[SPOILERS] Discussing the endings

[Ctrl Alt Del]

Okay, so I've found two endings (out of possibly just two, I guess, would love if someone could confirm if there are more).

In one you take the mixture of that hallucinogenic plant beside Dr Faust's corpse, collapse then find yourself in his house where he utters that he has found the answers he was looking for beneath a desert - presumably the catacombs with the constellation puzzle which collapses you were in just a few scenes ago. The ending's name is also "conarionaut", which hints at what it probably mean. But what happens exactly? My understanding is that the main character keeps shifting his consciousness through time.

The other ending you ignore the hallucionogenic, move forward into the ruins until you reach this weird structure which teleport you somewhere else. But you do seem to turn into a lizard of some sort, prolly the same lizard people you've been meeting along the way. Again, I'm not entirely sure what happened here. Did you shift your consciousness to the far past in a Lizard's body? Does that thing turn humans into lizards? (the statues hint that there were different kinds of lizards) Do you become a pawn to the Elder Ones?

If anyone has any inputs, please speculate away!

[Codemonkey]

Originally posted by 💜♂LittleCiddles♂💜:

(..)

I don't think the specter was actually a guardian of anything. Its just an entity that exists in another dimension thats not percepitble except by those who have dabbled in the means of being able to use something like the Conarium. (..)
Although it doesn't really explain what it is or what the motivation is behind it, its likely because its completely alien. It does what it does because thats what it does. Any further explanation is just irrelevant.

I don't know, it felt to me as if it was defending the place, though not very effectively.

Originally posted by 💜♂LittleCiddles♂💜:

As for the talking head, look up "Brazen Head."

Ok, got it. Thanks!

[♥*¨*★~Preda~★*¨*♥]

I just finished the game and I have a significant question:

Why does Frank wake up in the base all alone? Where is everyone, and why was a distress call sent out? The opening of the game doesn't make much sense, actually much less than the ending, which I kind of liked.

The expedition had a lot of crew working on it, alongside the 6 scientists (or however many there were), and even assuming that everyone went to explore the ruins underground, it's hard to believe the whole base would be completely deserted. Apart from some mess in the cantina, there isn't even signs of a disaster, everything is neatly packed and people's coats are still in their lockers.

And that wouldn't be so strange if you found more bodies. But you only find 3: one man in the Biolab, one man in the tomb under the base (no idea why he was even there) and Faust himself. Everyone else is nowhere to be found.

Apart from that, I think the game is more or less consistent story-wise. I suppose the "not benevolent presence" faust mentions as visiting him in the conarium sessions could be the same as the one Hansen was seeing (that he made scultures of) and perhaps even the dark shadowy figure you see around the base. The same person could be the presence talking back at you out of your deformed reflection near the end of the game. This could very likely be Yog-Sothoth, which is known in the Mythos as a guardian of absolute knowledge that tends to drive humans insane when they seek it out - just like Faust and Hansen were affected.

If anyone can add to this and maybe explain where the whole expedition crew went, I'd be grateful.

Originally posted by jeremyj621:

I'm guessing one of the "lizard men," though I'm trying to figure out where in the Mythos these creatures are referenced. I'm familiar with the Serpent People from the Mythos, though they primarily worshipped Yig. It's possible a few may have served the Elder Things. So could these be Serpent People in the game? The Serpent People were known to be highly technologically and magically advanced after all.

Basically this is my interpretation as well: in the end you become a lizard person, supposedly from the race mentioned in The Nameless City that had inhabited the desert city and had also lived on the antarctic continent after the elder things died off/went away.

Originally posted by 💜♂LittleCiddles♂💜:

As for the talking head, look up "Brazen Head."

Heyyy thanks for this. I suspected that Blake had built that thing based on knowledge he'd glimpsed in the conarium sessions (they mention talking to dead mystics and such) but I'm even more impressed that it is an actual myth

Originally posted by Codemonkey:

I think the ancient ones left bodies at each gateway that can handle the atmosphere there. Remember the monsters chasing you after being 'released' by that spectre? Those were everywhere frozen in some kind of living cement. I think those are receptacles similar to the body you get transferred into after entering the ancient conarium.

I always thought that was just some kind of guardian mummy, specimens of the lizard species preserved in the catacombs to serve as undead guardians.

Originally posted by Codemonkey:

What the hell is the guardian black cloud guardian in that tomb where you find the round disk that Faust keeps in his mansion's basement? Did the ancient ones put him there?

THAT is actually super easy. The "black cloud guardian" is a shoggoth, one of the blob monsters the Elder Things made as slaves. I think in the Mythos shoggoths are actually a pretty common servitor because although the Elder Things made it, they're also used in The Shadow Over Innsmouth and are mentioned in a host of other places.

I think it's very probable that the lizards had gotten a hold of one and left it to guard their sunken desert city.

[Master Tang]

Originally posted by ♥*¨*★~Preda~★*¨*♥:

And that wouldn't be so strange if you found more bodies. But you only find 3: one man in the Biolab, one man in the tomb under the base (no idea why he was even there) and Faust himself. Everyone else is nowhere to be found.

Apart from that, I think the game is more or less consistent story-wise. I suppose the "not benevolent presence" faust mentions as visiting him in the conarium sessions could be the same as the one Hansen was seeing (that he made scultures of) and perhaps even the dark shadowy figure you see around the base. The same person could be the presence talking back at you out of your deformed reflection near the end of the game. This could very likely be Yog-Sothoth, which is known in the Mythos as a guardian of absolute knowledge that tends to drive humans insane when they seek it out - just like Faust and Hansen were affected.

If anyone can add to this and maybe explain where the whole expedition crew went, I'd be grateful.

You see one human being sacrificed by the reptiles at the alter where you find the knife.

When you see the flash backs and very very old remains of humans turn up, they have been there from a time before humans even probably walked on earth.

My guess is that people got killed while they were travling in space and time thanks to the machine and the drugs. A lot of the lovecraftian lore contains both devices and alien races that can project themselves through time and space, even switch bodies with other creatures in the past and the future with the help of machines or naturally. That's probably what happened in one of the endings, but we don't really know if you just travelled in time, in space (distans) or both.

I recommend reading "The Shadow Out of Time" by Lovecraft, it would probably make the games concept easier to "understand" if you're not into lovecraftian lore. :P

[InstableMonster]

Originally posted by evildrganymede:

I did the Ancient Conarium ending and thought it was incredibly anticlimactic. Weird stuff happens, you become/merge with a Serpent Person, and that's it. It's just too short, there's no time for what happens to really sink it and then the end credits start. What I've seen of the D'Versahe ending has the same issue - you wake up earlier in time and that's it. No denoument or conclusion really, just abrupt endings in both cases.

After the frustrations I had earlier in the game with the chase sequences, this felt really unsatisfying to me.

welcome to lovecraft, every story ends with more question and he mostly did short stories, you always want more

[forbett]

My interpretation of the second ending is that Frank simply died and his last thought is a memory of how everything started. Dr. Faust said: "Else [so if you don't head on and use the Ancient Conarium] consume some of this. It will ease your pain but eventually you will end up like me..." And he is, well, dead.

[WhyNotZoidberg]

One of the above speculations hits me as pretty much right, given lovecraft's work and the cthulhu mythos.

1.) Retain your humanity, but die. Spellwork and mythos knowledge grinds one's humanity away. That's why all grand mages in the mythos are clinically insane or not human to begin with.

2.) Shed your humanity by casting yourself into a new body that is beyond these limitations. Sacrificing your humanity (your soul, if you will) for great power. Sacrificing life/humanity for power is a common theme in Lovecraft's work, so is transformation and putting one into the service of the outer gods for a shred of their power.

No ending is really good. As expected. Number 1 pretty much means you shouldn't dabble with the unknown powers that lie behind the veil of our understanding of nature and if you do so, you will die.

Number 2 essentially is just the extra mile. You already dabbled in things beyond your reasoning, you sacrificed already, now you just shed your final weight and fully embrace the knowledge and truth of the universe.

I could be wrong though, but having had quite a bit of experience with the cthulhu mythos via RPG and books, this seems about right. There are no good endings in cthulhu. There is death or worse, if you played your cards right, your death means something. Otherwise, well, thank you for coming, turn off the light on your way out.

Psyringe pretty much said that already and it's in lieu with HPL's work and most books stemming off it.

[Darth Biomech]

I understand lovecraftian themes, but I don't really understand why transformation into different body means complete change of your, well, let's call it "essense" or "soul". Yeah you changed your body. Yeah you was thrown into unfamiliar world. Nothing of this means that you will abandon your "humanity". Well, or maybe such thing is hard to implement in a FPS game, how would the player know that the character got his mind shredded and replaced?

[WhyNotZoidberg]

Because most creatures in the mythos defy our logic and see the universe with a different mindset. I explained it above. An alien body means an alien brain, which works differently. So if you transit into a lizard creature of the mythos, you are highly likely physically and chemically unable to feel empathy or the likes. So that definitely changes the person you are. And mythos knowledge grinds away your humanity. Something I also said. And hence you acquire a lot of it in the game in little time = insanity galore.

And quite frankly, it's pretty obvious how your character drifts away from a normal mindset by having weird out of body experiences and goes slowly "mad". The devs made that part pretty obvious. If you struggle with that concept, you have to read more between the lines. If they make it more explicit, the mythos kinda loses its charm.

So the answer to your question "how would the player know" is literally: by playing the game and using their big boy brain.

[Ninzus]

Originally posted by Darth Biomech:

I understand lovecraftian themes, but I don't really understand why transformation into different body means complete change of your, well, let's call it "essense" or "soul". Yeah you changed your body. Yeah you was thrown into unfamiliar world. Nothing of this means that you will abandon your "humanity". Well, or maybe such thing is hard to implement in a FPS game, how would the player know that the character got his mind shredded and replaced?

Actually our "Humanity" is bound to our Anatomy, with a vastly different Brain, Brain Chemistry and Body Composition you would lose that Humanity pretty fast, feeling like you carry the thoughts of someone else with you

[Darth Biomech]

Usually those stories do not take materialistic point of view though, and assume the existence of a "soul". In which case switching the bodies shouldn't really have any effects on you, since you are your "soul", not your brain structure. Although, well, I can see the reasoning, and it sounds plausible.

[PuppyFiddler]

Just did the "bowl" ending..and it was good because the game ended. Couldn't be arsed trying the other one as I can guess it's also meh. There really is very little depth to the gameplay or story. Weird things happen, you get transported across time and space. Cool story bro....

[unfug666]

Originally posted by ♥*¨*★~Preda~★*¨*♥:

I just finished the game and I have a significant question:

Why does Frank wake up in the base all alone? Where is everyone, and why was a distress call sent out? The opening of the game doesn't make much sense, actually much less than the ending, which I kind of liked.

The expedition had a lot of crew working on it, alongside the 6 scientists (or however many there were), and even assuming that everyone went to explore the ruins underground, it's hard to believe the whole base would be completely deserted. Apart from some mess in the cantina, there isn't even signs of a disaster, everything is neatly packed and people's coats are still in their lockers.

And that wouldn't be so strange if you found more bodies. But you only find 3: one man in the Biolab, one man in the tomb under the base (no idea why he was even there) and Faust himself. Everyone else is nowhere to be found.

Here's what I think - the beginning of the game makes perfect sense - you'll remember that the game doesn't actually start with you at the base, but with a dreamlike sequence of you in a weird place talking to Doctor Faust. My interpretation of that is that you've done this before - that the Conarium ending throws you back in time. Not to the exact same spot, but always back to rinse and repeat. And yeah, it doesn't make sense that the base is totally empty - someone should be left behind to mind communications. But, you know, that might have been Frank. He's the one who stayed behind, and then his future self is looped back into his body and gets the memory wipe. If you read the documents you find, you'll learn that he's actually in a bad spot health-wise, that while best at navigating the Conarium (Faust calls him "the most gifted") it also takes the most toll on him. So him staying behind to rest and recuperate while also serving as comm maintainer makes sense. The Cosmic Explorer ending seems to be the only way to break the cycle.

As for not finding the bodies - they might have been eaten or dragged away to inaccessible places. Or they died in the cave-in Faust mentions and are buried under the rubble. The coats are in the lockers because they didn't go outside, they just went down. Where it seems to be warmer. Plants don't grow below 5°C (it's got to do with how water density works) so it's at least that warm and they don't need thick winter coats made for -20.

Edit: I just thought of another reason why you don't find more bodies - the paths you and the expedition use diverge after the trip with the sub. Faust mentions a cave-in and warns you against following the expedition's path - that's why you have to find an alternative route and solve all the ancient puzzles. You don't find more corpses because you didn't go where they went.

[TheMilkM4n]

personally i think that the second ending is you getting your human body destroyed and your consciousness is transfered into those lizard creatures, but what i think about those creatures is that they live between time and space, which is why you saw them in the ruins and why when you get the second ending you transform into one, you have the perfect body for these conditions and it was chosen by the "Elder Creature" (i think its related to Cthululu)

[unfug666]

Originally posted by matmaccc21:

personally i think that the second ending is you getting your human body destroyed and your consciousness is transfered into those lizard creatures, but what i think about those creatures is that they live between time and space, which is why you saw them in the ruins and why when you get the second ending you transform into one, you have the perfect body for these conditions and it was chosen by the "Elder Creature" (i think its related to Cthululu)

Yes, you become one of those people, but no, the Elder Things aren't related to Cthulhu. They were a race of advanced aliens who colonised Earth millions of years ago before humanity even happened as a species. They were good at genetic engineering and created the Shoggoths to be their slaves - but eventually those rebelled and that led to the decline of Elder Things culture on Earth. As a civilisation they settled on many planets and led wars with the Yith, the Mi-Go, and the Chthulhi.

Gods, the Lovecraft mythos is an awesome, complex thing.

[WhyNotZoidberg]

Originally posted by unfug666:

Gods, the Lovecraft mythos is an awesome, complex thing.

Yep. Also, nice nickname.