.g. little brother 'channels' his big brother to swim). The ending was incredibly predictable. There's just no way that these brothers endure such hardship and danger without at least one of them dying, both of them can't die because the story would end abruptly, which means the final part of the story must be about dealing with the loss of one brother and questioning whether or not it was all worth it.

I enjoyed the game mostly for its art style, which brought to life a fantastical environment. Honestly, I loathed the controls, which was just a marketing stunt.

[THEPROPHET]

I get you Op, more than a game this is an experience, an interactive movie, granted , its not for everyone, and most are simply to jaded or with their hearts frozen, maybe some of the things that get most intimate are the correspondences of the feelings of loss evoked from the game into real life.

Loosing someone meaningful specially if its your brother really gets you after playing this game, for me it was more a work of art, than a game, and crossed the boundaries of what we can expect from modern videogames and narrative, so all in all, I think it was an awesome experience, there is nothing wrong with crying, we get so self important and bottle up so many feelings that we just turn bitter and cold, sometimes w eneed that emotional trigger to just let go...

[SevenSpirits]

Originally posted by bassdad06:

I didn't discover the sobbing mechanism even after I went back and replayed that chapter to see if I could replicate what you found. Little brother does put his head down, is that what you mean by sobbing? If so, I did notice that.

Sorry you put the time in and were disappointed, bassdad!

Here, I've taken some screenshots so you can see what I'm referring to. When you hold LT he stops and soon gets down on his knees and cries. Not pictured: the controller vibration, and sounds of crying and calling his brother's name.

Pre-LT:
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=219751149
Then:
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=219751164
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=219751206
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=219751181
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=219751199