[SPOILERS] Thoughts on the endings [SPOILERS]

[sssawfish]

I'm writing this here both because the endings left me a little conflicted, but it also felt like something that shouldn't necessarily go into a review given how spoilery it is.

[SPOILERS PAST THIS POINT]

I find that in an odd way, Ending A and Z are two sides of a truly good ending coin.

On one side you have Ending A, which shows Haru confronting the reality of everything that he had forgotten, and being able to recognize that it's okay to keep going and move on from it because ultimately it is no fault of anyone in particular. But it also does still leave him with the fact that he remains alone and feels a need to desperately try to fit in with others.

On the other side you have Ending Z, which shows Haru being able to find someone who truly cares about him and realizing that he doesn't need to try so hard to fit in with others when he can just be happy by being himself. But it's also very clearly a rejection of the reality of what occurred, where rather than confronting the very real fact that Shion killed his own sister (and likely the boss too) out of a twisted sense of protecting Haru, Haru just completely forgets about a person he did truly care for just to be stuck in a make-believe world with Shion forever.

Maybe the two-sided nature of these endings is intentional, in which case, honestly I highly respect it and I think it's interesting to have these sorts of complex endings that lead the player to questioning what the best outcome truly was. But given how much weight is put on ending Z, I have the feeling this was unintentional. If that is the case, then it kinda just feels as if the dev (and I mean no disrespect when I say this, there are a lot of things I like about this game) either didn't really know how to give a proper happy ending, or have a distorted idea of romantic feelings that I take issue with.

Do not take this as me saying that I dislike this game. Like I said, I think that this ending dynamic can be really interesting and there are many other things I like about this game. Haru and Shion are interesting characters with an interesting dynamic. Considering how much slop there is in the psychological horror genre, I think the game pulls off those elements in a pretty good way given its smaller scope. But I think it's important to critically analyze these kinds of games, particularly since they often deal with what can be some fairly touchy subjects.

(P.S. Ending B needs a bit more dialogue, it kind of ended abruptly)

[AZRA3L The Eternal]

I'm enjoying the trend of visual novels tackling the nuances and shortcomings of codependency.

Do remember that Shion and Haru's relationship did not blossom from romantic feelings or love at first sight. It was rather from Shion's own desire to be loved after suffering a lonely childhood at the hands of his parents while his twin sister Aoi was being carefree and gleeful despite the punishments.

Shion figured that in order to be loved, he would need to be able to do anything for his partner which would be justified because he's doing it for their own good, right? This person would need to be weaker and sadder than Shion himself so much that an ounce of attention would make them cling onto him. That is sorta the gist I got from reading his diary at the apartment.

Haru fits that description perfectly as we can see his childhood of getting bullied, suffering under his manager, and fumbling Aoi due to his own self-deprecation. As we can see in Ending Z, which requires you to get more dependent on Shion and warm up to him, Haru enjoys Shion's company because it is literally the only good companionship he's had ever since Aoi.

So now it's come to this situation where both of them want to be loved, yet they can't really love themselves. Shion hates having thoughts of making Haru suffer just to comfort him and receive his affection while Haru hates himself for being such a pushover loser. Now they're stuck being co-dependent because they both are self-loathing and need each other to fill in that void of loneliness and despair.

Okay, now why did I say all that stuff?

Towards Ending Z, both Shion and Haru have the choice of leaving Saihate Station together peacefully back home into reality. What's stopping them?

The allure of staying bonded in Saihate Station for all eternity without need for food nor obligations for work seems too tempting for the boys. After all, it's not guaranteed that they'll stay together once they return to reality. Shion could end up reaping the consequences of his manslaughter while Haru ends up entrapped in a mundane cycle of work after getting too dependent on Shion. Obviously, they chose Ending Z because they can't live without each other.

That's how I intepret why Ending Z went down that route.

But to answer your other stuff, I agree that Ending A is perhaps the most healthy ending but it certainly isn't the most interesting one. It's the fact that Haru returns to work like normal and he pretty much forgets the events.

Ending Z sets up for the upcoming DLC which is set to explore Shion and Aoi's backstory. It may even lead to true happiness for Shion and Haru.

[sssawfish]

Originally posted by AZRA3L The Eternal:

I'm enjoying the trend of visual novels tackling the nuances and shortcomings of codependency.

Do remember that Shion and Haru's relationship did not blossom from romantic feelings or love at first sight. It was rather from Shion's own desire to be loved after suffering a lonely childhood at the hands of his parents while his twin sister Aoi was being carefree and gleeful despite the punishments.

Shion figured that in order to be loved, he would need to be able to do anything for his partner which would be justified because he's doing it for their own good, right? This person would need to be weaker and sadder than Shion himself so much that an ounce of attention would make them cling onto him. That is sorta the gist I got from reading his diary at the apartment.

Haru fits that description perfectly as we can see his childhood of getting bullied, suffering under his manager, and fumbling Aoi due to his own self-deprecation. As we can see in Ending Z, which requires you to get more dependent on Shion and warm up to him, Haru enjoys Shion's company because it is literally the only good companionship he's had ever since Aoi.

So now it's come to this situation where both of them want to be loved, yet they can't really love themselves. Shion hates having thoughts of making Haru suffer just to comfort him and receive his affection while Haru hates himself for being such a pushover loser. Now they're stuck being co-dependent because they both are self-loathing and need each other to fill in that void of loneliness and despair.

Okay, now why did I say all that stuff?

Towards Ending Z, both Shion and Haru have the choice of leaving Saihate Station together peacefully back home into reality. What's stopping them?

The allure of staying bonded in Saihate Station for all eternity without need for food nor obligations for work seems too tempting for the boys. After all, it's not guaranteed that they'll stay together once they return to reality. Shion could end up reaping the consequences of his manslaughter while Haru ends up entrapped in a mundane cycle of work after getting too dependent on Shion. Obviously, they chose Ending Z because they can't live without each other.

That's how I interpret why Ending Z went down that route.

But to answer your other stuff, I agree that Ending A is perhaps the most healthy ending but it certainly isn't the most interesting one. It's the fact that Haru returns to work like normal and he pretty much forgets the events.

Ending Z sets up for the upcoming DLC which is set to explore Shion and Aoi's backstory. It may even lead to true happiness for Shion and Haru.

So I should clarify something, when I listed "have a distorted idea of romantic feelings that I take issue with" as a possibility, I believed this to be highly unlikely, which I didn't clarify. And all of what you said shows that, that possibility is extremely unlikely.

That aside, I agree with everything you said. I think that the reason why Ending Z irked me a little bit is just how quickly and with no resistance Haru just brushes off everything that happened. I could understand if it was Shion acting in that way, but Haru for all that he's gone through, still clearly cared for Aoi on some level. And whilst the actions you take to reach Ending Z do naturally lead to Haru trusting Shion more, I don't feel it was anywhere near enough for him to just suddenly act like that. It just feels very uncharacteristic of him to just suddenly make a complete 180. I still think Haru would ultimately choose to remain with Shion in their make-believe world but the seemingly complete acceptance of it with no internal doubts just doesn't feel like Haru. Maybe the DLC will be able to put more perspective on it though.

Also while Ending A is obviously not the most interesting ending, I think it's still an interesting ending regardless. Sure the end result is just that he forgets everything, but the process of acceptance of what happened and learning to not blame himself for what are ultimately just unfortunate circumstances is interesting in my eyes.

[AZRA3L The Eternal]

Originally posted by sssawfish:

That aside, I agree with everything you said. I think that the reason why Ending Z irked me a little bit is just how quickly and with no resistance Haru just brushes off everything that happened. I could understand if it was Shion acting in that way, but Haru for all that he's gone through, still clearly cared for Aoi on some level. And whilst the actions you take to reach Ending Z do naturally lead to Haru trusting Shion more, I don't feel it was anywhere near enough for him to just suddenly act like that. It just feels very uncharacteristic of him to just suddenly make a complete 180. I still think Haru would ultimately choose to remain with Shion in their make-believe world but the seemingly complete acceptance of it with no internal doubts just doesn't feel like Haru. Maybe the DLC will be able to put more perspective on it though.

This one confused me too but I really just chalked it up to Haru being desperate to keep whatever peace of mind was left.

After all, he decided to help Shion, a coworker he had not talked to for two years, discard murder evidence after just witnessing it. He became an accessory to murder on a whim.

Also I agree that Aoi could have had more focus in Ending Z besides telling Haru to forgive her brother and being the last murder victim. It did feel off how Haru forgot why he wanted to look for Aoi in the ending so fast, I can't really explain that one.

Anyway I also think they could have emphasized the consequences of Shion and Haru's actions. As in, show the audience what would happen if they're caught for the murders back in the real world to reinforce their hesitation to leave.