An Incomplete Story: Annoying Ambiguities

            Welcome.  I'd like to start off by saying that there will be HEAVY spoilers in this particular article for Silent Hill 2, Our Darker Purpose, Binding of Isaac, Braid, and Dark Souls.  This is your ONLY warning.  We are going to be talking story in this section and if you don't want anything spoiled, I'd say give this article a pass.

No complaining after this point.

            There.  With that out of the way, I want to talk a little about Our Darker Purpose.  It's an interesting rogue-like shooter in the vein of The Binding of Isaac that follows a character who can move in a top down perspective and shoot in any of the four cardinal directions.  I backed it on kickstarter and only recently got to playing and finishing it.  Well, I say finished it, but it's super hard, so I took a peak at the ending.  And...I like Our Darker Purpose.  I do.  It's creepy, it's fun, and save for some hitbox issues, the mechanics are rock solid.  However, I'm highly disappointed with the story.  Mainly because the ending kind of...comes out of left field and doesn't leave any closure.

Creepy and disturbing, but without a definite conclusion.  So close to the finish line, Our Darker Purpose.  So close.

            Our Darker Purpose follows the story of a boarding school called Edgewood that is basically Silent Hill.  One day, one of the teachers leaves three students in control of his class as he goes to talk to the shadowy administrators of the school.  Suddenly, all the teachers in the school vanish and the Lord of the Flies scenario commences.  Students divide up amongst respective leaders, but the powerful and the popular work together to destroy the outcasts.  The leader of the outcasts, Cordelia, is crushed under a book case...only to awaken with the school now in full on feral mode.  Monsters roam the halls, students have turned insane, and her betrayers wait for her at higher levels.  It's an interesting setup with great atmosphere.  The story starts out with a bang, there's lots of hidden lore to discover, and Cordelia, Cordy, seems to be searching for an answer as to what the hell happened.  However, as you progress in the game, the story becomes less coherent, hinting that there is some meta-plot underneath the surface.  And...that's kind of the problem.

The game's story is a little off the wall from the start, but when we start to lose focus on Cordy's story and turn focus on the meta-narrative...we kind of lose a piece of what makes the game endearing.

            See, Our Darker Purpose relies a bit too heavily on the meta-narrative and the ambiguity that accompanies this hidden part of the game.  After the first few bosses, the hidden part takes center stage and things become less coherent.  Cordy's battles constantly loop and the stories recognize this, saying things like "What is a memory of a memory?" or "It will all start again."  The administrators talk about Cordy like some kind of monster or curse.  And the final boss is called "His Natural Defense."  After beating it, Cordelia seems to lose control, multiply, and there is some weird cackling and talk about things that don't make sense, and then the game ends...quite unsatisfactorily, I must say.  It leaves players scratching their heads, but not in the contemplative way.  I ends in the "What the hell just happened?" way.  Steam forum users put together the theory that Edgewood represents a human mind of a character referenced in the lore and that everything in Edgewood is a reflection on his past, when he was in an orphanage and tormented by girls like Cordy and her former friends.  That Cordy is actually a virus, infecting this guy's brain and that the school is trying to shut her down, but she keeps multiplying.  Now, this is a fascinating idea.  It's a well thought out meta plot that could have been a lot of fun for people to discover.  However, it leaves the plot we started with, about a quiet girl, betrayed and left for dead, in the dust when...really, it shouldn't.

Rather than the journey ending with a satisfying conclusion, Our Darker Purpose shows us Cordy splitting into a thousand other Cordys, heading towards some dark goal.  Perhaps truth in advertising, but not a fulfilling or even coherent ending.

            I saw Edgewood as a place of punishment, like Silent Hill in Silent Hill 2.  It's got reflections of humanity, meant to test Cordy so that she can come out stronger.  Delightfully creepy, but with something grounded, so to speak.  However, we never get an answer as to whether the above theory, or my own interpretation is right.  The developers leave it open.  And that's very annoying.  Some ambiguity in a game is great, in my opinion.  It can help make people think about the world of the game, it can make them contemplative on messages within it, and it can leave room for further explanation in a sequel.  However, you have to have a concrete ending in order for the game to feel satisfying.  Even if the ending isn't that great, we need closure on the character we've carried this far.  Even if that closure is death, like in Outlast or Amnesia.

            Case in point, Dark Souls.  You are told from the start that you are the chosen undead and that it is your goal to rekindle the dying flames of the first fire to restore light and warmth to the world and end the curse of the undead.  Now, you don't have to do this.  There are several interesting ambiguities hidden in the world, like plot lines that are only available if you go to certain places in the right order.  You can learn of the corruption of New Londo and Oolacile, or about the Dark Soul itself, or even see that the quest you have been given was rigged from the start, but no matter how or what you discover, the game ends with you making a choice.  A concrete choice that will either burn you in the first fire to revive it or make you the new dark lord of the undead, ending your personal saga with a satisfying conclusion.  It is your story...choose to end it your way.

To rule the world or to save it, whatever your choice, you get an ending.  A satisfying one.

            And this is what I want to ask of developers.  Please, I know you want to be clever.  To do some interesting things with the plot that others haven't.  I encourage you to do so wholeheartedly, because while I was annoyed with Our Darker Purpose's ending, I can't say I wasn't impressed with the care put into making it the way it was through the lore...once I pieced things together.  But I shouldn't have to piece things together if I don't want to.  It's great to have that ambiguity and those hidden elements, but give us a concrete ending as well.  Here, let me show you how it could have worked. 

Cordelia defeats Edgewood's final defenses and the school crumbles around her.  Instead of restoring order, she has destroyed the only home she has ever known and is now alone.  She must venture forward into the wastes surrounding the school and see if she can find her way. 

            Still fits in well with the theme of Cordy being a disease, as she's eroded her host's mind and now she's got nothing really left to do.  He's lost it and now he's crazy, so what is left for her?  It works on both levels.  And more importantly, it brings Cordy's character arc to a close.

This game started with Cordy.  Even if this is all one big meta-narrative about disease and childhood trauma, I think it should end with Cordy too.  Her story, her game.  Everything else is for us to speculate on.  Just my opinion, but still...

            That's really what I'm asking for with this.  I want it to work on both levels.  Binding of Isaac, for example, is all about grotesque imagery and a rather macabre take on the religious story of the same name, where Abraham was going to sacrifice his son Isaac because of god.  Isaac's religious fanatic mother goes crazy, strips him of his clothes and worldly possessions, and then tries to kill him.  Isaac has to scurry away into the basement, finding his deformed brethren and coming face to face with inner demons before an act of god saves him from his mother, while still leaving room open for Isaac to come to terms with his own human weakness and corruption.  It's got plenty of grey area on what the hell is happening, but it gives us at least a complete story.  Isaac's story.

I may not like Binding of Isaac, but it at least keeps the story focused on Isaac and gives us a decent conclusion to his character arc.

            Silent Hill 2 is probably the king of symbolism and is steeped with ambiguity.  James Sunderland finds himself in a town covered in mist and inhabited by monsters.  On the surface, these are just faceless abominations, but the more you know about the game, the more they reflect a different part of James' psyche and how they explain more subtle parts of the story.  Even without understanding the symbolism behind them, they still make for an interesting attention grabber and work towards the player understanding that James feels guilty and is an unreliable narrator.  He killed his wife out of pity and grief, because she was dying and the town of Silent Hill is punishing him for that, making him come face to face with Pyramid Head, an executioner, to symbolically face his sins as a killer, before finally making peace with his wife and either choosing to overcome grief or choosing to be subsumed by it.  There's lots of areas that are never properly explained in the game, but they don't get in the way of the story because the ambiguity enhances it in a subtle way, rather than in a direct, immediate way.

James Sunderland.  Murderer.  Mercy Killer.  After a grueling battle with his own inner demons, he finally comes to terms with his past.  Though the ending can change based on his struggle, they still bring his story and his arc to a close.

            If you want to have a twist or an allegory or a metaphor running throughout your game, feel free, developers.  Braid did this with lots of quotes and lines about the nuclear age and how the hero's quest for the damsel, which it turned out was actually him chasing her like a stalker, only in reverse due to the game's time manipulation mechanic, mirrors our own dangerous fascination about nuclear power and how it can destroy or corrupt.  How our forcing the use of nuclear power and calling it justice, under a pretense of idealism, could ultimately turn us into the real monsters.  However, Braid, without even using words or what have you, was able to visually tell a compelling little story that had an ending.  It may not have been the ending we wanted, as we were now revealed to be the bad guy, but it made things clear and we had a concrete finish.

This is from Braid.  It is part of the story, but also part of the metaphor.  Have your message or your ambiguity, but your story must come first.  Braid at least understood that much.

            Ambiguity can really work with a game if the developers know what they're doing and clearly Avidly Wild Games did, as they were able to do a huge amount with Our Darker Purpose's lore.  However, if a game is trying to tell a story, but fails, it matters little how in depth the lore is, because we won't feel invested in revisiting it because we don't care for the story.  Our Darker Purpose avoids this, if only because it's so damned confusing at points.  However, it's something to be aware of.

            This isn't a hard problem to fix.  I think that most people never do fix it in game development though because they either don't think about it, it makes sense to them at the time, or because they don't see a problem with the game having this big branching meta-narrative that doesn't actually get properly explained enough to take the place of the narrative we started with.  However, fixing it is easy...all you have to do is be aware of it.  Be aware of your meta-narrative and make it work WITH your plot rather than taking over your plot.

Know what story you want to tell and don't stray from it.  If you want to tell Cordy's story, tell it.  If you want her to be a metaphor for a disease, let that be your lead.  But whatever story you tell, don't let another story sidetrack it.

            On the whole, this isn't a big thing with Our Darker Purpose because of how devoted the fans are and because of how interesting the story is when it all comes together, but it could have been a huge problem.  There's really nowhere outside that one Steam forum that goes into detail about this, not even on the Wiki, so it could have left players feeling confused and possibly angry.  My plea is not to take the lore or the ambiguity out of gaming, but to use them as the supports for the pillar that is story.  The story stands on its own, but with the supports helping it, it has a stronger presence overall.

            I want a story that's not just deep or steeped in lore, but one that's also complete.  Show me a story that's the greatest of all and I'll listen without hesitation.  Show me a story that's the greatest of all but which has not ending and I'll leave without a second thought.  Characters and audiences need closure.  It's just part of being human.

Perhaps this just hits me hard because I'm a writer and story is my bread and butter.  But I hate it when a character we've grown attached to is cast aside for some twist or metaphor.

            There now...that wasn't too bad.  I did try and keep some spoilers to a minimum.  I thank anyone who's stuck with me through this.  Sometimes it feels like this blog is a mouth piece for whatever I'm thinking about video games and game design at the time.  And it kind of is...but I hope others find it fun too.  I literally just thought of this article and how interconnected it was with my expectations and other games I'd played not more than two days ago.  Regardless, I hope you enjoyed it.