Ending of the game got me confused (SPOILER)

[ℓyra]

So pls tell me that im not the only one who thinks it is a time loop and it keeps happening again and again...
Maybe there is tiny chance that we actually managed to break it by slaying the black goo lady??? and it wont happen again...?
God i feel so sad for the protagonist coz she has to witness it every time!!!

[David J Prokopetz]

As far as I can tell, there are no time loop shenanigans going on – just a bit of narrative misdirection.

The adult wolf who dies in the prologue is, in fact, Neva. The whole rest of the game is an extended flashback showing how the protagonist raised Neva from a puppy.

It's just framed misleadingly; the sequence of events cuts from the protagonist holding the puppy of the adult wolf who dies to the protagonist raising a young wolf, making it seem like the puppy in the prologue and the young wolf in Chapter 1 are the same wolf.

The fact that you've been looking at a flashback the whole time is meant to be a big twist, revealed when Neva gains the same scarred eye seen on the adult wolf in the intro.

[ホトトギスくん]

I hadn't noticed.
I thought the main character had screwed up again.
If that's the case, you shouldn't have that prologue.
It would have been more moving without it.
Since I saw the climax scene first, I was not moved by the final scene myself.

[Athena]

Someone else pointed out how the the main mountain has a crack in the very top on the prologue. When you start Summer, that mountain is still whole. Then as the story progresses you will see the mountain change to what it was in the prologue. With how much attention the game lays on this mountain that is how they communicate it.

It doesn't matter what we think of there being a prologue. That's the story they wanted to tell.

[ℓyra]

Originally posted by David J Prokopetz:

As far as I can tell, there are no time loop shenanigans going on – just a bit of narrative misdirection.

The adult wolf who dies in the prologue is, in fact, Neva. The whole rest of the game is an extended flashback showing how the protagonist raised Neva from a puppy.

It's just framed misleadingly; the sequence of events cuts from the protagonist holding the puppy of the adult wolf who dies to the protagonist raising a young wolf, making it seem like the puppy in the prologue and the young wolf in Chapter 1 are the same wolf.

The fact that you've been looking at a flashback the whole time is meant to be a big twist, revealed when Neva gains the same scarred eye seen on the adult wolf in the intro.

Yes I also thought about that Neva is the mother and the whole thing was something that happened in the past BUT if that's the case why we fought the wolf thing nightmare in the fall part 2 where it seems like the protagonist is having a nightmare.
I thought that could be the mother wolf (if we consider that Neva is the cub) and she's consumed by the goo and now it haunts us in the nightmare and stuff.

[David J Prokopetz]

Originally posted by ℓyra:

Yes I also thought about that Neva is the mother and the whole thing was something that happened in the past BUT if that's the case why we fought the wolf thing nightmare in the fall part 2 where it seems like the protagonist is having a nightmare.
I thought that could be the mother wolf (if we consider that Neva is the cub) and she's consumed by the goo and now it haunts us in the nightmare and stuff.

The nightmare is about the protagonist's fear of being abandoned by Neva when she grows up. Notice that the nightmare's climax involves the protagonist dying when Neva fails to show up to help perform the finishing move against the boss.

[Vhalenn]

I completely agree with this topic, I just finished the game and it got me so confused, a lot of basic points were not clear at all in the narrative for me.

[The Forest God]

It's not a time loop because we originally, at the start, never see the eye being cut on Neva's mom or the evil being getting destroyed. Also, Neva's cub, Bruha (sp?), can be seen surrounded by many babies and the player who looks older and with longer hair if you collect all the flowers and go up the tree in Spring. We can assume it is Bruha because that wolf does not have a scar on the eye like Neva's mother and Neva. This shows, to me, that at the end of the journey, going through all the trials, you have secured a peaceful future for Neva's child and grandchildren.. and yourself. :)

Personally, to me, the story is about fighting and breaking generational trauma. It is a healing journey that showed Neva knew how to overcome the evil, struggle and trauma at the end, while her mother did not at the beginning making Neva go through the trauma herself. Thanks to Neva's journey and efforts Bruha does not face the generational trauma and pain and healing journey and grows in peace.

[Älex]

I just played through Neva and I do think that is kind of a loop. But in the way generational trauma works, as The Forest God stated :)

[jase_LV]

Yeah, the presumably time-loopy nature which made it seem like nothing I did in the game made any difference, made the ending completely miss the impact it would have on me otherwise. As I completely didn't get that the game was a flashback at the time. I was sitting there scowling and saying "bulls***! How is she making the same mistake twice!" rather than be sad.

[ℓyra]

Originally posted by jase_LV:

Yeah, the presumably time-loopy nature which made it seem like nothing I did in the game made any difference, made the ending completely miss the impact it would have on me otherwise. As I completely didn't get that the game was a flashback at the time. I was sitting there scowling and saying "bulls***! How is she making the same mistake twice!" rather than be sad.

EXACTLY
that's what i thought with myself.
i was like how could you possibly do that wrong AGAIN????

[gavlee2005]

LOL yeah takes a bit of thought to understand these games. not for the weak of mind for sure ;]

[Blominema]

Originally posted by Vhalenn:

I completely agree with this topic, I just finished the game and it got me so confused, a lot of basic points were not clear at all in the narrative for me.

Exactly, I came here to find some answers, but it seems like I got more confused. The idea of the looping really makes me anxious, I wouldn’t want this to be the version. I saw that there’s a cut scene if you collect all the flowers, which I didn’t

[ℓyra]

Originally posted by Blominema:

Originally posted by Vhalenn:

I completely agree with this topic, I just finished the game and it got me so confused, a lot of basic points were not clear at all in the narrative for me.

Exactly, I came here to find some answers, but it seems like I got more confused. The idea of the looping really makes me anxious, I wouldn’t want this to be the version. I saw that there’s a cut scene if you collect all the flowers, which I didn’t

Yes it made me anxious too. I have done everything to get this???
I also collected all of them but that specific scene did not show up so i searched it to see what i was missing. I assume it was a bug. *shrug*

[Nicholas Steel]

Originally posted by ℓyra:

Originally posted by Blominema:

Exactly, I came here to find some answers, but it seems like I got more confused. The idea of the looping really makes me anxious, I wouldn’t want this to be the version. I saw that there’s a cut scene if you collect all the flowers, which I didn’t

Yes it made me anxious too. I have done everything to get this???
I also collected all of them but that specific scene did not show up so i searched it to see what i was missing. I assume it was a bug. *shrug*

You (your character) have to travel to a specific location in Spring to see the cutscene, an area that shows the flower's you've discovered so far. The path to it is a bit hidden.

[nikita_kpk]

Originally posted by David J Prokopetz:

As far as I can tell, there are no time loop shenanigans going on – just a bit of narrative misdirection.

The adult wolf who dies in the prologue is, in fact, Neva. The whole rest of the game is an extended flashback showing how the protagonist raised Neva from a puppy.

Thank you for the explanation! Oh my god, it's a flashback and it's Neva in the prologue with an injured eye. And I couldn't understand, if it's her mother, then why is it just the same scene without any differences. Also the meaning of the actions seems to be is lost, as if all the efforts were pointless. Probably the developers should have added a couple of scenes to explain this, because people even write negative reviews. After all, this is not a video but a cartoon, so little Neva looks the same as her child. I agree to solve technical riddles, but the plot should be understandable. Now I finally got it and my mood has improved. I'll go pick flowers.