Very briefly chatted with the lead writer on Instagram. (Kudos to her actually engaging with fans.)
Long story short, there's not officially a good or canonical ending, but it's really Verso's ending because the game is about grief.
Both endings are meant to be the true ending to the story, but the theme is how we move on from it.
hide shill threads
pretentious garbage, like all westoid "jrpg" (((indie))) games
Story was meh as fuck, you faggots should go back to shilling the gameplay
Maelle's ending is the true ending, but Verso's is the canonical ending.
Counter shows one of you is a butthurt samefag.
Funny, I had a chat with the creative director and he very much mentioned that they did not want a clear cut good or bad ending.
In fact, it was something of an experiment for them with the usual JRPG villain dynamics
What if we took the same spiel used by the same mass genociders (flawed existence, fleeting legacy, creations by a greater power who now wants to axe them for reasons beyond), but made them human instead?
Would people remain true to what the RPG parties of old fought for? Or would they suddenly side with the villain because it's just wearing a human skin?
I'd kind of agree with this. Verso's was the ending that felt the best conclusion to the story and themes. Maelle's I felt was a darker ending. Especially as it's implied that she's kind of forcing Verso to play the piano.
As I said, there's no "good" ending, but with the game's narrative being about moving on from grief and not escaping it, I think it's clear one ending enforces that better than the others.
Grief is a journey
That's the quote from Jenn.
she dm'd me and said you were gT
I’m going to kill your friends. Then your family. I’ll make you watch your brother die—just in case it might inconvenience me someday. After that, I’ll lecture my father on the meaning of family… before I kill him too. I’ll lie to you about everything—your actions, their purpose—because explaining the truth is hard, and I’d rather you unknowingly destroy your hometown, loved ones, and comrades.
Remember my sister? She wants peace. She believes we can talk things through. She wrote me a letter full of hope—one I’ll never share. I’ll convince her not to kill herself, all while making her life so miserable that staying becomes the crueler option. I’ve had 100 years to accept these fake memories of a man I never was, and even though you all support me as my own person… I’ll still kill everyone in Lumiere for the sake of the woman who created me.
You’ve forgiven me—again—for everything. So I’ll hesitate briefly. But Alicia once lied to Renoir after getting 16 years of chaos injected into her brain, so naturally, I must now kill you all. Clearly, there were no alternatives.
Now: suicide. It's morally grey, and totally for her. I mean, you saw what happened with Aline. The Dessendre tried nothing, and it didn’t magically work out. So that’s proof, right?
It has to be, otherwise I would have to think back on the time I gaslit and killed my girlfriend over a minor misunderstanding I did not even try to explain.
We’ll never know who’s right. Just endless fog, ambiguity... and a piano.
both endings are sad but verso's at least shows the family trying to work it out instead of alicia turning into what made her mother
I am impressed with how much they are replying to DMs though. Grant Kirkhope is the only one I can think of otherwise. Either they ignore you, or just engage in culture war nonsense on Twitter.
Sandfall genuinely seem ecstatic in how the game has been received.
"I" think it's clear one ending enforces that better than the others.
Everything you're claiming about which is the 'clear' ending is a matter of personal and subjective interpretation then, like everyone else and their own opinion. The spoiler in the OP makes it sound like that opinion is from the writer herself.
Sit down.
Play.
youtube.com
Wasn't the intention. Because I said it was clear there was never a good or canonical ending. Just that the game's theme is how to deal with loss and grief and how to move on from it. That was made clear from Jenn. What's up to interpretation is whether one ending fits that theme better than the other.
Personally, I don't know how anyone can watch the ending to Maelle's ending and call that a good ending. Yes, you save the Sims of the Canvas. But it's clear she's falling down the same trap as her mother.
That's not something for Jenn directly because she wouldn't commit (and I understand why) but when discussing the themes of the game, anyone who paid attention in English class knows what the theme of the game was.
Verso's feels like the thematically appropriate one for what the game wants to say.
Maelle's feels like the more realistic outcome in that situation.
There is no canonical ending since more then likely they won't do a DLC of direct sequel. Clair Obscur will at best be a franchise like Final Fantasy with a different sub title after over a number.
Yeah, that's why Verso's ending stumbles a bit for me, because it assumes the best case scenario, which is quite a leap. The narrative banks that once they are done grieving Verso, they might back to being a family again, but does nothing to support that. And if the Dessandres don't get their shit together and focus on helping Alicia overcome her disability, we've just condemned this poor girl to lifetime if misery.
And the game shows time and time again that they were a dysfunctional family way before Verso's death. None of them ever considered the needs of the other before their own and the second the tragedy happened, the whole thing crumbled because they couldn't get together. FFS, the whole tragedy happened, because Aline was forcing Verso and Alicia to become painters, even though none of them wanted that, which led to Alicia getting enamoured with writing instead, which led to her trusting the Writers, which led to the tragedy. And the game never makes that connection.
Have they learned their lesson? I dunno and I doubt that, because the only time Renoir starts listening to Alicia is after she beats the shit out of him.
(Kudos to her actually engaging with fans.)
She's literally a redditor with no experience at all.
She'll be thrilled to the point of her vagina being moist that she's getting all this new attention.
Don't act like she's some humble person.
I mean couldn't Aline and Renoir just find the canvas and get Alicia back? It may centuries, for I do not know the time difference. Clea knows where it is and she will tell the parents.
There should’ve been a third ending in a new game plus after you’ve seen both endings where Maelle and Verso fight against the game credits to forge the ideal future for everyone.
Aline found it. that's how she came back and smacked the living shit out of Sirene.
Unintentionally one of the funniest scenes in the game. You can just tell how tired Renoir was of her shit when she suddenly popped out of that portal.
Just because a game isn't on Nintendo doesn't mean it's not worth discussing.
so the writer is a confirmed clueless hack, thanks op
Omori pulled off the anti-escapism and dealing with grief themes much better.
kills your insta Regen
proceeds to choke on the floor like the junkie she is
no real hard choices
imaginary world is just that
It didn't spend 20 hours making you root for the inhabitants of that fantasy world only to reveal that they don't matter at all and are just mere distractions for the true main character who wants to grieve.
"For those who come after" loses all meaning when the story eventually dismisses the people of Lumiere's right to live because they aren't real.
loses all meaning
Maelle the person Gustave himself would choose over lumiere.
making you root for the inhabitants of that fantasy world
So you mean it never raises the question on the legitimacy of escapism.
What legitimacy? The Maelle ending frames staying in that world as a bad thing, both for Maelle and Verso. It's very apparent where the writer's position stands when it comes to escapism.
How many times went by? And did Aline when she woke up in the manor irl just sprint to the goddamn canvas and jump inside again? Or she force Clea to tell her.
When Renoir opens that portal, is that irl Aline who is choking because she got blasted out of the canvas (again) ?
Yes, I got the message they're trying to push with Verso's ending, but it kinda stumbles over the worldbuilding they establish about Lumiere before it, like with chroma being the equivalent of their soul and preserving their personhood. "For those who come after" just doesn't mesh with demiurges wiping worlds on a whim.
>How many times went by? And did Aline when she woke up in the manor irl just sprint to the goddamn canvas and jump inside again? Or she force Clea to tell her.
It's implied that Aline would easily be able to find the canvas again. It's never mentioned through what mechanic, but it's probably some painter magic bullshit and we don't know exactly how fast time moves in the painting vs the real world, but it's clearly very fucking fast. I'd guess 1 year in the painting is at most 1 day IRL
>When Renoir opens that portal, is that irl Aline who is choking because she got blasted out of the canvas (again) ?
Yes, it's the effects of extended exposure to the painting
Maellesisters...our response?
thank you anon. Have a blessed day
Writer was a woman? No wonder it's so shit.
I just started the game. Incredible music.
Tips going in?
Agility and Luck are the best stats.
When you reach act 3 you should finish the story before doing the side content because otherwise you'll be too powerful.
the game is literally called light and dark. it is about the necessity of accepting the reality of the pain of grief alongside the joy of life.
queenie said it best when she said grief is the price we pay for love.
Leave the site or you will get spoiled
who the fuck is queenie
her maj
Superior third ending