Ending and Story Discussion (Spoilers)

[Brackhar]

Spoilers follow, obviously.


So, after finishing the game, I feel that I ultimately ended up loosing the thread of what the story was trying to tell. There seems to be a lot of conflicting information, and some major plot points that do not appear to have any setup present. Now, I fully admit that I wasn't able to open either the safe in my locker, or find all of the items in my datapad, but after playing the game through I was left with more questions than answers.

Most importantly, the main thing I no longer am sure of is if the space station is literally there, or allegorical. There are a lot of inconsistencies that don't make sense from the perspective of it actually being a thing, but there's also stuff that reasonably establishes that it is a place. In no particular order, here are a bunch of questions I was left with:

Why is the main character's name redacted throughout the ship, and why is she the only person on board that didn't have a crew contract on the captain's desk? Since she doesn't appear to know where she is, or what the mission is, it's possible she's not supposed to be there (or the ship isn't real), but then again there is a redacted letter from the captain that refers to her as a collegue. This is the main thing for me that makes me question whether the setting is allegorical or not.

Why is the main character so focused on going home, when she learned that she'd been in space for 83 years and everyone she knew would be dead? If she was supposed to be on the ship, she should have potentially been briefed on this possibility. Space travel is difficult and dangerous, yo.

Why would it only take 9 months for her to get home after adjusting the engines, when again she had been in space for 83 years?

Why is she receiving emails that most likely are phone text messages after the communication is cut? Since the AI recognizes the reception then the messages can't only be in her head, unless the whole game is in her head.

What is the cube, where did it come from, why does it shrink when touched, and what role does it play? "The cube can rebuild everything" is the only note I was able to find in relation to its purpose, but that doesn't really say or do too much.

Is the reason the crew can not be awoken because they're already dead? The scratchmarks on the wall of deck 1 imply that someone had been awake for a very long time, and you see ghost images of more than one crew member over your run. If the computer woke them up to have them assist the mission and then ultimately killed them, why was it so willing to allow the main character to abort it?

Who was the corpse in the tunnel section?

Does the "First Passenger" storylet relate at all to the story of this game?

Why does she have an old-school safe in her locker, and is it possible to open?


If the game is an allegory, then I think I can piece at least some of what is going on together. The main character ended up dating a person named Adam. Adam was physically abusive, and (I think) ended up dying in a fire in a cabin. Since the main character buried him in the woods, I have to presume that she felt responsible for the fire. As such this whole story is one about accepting and letting go of that guilt, maybe? But for such a major point, there's not a lot of focus on the circumstances of Adam's death, or even if the person who died in the cabin is Adam. Earlier the main character freaked out about Adam being dead due 83 years passing, so either she hadn't fully remembered what had happened by that point, or the person she was burying was not Adam.

I feel like there's a bigger story that this game is trying to tell, but honestly I ended up more confused than satisfied. Any additional insight would be appreciated.

[MARKUSS]

That's an exhaustive list! I would appreciate some answers too. The story is full of gaps and ambiguities. I didn't think of it like something in the head of the main character or methaphoric, but as a cruel AI torturing the crew via the cortical chip and playing with them as the AI of Portal. That would link with the prologue, but at the end the main character scapes with the advices of the AI and they get on well.

[Brackhar]

Yeah, I get the sense that the "First Passenger" bit was a proof of concept bit, and not actually relevant to the story at hand. Maybe it was a vertical slice they did in the past. I think this mostly because there are inconsistencies between that and the main game that aren't really resolvable.

In that context, I just think the AI was a slightly crueler/different character in the "First Passenger", and as such I don't particularly think that you can continue any malevolence into the full game.

[MARKUSS]

I agree. It seems obvious to me that the prologue was a vertical slice and the story was yet to be written. That only adds to the plot confusion. Still, a good game overall.

[crapstacular]

I think the plot has too much holes, which makes the experience slightly disconcerting. Essentially, I have no idea what's going on. I did enjoy exploring the ship though, but expected more answers.

[Johnny.JPG]

Hi! Johnny here, narrative designer of the game. First of all, thank you all for playing. I only wanted to say that there is no plot holes in the game as such. Sure its a tricky and dense plot with a lot of hidden information, but it is conceived that way. We didn't want a plot twist at the end of the game with Morgan Freeman explaining the plot to the audience, so to speak. Its up to you, the player, to unveil what is happening.

The prologue demo is indeed a vertical slice of the game but make no mistake, its plot is relevant for the main mystery and gives a lot of info and clues about it. It was written that way and it was written side by side with the main script.

There is some people that have contacted us with their theories and some of them are really close to what is happening so we think we did the game we wanted to make. We know it can be frustrating but we didn't want to treat you like you were a child. We wanted to make a truly mystery game and is up to you unvealing it.

Thanks again for playing and we're eager for reading more theories about The Fall of Lazarus :D

[Pédaloose]

Sorry to say that if you have to explain the plot in your post mortem article, seems like nobody get your script idea (or very few). I respect the direction you took for the narrative but it seems it only work for you. For me, in science fiction universe, lots of writers get lost in their universe and don't explain it very well to the audience. Not that you have to explain everything but you have to give keys to the audience. As I run though your game twice, the hints you let for us arent't enough. Like you were to far in the solar system when the players stand on earth... Just keep it simple doesn't mean you don't have a thoughtfull scenario with an open interpretation !

I don't want to be the hater. I really wanted to love your game and if it wasn't for the twisted plot, it would have been one of my favourite one. At the same level as Tacoma, Firewatch or Gone Home. And as I write this message and the review on the steam page, it seems I don't get you universe and you state of mind at all. I don't know why, I just want to explain to you that it tears my heart to see such a great game being absolutely spoiled. Spoiled because you wanted to think out of the box. Tricky game to make people think long enough after finishing the game.

I'm sorry to hear what happened to you, the game, the studio.
Hope you took the most of this experience because you did what most of the people would have given up from the start !


Gamers, if you want to understand what the plot is about, read this article about the struggle of the developpers[www.gamasutra.com]].
Here is the interesting part :

Publicado originalmente por The Mystery Box. Warning: massive spoilers of The Fall of Lazarus plot even for those who have already played it. Okay, now you’re advised, let me explain why I’m talking about The Mystery Box in both Right and Wrong sections. It’s simple: we told the story we wanted to tell. Our narrative revolves around an abused woman in a dystopian future where she’s suffering post traumatic stress and ends up killing her husband in order to survive. This pushes her to the edge of madness and decides to get help from a neurohacker who builds up a simulation where she can go through her duel and rewrite her memory to be able to be at peace with her life and move on. It’s a brutal story about gender abuse trying to awake player’s consciences but also a story about strength, self over coming and second chances. This simulated memory reconstruction therapy is what players experience while playing The Fall of Lazarus from start to finish, without cuts or cinematics, and that’s the final mystery to unravel. The missing piece. The few people who uncovered all of this were blown away by our story, and that’s really satisfying for us. Mission accomplished. [/quote:

[/spoiler]

[Kastuk]

Adam, Eva, gonna to build an Edem, got Cube Apple with hissing AI over head...
Nope, that's must be deeper.

Sorrow?
Don't do drugs!
Drop your burden away!
Return home!

Extinguisher's ride is great.