Ending debate (SPOILER)

[Akim]

Hm, ok I generally enjoyed the game, but the ending left me... puzzled. So are there any official explanations of the ending?

SPOILER WARNING!

I think I am the child in the end, but who is the guy? Are there any official explanations for what was going on, to be sure I understood it right? And... hm is the ending that we live in the "real world"? Or did I just not get this?

[Kastuk]

There's two people in coma after some carcrash did used for experiments with mind manipulations over other people in trying to make humanity become perfect.
Big guy is one who guiding you, the boy, around memories of the communities.

What still mystery for me is order of memories by timeline, where's that shooting woman and then engineer did go, who did kill the girl... Need to replay to find missing papers anyway.

[LRFLEW]

While there's a lot I'm still confused about with the story, I do know that you are supposed to be playing as the young boy. It's alluded to in the intro cutscene with "And so I found you, a lone child in a quiet place." The bedroom you get teleported to near the start of the game is meant to be your bedroom too most likely. This was a lot clearer in early development versions of the game, as this actually started out as a third-person point-and-click adventure. The only gameplay footage I know of from this version is this: https://vimeo.com/54706005. Also, there was this video that showed off the 3D model for the boy: https://vimeo.com/51355930.

[Kastuk]

Dang, that demo with mechanics of dimensions is quite more interesting than simple walking. Even if that's like Quantum Conundrum's changing of local physic conditions.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/200010/Quantum_Conundrum/

[Cronnix]

For anyone curious that stumbles upon this discussion here's the spoilers for my take on the story:

Minor spoiler to understanding story's structure:

The story is told in reverse through a scientist's notes that you find lying around, and we follow persistent characters in reverse so any character story you read in one level comes after their story in next level

Each "level" (park, train station, mountain camp, catacombs, laboratory) also contains both their mini-stories that are wrapped up after completion of the level, and tie to the main story with some repeating characters.

Full spoilers:

You are playing as the child, guided by your father. Both of you are hooked up to the machine, "Scalpel", featured in the ending of the game, which affects people's emotions. The father was originally hooked up into the machine to be its human conduit, but the scientists responsible (the man in the golden glasses) lost control/connection to him and figured that the machine needed an amplifier for the father, kidnapping and hooking up his child as well (story of this is told through flashbacks and documents, Joyce from the park was another candidate).

Some short time after both are hooked up to the machine, father slowly detects his child's presence. After having been part of the machine for some time, father's consciousness is almost gone so he tries reaching the child through the machine, guiding child to try resetting the machine from " within" represented through the big red button™. That's when the game starts, it takes place in a sort of reflection of the real world filled with emotional residue, representing real events.

The reset doesn't work, and so you journey to re-live the scenes from the past leading up to the incident, absorb and understand their emotions, experiencing the full spectrum. When you reach the machine for the second time you see yourself and your father in the machine, and reboot it again, this time supposedly successfully.

[shemkhobali]

There s the third person, dr maeda also hooked up to the machine.,for stabillizing. (not sure what she adds - maybe dr ross' notes? ) collecting the memories helps us regain enough representation to get back to consciousness. "hey kiddo, are you awake " probably is because the father s already awakened from the coma and the boy you played as , is coming to.