Meaning of this game. [Spoilers]

[Skodo]

I really enjoyed this title but i think i don't really get the meaning of the story... what is the game about, who really is Young and what represent his journey in that "dreamy" world?

Can someone explain it to me (maybe the developers themselves)? Thanks.



P.S. my favourite part is the dialogue on the roof, i really liked it.

[Arale//Zero]

I don't understand the game very much, but here's one possible explanation that kind of goes along with the metaphors and stuff.

Young and Briar were friends... but they were drifting apart for some reason. Sage acts as Young's friend and guidance, but he gets very annoyed when people actually try to become his friend such as Mitra. Sage represents Young's fear of non-acceptance by others, and the hurt he feels because he is not as much friends with Briar anymore.

The fight with Briar is not literally a fight as it is in the game, it means that Young is befriending her again. When Sage tries to stop him, it's his own self-doubt telling him he isn't ready to befriend her.

And when he wins the fight, yup, they are friends. Let's go have a sandwich.

That seems to maybe be somewhat like the meaning of the game. I think.

[lina j thol]

My favorite meaning to this game would be that the whole game is just an escape, a dream, that "Young" is using to avoid everything personal.

Once you get to the 50 card gate... you aren't supposed to open it. You're supposed to "wake up" from the dream. Has anyone else gotten a "Game Over" and hit "no"? You enter 2 rooms that look similar to an apartment that someone has moved into. There is a chest that you can access (With swap through the Archives) to get the (I believe) 39th card, Young himself, inside the room.

If you exit the apartment.... it just sends you to the title screen. A glowing, open door.
And you know what you're supposed to do? Exit the door. Exit into the real world. Exit the game. Wake up. Live your life.

I believe that Anodyne represents how people use entertainment such as video games, television, internet, even books, to escape everything personal in their life. Young Town represents something terrible that Young/Ying did once, but he tries to hide it.

This is all my speculation. Interpret it however you wish, feel free to add on or criticize.

[Cuddly Cat]

@Connor: This is almost exactly as I get it, too.
The game is about as much as the dream of a young, open-minded guy, probably quite a shy one, who is in contact with many people mainly by means of the internet (the region in "a different part of space" is an analogy to the internet, as I think. They keep telling you about them not being here, actually and communicating with one another without physically being present and so on), but apart from that, mainly lives in his own little world, playing some video games, and as a consequence of serious self-doubts tries to avoid thinking about his life too much and, knowing that eventually noone will live his life for him and that he has to make choices on his own, procrastinates the final step towards actually acting in that manner.

He's the "I'd love to save the world, but I don't know where to start"-kind of guy, who has a lot of wishes and ideas, but ends up idly carrying them around with himself, unable to finally get a move on and start realising any of them. (I believe, this is why the windmill appears and why the corresponding card sais something like "Don't you sometimes feel like, whatever you do, you can't stop the world from dying?")

Still, all these thoughts, hopes, fears and doubts haunt him in his dreams, and because dreams just work that way, create a cryptic, surrealistic and (e.g. in case of Young Town) grotesque mess of all the things he pays attention to, that he likes, that bother him, and that tries to escape from just thrown together.

[Who do you think you are I AM!]

Just wanted to add another perspective.. I agree with much of what has been said.

The game definitely tackles the issue of gaming acting as an escape for many individuals.. this can be seen in many quotes. The most prominent example for me is with "The Wall" boss in the mountains..
"Still playing those Nintendos, I see?" is the quote that begins the battle.

Young proceeds to kill the wall, defending the image of "Nintendos" (so, defending the image of the video game world) and maintain gaming as an escape for himself. The Wall then states, "You're going to need to learn to deal with people sooner or later," or something along those lines.

This leads into my second point. I personally believe that this is a direct reference to the Suburb area.. Young literally deals with people by killing them. Since this suburb is a representation of his past, I believe this to mean Young is killing the ghosts of his past and learning to deal with his life.. as he does this, the game nears completion and the player / Young can escape back into the real world.

Another possible interpretation of this area is that, by dwelling in a fantasy world, Young is killing his only remaining connections with the real world. That's plausible too, for sure, but I see the plot as one of self-discovery and progression.. Young DOES learn to deal with his life as the game ends (in my eyes), and so his memories (serving as connections to the real world) are not dead at all.

Just my $0.02... the game is so much deeper than meets the eye and there are just so many ways to interpret different characters and their words. But personally, I feel the entire story is one of Young coming to accept that real life must eventually take priority, and the ghosts of your past should be slain.

---------------------------

I do have ONE question, however. The boss of the Blue Forest temple, the "Seeing One", is referred to by the Circus boss (Acrobats) as their salvation. The quote is as following:

"Why did you deprive the Seeing One of his sacrifices? Why did you steal from us our salavation."

Upon beating the boss, Young is told: "Than you for giving us back our chance to be free."

Well, the Eye of Providence (often referred to as the [All] Seeing One) is a religious reference to an omnipresent God, who sees and knows all. Am I right to take this passage to mean that relieving these characters of religious beliefs sets them free? That to "kill" religion in one's eyes shows them true freedom?

Are there any other cases of religious references throughout the story?

[Arale//Zero]

I thought The Wall was his mom

the way she raised him probably accounted for some of the stuff that Young may have done

she can't even remember his name, and just thinks of him as the nerd guy who plays video games and collects cards.

[lina j thol]

Originally posted by ghastlyMeme//The Batter:

I thought The Wall was his mom

the way she raised him probably accounted for some of the stuff that Young may have done

she can't even remember his name, and just thinks of him as the nerd guy who plays video games and collects cards.

Actually, doesn't he call Young Ying? If I remember correctly, Ying IS Young, just in the past when he was the mayor of "Young Town" and presumably killed most of the residents.

Like I said, I think that all of Young Town and Ying is just something bad that Young did in the past. (Nothing serious, like becoming a mass murderer)

[Arale//Zero]

Originally posted by Connor (A brony, got a problem?):

Originally posted by ghastlyMeme//The Batter:

I thought The Wall was his mom

the way she raised him probably accounted for some of the stuff that Young may have done

she can't even remember his name, and just thinks of him as the nerd guy who plays video games and collects cards.

Actually, doesn't he call Young Ying? If I remember correctly, Ying IS Young, just in the past when he was the mayor of "Young Town" and presumably killed most of the residents.

Like I said, I think that all of Young Town and Ying is just something bad that Young did in the past. (Nothing serious, like becoming a mass murderer)

S/he also calls him a bunch of other versions of his name that aren't Young, though.

[lina j thol]

Originally posted by ghastlyMeme//The Batter:

Originally posted by Connor (A brony, got a problem?):

Actually, doesn't he call Young Ying? If I remember correctly, Ying IS Young, just in the past when he was the mayor of "Young Town" and presumably killed most of the residents.

Like I said, I think that all of Young Town and Ying is just something bad that Young did in the past. (Nothing serious, like becoming a mass murderer)

S/he also calls him a bunch of other versions of his name that aren't Young, though.

Perhaps Young has done many bad things in his life that he tries to hide... Or maybe The Wall's just confused...

[⦓ Jaies ⦔]

An anoynomous alien from space put him there, in real life he is a cat that eats mice droppings, But little does he know, the mice droppings are drugged and he falls into a deep sleep with stupidness.

[lina j thol]

Originally posted by Racookitty2:

An anoynomous alien from space put him there, in real life he is a cat that eats mice droppings, But little does he know, the mice droppings are drugged and he falls into a deep sleep with stupidness.

I know you're making fun of the people who are looking so deep into this, but damn that is HILARIOUS.

[underdog2342]

Makes sense

[Brotherman Bill]

Originally posted by ghastlyMeme//The Batter:

I thought The Wall was his mom

the way she raised him probably accounted for some of the stuff that Young may have done

she can't even remember his name, and just thinks of him as the nerd guy who plays video games and collects cards.

I likened The Wall to my grandmother who thought Game Boy cartridges had magnetic tape in them.

[Melos Han-Tani]

Originally posted by Racookitty2:

An anoynomous alien from space put him there, in real life he is a cat that eats mice droppings, But little does he know, the mice droppings are drugged and he falls into a deep sleep with stupidness.

How did you figure it out?

[lina j thol]

Originally posted by seagaia:

Originally posted by Racookitty2:

An anoynomous alien from space put him there, in real life he is a cat that eats mice droppings, But little does he know, the mice droppings are drugged and he falls into a deep sleep with stupidness.

How did you figure it out?

This is why we should be able to like posts.