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[sammyCYBORG]

Played this last night in one sitting and was really impressed. Took me 3 hours and the time flew by.

At first I was underwhelmed and felt like it was retreading old Limbo ground but that changed quite quickly.

I loved the more realistic setting which just made the abstract parts even better.

The part as the ball of people was maybe 5-10 mins too long would be my only real criticism.

 

[KingV]

Just finished it. Played it in two sittings. About 3 hours on Friday, and an hour today. Used a Polygon guide for two of the puzzles (one toward the beginning, and one in the middle).

Never really cared for Limbo. Got about 2hrs into it on mobile, but it was just boring to me. I admit, probably played it in the absolute worst possible way. So, when the reviews for INSIDE hit a couple weeks back, I was impressed, and said "fuck it," and gave it a preorder on Steam.

First things first:

-I love the artstyle; just gorgeous throughout, and I love super sharp, clean lines
-In addition to the art, the lighting was also fantastic
-And of course, dat sound design. Best I've experienced in a 2D platformer
-Incredible atmosphere

-I can really appreciate a game with very simple controls - 2 buttons and a joystick
-Clean UI
-No nonsense: no cutscenes, no filler, no exposition, no pacing issues

-Some very intense moments/enemies, specifically the fucking DOGS, man... and the mermaid things


Not so liked:

-Puzzles were decent. Many were easy to figure out once you understood what was happening, but difficult to get to that point. Hard to describe, but this game was unique in that I didn't have trouble with the puzzle; I had trouble determining what the end-goal was. And none of them really flowed together. I didn't feel like they grew bigger or more intensive... just different. I never felt I was taking what I learned earlier and using it in a different way, except for the launching boxes.

-Some of the platforming was a little off. I don't know - whether it was timing a jump, or having the groups of mindfreaks launch you, I never felt like I was in complete control of the boy... I sometimes had to fight to get the character to do what I intended


... but mostly, I'm disappointed by the complete lack of conclusion. I very much like open-ended stories. I love the idea of piecing together the repercussions of the story as a community. But this gave me what felt like nothing at all. I've read some guesses in here - and that's the thing, if we're being honest, any single one of them could be 100% wrong. I know I'm in the minority in this thread - but I was really amped in that last 45 minutes... but nothing came. I couldn't wait to figure out the big twist. And if not a twist, and least why I'm here. Why I'm hunted. What the tests are for. Where the rest of the world is. Why there's mind control. Where the facility is. Who built or is running the facility. Whether I escape. What I become. Etc, etc. I know many say I should have expected no clean conclusion... and to be honest, I didn't. I figured it would be slightly interpretive. But I figured I'd get some answers. Disappointed that I didn't, and that dings it hard for me.



Overall, I'll be generous and give it a 7/10. I loved just about everything... except the actual gameplay and, well, playing it.

Wasn't a game for me. But not every game can be. I can definitely see some real talent from Playdead - no doubt. Their art design in this space is very, very special. But I don't think I'll touch INSIDE again, nor do I think it would come anywhere near my Top Games of 2016 list.

Glad you're all enjoying it, though! I'll definitely be perusing more impressions and theories as they come.

I feel exactly the same way. I loved playing it to unravel the mystery, but then was disappointed that the ending was just more mystery piled on top of the other mysteries. If there is a way to fully unravel the story, it would go way up in my mind, but as it is, it reminds me of lost.

It really revels in the mystery, but then never explains it.

 

[Aurongel]

I feel exactly the same way. I loved playing it to unravel the mystery, but then was disappointed that the ending was just more mystery piled on top of the other mysteries. If there is a way to fully unravel the story, it would go way up in my mind, but as it is, it reminds me of lost.

It really revels in the mystery, but then never explains it.

The Lost comparison is completely disingenuous here because Inside actually provides enough context and mood to communicate its' themes without ever explicitly stating them through dialogue. This contrasts something like Lost which lays clues that end up pointing toward nothing. To say that these are the same breed of narrative/thematic ambiguity is way off the mark.

A story doesn't need to communicate a thorough narrative in order to get across the feelings it wants you to have.

 

[niemant77]

The shock wave sequence might be my favorite of the year so far from any game - I really wish that part was expanded on more. It was either some kind of apocalyptic event or some kind of super weapon, and it's probably the sequence that made me the most intrigued about the world of the game.

Perhaps - concerning the theory that the whole escape was a setup and already thought through by the scientists- the shockwave weapon is an insurance when the blob finally reaches the ocean and has to be killed.

 

[Bits N Pieces]

Saw this video on my feed earlier today, havent actually had the chance to watch it yet but will do later on.

Inside: The Escape Plan Conspiracy (Inside Story Breakdown)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n42ORyN7s6c

 

[WhateverItTakes]

Nice touch I noticed was when you go for one of the secret orbs, just at the beach I think, you see a tree growing through the glass into the facility. I don't know why, but to me it makes me think even the forest was part of their 'complex'. You were never free to begin with.

Though there's always the question of what was the boy running from in the first place? Unless with the controller ending it's someone else really sending him in.

 

[Garrett Hawke]

Just finished it.

WTF

As others have said, I kind of wish it was a bit more clear cut. Still open but with SOMETHING. I don't know why anything that happened happened, and I can't even begin to guess why anything that happened did.

 

[Scousefury]

Just finished it.. wow.. Akira vibes. Loved it only found 2 of the rooms but i can't see myself going back best as just a one and done.

 

[More_Badass]

Nice touch I noticed was when you go for one of the secret orbs, just at the beach I think, you see a tree growing through the glass into the facility. I don't know why, but to me it makes me think even the forest was part of their 'complex'. You were never free to begin with.

Though there's always the question of what was the boy running from in the first place? Unless with the controller ending it's someone else really sending him in.

1) Remember those pods in the beginning? They had cables/tubes going up...somewhere as if there was a ceiling above the forest.

2) He was never trying to escape. That's just how we interpreted in the beginning, because why would a young kid be trying to break into a place like this? But he was, likely beyond his control. Both the secret ending and the game's blurb of "a boy finds himself drawn into the center of a dark project" imply that the boy's actions were never of his own volition. Which is really fucked up

 

[KingV]

The Lost comparison is completely disingenuous here because Inside actually provides enough context and mood to communicate its' themes without ever explicitly stating them through dialogue. This contrasts something like Lost which lays clues that end up pointing toward nothing. To say that these are the same breed of narrative/thematic ambiguity is way off the mark.

A story doesn't need to communicate a thorough narrative in order to get across the feelings it wants you to have.

It was not disingenuous at all. I meant precisely what I said, and was being genuine about my opinion,

I think you might have meant to use another word that makes sense in context.

That said, it evokes lots of emotion and question but there's no payoff at the end. I just left confused. It's like the dev team went through the trouble of creating a full world and story, but then removed it all.

I just left with the feeling that it was all kind of pointless. Don't get me wrong I enjoyed it, and it was great in a way, but the world deserves more explanation than it got.

 

[Garrett Hawke]

2) He was never trying to escape. That's just how we interpreted in the beginning, because why would a young kid be trying to break into a place like this? But he was, likely beyond his control. Both the secret ending and the game's blurb of "a boy finds himself drawn into the center of a dark project" imply that the boy's actions were never of his own volition. Which is really fucked up

I think that bit works really well. At the beginning it seems like an escape, but the more you play and the more "safe" areas you go through where you think "why hasn't he stopped?", you start to think about whether there's something else at play (and there is).

I think stuff like this shows how well crafted the game is. I only wish there was a bit more to discover story wise.

 

[ProvenDeadly]

Not sure if these have been posted but

https://youtu.be/lf9qC_JJ5i4
https://youtu.be/fysXaHBy_dI
https://youtu.be/P2NXvDuz520

 

[jg4xchamp]

I don't care for the normal ending, the secret ending should have been the ending proper. The first ending with the blob on the cliff just left me going what the fuck?

 

[WhateverItTakes]

1) Remember those pods in the beginning? They had cables/tubes going up...somewhere as if there was a ceiling above the forest.

2) He was never trying to escape. That's just how we interpreted in the beginning, because why would a young kid be trying to break into a place like this? But he was, likely beyond his control. Both the secret ending and the game's blurb of "a boy finds himself drawn into the center of a dark project" imply that the boy's actions were never of his own volition. Which is really fucked up

Never noticed the ceiling in the forest, but it makes sense, the whole game was just the stage for the experiement! But why the boy? And if the dogs and men and sea creatures all wanted him dead, on sight, why didn't the scientists at the final observation platform?

Was it a test? "If he can be controlled to get this far then he can merge with the experiment". Were the scientist not pointing him to the blob to say 'Get away from the power leads', but 'This is where you're supposed to be going, test subject'?

It's gonna bug me forever that we'll never know...

 

[KAOS]

Some questions???

In the second orb area that contains the secret ending. In that red room of the orb. Is that a picture of the blob hanging there? Also the museum like area the blob falls through is that a small scale replica of the hillside forest area of the games ending? Why?

 

[Salty Catfish]

Some questions???

In the second orb area that contains the secrete ending. In that red room of the orb. Is that a picture of the blob hanging there? Also the museum like area the blob falls through is that a small scale replica of the hillside forest area of the games ending? Why?

Yes and yes; as for "why" that's never really answered definitively. The diorama of the ending area would seem to imply that you were expected to get there from the very beginning and that the "escape" was mostly just staged as an experiment.

 

[KAOS]

Thanks Salty Catfish!

I disagree with the game informer vid that said you can't avoid killing the guy in the office. In one of my playthroughs I didn't kill him.

 

[Bits N Pieces]

Not sure if these have been posted but

https://youtu.be/lf9qC_JJ5i4
https://youtu.be/fysXaHBy_dI
https://youtu.be/P2NXvDuz520

That last video aligns with my thinking, depressing as fuck.

The Kinda Funny video was pretty rubbish though, they liked it but hated it cause they didn't 'get' it? OK. The GI video they didn't even talk about the alternate ending lol

 

[KAOS]

The kid, the facility, the scientist, the mountain, the diorama, and the musical notes of the secret ending. I think this game is inspired by close encounters. Lol!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUl6n0J7WDw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AphKxQ2NsQo

 

[messiaen]

Not sure if these have been posted but

https://youtu.be/lf9qC_JJ5i4
https://youtu.be/fysXaHBy_dI
https://youtu.be/P2NXvDuz520

I don't get how the one Kinda Funny guy thought it was pretentious? Is this a classic case of not understanding what pretentious actually means?

Also not sure if these guys know what art house is. Cause INSIDE/LIMBO aren't really art house. Outside of the narrative being ambiguous, everything is very clean and tightly made which kind of goes against what art films do.

 

[Justinian]

I love how each of the elements of the game is so considered and thought provoking. Every part of the game also elicits a certain emotion that adds to the feeling that every part of the game is important to a greater meaning or narrative.

The early part where you encounter the chicks is a great example. You discover them unexpectedly as you emerge from a tension filled run through a cornfield after being chased by ravenous hounds. They are a welcome and heartwarming relief to bring a bit of levity to the player. Then when you figure out you need to "use" them to progress, you feel disgusted and sad for them. To make matters worse, they need to be digested through an ugly mechanical contraption for the benefit of the player, foreshadowing a main theme of the game which is the use of precious life as a cog in the grand machine of industry/corporation/experiementation. The ridiculousness of using poor baby chicks to accomplish the utterly mundane task of moving a haystack slightly, at the complete neglect of their wellbeing is painful to the player even if most of them make it out alive. You'll notice the one chick that did die was the same straggling chick that was slower than all the others.

It's survival of the fittest in a mechanical and cold world driven by progress at the cost of life portrayed metaphorically and foreshadowed beautifully through an economical and impactful puzzle. INSIDE is stunning in it's artistic vision and execution.

 

[More_Badass]

I was so ready for either 1) red chunks to fly out of that machine when it sucked them up or 2) for chicks to really be like blood-sucking mutations or something and overwhelm the boy.

 

[Doukou]

Just finished it
I don't have much to add but just some things I noticed.
I saw the numbers 2, 3, and 4 constanteky and I think you first see 2 when you enter the big gate, 3 when you enter underwater and see the a tube that has something move in it but not sure when I saw 4 I believe it was before the blob.
Never saw 1 could be the boy

You go down a lot in this but rarely go up almost like destroyed part is in the middle.

 

[MetroidPrimeRib]

Just finished it. That goddamn water kid is going to give me nightmares. Fucking swimming panic attack right there.

How Da Blob moved around, sounded and carried things was amazing. I've never seen anything like it in a game. The level of intricacy is nothing short of masterful.

 

[Rosvoja Torilla]

This game, man. When I buy a new game I never play it much in the first few days. It takes time to get into new games. But Inside I beat in first one and only sitting. It was so amazing. Everything about it really. The story and the setting hit me deep. I got Lost (tv show) and Bioshock vibes from the story. Who's controlling who, what's faith and everything happening over and over. But I'm not sure if a video game has bewildered me this much before. I could cry.

The storytelling was superb. So subtle and minimalistic yet grand. I adored it as much as The Last of Us and Portal.

There are big games coming and already out but Inside is a serious conteder in my GOTY books. I'm trying to get a friend play Inside but I can't hype it because I feel that'll only devalue the game.

 

[Creamium]

Just finished it. That goddamn water kid is going to give me nightmares. Fucking swimming panic attack right there.

How Da Blob moved around, sounded and carried things was amazing. I've never seen anything like it in a game. The level of intricacy is nothing short of masterful.

Before I figured out you had to throw the burning box and catch it, one of the things I tried was to cover the box with a portion of the blob. That almost worked. The way you carried or passed an object 'through' the blob, was something special. Same with the wooden beam.

 

[dLMN8R]

I was so ready for either 1) red chunks to fly out of that machine when it sucked them up or 2) for chicks to really be like blood-sucking mutations or something and overwhelm the boy.

I mentioned this earlier, but the sound effects coming from the machine and the overall sound design of that area seems intentionally designed to make you think that too. It's fucking brilliant!

*CHUNK-a-thunk-a-CHUNK-a-thunk-a-CHUNK-a-thunk-a.......*

 

[Justinian]

A list of observations that support the notion that your resting place in the final scene is a test chamber and the main theme of the game is that "free will is an illusion":

- You fall onto a model of your final resting place during your escape.
- The walls of the facility just before you break out are curved outwards and are made of breakable wood, following the shape of the model enclosure's walls, and not at all resembling the concrete spherical outer shells of the various facilities you pass through.
- The game returns you to the beginning upon completion and you notice there is an artificial looking spotlight highlighting your landing spot as you slide down the rock wall.
- The alternate ending shows the boy unplugging himself from the game, suggesting that he is being controlled.
- Your entire journey is on a 2D plane to the right, with no allowance for deviation even when logically possible.
- The time in the game is dictated by real world time, suggesting that the player has free will in controlling time and not the game world. This is of course turned on it's head when it turns out the game has the final say in the outcome (i.e. the player has no free will).

I'm sure there are many other examples. Also an interesting article about the notion of "no free will":

http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2013/03/27/3724727.htm

I find the references to a homunculus that resides in our brain especially reminiscent of the boy residing within the hivemind blob.

 

[More_Badass]

Did we ever figure out where the pod tubes in the beginning were leading to? They were stretching into the sky

I did find it odd that trees in the ending broke so easily. The blob was heavy though, enough to smash through floors. Several tons at least

 

[dankir]

Did we ever figure out where the pod tubes in the beginning were leading to? They were stretching into the sky

I did find it odd that trees in the ending broke so easily. The blob was heavy though, enough to smash through floors. Several tons at least

Those, the shockwave, the upside water rooms, mind control/drones, lots of what the fuck moments.... what the hell kind of corporation is this anyways?

 

[More_Badass]

Those, the shockwave, the upside water rooms, mind control/drones, lots of what the fuck moments.... what the hell kind of corporation is this anyways?

My take

I got a "Aperture Science if it went completely immoral dystopian" vibe from the facility. Like a massive megacorp completely devoted to research and testing, and gives zero fucks about ethics

 

[Vexidus]

Here's a tiny detail that I haven't seen mentioned. After you fire the chicks into the hay bale, they all live except one:

This game is filled with these details. I can't believe the amount of polish there is in every scene. It's just staggering.

When I played this game, especially the first hour, I felt this almost deja-vu type feeling. Like I've had a dream like this before. It's so dreamlike and surreal, especially playing through it cleanly with no deaths. The feeling of being somewhere you aren't really supposed to be, at night when you are supposed to be home in your bed, being in a familiar environment but it shifts and morphs into less and less natural scenes as you traverse. The feeling of being chased, having all of these miraculous close calls, the feeling of being conspicuous with animals/people sensing your presence, it's all there. It felt intensely dreamlike for me, in a way no game has ever made me feel. It was a magical experience.

 

[Straid]

That secret ending. The fourth wall breaking. I mean, wow!

 

[a Master Ninja]

This game got INSIDE my head. So many memorable moments. Now to find the rest of those glowing orb things.

 

[Karak]

Wasn't too interested as I played through it actually. Just thought the kid was probably some kind of comparison to cancer or something. Saw that others thought the same at some point. Glad to see others liking it though.

 

[Spiral Insanity]

My.. what an ending. Akira was all I could think of. The animations/sounds were brilliant. This game is something special.
I only unlocked 1 achievement in my first run.

 

[Gnome Scat]

Just finished it and I felt like there should have been more to that ending. However, after reading this thread I guess I have to find the rest of those orbs for a secret ending. Is it worth playing through straight away to find or should I just watch the spoiler video?

Edit: Caved in and watched the video after accidentally reading a snippet about what happens. Very interesting stuff.

 

[Spiral Insanity]

I sincerely hope I wasn't the only one picturing one of the Akira-monster voices yelling "Kobe!" as you throw the flaming box up over the sprinklers.

This was awesome. Jumping back in to see what I missed. I only got six of the... thingies, I didn't realize I had missed so many (based on the number of achievements at least).

The animations in that section were just incredible.

 

[Iva Demilcol]

I didn't intend to play through it today again... but this game... I can't get it out of my head since I finished it for the first time. Been reading this thread every time I see it just to check what you all have to say about the story.

I'm still trying to figure out what's special about orbs number 2, 4, 11 and 12 (the only ones that are numbered in that panel before you get absorbed by the blob.)

Other interesting things I found today:

-Right after you gain the ability to breath under water there's a window where you can see "human" body parts either floating inside that chamber or just swimming, there I noticed a big thing that approached me while I was just there watching. It was super creepy. Sorry for the crappy screenshot, I used the DVR app in the xbox.

-There are numerous "blob" experiments scattered around the last part of the game. All of them seem to be failures since you found them lying in what seem to be hospital beds:

The pictures are not very clear but in game you can see they are not piles of bodies, they are fused to each other.


Finally some thoughts about the whole story. Some of you have already posted some YT videos about the interpretation of the story of the game. I agree with some of them in that it seems the blob is controlling us (the player) into guiding the boy to free it, and that, at the end the blob chooses to disconnect itself (in the secret ending). But there's something that's bothering me that those videos and most theories don't address: In some of the chambers, there are cups of coffee, canned food, pictures of the experiments, audio recorders, documents attached to the walls (probably some ground plans and maps of the different facilities), even some chairs... what could the blob gain by having that around when it just controls mindless beings?

Any thoughts?

 

[Gnome Scat]

I've been thinking about the story and meaning of this game for a bit and here's what I've come up with so far:

In terms of the story, the hivemind has been subject to an experiment by the institution that tests the awareness of its consciousness. Like the game, this experiment exists in a continuous cycle: the boy will always come to break the hivemind out, the hivemind will always reach the same spot at the edge of the land in the light before the water (which was even modeled out, showing how it was planned), and then everything will be reset overtime; a new boy will be grown, the building will be repaired, and the hivemind will be restored, maintaining its thought from before (same with the player). The orbs are what reveal the existence of the cycle, since the ones you have previously shut off remain that way. This cycle can only be broken once the hivemind discovers the existence of the cycle and figures out how to unplug the boy, exerting the only true level of control it has in its world at all: the ability to stop playing the game set up by the institution. As a side not since this doesn't really fit anywhere into that, but I think those swimming things were failed versions of the boy who did not make it to the hivemind who have been lost control of and have gone rampant as a result.

In terms of meaning, I think it can be related to Plato's Allegory of the Cave in a way. The game is the cave for the hivemind, and going through the cycle is its attempt to break out of its cave - the world it inhabits - to achieve freedom. This freedom that the hivemind seeks is the water that lays beyond the light that it always ends up in; reaching the water is equivalent to exiting the cave. But, as both the player and the hivemind discover, they cannot reach the water no matter how many times they try. So the revelation that the player and the hivemind have is that the cave is a construct that they are subject to, that their whole effort to find freedom is just a part of the game and is controlled to the point where it can never be achieved, similar to how we can truly never escape the cave. By breaking the cycle, this signifies that we are exerting the only true freedom we have, which is to accept that the game exists and stop playing it. So pretty much the hivemind/player can only find the freedom they seek through truth.

Sorry if this didn't make much sense, it's late and I want to go to bed, but felt like I should try to explain what I think while it's fresh in my mind.

I don't care for the normal ending, the secret ending should have been the ending proper. The first ending with the blob on the cliff just left me going what the fuck?

Truth is not given, but found.

 

[Justinian]

Finally some thoughts about the whole story. Some of you have already posted some YT videos about the interpretation of the story of the game. I agree with some of them in that it seems the blob is controlling us (the player) into guiding the boy to free it, and that, at the end the blob chooses to disconnect itself (in the secret ending). But there's something that's bothering me that those videos and most theories don't address: In some of the chambers, there are cups of coffee, canned food, pictures of the experiments, audio recorders, documents attached to the walls (probably some ground plans and maps of the different facilities), even some chairs... what could the blob gain by having that around when it just controls mindless beings?

Any thoughts?

Well the most obvious answer is that the blob is NOT controlling the boy but rather there is an outside manipulator who is. Possibly a disgruntled former employee with a conscience? It would certainly seem that way since you can see a photograph of the blob in the hidden basement below the cornfields, suggesting whoever was controlling the boy had some specific interest in the blob.

Some other thoughts/occurrences maybe worth throwing out:

- Are the spheres that you deactivate in the hidden areas actually "anti-control" emitters that allow the person who set them up to work outside of the influence of his former "employment"? The reason why there is no effect on you is because you're on a different hacked frequency (therefore explaining the numerous computers cobbled together in the vault?).

- The shockwave emitter you encounter is actually a mind control nullifier, since it blows up your mind control hat and stops the husks from following you. It also seems everything beyond that point is not mind controlled (the scientists and employees are all autonomous except for you, since you're on a different hacked frequency.

- Are the masks that the people in power wear some kind of blockers for mind control when out in the field?

 

[Edzi]

Just finished the game in one sitting and I wanted to write some quick impressions before I went to bed. The game was good, but I feel like it was hyped up waaay too much by reviewers and word of mouth. The gameplay/puzzles were only okay, the atmosphere was great, and the overall story/finale with the limb monster really gets you thinking and feels interesting but ultimately felt sort of hollow. I get the feeling that the mystique/mystery of the game is what's influencing most people's impressions of it.

The game felt almost too obtuse for its own good, to the point where it felt sort of pretentious.

 

[Cuban Legend]

I'm still trying to figure out what's special about orbs number 2, 4, 11 and 12 (the only ones that are numbered in that panel before you get absorbed by the blob.)

Maybe those 4 orbs represent the 4 mind control hat thingys that are connected to the blob, before you start disconnecting them and are sucked into it?

maybe someone can figure out how to noclip in the game on PC and find out it what point in the game those 4 lit orbs are turned off, if ever?

 

[Montresor]

I've been thinking about the story and meaning of this game for a bit and here's what I've come up with so far:

In terms of the story, the hivemind has been subject to an experiment by the institution that tests the awareness of its consciousness. Like the game, this experiment exists in a continuous cycle: the boy will always come to break the hivemind out, the hivemind will always reach the same spot at the edge of the land in the light before the water (which was even modeled out, showing how it was planned), and then everything will be reset overtime; a new boy will be grown, the building will be repaired, and the hivemind will be restored, maintaining its thought from before (same with the player). The orbs are what reveal the existence of the cycle, since the ones you have previously shut off remain that way. This cycle can only be broken once the hivemind discovers the existence of the cycle and figures out how to unplug the boy, exerting the only true level of control it has in its world at all: the ability to stop playing the game set up by the institution. As a side not since this doesn't really fit anywhere into that, but I think those swimming things were failed versions of the boy who did not make it to the hivemind who have been lost control of and have gone rampant as a result.

In terms of meaning, I think it can be related to Plato's Allegory of the Cave in a way. The game is the cave for the hivemind, and going through the cycle is its attempt to break out of its cave - the world it inhabits - to achieve freedom. This freedom that the hivemind seeks is the water that lays beyond the light that it always ends up in; reaching the water is equivalent to exiting the cave. But, as both the player and the hivemind discover, they cannot reach the water no matter how many times they try. So the revelation that the player and the hivemind have is that the cave is a construct that they are subject to, that their whole effort to find freedom is just a part of the game and is controlled to the point where it can never be achieved, similar to how we can truly never escape the cave. By breaking the cycle, this signifies that we are exerting the only true freedom we have, which is to accept that the game exists and stop playing it. So pretty much the hivemind/player can only find the freedom they seek through truth.

Sorry if this didn't make much sense, it's late and I want to go to bed, but felt like I should try to explain what I think while it's fresh in my mind.



Truth is not given, but found.

This was such an excellent read.

 

[Robert Ashley]

I've been thinking about the story and meaning of this game for a bit and here's what I've come up with so far:

In terms of the story, the hivemind has been subject to an experiment by the institution that tests the awareness of its consciousness. Like the game, this experiment exists in a continuous cycle: the boy will always come to break the hivemind out, the hivemind will always reach the same spot at the edge of the land in the light before the water (which was even modeled out, showing how it was planned), and then everything will be reset overtime; a new boy will be grown, the building will be repaired, and the hivemind will be restored, maintaining its thought from before (same with the player). The orbs are what reveal the existence of the cycle, since the ones you have previously shut off remain that way. This cycle can only be broken once the hivemind discovers the existence of the cycle and figures out how to unplug the boy, exerting the only true level of control it has in its world at all: the ability to stop playing the game set up by the institution. As a side not since this doesn't really fit anywhere into that, but I think those swimming things were failed versions of the boy who did not make it to the hivemind who have been lost control of and have gone rampant as a result.

In terms of meaning, I think it can be related to Plato's Allegory of the Cave in a way. The game is the cave for the hivemind, and going through the cycle is its attempt to break out of its cave - the world it inhabits - to achieve freedom. This freedom that the hivemind seeks is the water that lays beyond the light that it always ends up in; reaching the water is equivalent to exiting the cave. But, as both the player and the hivemind discover, they cannot reach the water no matter how many times they try. So the revelation that the player and the hivemind have is that the cave is a construct that they are subject to, that their whole effort to find freedom is just a part of the game and is controlled to the point where it can never be achieved, similar to how we can truly never escape the cave. By breaking the cycle, this signifies that we are exerting the only true freedom we have, which is to accept that the game exists and stop playing it. So pretty much the hivemind/player can only find the freedom they seek through truth.

Sorry if this didn't make much sense, it's late and I want to go to bed, but felt like I should try to explain what I think while it's fresh in my mind.



Truth is not given, but found.

YES, I was wondering why everyone assumed the underwater creature was a girl. The experiment always rips the clothes off the boy, and his hair continues to grow (like a cadaver). All the little secret stations in the game with notes and recording equipment are observation points for the experiment.

Also, does the boy ever bleed? I feel like the only time I ever saw blood was the final scene, where the "boss" in the office gets comically squashed. The zombies never bleed. The blob loses whole torsos, but they crawl along unbloodied. Even when the boy gets chopped up by the fan blades, I didn't really see anything but a torn red shirt. Could be wrong, but I think all of these characters are artificial. It's almost like a factory for making game avatars.

 

[Robert Ashley]

As much as I don't want it to be, Inside seems more and more to be a game about games. The whole empowerment section at the end is so "gamey," so satisfying after feeling vulnerable and hunted. You get your big power up, smash through a bunch of stuff, solve a few easy puzzles (with a little help!), then smash your way to freedom. But you don't quite get there. It's an illusion. You're not powerful or big or smart. The only way to win is to unplug the damn thing and go outside.

 

[IronRinn]

I've been thinking about the story and meaning of this game for a bit and here's what I've come up with so far:

In terms of the story, the hivemind has been subject to an experiment by the institution that tests the awareness of its consciousness. Like the game, this experiment exists in a continuous cycle: the boy will always come to break the hivemind out, the hivemind will always reach the same spot at the edge of the land in the light before the water (which was even modeled out, showing how it was planned), and then everything will be reset overtime; a new boy will be grown, the building will be repaired, and the hivemind will be restored, maintaining its thought from before (same with the player). The orbs are what reveal the existence of the cycle, since the ones you have previously shut off remain that way. This cycle can only be broken once the hivemind discovers the existence of the cycle and figures out how to unplug the boy, exerting the only true level of control it has in its world at all: the ability to stop playing the game set up by the institution. As a side not since this doesn't really fit anywhere into that, but I think those swimming things were failed versions of the boy who did not make it to the hivemind who have been lost control of and have gone rampant as a result.

In terms of meaning, I think it can be related to Plato's Allegory of the Cave in a way. The game is the cave for the hivemind, and going through the cycle is its attempt to break out of its cave - the world it inhabits - to achieve freedom. This freedom that the hivemind seeks is the water that lays beyond the light that it always ends up in; reaching the water is equivalent to exiting the cave. But, as both the player and the hivemind discover, they cannot reach the water no matter how many times they try. So the revelation that the player and the hivemind have is that the cave is a construct that they are subject to, that their whole effort to find freedom is just a part of the game and is controlled to the point where it can never be achieved, similar to how we can truly never escape the cave. By breaking the cycle, this signifies that we are exerting the only true freedom we have, which is to accept that the game exists and stop playing it. So pretty much the hivemind/player can only find the freedom they seek through truth.

Sorry if this didn't make much sense, it's late and I want to go to bed, but felt like I should try to explain what I think while it's fresh in my mind.



Truth is not given, but found.

YES, I was wondering why everyone assumed the underwater creature was a girl. The experiment always rips the clothes off the boy, and his hair continues to grow (like a cadaver). All the little secret stations in the game with notes and recording equipment are observation points for the experiment.

Also, does the boy ever bleed? I feel like the only time I ever saw blood was the final scene, where the "boss" in the office gets comically squashed. The zombies never bleed. The blob loses whole torsos, but they crawl along unbloodied. Even when the boy gets chopped up by the fan blades, I didn't really see anything but a torn red shirt. Could be wrong, but I think all of these characters are artificial. It's almost like a factory for making game avatars.

I realized the underwater creature (creatures?) was probably a boy only when I got to the end and the boy looked almost exactly like them, except without the long hair.

I want to say there was blood when I died during the shockwave parts, but I could be wrong.

Good summation Gnome Scat.

 

[Justinian]

YES, I was wondering why everyone assumed the underwater creature was a girl. The experiment always rips the clothes off the boy, and his hair continues to grow (like a cadaver). All the little secret stations in the game with notes and recording equipment are observation points for the experiment.

Also, does the boy ever bleed? I feel like the only time I ever saw blood was the final scene, where the "boss" in the office gets comically squashed. The zombies never bleed. The blob loses whole torsos, but they crawl along unbloodied. Even when the boy gets chopped up by the fan blades, I didn't really see anything but a torn red shirt. Could be wrong, but I think all of these characters are artificial. It's almost like a factory for making game avatars.

The boy bleeds when being attacked by the dogs.

 

[Chitown B]

Wasn't too interested as I played through it actually. Just thought the kid was probably some kind of comparison to cancer or something.

huh? haven't heard that, ever.

 

[Montresor]

YES, I was wondering why everyone assumed the underwater creature was a girl. The experiment always rips the clothes off the boy, and his hair continues to grow (like a cadaver). All the little secret stations in the game with notes and recording equipment are observation points for the experiment.

Also, does the boy ever bleed? I feel like the only time I ever saw blood was the final scene, where the "boss" in the office gets comically squashed. The zombies never bleed. The blob loses whole torsos, but they crawl along unbloodied. Even when the boy gets chopped up by the fan blades, I didn't really see anything but a torn red shirt. Could be wrong, but I think all of these characters are artificial. It's almost like a factory for making game avatars.

The boy definitely bleeds when he's ripped apart by dogs.

Edit: Missed Justinian's answer on the next page, doh.