The game's lore and story

[Daki]

What are some story interpretations and theories you've thought about?

[Webberf]

there are four notes in total that explain uh... something, I think there are many symbolisms which I did not understand, my theory is that the schizo girl is not completely crazy, since it seems that the government is somewhat corrupt and hiding the existence of an unknown planet very similar to the earth.

[Butcher]

It is a lot easier if you take events as metaphor rather than face value. Girl just found out that the facade of the world, shadows projected on the cave wall, does not represent actual reality. Which is true.

Protagonist got abused in school (literally monologue) and maybe at home (bad place), which may or may not affect the visual presentation of the world and its inhabitants.

[casc.fm]

dont think theres much lore/story in the way you're thinking, but yeah theres a discussion to be had about what the game and its locations represent. might need to do a replay or two to draw any real conclusions but this is what ive gathered

i think the childrens hospital represents more of the paranoia of our protagonist. the hospital is disingenuous, soulless, while all trying to be comforting. hospitals kinda freak me out in that sense too.
="she really cares about you!" <- sarcastic
--"doctors always smile at you as they tell you you're gonna die" (forgot how it went)
="hospitals smell like glue and bleach, makes you want to vomit"
--"i love it" <- drives me crazy personally (waaaaiiit, isnt the protagonist crazy?)
="hospitals feel like the least safest place to me, even though i know they arent"
=the historical figures dialogue, ie cleopatras was about nothing being better than having people think you're helping them

think also the public school being a factory is fitting too
=schools feeling like a prison, a factory,
--i think this is a common feeling in elementary school, which i believe the hub menu sprite is modelled after
---elementary school, childrens hospital, kind of a reoccurring theme (do the creatures in sewage treatment fit this?)
=the american flag flown at the school on the hub menu also raises all sorts of debates about education
--standardized testing
--"american school system is terrible!!!" <--not american so cant say much about the accuracy of this or go in depth

[Butcher]

Originally posted by Car Scientist:

i think the childrens hospital represents more of the paranoia of our protagonist.

Or, it could be more blunt commentary on the organ trade market.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3152568185
Including on the Ukraine, where western doctors take organs from yet living soldiers.

Coachella is commentary on so-called self improvement cultlike courses akin to spirituality and such
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3158835896

Nurses down below with dialogues on parasite from German teacher or whatever are commentary on hedonism and ethics (or lack of thereof) of psychological experiments

Cleopatra demonstrates the contrast between spoken words and intent. For instance, 9/11 was used to introduce domestic nationwide US spying, so-called "Patriot act". And everyone ate it because the excuse was that it prevents attacks, while real intent was completely different.

[Webberf]

Originally posted by Butcher:

It is a lot easier if you take events as metaphor rather than face value. Girl just found out that the facade of the world, shadows projected on the cave wall, does not represent actual reality. Which is true.

Protagonist got abused in school (literally monologue) and maybe at home (bad place), which may or may not affect the visual presentation of the world and its inhabitants.

I had thought that too and was looking for someone to talk about it to find out if i was crazy or not.

[Garfield (The Garf)]

There's also a theme of change. The horse-people in their village talk about being pushed underground by humans, and at the end of the game it seems like the main character makes a new sort of creature that will in turn push humanity underground. The protagonist changes the environment around her by killing the high-profile people in each location. The factory operator wants the change, the queen accepts the change, and the three important people fight change (by being kept alive continually). I think what the game is saying with change is that it is inevitable, violent, and sometimes necessary, but I'm not sure.

Or maybe it's a story about healing. The protagonist, abused in her childhood, spends the game on a rampage, killing everything. However, at the end, the protagonist learns to create life. This mirrors the world around her. It is ugly and evil and wrong, but the game ends on a clean white environment with a hint at a better world.

I just finished the game, so these are just my first thoughts. The game has a lot to chew on: space, language, children, government...

[Psyop Ganker]

Nobody is talking about the "Subject" part

this is a loop, there are more of them
or, taken differently, she inspired others to follow in her path??
what are the 4 stars? why does she have wings at the end?
WHO is the abstract face guy?

what planet is it on..

[karmaDagger]

i like to think that its both representative of her own experiences but also literally happening to her as we see it in game. a traumatized and unstable woman whose suspicions of the world hiding something being confirmed.

[Fususu]

Originally posted by A.M.:

Nobody is talking about the "Subject" part

this is a loop, there are more of them
or, taken differently, she inspired others to follow in her path??
what are the 4 stars? why does she have wings at the end?
WHO is the abstract face guy?

what planet is it on.. :captainclown:

I am far from understanding all the things together from the game, but, there's a Transient Location (purple one) where a Thrait Woman mentions "Queen Chrysalis being hatched" and "Vermin Dogs who would lead her astray" I believe this is a direct correlation to her gaining wings (that do look like a bug's wings to me). Almost for sure there is "metamorphosis" happening to our protagonist. Also the last part could be related to that dog (the King of all Dogs) on the epilogue, but I am not sure of the implications of this.

Also I dunno if anyone mentioned that when clicking "Exit", the messages about disconnecting with the subject do seem to directly point that there's someone (government?) tracking subjects with probably Psychopomps/similar device equiped, I am actually not sure also which location this next selected subject is in the epilogue, since you do see something similar to the earth when looking up the sky called Bloody Earth, by the "King of all Dogs".

[Vee]

Originally posted by Merid Maniac:

Nobody is talking about the "Subject" part

this is a loop, there are more of them
or, taken differently, she inspired others to follow in her path??
what are the 4 stars? why does she have wings at the end?
WHO is the abstract face guy?

what planet is it on.. :captainclown:

From what i've gathered You are playing as the queen you keep hearing about in the game. C'venash Vishneri(hopefully i spelled it righ) and you are trying to "save" the world from all the corruption by rebuilding society(her making a child out of clay at the end).
You also play as the king in the epilogue. The whole situation in the game is happening on earth, the bloody earth, while the king lives on the other one.

I dont believe that this is a loop as someone mentioned but probably something that went wrong multiple times. There were probably other psychopomps before Vena(mc). That could be a possibility since there is a song at the end of the game talking how they were going to disperse your body parts(most likely sung by the king). We can see some body parts throughout the game and it could be from other psychopomps(or just a level decoration). What could also support this is the conversation you have with one of the thrait women telling you that she saw someone get hit by a car, there wasnt blood, but dirt and ash. The things you use to make a child.

The dogs had plans for you to use you for their advantage but when that went to ♥♥♥♥ they resorted to waking up the king to stop you.

As someone mentioned "a Thrait Woman mentions "Queen Chrysalis being hatched" and "Vermin Dogs who would lead her astray" I believe this is a direct correlation to her gaining wings (that do look like a bug's wings to me). Almost for sure there is "metamorphosis" happening to our protagonist." i dont think the metamorphosis was happening throughout the game but has already happened when the game started. Most likely when she reached her breaking point and made the helmet.

Also Dragonflies are connected to Freya in Norse mythology. She's the goddess of love, war, and fertility. Some think they became her symbol because mating dragonflies form the shape of a heart.(my friend found this) So that could be the reason she gains dragonfly wings.

What happens after they woke up the king is a mystery and hopefully gets resolved if the dev decides to expand the universe.

Hopefully there is a Psychopomp 2.
(if i got anything wrong please correct me)

[trainee]

what was the sewage plant suppose to represent? the only thing that kinda made sense to me was them saying putting chemicals in the water to remove the chemicals in the water but besides that I wasn't able to figure out any metaphors that made sense to me for that level

that and then queen that gets guillotined? that suppose to represent a previous you that just went along with all this?

[Vee]

Originally posted by trainee:

what was the sewage plant suppose to represent? the only thing that kinda made sense to me was them saying putting chemicals in the water to remove the chemicals in the water but besides that I wasn't able to figure out any metaphors that made sense to me for that level

that and then queen that gets guillotined? that suppose to represent a previous you that just went along with all this?

I would very much like to answer you but I honestly have zero clue about that one, that one was straight up weird.

[1337Walrus]

Originally posted by trainee:

what was the sewage plant suppose to represent? the only thing that kinda made sense to me was them saying putting chemicals in the water to remove the chemicals in the water but besides that I wasn't able to figure out any metaphors that made sense to me for that level

that and then queen that gets guillotined? that suppose to represent a previous you that just went along with all this?

I have no idea about the sewage plant itself, but the hidden church you can find there, the statue strongly resembles the protagonist after her ascension to the queen of venus. I don't know if that implies something; in retrospect I suppose it's the first clue that people - like the dog king - knew her true identity.

[Jaborezzz]

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