shame.
It fits thematically: constants and variables. Lots of ways to get through the game, only one way for it to end.
shame.
But I don't think videogames have to necessarily stick to conventional literary wisdom all the time.
1) Without Lady Comstock being Elizabeth, there is always a DeWitt and an Elizabeth. Comstock will always steal Anna from another version of himself. This is a constant in the story.
2) This is my point though. If he wanted a daughter of his own, what was wrong with Lady Comstock if she was Elizabeth? Unless you think that in the Comstock timelines, Elizabeth still existed without being Booker's daughter but that is a stretch IMO. I think she has to be his daughter.
The door mistook Elizabeth for Lady Comstock but that is it. I would argue that Booker and Comstock found the same women in their respective realities so Elizabeth would have a resemblence to the person who would be her mother in another reality. If they were the same exact person, the door would have opened when Liz scanned her hand.
I'm still with you, I associate death with the office as well and I believe that all the way through until you are visiting the office at the end of the game during the Elizabeth Grand Tour. At that point, she is walking you through different realities so you aren't a new Booker when you are visiting the office this time.
So basically the ending is Stephen King's.The Dark Tower
Not shame at all, the story calls for one and only one ending. This is the only way things could get resolved. Even if they decided to add in an ending where you fight the songbird instead, he would just end up smashing in your skull anyway and a new Booker would come along who hopefully, would not fight the songbird and continue along to this one and only ending.
It fits thematically: constants and variables. Lots of ways to get through the game, only one way for it to end.
Phew. Anyway, I respect your opinion and that you took the time to write it out. But I don't think videogames have to necessarily stick to conventional literary wisdom all the time. Sure, it stumbles here and there, but overall I think it's a terrific achievement and one of the best stories told in the medium.
I disagree with you on that since I look it on another perspective. IMO there must always be a DeWitt and Elizabeth archetype. In the original Bioshock dimension it was Jack Ryan and the Little Girls, in DeWitt's dimension it was Anna DeWitt, and in Compstock it was Lady Compston
Anyone find it funny that Booker calls a city under the sea ridiculous when he's spent God knows how long exploring/fighting/etc in a floating city?
Anyone find it funny that Booker calls a city under the sea ridiculous when he's spent God knows how long exploring/fighting/etc in a floating city?
Anyone find it funny that Booker calls a city under the sea ridiculous when he's spent God knows how long exploring/fighting/etc in a floating city?
I don't think I disagree, but saying "one of the best stories told in the medium" would be damning with faint praise from me.
Games aren't particularly good at telling stories, almost by definition, because the listener has so much agency. As another example, somewhere out there is a painting that is the best painting in the world at telling a story, but that doesn't really make it good at telling a story relative to other mediums which are entirely focused on storytelling, like novels, plays and films.
That isn't to say that painting (and video games) don't have their own strengths, mind you. They can do complex things we should respect. Every medium has its strengths and weaknesses.
How dumb am I?
I only just realised the significance of the title Bioshock INFINITE.
Oh I agree with you, but games can do certain elements of storytelling very, very well. World-building and lore, for one thing. Like I said, for me, playing Bioshock Infinite wasn't ABOUT shooting guys, it was about trying to piece the story together as it was going along. It's part of the game, as I see it. Considering that I think first-person shooters is one of the worst genres of games to tell a story in, they did an amazing job, and even without that qualifier, haters be damned, I think it's an amazing story, and it could ONLY have been a game, because so much of HOW it tells its story hinges on it being one.
If they succeed he will have never died in the first place. We know he was loyal to Comstock and planning to kill the False Shepard via this:
Perhaps the reason for the brutality (although do we know he was actually tortured? There's a hole on the bag so maybe he was shot, the knife and chisel were then left there having been dipped in blood or used post mortem) is because in another universe Booker simply went to Paris with Elizabeth due to not being adequetly scared.
If they succeed he will have never died in the first place. We know he was loyal to Comstock and planning to kill the False Shepard via this:
Perhaps the reason for the brutality (although do we know he was actually tortured? There's a hole on the bag so maybe he was shot, the knife and chisel were then left there having been dipped in blood or used post mortem) is because in another universe Booker simply went to Paris with Elizabeth due to not being adequetly scared.
Damn it, you know if they went to Paris then some incest happened in that reality.
Just finished the game, is there any sort of collection of all the Easter eggs/little things in the game? I was pretty thorough in looking around, but I'm sure I still missed a ton.
i missed the guitar scene in Shantytown. that was a major one.
That's a shame, it's a great one.
THIS, the nosebleeds are one of the things i still feel foggy about. It feels like it's when you're remembering or not remembering something from an alternate universe
Wikipedia said:[Evan's] assimilation of dozens of years' worth of new memories from the alternate timelines causes his brain damage and severe nosebleeds. Ultimately, he decides that his attempts to alter the past end up only harming those he cares about, and realizes that the main cause of everyone's suffering in all the different timelines is himself.
No secret ending. Everything is constant.
just a lil joke from Mr. Levine, imo.
I cried like a girl you guys....Like a damn pre-teen girl.
I cried like a man you guys....Like a damn sterioid-injected man
Fixed for ya!
Haha. Thanks.
When you try to rip Elizabeth out of Comstocks hands and the portal closes man I just couldn't help it.
there there, i almost cried.
Yeah, I totally would have cried, but I'm not a wuss so I couldn't.
Especially the scene where he tries to cancel the deal.
My jaw was on the floor for most of the ending sequence, when everything fell into place. It was a very well-done sequence.
Is Ken Levine the new Peter Molyneux? Hopefully without the end result?
Is Ken Levine the new Peter Molyneux?
thank gawd Levine doesn't spout nonsense and false promises.
I cried like a girl you guys....Like a damn pre-teen girl.
So basically the ending is Stephen King's.The Dark Tower
What hit me in the gut even more was the scene right before that one, where brother Lutece comes to collect Elizabeth, at that moment it hit me that Elizabeth was his daughter, and because of Booker's own actions or the actions of the other Booker, Elizabeth had to endure so much pain and suffering.
I stood in the room just awe struck.
Yeah, I totally would have cried, but I'm not a wuss so I couldn't.
Well, yes. But Molyneux was an extremely creative designer for a time. That's more what I was referring to.
thank gawd Levine doesn't spout nonsense and false promises.
thank gawd Levine doesn't spout nonsense and false promises.
1999 mode, "revolutionary AI" et al.
But I'd still happily buy a Levine-helmed game. Molyneux's involvement in a project actually turns me off.
I don't think I disagree, but saying "one of the best stories told in the medium" would be damning with faint praise from me.
Games aren't particularly good at telling stories, almost by definition, because the listener has so much agency. As another example, somewhere out there is a painting that is the best painting in the world at telling a story, but that doesn't really make it good at telling a story relative to other mediums which are entirely focused on storytelling, like novels, plays and films.
That isn't to say that painting (and video games) don't have their own strengths, mind you. They can do complex things we should respect. Every medium has its strengths and weaknesses.