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Originally Posted by mastermetal777
Glad you enjoyed the ride. How did you like the ending, btw? Without any spoilers, of course.
But having read through a summary of the story on the Wiki, and thinking a little more about it today, I'll say this about it:There are some interesting high-concept ideas going on, but the ending was a bit too convoluted and/or wasn't delivered as well as it could have been. There's an extended sequence of "interactive supposition," so to speak, where most of the game's reveals are thrown at you, even though much of it isn't set up very well as you progress through the game.
It's almost impossible to talk about it without spoilers, so here goes:
WARNING: "Bioshock: Infinite" spoilers below
I understand, and even sorta appreciate, the reveal that because of a very specific decision, Booker DeWitt unknowingly creates an alternate reality in which he becomes Father Comstock. The problem is, it's somewhat unclear as you play the game what DeWitt's story is and why he's even sent to Columbia. It's not until the very end that we learn literally everything, rather than putting it together along the way.
In the beginning, we know Booker is haunted by his actions at the Battle of Wounded Knee, and we learn that there was a mysterious female in his life—Anna—and we're supposed to assume it's a divorced or deceased love interest. But at the end, we learn that Booker's memories are completely skewed: he doesn't actually remember that Anna was his daughter, and that Comstock (or himself from another reality) took Anna away so she could be safeguarded from him.
All of this falls heavy and hard in the game's final moments, and like I mentioned, very little setup (aside from a few extremely vague dreamlike flashbacks to Booker's apartment the day he "gave up the girl") are afforded us. So that felt a bit too immediate and high-level for me, especially since the majority of the game is a fairly straightforward tale about navigating a civil war between the Founders and the Vox Populi.
In the beginning, we know Booker is haunted by his actions at the Battle of Wounded Knee, and we learn that there was a mysterious female in his life—Anna—and we're supposed to assume it's a divorced or deceased love interest. But at the end, we learn that Booker's memories are completely skewed: he doesn't actually remember that Anna was his daughter, and that Comstock (or himself from another reality) took Anna away so she could be safeguarded from him.
All of this falls heavy and hard in the game's final moments, and like I mentioned, very little setup (aside from a few extremely vague dreamlike flashbacks to Booker's apartment the day he "gave up the girl") are afforded us. So that felt a bit too immediate and high-level for me, especially since the majority of the game is a fairly straightforward tale about navigating a civil war between the Founders and the Vox Populi.
I also feel like it's another example of a video game ending that certainly has artistic value, but isn't much of a payoff for the player. Example:
WARNING: "Bioshock: Infinite" spoilers below
The designers obviously went to great lengths to ensure that you, the player, develop and experience a fairly organic relationship with Elizabeth, the companion character. She's so well fleshed out and the chemistry between she and Booker is so believable that you truly feel like you're forging ahead into danger and intrigue with another human being.
And then you get to the end, and all that personality that they infused into Elizabeth's character sorta melts away, and she becomes little more than a veritable plot device to serve up all the big, high-level narrative reveals. In other words, it's not Elizabeth any longer: it's the writer of Bioshock: Infinite speaking through her.
That, I really found to be unsatisfying. I admire the complex story they devised for the game, but the problem is that all the answers to your questions have already happened and end up only explained to you, not experienced. That sorta betrays the immersive role of the video game, I think, and subverts the real connection you make with the characters. The heart of the story, to the player, is Booker and Elizabeth. I wanted to face the endgame together; I didn't want her to suddenly become a detached soothsayer and expound on all of my mysteries and transgressions.
And then you get to the end, and all that personality that they infused into Elizabeth's character sorta melts away, and she becomes little more than a veritable plot device to serve up all the big, high-level narrative reveals. In other words, it's not Elizabeth any longer: it's the writer of Bioshock: Infinite speaking through her.
That, I really found to be unsatisfying. I admire the complex story they devised for the game, but the problem is that all the answers to your questions have already happened and end up only explained to you, not experienced. That sorta betrays the immersive role of the video game, I think, and subverts the real connection you make with the characters. The heart of the story, to the player, is Booker and Elizabeth. I wanted to face the endgame together; I didn't want her to suddenly become a detached soothsayer and expound on all of my mysteries and transgressions.
That's probably more than you wanted.
Still a great game, if a little too grueling and violent. I'd also hoped they would maximize the 1914 feel, and in some ways they made it really work well in the game. But other times, it felt like just a convenient backdrop. But still definitely worth experiencing.
