Meaning of the game (Spoilers)?

[himmatsj]

So can anyone divulge as to the meaning of the game? It kinda lost me towards the end there as you became that giant ball thingy.

Thanks!

[Тайто]

do you know anything about why the boy you play as was being chased or why there was other lifeless bodies hung around only to be brought to life by you?

Originally posted by Sean:

I think there's no meaning, but there are parallels to real life stuff. It's a Messed Up Thing That Happened.

The blob of human mass at the end, it's the ultimate result of the ruling class' ruthless exploitation of the people they are subjugating. Throughout the game you see how these people are stripped of all humanity, reduced to slaves and to subjects of wild experimentation. And the blob is their latest curiosity, senseless, insane, pointless, macabre. These human lives are worth nothing, and they think it would be cool to make a blob of humans. I think the blob escapes as an act of revolt. The entire game, these people are helpless, completely unable to even express themselves. Something just has to give. So the blob escapes, even though it is completely lost, devoid of humanity, turned into something wretched and horrible. It's not even upset, or angry, it just has to get away, it has to find something better, some sort of end. But in the end it cannot undo what has been done to it.

[PortalCat]

I've read some and watched a couple of You Tube videos that question if the boy is being chased? He's running left to right, yes, but he could also be said to be "going inside", and even trying to get to the blob! There's a theory he is being controlled by the blob. The theme of control is alluded to in the 'Secret Ending' FYI.

[Meep]

SPOILER WARNING
#################################################
#################################################

My Interpretation: The blob controls the boy to rescue itself. We know the boy is an advanced version of the zombies he controls during the game when we see the secret ending.
It seems that the escape of the blob was predicted/expected by the organisation when the blob falls into the glass enclosed area of an exact replica of the hillside at the very end .(the death of that ceo guy in the office probably was not expected). Also there was a room full of spectators(adults and kids) awaiting the blob before it is trapped in the tank. It somehow feels as if the org. planned this.
Also for the entire game you are constantly descending from ground level to lower and lower and lower. Then at the end on your final descent, the blob ends up at sea level. seems a bit odd and artificial. Maybe the entire game is an experiment in progress by the organisation which takes place in manmade biospheres and we were never truly outside. Hence the name INSIDE

[Edible Eyebrows]

Find your own meaning, I dont think the devs ever directly explained limbo. games like this are meant to be interpreted and whilst people will push their view on you, what you experienced matters the most.


my personal theory:

The entire thing was staged, one big experiment. They are trying to create some kind of higher inteligence using some crazy mind-meld nonesense.

the blob itself is very inteligent and is given access to mind control tools. they want to observe its inteligence 'out of captivity' without actually risking its escape, so they allow it to attempt a controled escape by mind controlling the boy.
(they try to stop the boy to test the extent of the blobs inteligence)

the ending too, is staged. you can see a mock-up design of the final scene earlier on, even the patch of sunlight it 'dies' in is represented with a spot-light. strong light 'deactivates' the mer-people, so its not a massive leap to think light might do the same to the blob.

The experiment is a success, the blob is inteligent enough to sucessfully escape its prison, and even escape the trap at the end, onward to the next experiment, meybe the next one will realise its being tricked all along!

EDIT: i guess i missed out any real meaning in my explanation, i guess thats because i need longer to really think it through.

I guess theres stuff in there about the nature of free will (see secret ending), the whole 'what now?' argument: we crave freedom but what exactly are we supposed to do when we get it, is the freedom to die (secret ending) better than no freedom?

EDIT 2:
I just found this snippet online that supports the theory that theyre creating some kind of hive mind:

"Having all these drones to do our work for us is great, but who's going to control all of them? If we need to do it all manually, what's even the point of having them? Might as well do it ourselves. But what if there was another way? What if we created something, a hive-mind, that's able to manipulate all the drones for us and free us up to do as we please? That seems to be exactly what's happened, and what we witness at the end is the attempted activation of this hive-mind network for the very first time. The thing is, the mind was already awake, and it has called out to one drone in particular; one that's fast and nimble enough to reach it in time and free it from its prison. This probably isn't the first time it's attempted this either, hence the heightened security around the farm and industrial areas, and the reaction the farmers have to a drone on the loose."

[Edible Eyebrows]

Originally posted by Sean:

I think there's no meaning, but there are parallels to real life stuff. It's a Messed Up Thing That Happened.

The blob of human mass at the end, it's the ultimate result of the ruling class' ruthless exploitation of the people they are subjugating. Throughout the game you see how these people are stripped of all humanity, reduced to slaves and to subjects of wild experimentation. And the blob is their latest curiosity, senseless, insane, pointless, macabre. These human lives are worth nothing, and they think it would be cool to make a blob of humans. I think the blob escapes as an act of revolt. The entire game, these people are helpless, completely unable to even express themselves. Something just has to give. So the blob escapes, even though it is completely lost, devoid of humanity, turned into something wretched and horrible. It's not even upset, or angry, it just has to get away, it has to find something better, some sort of end. But in the end it cannot undo what has been done to it.

I really like this.

It really does have that 'pointless' feel to it, the blob dies at the end but somehow thats better than what it was before. it really was just a rebellion at the disgusting and pointless experiments that it had gone through, it just wanted to lash out and be free even if that meant death.

[avaris97]

Wouldn't it make more sense if the blob is the "mass" that the people have become. Being subjects of experiments, observed and controlled by the upper classes?

Originally posted by Sean:

I think there's no meaning, but there are parallels to real life stuff. It's a Messed Up Thing That Happened.

The blob of human mass at the end, it's the ultimate result of the ruling class' ruthless exploitation of the people they are subjugating. Throughout the game you see how these people are stripped of all humanity, reduced to slaves and to subjects of wild experimentation. And the blob is their latest curiosity, senseless, insane, pointless, macabre. These human lives are worth nothing, and they think it would be cool to make a blob of humans. I think the blob escapes as an act of revolt. The entire game, these people are helpless, completely unable to even express themselves. Something just has to give. So the blob escapes, even though it is completely lost, devoid of humanity, turned into something wretched and horrible. It's not even upset, or angry, it just has to get away, it has to find something better, some sort of end. But in the end it cannot undo what has been done to it.

[AlphaMoon]

I still can't wrap my mind around why that one mermaid/merman/merwhatever chose to help you.

[Tupolev144]

One thing I noticed is that all humans you can control are just there, doing nothing, as if they haven't their own minds, ready for 'use'. With one exception: there's a guy using a yellow helmet, cleaning the floor, showing signs of an active mind, until ou come along and he gets hooked like the others.

[tumppu]

Originally posted by Bocomoco:

One thing I noticed is that all humans you can control are just there, doing nothing, as if they haven't their own minds, ready for 'use'. With one exception: there's a guy using a yellow helmet, cleaning the floor, showing signs of an active mind, until ou come along and he gets hooked like the others.

There are few spots in the game, where it seems various npcs act "out of their type", like what happens before you gain waterbreathing (if you can call it that). Is there some method to their "madness", or is that just lazy storytelling utilizing various deus ex machinae, I don't know.

The hidden ending is sort of cop out if you think it's just the kid severing himself from the players control. If you however think that's the blobs hive-mind turning off and hence there no longer being a puppetmaster (which you as the player are representing while playing the game) than it makes more sense. I'd like to think that's what the designers went for, considering there are hints to it right there in the bunker, like the picture of the blob hanging in the room with sphere #2.

Any sort of meta references to real life are of course anyones personal interpretation, but picturing mankind as puppets being pushed around and toyed with by our corporate and political overlords is not THAT far fetched.

[AlphaMoon]

Originally posted by Bocomoco:

Any sort of meta references to real life are of course anyones personal interpretation, but picturing mankind as puppets being pushed around and toyed with by our corporate and political overlords is not THAT far fetched.

It's beyond "not far fetched", it's reality.

[Jornam]

I agree with the hive mind theory, but

Originally posted by AlphaMoon_:

I still can't wrap my mind around why that one mermaid/merman/merwhatever chose to help you.

this is still an inconsistency imo, as well as the researchers who helped the blob escape. Any ideas?

[AlphaMoon]

Originally posted by Jornam:

I agree with the hive mind theory, but

Originally posted by AlphaMoon_:

I still can't wrap my mind around why that one mermaid/merman/merwhatever chose to help you.

this is still an inconsistency imo, as well as the researchers who helped the blob escape. Any ideas?

Well, the reason the researchers helped the blob "escape" seems to be to get it into that one inground holding cell, but they didn't plan on it being able to break out of that one too.

[Chill]

Originally posted by AlphaMoon_:

I still can't wrap my mind around why that one mermaid/merman/merwhatever chose to help you.

I don't know that it did. I took it as a scripted reveal that our player avatar is not as human as he appears to be. I also took it as a necessary scenario explanation for why you are now suddenly drownproof for the water cieling puzzles.

[hayaku]

I have watched the full walkthrough again,and have some details want to point out.I will reference a time in the video,and Boy = the boy you control.

Animal

5:09 - there are some fish(?) in the background,why don't they stay around Boy like the chicks and fish follow you?Unless they are not fish or just too far to be affected.

6:53 - you see chicks notice you from a far distance,that's the scope you can attract animals. Another question here,where are the chickens,only chicks you see here.

9:24 - why are the pigs has no reaction to Boy?They don't seem to care about Boy at all,even if Boy touch them,one pig shake a bit and stand still.Is that they have worms inside so they can't react?Take a look at 11:37,a pig likely with no worms act naturally.

11:23 - the pig is fine now,but why don't it follows you,you even got to force it to backward.

19:14 - trivial thing,when the bird fly away,a leaf falls.Is that usual you see a bird stick a leaf in accident?When did you stick a leaf under foot last time?There's no plants around which makes it weird.

13:34,16:58 - Dark Birds, They fly away like normal birds,but they are black, any reason?

White worms

9:04 - if pigs can be a host,can Boy be a host,or is it because Boy is different so he can't be a host for the worms?

10:15 - some white worms on ground,why are they here?

10:42 - may be when a pig with worm inside will get madness and attack people,but the pig keep attacking Boy in purpose,I wonder if it just get mad.
If so,how come something stick on your ass can control your mind.Otherwise it simply gets mad and keep chasing Boy.
Request for testing:what happens if you run back to the mug or on the wire,will the pig die,or stay away from mug?

Puppets

11:43 - notice the sound when one puppet falls on ground.Did he shouted or sound of landing?If he shouted,does he feel hurt?

12:46 - there are puppets in the background,where is the guard who monitor them?There's also no driver on the truck.May be he's behind the truck who using flashlight.

19:24 - Three things to notice,
The fallen puppet,who is easily get influenced by you and never getting up again.Of course,may be you just hit him too hard.

All puppets was moving in period,until you get in.So the one who control all puppets quickly realize something went wrong and stop all puppets moving.How the system found out this?The sound?or from the puppet you fell on,so do puppet have feeling(physical)?

The system doesn't check all puppets to see if you follow the rhythm,it just watches on you.Which means if there are no puppets around,it can still check whether you follow its order or not.

20:53 - I found a visual glitch,watch carefully how puppets turn back with their legs.They lift right leg first,but end up landing right leg at the end.Here's a better view[gfycat.com]

Mind Control
12:05
15:46

Light Tube

16:20- The light tube represent the word REC.May be as other says,it's just a clue to guide you finding the secret.But one thing I concern,the R word.
Perhaps the R word was facing outside,like the C. Then may be a typhoon or whatever blows it to fall,but,how it falls through the poles?May be a plot hole.
Notice,at the first letter,there's no middle pole.
17:29 - here you see another broken light tube,what could be the origin word?It doesn't seem like rec,and the first letter also has no middle pole.There are two light tubes on the roof.
No clues about this.

The government(against)

20:26 - it's not showing on this video,but if you failed here you got caught.One thing I notice is, the people around there doesn't feel surprise at all,like it usually happen.

20:46 - there are a boy and a staff at the right side,which seems like father and son,which is a bit off.If you are having a job,would you like to bring your child besides you,watching you?I don't think so.

__________
May continue this when I have time.

[Jornam]

Damn son, that's a lot.

Well, I think the mind control of the hive mind on the boy has to be stronger than other puppets since it's clearly superior in every way. So maybe it's so strong it affects small life forms that get too close (that's why it doesn't affect the pigs). The worms probably don't affect the boy since he's already hosting someone.

Originally posted by pp00p:

All puppets was moving in period,until you get in.So the one who control all puppets quickly realize something went wrong and stop all puppets moving.How the system found out this?The sound?or from the puppet you fell on,so do puppet have feeling(physical)?

I think the guards/employees are simply testing the puppets here to see how the hive mind holds up. And no, puppets don't seem to be alive, since they don't get up when the mind control stops, so they won't scream or feel pain.

Originally posted by pp00p:

there are a boy and a staff at the right side,which seems like father and son,which is a bit off.If you are having a job,would you like to bring your child besides you,watching you?I don't think so.

Bring-your-kid-to-work day. Done.