What was your interpretation of the story?

[Kilalmen]

I'm going under the impression that the back story to this game is left up to the players interpretation, with the obvious exception of “Lucy is lost” at the start of the game. Ironically I kind of ruined my own experience.

From my interpretation there is no explanation as to how Lucy got lost in this construct, but I do have a guess as to what this place is. I am guessing that the place Lucy is lost in is some form of self constructing city that is still undergoing construction, and that all of the animate objects (like the slug cubes) are mechanisms that work toward that purpose. I guess this because throughout the adventure Lucy come across many constructs that look like living quarters that have not been lived in. Suggesting that this place is still being constructed and not yet open to the public.

Unfortunately as the game reached the deeper into the madness portion my interpretation of the story take a sad turn for Lucy. At this point I'm seeing Lucy literately going insane, and while we're going through the madness Lucy is actually probably in some corner muttering incoherent nonsense.

After that point I am unsure as to the rest of the game is real or Lucy's insane delusions. I decide to go with the assumption that Lucy somehow became sane again and moved on to the desert area. With that assumption I deduce that the desert is actually a storage area for unused and recycled material for the city above.

Moving on to meeting the host. I'm not sure what to make of this part. The best I can come up with is that when Lucy activated the host she did not have proper security clearance to be there, and that was apparently punishable by death. Cue chase scene.

For the final part where Lucy flies through the door and the player is flashed with the words “The Beginning” no idea. Maybe the beginning of Lucy's new life of being on the run from the law. I'll be honest I'm just taking shots at the dark at this point. Personally this interpretation of the ending kind of lessened the games experience for me, so I'm open to a better explanation if anyone has one.

[Sentinel Greg]

I think the desert is above the city, but I don't think either of us could really say how space works in this place.

Anyway, as to interpretation, I think you have a cool story constructed, one that I wouldn't have thought of. But I think the game is really about experience more than trying to gather any story from it. It's fine to do so, but I really think that it kind of just lessens the experience, like you said. Maybe it's just as important to ask how YOU got there? Why did you do what you did? How do you feel about what you see?

Sorry for the artsy fartsy kind of talk, but this is that kind of game, really.

[AaronLee]

I kind of wonder if it's even that grounded. Maybe she isn't lost somewhere that has yet to be inhabitted, but somewhere that once was? I mean, there's plenty of things trying to kill Lucy at a few points, or things with a lot of power, at least.

Seeing as a main inspiration of NaissanceE was BLAME, which was set in some ancient, abandoned superstructure, it makes me wonder if Lucy is one of the remnants of some population killed off by the Host or other such autonimous, technological entities.

It's either that or Lucy is a tresspasser in the ruins of some dead, technical civilization. Some of the housing (especially the stuff near the beginning, int he lower portion of "going Down") looks more human and livable then others, with furnished and lit apartments and recognizeable, humantechnology. The stuff later on, deeper within the structure, appears more blank and abstract, possibly because they didn't HAVE furniture or appliances as we know it, perhaps the homes themselves were appliances, able to change their topology and makeup on a whim to accomplish diverse living tasks?

[Mr Windblade]

Heh, interpenetration. Still, aside from that, interesting reads. May have to pick this up some time.

[Poopy-Doops]

Alice in Wonderland....
The Wizard of Oz.....

Reality Disassociation? It's easy to lose.
Many who've lost it have tried to help others (inevitabely) getting lost
in trivializing or accepting their new found understanding of our existence
and learning not only how to deal with it but use the siutation to their advantage.

As for watching the video from a down-to-earth perception it just appears to be a young women left in an abandoned space station.

[Super_Dork_42]

Could you not say 'interpenetration' anymore? It's 'interpretation'. As in, to interpret. Not to interpenetrate.

Also, Carnival73, I'd say it's way too big to be a space station. It would almost have to be some kind of artificial planet or something.

[Kilalmen]

Originally posted by SuperDork42:

Could you not say 'interpenetration' anymore? It's 'interpretation'. As in, to interpret. Not to interpenetrate.

Also, Carnival73, I'd say it's way too big to be a space station. It would almost have to be some kind of artificial planet or something.

I apologize, and thank you for pointing that out. I have hopefully found all the instances of this mistake in my post and corrected them.

[VitaminBEER]

Lucy was abducted in her sleep by a very powerful alien race/entity. This alien race probed her mind to try and understand Lucy, but they could only get so far. So they constructed the realm.

[Leinad Reign]

I think, it is a journey through her own mind and not some kind of Alien structure. The first part could be the most obvious thoughts of her, like somekind of memorable places (human-like structures like housings or something like that). But as more and more she continues to go deeper, these forms get lost. The long stair could be the way back to her counsciousness, represented by the desert. Then she jumps back to madness, maybe to confront her fears or something like that. Something which is her haunting (the worm) and pushed her in that structure at the beginning.
But i don't understand the ending. Running away shouldn't the best solution for this interpretation. It seems that I must be totally wrong with it : (

[Deuveir]

If Naissiancee means birth in french, that could probably explain a few things that take place during the playthrough. I am currently researching more about this fantastic game when I have my free-time when I'm out of school. I asked the developers some questions and I hope they soon respond...

[Whitney Starling]

My interpretation of the game is incomplete, but there were some strange things I noticed throughout my playthrough.
I'm not sure if anyone noticed this or not, but towards the beginning of the game, the structure is guiding Lucy to something, using lights and linear pathways to show her the way. However, there's a point in which you find a jagged path in the top-most catwalks of the city. This strange path closes at first... and then opens back up again. Perhaps this is something she shouldn't have found? Was whatever was guiding her reluctant to block her way? Did it absolutely have to be her choice?
Something I noticed immediately from the point I entered that pathway was that the game got a bit more menacing. No longer was Lucy being guided, but chased. She was no longer being lured /towards/ something, she was being lured /away/ from something. No longer were there lights and cubes to show my path, but now darkness, shifting hallways, and pychological tricks were in my way to /block/ my path. She clearly found something she shouldn't have, and the structure was trying to keep her away. Once I got to the turbines of the game, I ran across them and found fans suddenly spinning and turned on. Was Lucy only there to turn the lights on? Because I'm definately not crazy when I say that the game got a little brighter after the turbine portion of the game.
After that it was clear that something was playing with Lucy. To the point that it perhaps drove her insane. Maybe the entity even got tired of it and showed her the way out. It had what it wanted, right? Lucy performed some maintenance and now all the lights were turned on. It wasn't until Lucy decided to jump back down that this thing got angry and tried to outright kill her.
Perhaps she was wandering into some sort of living machine that needed help, but eventually turned on her. Maybe she was lost in her own mind, I'm not sure. These are only a few observations I had during my playthrough of the game. As for the last portion, "The Beginning", it could refer to the beginning of the game where Lucy was being chased by the worm. Maybe it followed her through the lighted doorway and we just have an ever-lasting loop of events.

[AaronLee]

Originally posted by HeroSpirit:

My interpretation of the game is incomplete, but there were some strange things I noticed throughout my playthrough.
I'm not sure if anyone noticed this or not, but towards the beginning of the game, the structure is guiding Lucy to something, using lights and linear pathways to show her the way. However, there's a point in which you find a jagged path in the top-most catwalks of the city. This strange path closes at first... and then opens back up again. Perhaps this is something she shouldn't have found? Was whatever was guiding her reluctant to block her way? Did it absolutely have to be her choice?
Something I noticed immediately from the point I entered that pathway was that the game got a bit more menacing. No longer was Lucy being guided, but chased. She was no longer being lured /towards/ something, she was being lured /away/ from something. No longer were there lights and cubes to show my path, but now darkness, shifting hallways, and pychological tricks were in my way to /block/ my path. She clearly found something she shouldn't have, and the structure was trying to keep her away. Once I got to the turbines of the game, I ran across them and found fans suddenly spinning and turned on. Was Lucy only there to turn the lights on? Because I'm definately not crazy when I say that the game got a little brighter after the turbine portion of the game.
After that it was clear that something was playing with Lucy. To the point that it perhaps drove her insane. Maybe the entity even got tired of it and showed her the way out. It had what it wanted, right? Lucy performed some maintenance and now all the lights were turned on. It wasn't until Lucy decided to jump back down that this thing got angry and tried to outright kill her.
Perhaps she was wandering into some sort of living machine that needed help, but eventually turned on her. Maybe she was lost in her own mind, I'm not sure. These are only a few observations I had during my playthrough of the game. As for the last portion, "The Beginning", it could refer to the beginning of the game where Lucy was being chased by the worm. Maybe it followed her through the lighted doorway and we just have an ever-lasting loop of events.

Great suppositions so far from you guys! This one kinda blew my mind, actually. It makes a scary ammount of sense. At the very least, the idea of her being led in, then chased out at that defining point is pretty valid. Perhaps she is going from being lost, to venturing in, then going too far and being chased out. It neatly explains why the turbines started spinning up right as she got to them.

Though, it almost seemed to me like the presence of the structure, with the cubes helping her down to the city, then trying to protect her from The Host, was opposed to said entity.

[Max]

Has anyone else noticed that at the start of the game the thing you fell on is cracked and throughout the game its possible to find occasional cracks in the structure in secluded places? i found this odd.

[Ｍｏｏｎ]

I hate the fact that you can choose many paths and not all leade to the same Puzzle or place... I died sometimes and went through different places where i had to choose between 3 and they had different puzzle at the end. I like the game tough :d

[Man Mothma]

I think we can all keep discussing (as we should), but we'll never know the answer. I don't think it necessarily has to have some sort of a story or a hidden meaning behind it, but what do I know. However, the interpretations above^ are pretty cool. It was a wonderful game, I'm glad I bought it.

[Mr. White]

You guys have some interesting stories! Let me add mine. I just finished this game, and there are a couple different interpretations that I think are possible:

This is Lucy's journey through drug rehab. At first, she's guided. Things are relatively safe. But as things progress, they get harder. She has to rely on unknowable entities to take her where she needs to go. Then things open up. The vastness itself is intimidating. What is the right path? How do we beat this thing? Then it closes up again, the path becomes more certain, but it is also more difficult.

Then Lucy's mind begins to bend as she experiences withdrawal. The singing as she dodges fan blades is her counselor trying to help her. Finally, she's come into the light. The stark, but clean light of the desert. But then, at the end, she stumbles, falls, is tempted … the Host left her a message. Her old drug dealer. Trying to take her back. She is tempted, and goes to see him, but ultimately, she flees. Because letting him catch her means death.

Another interpretation might run along similar dynamics. Escaping from abuse. Take the room where you see the weird little doll and such. Lucy's abuser's attempts to keep her around, appeal to her, but she keeps trying to escape into this big scary world. The abused often need their abusers for direction. In the end, after seeing she doesn’t need him, she has a final confrontation with him and she escapes as he tears apart the world around her.

But what if it's none of those? What if the structure is not as metaphorical as it seems? What if it’s real as it appears? I prefer this interpretation, personally.

One thought I had while playing was that parts of the structure looked like an alien mind's attempts to create a place for humans to live. After all, in parts of the game, there appear to be vast residential blocks.

What if humans have actually evolved to a higher dimension? However, there are still populations of humans who haven’t ascended. Our hyper-advanced brethren want these primitives to join them. So they house them in the structure. The structure is them trying to build something their predecessors—us—can somewhat understand. That is why the shapes are so stark; they simply aren’t used to working in three dimensions anymore. So they do the best they can.

That apartment you find is the home of the last human who successfully navigated the structure. Or maybe it's yours? Notice how the time slows down when you’re in there? Perhaps us old-fashioned humans are kept in rooms where time seems to stand still to minimize how much time we perceive spending in this structure before the tests.

And about that. The structure is the way the ascended test and teach the old-fashioned three-dimensional humans to navigate and understand the world they will enter; a primer course. Death has little meaning to them, and as such, they can keep reconstructing Lucy in order to teach her through trial-and-error.

The Beginning is merely the beginning of Lucy’s ascendence to a higher plain of existence where she will be taught to become one of these new higher-dimensional posthumans. That is why the game appears to bend and place so much stress on her mind; it needs to make sure she is ready to ascend.