Did you like the ending? (Spoilers, duh)

[Rainbowkisses42]

Fran Bow is one of the best adventure games I've ever played, but the ending left me dissapointed.

Most of chapter 5 was great. The madhouse's extremely surreal style had a real sense of finality to it. But then it makes the odd decision to go for a lighter, more comdeic tone with the penultimate puzzle in the wating room.

Things also felt a little rushed at the end. Character are haphazardly brought in and removed from the story. Oswald needed to play a larger role earlier on for his involvement to have any impact. The nurse is supposedly killed without any real dramatic weight to her death. And the psychiatrist getting possessed and having to have his memory erased seems more like a sloppy last minute way to tie things up than it did a moment of real thematic significance.

But most importantly, I think there needed to be some sense of closure with the dynamic between Remor and Fran. She didn't have to neccessarily defeat him. Just let us know how she is willing to handle the darkness for the rest of her life if she has to. This was a central throughline of the game's plot, so why is it brushed aside so quickly?

I want to make it clear that I think the game as a whole has fantastic writing. The last few moments were simply lackluster in my opinion.

But those are just my thoughts. What did other people think?

[Aeternull]

There's so much of the ending that I did not understand. For all I know, at the end of Chapter 4 Fran herself knocked the Doc out with the shovel.

She tied him up, and when you use the red thing on him, you can see Fran's thoughts with an evil laugh. And when Fran jumps on Aunt Grace, you can hear a demon's laugh at the background.

I think Fran is a phycotic killer but instead of seeing the things she does as bloody and gruesom, she see's them in a colorful fluffy way.

IDK I'm just throwing words out there. But the ending doesn't give much without knowing whats going on.

[Natural Puppy]

Yeah I was kind of hoping for an otherworldly confrontation after it was revealed Fran was the Keeper of the key since I figured the antagonists' motivation was that they were trying to make sure she didn't fulfill her role, but who knows?

@duck: I think the demon's laugh was meant to indicate she was being manipulated by Remor again. Otherwise strangling Aunt Grace seemed really out of character to me.

[Stigma]

Originally posted by Itward:

Yeah I was kind of hoping for an otherworldly confrontation after it was revealed Fran was the Keeper of the key since I figured the antagonists' motivation was that they were trying to make sure she didn't fulfill her role, but who knows?

@duck: I think the demon's laugh was meant to indicate she was being manipulated by Remor again. Otherwise strangling Aunt Grace seemed really out of character to me.

Really? It seemed out of character after you saw her stabbing her parents?

[pinkmellow]

I agree that the ending felt rushed, I was even somewhat blindsided by it. They say it was to leave things up to interpretation, but I felt like there were just plotholes.

[Mr_Gorbins]

I feel like this has to be continued... I mead in the end they did say that they have a lot to do.

[Mademoiselle Karma]

I didn't like the ending or how cryptic everything was. I still enjoyed the game... to a degree... but comparing it to a similar game.... I liked Cat Lady like 10.000 times more.

[xDreamlessNightx]

Originally posted by Mademoiselle Karma:

I didn't like the ending or how cryptic everything was. I still enjoyed the game... to a degree... but comparing it to a similar game.... I liked Cat Lady like 10.000 times more.

I totally agree, the ending for Cat Lady was better - more fulfilling - and the storyline was clearer as well. I think that the problem with Fran Bow was that it sets a target for the player to follow and try to achieve (finding the killer) but the ending was rushed and there was no truth to who the killer was. Even if they wanted it to be up to interpretation, I believe that the game should've given more clues as to the truth and why, since it was repeated so much before that Fran had to find the truth. If it was Fran, why did she do it? I wouldn't like to believe that the answer would be 'just because she was crazy'. Why is the cat treated like a traitor, and no longer talks by the end? Arrgh, so many questions left unanswered! However, I did love the game and it's disturbing symbolisms and ethical aspects, especially chapter 1, 2 and 3. The slow progression into delusion was excellentally executed and the asylum and twins sent chills down my spine!

[galacticcorgi]

Oswald was hinted at right at the beginning with the "box full of lies." Someone had to be giving those orders, and wasn't it convenient that Aunt Grace was alive and well and was keeping Fran there/giving Fran the thing to get on with her adventure?

[Sigh Man Vanz]

I was also disappointed by the ending, at least initially. I felt like I was left with a lot of unanswered questions about what really happened to Fran's parents, what the apparent conspiracy was surrounding her medication, if the fantastical things she was seeing were real, etc.

Then I read the other thread on these forums called "Ending Interpretations" (I believe it's pinned) and read about some people's idea that the game deliberately leaves things ambiguous re: whether Fran is actually connected to another world or just a crazy murderer. I began to appreciate the ending more because (a) I felt less stupid for not totally "getting" what happened, and (b) I thought it was an intriguing spin on things.

I'm looking forward to playing the game again once the trading cards come out, this time bearing in mind that there's two (or more) possible interpretations to everything I'm seeing, instead of just waiting for the One Answer at the end. (Though I like Fran so much as a character, I really don't want to think of her as a possible killer)

[Guathix]

at the end, my only thought was this...
"I don't know whats real anymore"
No joke, since this game, i don't know whats real in life anymore...

[Stigma]

Originally posted by Guathix:

at the end, my only thought was this...
"I don't know whats real anymore"
No joke, since this game, i don't know whats real in life anymore...

I don't think Fran herself knew what was real anymore after takling all those pills in such a short amount of time..

[Maralyndia]

Yes and no. It was left on a cliffhanger. Nothing was really solved or explained. I mean, yes, Fran's ability was explained, but they just go into a door and fly away? What happens next!? D= I kinda hope there's a 2nd game cuz it didn't feel like everything was wrapped up story-wise.

[Guathix]

Originally posted by dodogfordervelse:

Originally posted by Guathix:

at the end, my only thought was this...
"I don't know whats real anymore"
No joke, since this game, i don't know whats real in life anymore...

I don't think Fran herself knew what was real anymore after takling all those pills in such a short amount of time..

No, after playing this game, and seeing so many things that are NOT in the real world (What i would assume is) Its just ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ with my mind.

[Stigma]

Originally posted by GamingGoddess32:

Yes and no. I felt like it was left on a cliffhanger. Nothing was really solved or explained. I mean, yes, Fran's ability was explained, but they just go into a door and fly away? What happens next!? D= I kinda hope there's a 2nd game cuz it didn't feel like everything was wrapped up story-wise.

Not to be rude, but what's not to understand? Fran is dead and going to the afterlife.. Happy or Sad ending? You be the judge..

[InfiniteSky]

I think a lot was revealed when the doctor and Fran where driving to the graveyard. First off Fran knew about the Clara and Mia case without any prior knowledge about it before, only cause of the pills and the doctor said that the twins where having the same delusions about Itward as Fran was. Even given the fact that it was Dr. Oswald that sewed them together and not Itward.

Also Fran brought up an incident that had happened in the Dr's past involving his father and a knife that theres no way she could have possibly known about. Also her ability to interact with things in the pill world that actually have an impact in the real world (example placing the key on the rack without the nurse noticing her, or grabbing the fire berries from the tree.) Even though near the end of the game it's hard to distinguish what is real and what isn't.

It seems far fetched that all the delusions she's been seeing are actually real but there's a lot of things that make me second guess that.