The true story of Little Hope may be hiding a much deeper sinister truth ...[SPOILERS]

[JoaLoft]

If you've ventured beyond the title of this post and you still want to read what I have to say about the story: you were warned.

 

If you haven't finished the game yet, stop reading and close this window. Major spoilers ahead!

 

I don't know if any of the following details I've uncovered have already been mentioned here on PSNP, but regardless: here we go. Before you ask: a lot of this is also based on actual collectibles you can find in the game. There's a TLDR paragraph down below if you really can't be bothered. But I urge you to read everything, all the same.

 

---------

 

SPOILERS FROM THIS POINT FORWARD

 

If you've finished the story of Little Hope, you may have felt a sense of disappointment. Andrew turns out to be Anthony, the long-lost bus driver you've been looking for all along. And everything you've seen would've been just a massive hallucination triggered by a guilt-ridden conscience. Right? Sure.

 

... But what if I tell you it wasn't?

 

1. Inflection Points in Time

 

Anthony, the sole survivor of the house fire back in 1972, AKA "The Bus Driver" has a tag on his arm with the name of the company he works for. Officially, the bus company is called "Farriman" as is displayed at the end of the game on his sleeve, but at the start of our story, the title of the company spells out a bit differently on the side of the bus. The name? FERRYMAN. A clear reference to the Ferryman, the character from Greek mythology who transports the souls of the recently deceased across the river Styx. This small detail is of huge significance in my interpretation of everything. Anthony tells the state trooper he needs to "get these folks to where they need to be". The state trooper sees nothing but an empty bus, but Anthony can sense them, well before the actual crash occurs. Meaning they are not a hallucination due to the blow he suffered; he could very well be transporting the actual souls of the deceased.

 

To what end, you may ask? Well, to finally free the town of Little Hope after centuries from the Devil's grasp.

 

As you've noticed, the timelines of 1692 and 2020 intersect. As the protagonists explore the town of Little Hope, Anthony (aka Andrew) and the souls he's carrying end up in 1692 at certain intervals at which point they try to intervene and stop the Witch Trials, thereby exposing the devout villagers of the late Medieval Ages to supernatural scenes, and making them believe the town is indeed cursed. Furthermore, the villagers in question bear an eerie physical resemblance to the family from 1972. All of them die in similar circumstances: the older man gets crushed by debris, the older woman asphyxiates, the younger man falls from a height and gets impaled by a fence and the younger woman burns to death or dies by hanging (depending on the choice you made in the prologue).

 

Not just that: there are more instances of this occurring: a vandalized statue can be found as you explore the town, commemorating Tilly Johnson, a 19th century author who wrote gothic novels and - oh yes - bears a striking resemblance to present-day Taylor AKA Tanya (1972) AKA Tabitha (1692) and has also died in mysterious circumstances in 1858. And I'd like to emphasize that year, 1858 - this woman died over 150 years after the Witch Trials. An entirely different moment in time.

 

Same thing goes for a war photo from 1917: some of the faces in the photograph appear very familiar - yes, they bear a striking resemblance again to our protagonists popping up through time, as you'll definitely recognize Daniel (2020) AKA Dennis (1972) AKA David (1692) during the WW1 era in the picture.

 

At this point: coincidence is off the table. There is no such thing as coincidence, and certainly not in Little Hope.

 

2. The Man (or Devil?) Behind it All

 

At the center of it all, stands a man at every inflection point: a man of God, ironically. In 1692 he was a Minister, called Simon Carver. And in 1972 he was a Reverend, called Leonard Carson.

 

Back in 1690, the Minister's wife was taken into slavery after a massacre during King William's War. The fate of the slaves has always remained unknown. Throughout the game you can also discover the 1692 minister's Bible full of occult symbols and cryptic messages written across the pages, the man presumably dabbling in the dark arts out of despair to retrieve his wife. This moment could be defined as the moment in time when the Devil pierced through into the world of the living and got a grip on Little Hope. Beneath flagstones of the church, people even discovered manuscripts from the 1600s covered with occult symbols, incriminating the Minister even further.

 

In 1972, Reverend Carson was also accused of meddling with the dark arts, and just like one of his predecessors - 1692 Minister, Simon Carver - there are strong indications he is guilty of child abuse.

 

Not only that: all the Witch Trial executions took place around the church. What better way for the Devil to besmirch the House of God than by tainting its holy grounds with innocent blood, and playing a man of God like a puppet (another recurring element!), rendering him a slave to his will?

 

The perfect wolf in sheep's clothing.

 

3. The Cycle of Despair

 

The cycle repeats, over and over again, ending in death every time. And this is where things finally start to come together, if you're still reading.

 

There is a pattern through time which repeats every single instance in the same manner: a Reverend or Minister, obsessed by the occult and possibly possessed or manipulated by the Devil, brings down despair and misfortune on the people of Little Hope, with land disputes playing a part in these events. These always seem to hurt a specific group of people the most, among which are the 1692 Witch Trials where villagers were falsely condemned and executed, and the 1972 house fire, and the closure of the factory soon after which transformed Little Hope into a ghost town.

 

Little Hope is under a very dark spell, indeed, which continues to ripple through time. That is, until Anthony's return to the town in 2020.

 

4. Breaking the Cycle

 

When an adult Anthony returns back to Little Hope in 2020, he transports souls of deceased people who - again - bear an uncanny resemblance to the same people from 1972 and 1692, among many other points in time as I've pointed out.

 

If I may drop a bomb: these are not his dead relatives from 1972. This is an actual modern-day professor and his three students, the reincarnations of the same people we've seen over and over again, who have died again very recently before the bus trip, no doubt under mysterious circumstances. Fate (under the disguise of a roadblock) brings them back to Little Hope to stop the darkness that has been looming over the town for centuries. That night, the timelines cross one another again. And this is where the fog comes into play.

 

The fog is not just some invisible gameplay wall: it is a natural barrier which separates Little Hope from present-day reality as the timelines are converging. They are trapped at that point in time. Anthony and the four other souls explore and jump back and forth in time, interfering with the natural flow of time as I've stated, thereby paradoxically setting the 1692 Witch Trials into motion. The four deceased people also end up getting chased by their personal demons, but in order to break this evil cycle, they will need to confront them. And confront them alone.

 

There is conclusive proof to this: in the church you can find a sermon by Reverend Carson who suggested that "it was possible for Satan to divide spirit from soul, and that the soul needs purification through isolation and sacrifice". Allow me to write down, word for word, what the homily says:

 

Spirit and soul may seem the same, but God and Satan can divide the pure spirit from the often-imperfect soul-self.

 

That duality is key to understanding scripture. There is a disconnect between the spirit and soul. We are divided against ourselves.

 

Our spirit is pure. When God looks at us, he sees us blameless. But our soul, those things we struggle with in our heart, needs reminding of who we are in the spirit. It needs purification. Only isolation and sacrifice can bring us purity.

 

- Rev Carson

 

You could almost say this sermon is a subconscious cry for help from the Reverend deep within, trying to pass on the key to defeating Evil. John, the professor, confronts a disfigured demon, crawling on all fours. Angela, the old student, faces a drowned demon wrapped in chains. Taylor deals with a charred demon tied to a stake/an asphyxiated demon with a rope around the neck and a long tongue to choke others (depending on the choice you made in the prologue). And Daniel confronts an impaled demon, bars protruding from its body. All reminiscent of how their doubles died in the past.

 

There is one more which we haven't addressed yet: the little girl through time, Mary (1692) AKA Megan (1972). A child's innocence is pure, or so they say. And she saw the Evil that is consuming the town. She tried to warn them in 1692, but her doll they falsely accused of being a medium to summon the Devil gets burned in a desperate attempt to stop the madness and sets the courthouse on fire. She ended up being burned at the stake, condemned by - you are correct - Simon Carver, the very same Minister poisoned and manipulated by the Devil who wanted to keep the truth from being exposed. She tried to warn them again in 1972, but again no one listened. And if you pay close attention to that black creepy figure behind her before her doll catches fire (another recurring element!), you can derive that is the actual Devil, seducing and persuading her to light the doll on the stove, resulting in the house fire. This is also clearly hinted at if you find the child's wall drawing, depicting a dark figure with red fiery eyes looming over a girl resembling Megan. (Tanya, her adopted sister, was also intrigued by pagan rituals and owned a book and charms linked to this ideology which she practiced out of curiosity, which could have enhanced the Devil's grasp on the 1972 family. This addendum is up for interpretation.)

 

But if you found Mary's grave in Little Hope, her cause of death remains a mystery, meaning that her execution is not set in stone. The group has been chasing a little girl through the town and ends up following her inside the burned house where Anthony's family died a horrible death back in 1972. He gets pulled back into 1692 at the court house, and of all people, it is eventually him (the sole survivor of the core group we've always seen appear throughout time) who convinces his 1692 double, Abraham, to speak up in the court and incriminate Minister Simon Carver, by informing the judge present of his Bible secretly holding occult writings.

 

By learning the truth, the Minister is instantly arrested, supposedly swiftly tried and executed and Mary has been saved, thereby breaking the cycle. Once they jump back through time to Anthony's burned house in 2020, the demons closing in on the house have disappeared and nothing but silence remains.

 

What about Vince, the black man who used to date Tanya before she passed? He doesn't notice any demons because he's still alive. He seems to play only a minor part in the story's events, just an innocent bystander, grief-stricken, who has remained in Little Hope as a lonely broken man ever since the house fire. This is clearly indicated by the fresh flowers he still leaves at Tanya's grave regularly, and the fact he is the only inhabitant left of the ghost town.

 

5. The End of the Nightmare

 

As the sun rises - and we see this for the very first time in Little Hope's scenes across all timelines, mind you - it symbolizes how the darkness literally has been dispelled, the fog has disappeared and Evil has been banished from Little Hope after centuries. The four reincarnated souls of his deceased family who accompanied Anthony and helped him break the cycle, suddenly disappear, their voices echoing as they cross over into the afterlife, their souls at peace.

 

His role as the Ferryman has concluded.

 

And eventually, Anthony is able to crack a very small smile, his own soul finally at peace as well, decades after his own tragedy.

 

 

TLDR: The true story of Little Hope is about an adult man, Anthony (himself a young victim of the supernatural events taking place all through time in Little Hope), who returns to the cursed town when the different timelines converge once more. With the help of the souls of the recently deceased, on that fateful night he breaks the perpetual cycle of despair and doom, and frees the town finally after centuries from the Devil's clutches.

 

My analysis is not spelled out literally in the game. But nothing contradicts the puzzle I've been able to put together. The dots are there in plain sight, and if you connect them like I have, you will discover that the story of this game is actually far more sinister than you might've expected after that ending. And - effectively - making Little Hope's story much more epic and memorable than Man of Medan's.

 

Supermassive Games may have tried to explain everything under the simple guise of someone's conscience tripping, but the breadcrumbs left behind tell a very different and impressive tale.

 

You almost had us with your double bluff, Supermassive Games.

 

Almost.

 

*mic drop*

Edited January 8, 2022 by JoaLoft
Small elaboration of the "FERRYMAN" clue in the analysis

[PatinumNumemon]

My God... it all comes together now... lol now when I think of the game its no longer just "imaginary events." At least on a deeper level

[rocam315]

15 hours ago, JoaLoft said:

If you've ventured beyond the title of this post and you still want to read what I have to say about the story: you were warned.

 

If you haven't finished the game yet, stop reading and close this window. Major spoilers ahead!

 

I don't know if any of the following details I've uncovered have already been mentioned here on PSNP, but regardless: here we go. Before you ask: a lot of this is also based on actual collectibles you can find in the game. There's a TLDR paragraph down below if you really can't be bothered. But I urge you to read everything, all the same.

---------

Great post, congrats!

[JoaLoft]

On 13-11-2020 at 3:32 PM, rocam315 said:

Great post, congrats!

 

Thanks! Glad to see I've been able to enlighten some more players who finished the game and were initially disappointed with how it ended.

 

 

Definitely replay the game with this entire analysis in the back of your head, and you'll see that the game becomes more engrossing when you realize what it all means.

 

A few more cool details I noticed which I forgot to include in my main post:

 

- The game seems to start and end at the very same diner. And there's something else:

- In the opening scene, when Anthony carries the souls of John, Angela, Taylor and Daniel with him, the company name on the bus actually reads: "FERRYMAN". Whereas it reads "FARRIMAN" at the very end, once the souls have departed to the afterlife and his role has concluded. A very small detail, but of significant importance.

- If you pay attention to the bus when Anthony is driving before they get diverted to Little Hope, you can clearly see the four silhouettes of the other characters. Silhouettes, which signifies that they're entities which only Anthony can sense. Which is even further enhanced by the fact that these "passengers" are sitting up front close to Anthony, and yet Anthony is the only one clearly visible in the shot, and the passengers aren't. Spooky, right?

- In 1972, when Tanya returns home, she comments on their parents fighting, saying: "They're always fighting these days, getting predictable, LIKE A RECORD THAT KEEPS PLAYING OVER AND OVER." Gee, sound familiar?

- A little later in 1972, when Anthony talks to his adoptive father James about Megan, the dad responds: "You wanna try raising a family like this... THE DEVIL HIMSELF WOULD STRUGGLE WITH YOU GUYS..."

- The final chapter is aptly called "Full Circle" because that's the place where everything converges: the modern-day group following the little girl in the house, which is the same house from the house fire in 1972, and considering the time warps seem to align the locations in space (like the campfire), there is a very strong indication the house was built on the spot where the courthouse used to be. The very same courthouse where in 1692 (and the house in 1972) the doll or poppet caught fire through the Devil's manipulation and burned down the building. Quite intriguing, isn't it?

- One more thing I can add, but this is something you must've all deduced by now: the fact that their souls are being transported by Anthony, means that they are in limbo at that moment. Facing their demons alone and overcoming them grants them passage to the afterlife - or heaven. If their demons can stop them, they get dragged to hell. That's why each individual demon chases one specific person, and also why, even if they die due to other causes, the demons still claim them and drag them into the darkness, to hell. This is illustrated when Angela dies from the gunshot, and her chained demon still appears shortly after to claim her soul.

- There are even some more winks towards the reincarnations. Dennis (1972) says out of spite when his adoptive mother, Anne, tells him to clean up: "THINK SHE WAS A MARINE SERGEANT IN A PAST LIFE".

- Another similar instance occurs when Daniel and Taylor talk about how they're entering the museum. Taylor says: "YOU A BURGLAR IN YOUR SPARE TIME?" To which Daniel jokingly replies: "NO. BUT I WAS IN A PAST LIFE!"

- When Taylor wakes up from the bus crash, Andrew and Daniel notice she has ligature marks on her neck and ask if she got those from the crash. It is heavily hinted that the bruises on her neck are the wounds she suffered from being hanged in 2020, shortly before her soul ends up on the bus. (As far as I know, this only happens when you choose to have Tanya (1972) climb down the drainpipe, which is how she ends up dying by hanging, and how Tabitha gets executed in 1692.)

 

Little Hope is full of these cool details which help support my analysis. I can tell you, playing through it again and seeing everything click in a different way, makes it a lot more enjoyable.

Edited November 17, 2020 by JoaLoft
So many small details to keep adding which point to the same conclusion! Lol

[KhajiitWerewolf]

Interesting interpretation. What are your thoughts then on Andrew hitting his head and losing his memories? He was ferrying the souls but never intended to take them to Little Hope? He genuinely lost his memories and was prevented from safely protecting the spirits as told?

I'll replay with this theory in mind (I have to for the trophies anyway) but I'm a huge fan of naturalistic explanations. I am heavily biased this way which may be affecting my interpretation of the game. My initial interpretation wasn't that Andrew was a Ferryman, but that he interpreted himself to be that way. That he felt he was carrying around the souls of his family with him, unable to let them go. By all of the characters facing their own demons, it was Andrew finally acknowledging they had their own agency too, and it wasn't all up to him to save them. By coming to this conclusion, he was able to finally let it go, and his company name appeared properly. I think he genuinely got confused by hitting his head, and it caused his memories to come back in super bizarre ways.

 

The one thing this idea doesn't account for well, which your theory does, is the reincarnations throughout time. We can say Andrew modernized the memory of his family a bit while he grew, but it wouldn't explain that statue of the author, which is the biggest thing pointing at a supernatural reincarnation explanation in my eyes. Why the witch trials if it's all in Andrew's head? Why the look alikes? I was interpreting the witch trials as a manifestation of Andrew trying to shift blame for the fire. He blamed Megan for the fire. He made her a witch in his eyes. By changing his interpretation of Mary's character in the witch trials, he was able to see the modern priest was the villain. The modern Priest, I believe, was sexually abusing Megan. He kept holding her late. The drawing, which you interpret to be of a demon or the devil, I saw as her conception of the priest in her life. She saw her family as not only incapable of helping her, but complicit in her suffering. Priests abusing children have been known to tell them things like they are corrupted, and their abuse is bringing salvation. Megan may have viewed herself as damned already, or captured by the devil. The devil whispering in her ear may have been simply her own interpretation of her whispering thoughts telling her to burn it all down. Megan deliberately burned down the house - but Andrew realizes she wasn't completely at fault, the priest was to blame as much as if not more than she was.

Note that before every flashback, we do not see things in the trials until we discover some modern clue that supports it - for example, we don't see the writing in the Priest's bible until we've seen that clue. In other words, Andrew, having grown up in and experienced the town, is familiar with its legends, and things he sees are incorporated into them. He's placed his family as stand-ins for the stories of old.  It is a way of him processing.

 

Every flashback involves spirits literally grabbing onto us - hard - and dragging us into that timeline. In fact, Andrew had a bruise from it. This fits pretty well with your theory about the spirits being real. You could also view it as being back in the town is very forcibly making Andrew confront his demons. Why, then, could he and the others interfere with the witch trials and cause it to look like supernatural events were occurring? I think this was to illustrate the fact that the past could not be changed - attempting to save the past incarnations was ultimately hopeless, and the witnesses further doubled down on their conviction to kill. Andrew - and the others - had to stop attempting to physically change the past - instead their power came in changing the interpretation of the past - ie convicting the priest as the true enemy instead of Mary which frees Andrew from hatred and misplaced blame and guilt, convincing their doubles to interpret things a certain way - note that only influencing Abraham makes meaningful and permanent changes to the past. The others ultimately don't matter. Abraham is Andrew.

 

Finally, my last argument for the 'all in Andrew's head' theory is specifically BECAUSE you can change the way Tanya died via Andrew's choices - and that changes the way her double died in the 1600's. Andrew's modern day agency changing the past makes 0 sense to me. Therefore, the 1600's spirit being strangled when Tanya is, and burned when Tanya is, with only Andrew being the difference, seems suspicious.

 

Thanks for making me think I'm curious what others think as well

[KhajiitWerewolf]

Hmm... for those interested in this topic, I strongly recommend reading the two 'secrets of little hope' comics. Not sure it gives a final answer but the first is basically JoaLoft's theory, the second lends a lot of credit to the 'all in the head' theory, and basically left me more confused about what the game was trying to communicate. Perhaps it tries to have it both ways, as the Curator's big thing is the story is ours to tell, ours to interpret, ours to decide what makes a happy ending.

[yowzagabowza]

If the game wasn't so damn dark, maybe I could see some of these little details!

 

But that's a great theory. I'll keep it in mind when I play again.

[Chrysler_80]

Wow, I'm glad I read this just now. After 3 playthroughs (just two more trophies to get) I thought I had a handle on what was going on, from supernatural shenanigans to mental illness and the processing of grief. But this just puts a whole new spin on everything I experienced. Awesome, thanks! 

[bud-arc]

I just finished my first playthrough, so I haven't thought about it too much yet. My first thought at the ending was the movie "Identity." Since there are specific personality traits you have to unlock in order to save everyone at the end, it makes sense that this is all inside of his head and you have to inhabit every character to make them work together. It also finally makes sense for once in a Supermassive game why it keeps switching characters so frequently and interchangeably (since we are the true puppet master). But this "Ferryman" explanation gives an even deeper significance and makes it more interesting without disregarding any of the "imaginary" plot points. I like that both theories can exist at the same time, and I look forward to delving deeper in my replays. Decent story, but these trophy requirements are going to be a pain in the ass...

[bud-arc]

Having finally earned the platinum across four playthroughs, I now have a completely different interpretation of events which lends more credence to the reincarnation theory. The very last trophy I earned was for the collectibles, and the final secret is automatically given to you at the end. When looking at the description of the Crude Doll, it states:

 

Quote

A doll made by someone with limited means that crudely resembles a poppet.

The materials of the crude poppet could be found in a prison cell.

Anthony spent a short time in prison after the fire.

 

When you start the game at the bus crash, the first collectible you find is a book on witchcraft that depicts the creation of the poppet. It seems clear to me that Anthony became obsessed with this idea (possibly in jail, while wracked with guilt) and crafted the poppet which allows him to look back in time and "manipulate" events in 1692 (whether this is all in his head or not, to atone for his guilt, is up to interpretation).

 

There are three main endings to the game, which also depict how at peace Anthony is with his decisions.

Worst ending: If you condemn Mary, she is burned at the stake and all your characters (split personalities, emotions, what have you) die.

Neutral ending: If you burn the poppet, the entire building burns down, mirroring the events of 1972. I believe this is the "canon" ending because this ties into the idea of reincarnation (doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past).

Good ending: If you accuse Carver, you absolve Mary and free her of her sins. This is what Anthony wishes he had done in his 1972 timeline (by paying more attention to Megan). Again, I think this is Anthony imagining the best case scenario and attempting to forgive himself for what happened in the fire. (As it fades out, you hear him say, "But I didn't save you...")

 

The Ferryman/Farriman connection is definitely there (the Curator also mentions it at one point), but I still believe this is Anthony dealing with his multiple personality disorder and attempting to "correct" the past by saving everyone in his mind. Or else, if you buy into the supernatural theory (via the collectibles in the game), then he definitely crafted the poppet and tapped into the past, but was still unable to change anything. Despite whichever ending you receive, it still doesn't bring any of his family back; it's more about coming to terms with his inner demons and gaining closure.

[JoaLoft]

On 5/12/2020 at 7:16 PM, KhajiitWerewolf said:

-snip-

 

On 9/6/2021 at 3:01 PM, bud-arc said:

-snip-

 

Sorry for cutting out both quotes, they were super long, haha. But I read them, and I remembered that I still wanted to reply to these comments.

 

There's certainly proof that it could all be psychological manifestations. To me though, a few things really stood out which is why I'm leaning more towards the supernatural theory:

 

- The whole Farriman (Ferryman) given and its mythological explanation.

- The dark figure with the claw-like hand in the prologue "guiding" the little girl to burn the doll and set the house on fire.

- The way in which the characters in the prologue die in eerily perfect timed fashion, if you look at how that cutscene is edited. So eerily perfect in fact, that there's no other way from my point of view than that some malicious supernatural entity is intervening and orchestrating their gruesome deaths. Tanya's death in particular stuck with me: the odds of her *accidentally* hanging herself by her scarf getting stuck on the balcony when she tries to climb down seem so incredibly small, that it's much more likely that the Devil had a hand in all their deaths.

- The music playing when all characters die in the prologue sounds menacing. Too menacing to be just sheer coincidence. I did some quick research: some of the tracks on the official soundtrack even have titles such as "Beyond Salvation" and "The Devil's Grasp".

 

Several details are definitely left open to interpretation, so I reckon this is perhaps a classic example of the "Schrödinger's Cat theory". Both explanations are in some way viable and they co-exist in parallel circumstances. Meaning that there is no canon explanation, and players are left to fill in the gaps themselves however they see fit.

[MohameDina9192]

I know my comment is too late to the party but just played the game for the very first time yesterday and I was shocked and loved the ending (let's say the psychological part at least)

anyways I really like the topic and OP really did a fine job giving his theory which I liked and opened up other possible narratives in my head for this game, my only issue with your theory is this 

On 11/13/2020 at 1:00 AM, JoaLoft said:

As the sun rises - and we see this for the very first time in Little Hope's scenes across all timelines, mind you - it symbolizes how the darkness literally has been dispelled, the fog has disappeared and Evil has been banished from Little Hope after centuries

in my walkthrough I didn't accuse the reverend as I was getting the all head decisions so Mary was accused, that means I didn't get to punish the reverend/ real demon or evil in the game thus I didn't lift the curse off of Little Hope cause the demon still there and wasn't punished AND still I got the same ending where the sun rises on little hope, so if I didn't punish the demon and by your saying that the sun rises means the darkness has been dispelled along with the fog, how come I also get the sun rising scene and I didn't dispel the true darkness and instead punished Mary? that made me think that it's all in Anthony's / Cab driver's heard and it's all psychological and not supernatural and that he made peace with him self (AKA the sun rise) even if he punished the wrong person (but in his head he is convinced he punished the true evil whether it's Mary or the reverend)

Anthony is an unreliable narrator and that creates the sort of ambiguity that I like about this game and thus we create our own theories and how to fill in the stories

 

really this is an underrated game and IMO waaaaay better than Man of Medan (still hasn't played House of Ashes)

[JoaLoft]

4 minutes ago, MohameDina9192 said:

I know my comment is too late to the party but just played the game for the very first time yesterday and I was shocked and loved the ending (let's say the psychological part at least)

anyways I really like the topic and OP really did a fine job giving his theory which I liked and opened up other possible narratives in my head for this game, my only issue with your theory is this 

in my walkthrough I didn't accuse the reverend as I was getting the all head decisions so Mary was accused, that means I didn't get to punish the reverend/ real demon or evil in the game thus I didn't lift the curse off of Little Hope cause the demon still there and wasn't punished AND still I got the same ending where the sun rises on little hope, so if I didn't punish the demon and by your saying that the sun rises means the darkness has been dispelled along with the fog, how come I also get the sun rising scene and I didn't dispel the true darkness and instead punished Mary? that made me think that it's all in Anthony's / Cab driver's heard and it's all psychological and not supernatural and that he made peace with him self (AKA the sun rise) even if he punished the wrong person (but in his head he is convinced he punished the true evil whether it's Mary or the reverend)

Anthony is an unreliable narrator and that creates the sort of ambiguity that I like about this game and thus we create our own theories and how to fill in the stories

 

really this is an underrated game and IMO waaaaay better than Man of Medan (still hasn't played House of Ashes)

 

Fair point. I suppose the rising sun did fit very neatly into the plot if you were able to stop the Reverend and dispel evil.

 

It's not a make-or-break case, but as a minor detail, that rising sun is negligible if you got a less positive outcome, I feel.

[Deezle34]

100 percent with the OG post. Great points dude. I too felt like it wasn't complete. Far better than Man of Medan but I enjoyed that too. On to house of ashes!!

[UlvenFenrir]

I still think the story sucks. Its suppose to have that b-movie vibe but never really manages to do it perfectly. As for the plot to have a deeper meaning doesnt really work i think because the characters are never fleshed out and i never cared for any of them. The demons are okay designed but just like man of medan, theyre hardly ever in the game and the qte sequences are uninspired and weak.

 

Still fun to play for what it tries to be but thats about it. Nothing outstanding. I think a movie like as above, so below would work perfectly as a supermassive horror game.

[Crispy_Oglop]

20 minutes ago, UlvenFenrir said:

I still think the story sucks. Its suppose to have that b-movie vibe but never really manages to do it perfectly. As for the plot to have a deeper meaning doesnt really work i think because the characters are never fleshed out and i never cared for any of them. The demons are okay designed but just like man of medan, theyre hardly ever in the game and the qte sequences are uninspired and weak.

 

Still fun to play for what it tries to be but thats about it. Nothing outstanding. I think a movie like as above, so below would work perfectly as a supermassive horror game.

 

As above, so below was an awesome movie, I actually watched that again recently and it still holds up 8 years later. It wasn't well received critically, but it's one of the best found footage style movies i've ever seen in my opinion. 

[UlvenFenrir]

22 hours ago, Crispy_Oglop said:

 

As above, so below was an awesome movie, I actually watched that again recently and it still holds up 8 years later. It wasn't well received critically, but it's one of the best found footage style movies i've ever seen in my opinion. 

Its also one of my favorite found footage movies and i agree, one of the best movies in the genre. If you havent seen them, grave encounters 1 and 2 are also really good.