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SPOILER Bioshock Infinite SPOILER discussion

beastmode

Member
I didn't get the story at all. Elizabeth is DeWitts daughter and is really called Anna? Booker is Comstock? Who is the old guy that Booker killed?
In some realities Booker is baptised, leading him down the path of becoming Comstock. You play a Booker who didn't go along with the baptism. The reason you need to die (or all Bookers need to die, as represented by the alternate Elizabeths) before that choice is made is to prevent any Comstocks from existing in the multiverse.

Biggest spoilers ever are above.

Also there are no alternate endings.
 
Why are there choices then ?
I mean wasn't Ken Levine the one who said that a more complex moral system is in this game or something ?
I don't really know :/

I think these choices won't effect the ending, they will just effect the items/gears etc that we get in the game.

The couple that is shown in the beginning for that choice is shown at a later part of the game. They are happy together and they award us with a new gear.
 

MajorPain

Member
I remember hearing something about one of the guys that worked on the game almost quit after playing the game becuase he found it offensive he was a christian.

For those who have played the game do you think the game will be offensive to christians?
 

DatDude

Banned
I remember hearing something about one of the guys that worked on the game almost quit after playing the game becuase he found it offensive he was a christian.

For those who have played the game do you think the game will be offensive to christians?

the ending is how you personally view it.

there's no clear cut THIS IS WHAT THE END IS ABOUT ANSWER.
 
Hey guys I have only one question, I am avoiding all spoilers, but I would like to know this..

Here goes: Levine never clarified if Infinite connects with the BS1, if they are set in the same world. He always implied that there is a connection but he can't talk about it without spoiling the game.

So is there a connection? Thanks!
 

Maddog

Member
I don't really know :/

I think these choices won't effect the ending, they will just effect the items/gears etc that we get in the game.

The couple that is shown in the beginning for that choice is shown at a later part of the game. They are happy together and they award us with a new gear.

That choice definitely has a reward. However, what about the necklace choice? I chose the bird one but does it have any impact at all?
 

Yerolo

Member
Question towards the beginning of the game

Did anyone find what the very first optional quest key opens ? I searched/backtracked but couldnt find the house it opened...but now Ive just reached monument island and the quest is no longer there
 

xanavi

Member
Question towards the beginning of the game

Did anyone find what the very first optional quest key opens ? I searched/backtracked but couldnt find the house it opened...but now Ive just reached monument island and the quest is no longer there

Yeah, it's right around the part where you
attach to the freight hooks. You can drop down onto a balcony and there is an open door. It's in a kid's room in that apartment.
 

Yerolo

Member
Yeah, it's right around the part where you
attach to the freight hooks. You can drop down onto a balcony and there is an open door. It's in a kid's room in that apartment.

Ah damn, well I missed it. Ill have to get it on my 2nd playthrough I guess
 
Hey guys I have only one question, I am avoiding all spoilers, but I would like to know this..

Here goes: Levine never clarified if Infinite connects with the BS1, if they are set in the same world. He always implied that there is a connection but he can't talk about it without spoiling the game.

So is there a connection? Thanks!
If you ever played Bioshock 3 and 11, you would know this answer.
 

Skyzard

Banned
I remember hearing something about one of the guys that worked on the game almost quit after playing the game becuase he found it offensive he was a christian.

For those who have played the game do you think the game will be offensive to christians?

I haven't played it but after seeing screenshots I am interested (provided the story is one that is recommended) but I remember it was about how the dictator exploited religion as opposed to an attack on religion itself. But of course I could be wrong.

What a sad, angry type of reply.

What other groups of people do you go through life hoping are offended, just because you don't hold their beliefs?

.

People.
 

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
Ok .. after beating the game I'll just compile my thoughts on various subjects and post them here, see if any of this makes sense to you guys. I'm pulling all of this out of my ass, as what I understood from the game. If anyone has meaningful additions to make, please do.


Regarding the ending:
Elizabeth "killed" him, but Elizabeth also has the power to alter space and time, and it's not like you see any body in the pull-out shot of the baptizing area

the very last shot (after the credits, in the office) could be from any number of possibilities, since there's nothing else there besides Booker saying anna's name and opening the room door (you never get to see Anna before the shot cuts), it could be ANYTHING.

the whole point in killing Booker at that point is that in some tears he baptizes himself and changes his name to Comstock as a man "born again", in some tears he does NOT go ahead with that choice.

the entire plot exists because of "a lady" because she's the one who is the first person to make the breakthrough of the quantum mechanics and discovers alternate realities, in one of the realities she's "a gentleman" which is why she calls him her brother, this was in one of the radios btw, so in one of the tears where booker baptized himself, he came upon "a lady" and with her help created the sky city, built himself as a prophet and then got full of himself to the point of believing himself as a prophet.

then he married lady comstock, but she couldn't conceive a child, so he uses "a lady" to build a portal, and rather then take anyone else's child, decides to take his own child from a timeline where he didn't baptize himself and ends up a failed private detective with a large debt.

again, "a lady" and "a gentlemen" are the primary people responsible for pulling this version of booker into a tear timeline where comstock exists to get a hold of liz, and utilize her powers so things can be "halted" before they even began.

and the only way to stop all this shit is for booker to die before he is "born again" as zachery, or doesn't take the baptism, i-e he needs to be killed BEFORE he goes ahead with that choice, and that's why all the elizibeth's are there to help kill him, once he dies, all the alternate elizibeth's on site disappear because their timelines don't exist anymore, except for the elizibeth who accompanied booker, because she's the elizibeth from the primary timeline where booker sold his daughter and went on this adventure to begin with, i-e she's from what you can call "the real timeline" at that point.


On Zachary-Booker and the tear-timeline split:
From what I understood he does NOT have a daughter in the timeline where he is baptized .. here's the breakdown.

- Booker and Slate do all the war shit that's mentioned in the game.
- during the war, booker kills a lot of people and feels remorse for it.
- after the war booker decides to baptize himself, in one timeline he goes through with it and changes his name to zachary, in another timeline he doesn't go through as he thinks simply taking a baptization will not cleanse him of all of his past sins.
- in the timeline where he DOES change his name, he finds "a lady", raises Colombia, marries lady comstock (but lady comstock cannot conceive a child).
- in the timeline where he remains Booker, he becomes a private detective, meets his then-wife, and has anna while his wife dies during child birth, but piles up a large debt.

- now the booker (zachary) from the timeline where he raised colombia wants a child, but he doesn't want any other's child, he wants his own child, so he has "a lady" open a tear to one such timeline where he has a child of his own and acquires/steals it.

this answers the question of why comstock went through all the trouble for liz, why not take anyone's child, because he wanted his own child.


On Lady-Comstock
lady comstock is a sad case, she was murdered by comstock himself, but the blame was put on the black maid girl (which caused the entire revolt to begin), the "ghost" version liz pulls out of the tear is one such possibility, that comstock has memories from two different timelines piled up in her head which is why she's all freaked out.

She also thought that Liz was conceived via "A lady" and Comstock's affair, which is why she blames Liz.

Regarding the possible future where New York is under attack.

What you see, with the new york under attack thing, is one of the possible futures, after song bird snatches liz away, you see booker running into some fog but suddenly he comes out in snow, that's because the future-liz from THAT timeline pulled him to show what the consequences are, and how to STOP it from happening (the note she hands to him).

liz is very clear that every time booker tries to take on songbird head on to try and save her, he dies, he simply cannot beat songbird, so future liz pulled booker, before he fights songbird, into the future to prevent that and showing him an alternate solution.


Regarding Rapture's appearance.

the MORE interesting question is how all this figures into Rapture, what exactly do Liz's comments regarding "there's always a lighthouse, always a man" etc mean. Are Bioshock 1 and 2 set in one of the possible futures from a different Tear ? is big daddy THAT tear's version of songbird ? was Jack (BS1 protagonist) the Booker of that tear's timeline ?

so many juicy questions .. which I hope get resolve in the post mortems of the game's plot.
 

JeffGrubb

Member
How does Booker turn into a white supremacist just because he is baptized? I don't get that.
It is a major point of contention for me.

Also when was Elizabeth born? Before or after the baptism? Why is Comstock taking the baby away from himself? Is he gong into other dimensions to take Elizabeth from the version of himself that doesn't accept baptism? Why does that matter to him? Did he give up Comstock also give up Elizabeth?

I'm seriously confused.
 
The social commentary is a liberal wankfest. It's funny how the original went from being a critique on Randian conservative ideals and the series has morphed into a liberal mouthpiece that makes liberals look holier than thou.
 

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
How does Booker turn into a white supremacist just because he is baptized? I don't get that.
It is a major point of contention for me.

Also when was Elizabeth born? Before or after the baptism? Why is Comstock taking the baby away from himself? Is he gong into other dimensions to take Elizabeth from the version of himself that doesn't accept baptism? Why does that matter to him? Did he give up Comstock also give up Elizabeth?

I'm seriously confused.


Pretty sure the baby is only born in the timeline where he does NOT go ahead with the baptism, because when he is baptized, he raises Colombia and marries lady comstock, who can't conceive a child. So he uses the tears to find a timeline where he has a child of his own, to steal it from himself.
 

Brinbe

Member
^Great write-up and observations, Chandoog. Nicely done piecing together all the different plot points into something cohesive.

Honestly though, it's as if Levine watched some Lost/Fringe while making this. That's the first thing that came to mind after the tear twist and that feeling only continued on towards the very end.

And it's funny, I pretty much was thinking about the possibility of the Comstock-DeWitt twist for a good while before it happened and was constantly hoping that wasn't where it was going.

Anyway, it's amusing to read the reactions by people playing through the beginnings (I think it peaked after you left Liz's tower) and splooging all over it (or going in on the racial stuff) because that's small potatoes compared to the discussion that will erupt over the ending and last sequence. Especially after you emerge into Rapture.
 

JeffGrubb

Member
Pretty sure the baby is only born in the timeline where he does NOT go ahead with the baptism, because when he is baptized, he raises Colombia and marries lady comstock, who can't conceive a child. So he uses the tears to find a timeline where he has a child of his own, to steal it from himself.

OK. I remember hearing that Comstock is sterile.

So the story is Booker either refuses the baptism, has a daughter, and sells her then goes to rescue her.

Or

Booker accepts the baptism, goes sterile, begins to think that white people are better, gets a flying city, uses the Luteces to create tears to go find a daughter in another dimension, locks her away to fulfill his religious prophecies?


... seems legit.
 

Shinjiru

Member
What a sad, angry type of reply.

What other groups of people do you go through life hoping are offended, just because you don't hold their beliefs?

My thoughts exactly.

Anyway...
I wasn't even looking forward to this game. I didn't dislike the first Bioshock, but I wasn't crazy about it either. Now I'm really looking forward to playing this one after watching some videos of it today.
 

Moff

Member
soo, why does brooker become a white supremacist?
why did he do all these experiments to his daughter?
what the energy for he syphons from her?
 

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
soo, why does brooker become a white supremacist?
why did he do all these experiments to his daughter?
what the energy for he syphons from her?

- Possibly something related to his PTSD from the war, his mental willingness to completely change himself as a person after he's "born anew". Likely, just a contrived reason for there to be a bad guy all us gamers can unanimously hate ? :p

- To make her docile and someone who'll listen to Comstock's commands, to harness her power to create/alter tears, possibly in order to make his vision of colombia better, and prepare for the attack on new york / the world.

- Possibly the "energy" that powers the Tears.
 

Moff

Member
- Possibly the "energy" that powers the Tears.
but didnt he use the tears to get her? how can she then power the tears in the first place?
and another question, who is the dead guy in the chair in the beginning of the game in the lighthouse?
 

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
but didnt he use the tears to get her? how can she then power the tears in the first place?

Sure he used that power, thanks to "a lady" (i keep forgetting her name), but elizibath can both control AND create tears of her own free will, to anywhere, without requiring any machines or equipment, she has the power in her.

and another question, who is the dead guy in the chair in the beginning of the game in the lighthouse?

No idea, probably just someone to help motivate Booker along, as in to get him going on with the "bring the girl, pay the debt" plot.
 
Okay, so after reading what you guys think about how the story works...

I always think there are just logical fallacies programmed into stories that use multiple dimensions and time travel - and Bioshock Infinite is no different.

If there are multiple dimensions, they aren't finite, which means that it's insanely stupid of Comstock to assume that there would only be ONE false prophet. Sure, the Booker who gave up his child is the most likely to 'take revenge' on Comstock, but once people found out how to open portals to other dimensions, wouldn't more people and more Bookers try to invade Columbia? If there's already 2 Luteces, one male and one female and they found out about how to open up portals, that means there are at least 2 dimensions in which this is possible now, right?

Also, is it ever explained why Elizabeth has the power to open and create tears? Near the end of the game she's happy jumping through tons of dimensions. She's also constantly bringing stuff over from other dimensions. Why wasn't she able to then just flee the tower by herself? Surely it wouldn't have been a problem to open up a tear and escape Songbird or whomever keeps her in the tower.

I don't know, to me, this story is as confusing as the later Matrix films. They opened up the gateways to storytelling hell by introducing time travel and multiple dimensions and ultimately this stuff always leads to stories being told in a way that doesn't really need any logical explanations cause you could somehow put together something that kind-of-sort-of makes sense.
 

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
If there are multiple dimensions, they aren't finite, which means that it's insanely stupid of Comstock to assume that there would only be ONE false prophet. Sure, the Booker who gave up his child is the most likely to 'take revenge' on Comstock, but once people found out how to open portals to other dimensions, wouldn't more people and more Bookers try to invade Columbia? If there's already 2 Luteces, one male and one female and they found out about how to open up portals, that means there are at least 2 dimensions in which this is possible now, right?

To me, it felt like the Luteces' were aware of this fact as well, and the entire act of pulling Booker into one such timeline is them trying to fix their mistake, there's vox radio's in the game that suggest that the luteces's intend to fix their mistake, they talk about returning Liz back etc. So, they're essentially the "powers-that-be" who are guiding the plot from behind the curtains, while the central focus is on Booker's personal tale.


Also, is it ever explained why Elizabeth has the power to open and create tears? Near the end of the game she's happy jumping through tons of dimensions. She's also constantly bringing stuff over from other dimensions. Why wasn't she able to then just flee the tower by herself? Surely it wouldn't have been a problem to open up a tear and escape Songbird or whomever keeps her in the tower.


- I don't think there's any mention in the game, or any hint that Liz is some kind of a special child with powers from birth, what I think (this is strictly my opinion) is that the powers were infused to her when she lost her finger with the botched escape through the portal as a baby.

That might have infused the power of the tears into her, since she basically got her blood etc mixed with the tear's multi-dimensional properties. Again, this is the only logical thing that is seen in the game.


- She talks about your second question in the game herself, that when she was little, she could create tears to anywhere (the fact that she always returned back to the tower, was probably because she was a scared little girl and Songbird was her only true friend since childhood, so she didn't want to leave her friend and the only place she knew as a home behind).

She very directly states in the game that her power to CREATE tears got subdued as she grew older, because of the syphons extracting her power in the tower. Once you have songbird destroy the tower entirely, she returns to her full power, and practically turns into a goddess at that time.
 
Ok guys, so a lot of questions still remain for me.

What is the deal with Chen Li arc?

We go to find Chen Li. We find him tortured to death. We open a tear to a new dimension/reality. In that dimension, Chen Li is not dead. But if that is the case, what are all the zombie like soldiers in the new dimension? Chen Li should also be in a similar state because he was dead in the previous dimension.
 

Terra_Ex

Member
Just finished it, wish I hadn't skipped the credits considering there's something after them, will check that out later. Major kudos to chandoog for piecing the plot together into something coherent, only managed to get halfway there myself. I have a feeling this game will benefit from a second playthrough with my newly gained knowledge.

That said, I've never been a big fan of multiple timeline setups as they quickly become a sprawling web that's difficult to follow. There were snippits mainly delivered through the Lutece's and their recordings that hinted towards what was going on, but I came away thinking that everything from the moment we were transported back to Rapture was thrown at you and then ended far too abruptly for my liking. Expounding more on Comstock's sterility and how this lead to a plan with Lutece to obtain "Booker's" child from another timeline would probably have been more effective. The game further confuses matters with Elizabeth's confession that she doesn't know if she is "creating" new timelines out of thin air as some sort of wish fulfillment, or if we're simply moving between timelines, I remember losing the plot thread when trying to recover Chen Lin's tools from the police station, suddenly we back in another timeline and the Vox had the weapons and were in the midst of a revolution. Was this the original timeline I was in, had we changed that timeline, or is this a new one? The game doesn't make this clear. I still enjoyed the game overall and had braced myself for some convulted nonsense as soon as the plot took a turn towards alternate timelines several hours earlier with the gunsmith shenanigans.

Regarding the level design comments back on page 1, I think the problem is inherent in the setting really, I personally found the railbars you're encouraged to use to be incredibly disorienting whilst trying to aim one way and the track constantly taking you in another. There were definitely one too many "arenas" with waves of enemies flying at me in this game and since they removed the ability to stockpile health packs in this one, I found myself getting blown to pieces in short order quickly after being revived (playing on hard.) The airship at the end being the most prominent of this. In terms of game length, I think it feels a little shorter as it lacks the Little Sister saving/harvesting busywork that was in the previous BioShocks, I don't think it was really any longer or shorter than previous entries.

I think they did a pretty good job characterising Elizabeth, I actually gave a shit about what happened to her and Booker by the end, it's pretty rare for characters to interact with their environment to the extent Elizabeth did - coughing in dusty areas, peering through cracks in the wall in a partially destroyed city, scowling if she's annoyed with you- all these little things made her feel much more believable to me. Ultimately however though, the ending through its use of multiple timelines ensures the player emerges from the game in a state of befuddlement and it's a shame that many triple AAA game devs think this is a clever way to end their game.
 

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
Ok guys, so a lot of questions still remain for me.

What is the deal with Chen Li arc?

We go to find Chen Li. We find him tortured to death. We open a tear to a new dimension/reality. In that dimension, Chen Li is not dead. But if that is the case, what are all the zombie like soldiers in the new dimension? Chen Li should also be in a similar state because he was dead in the previous dimension.

But he was, he was bleeding from the nose like the other soldiers and he was idly going on like he was still working even though nothing was there..

in case of the soldiers, they had JUST been killed, so coming back to life, or the shock of the memories colliding must've been disorienting to them, Chen was killed some time ago, so he might have had a little time to at least get his bearings .. he was still very much out of his mind at that point though, it's not like he was all right or anything.
 

Lucc

Member
Also, is it ever explained why Elizabeth has the power to open and create tears? Near the end of the game she's happy jumping through tons of dimensions. She's also constantly bringing stuff over from other dimensions. Why wasn't she able to then just flee the tower by herself? Surely it wouldn't have been a problem to open up a tear and escape Songbird or whomever keeps her in the tower.

This proves you haven't been paying attention at all. She literally talks and then shows you a picture of the machine that is blocking her powers. Then you send the bird to destroy said machine and unlock her full potential. Dude, pay attention to the story before talking about the game being confusing. That being said if you didn't even get that I guess the game wasn't for people you.

I guess it's getting old but if you want your hand being held, play an Activision shooter.
 

Truant

Member
Questions:

1. Who/what was the Songbird?
2. What was the Vigors?
3. What was the Handymen?
4. Why did Liz have special powers?

Regarding 1, 2 and 3, I belive it was hinted at that they all were a result of tears that lead into Rapture. Fink talks about observing "something" in the tears that would make him able to create the Handymen, but that the process would be "irreversible", which was the same word use to describe the Big Daddy process in BS1. He later on mentions a brilliant biologist. Could he be watching Suchong/Tenenbaum?

Could Vigors simply be Plasmids with another name? None of the inhabitants in Columbia seem to be spliced, except for some of the enemies, and they're insane (Splicers?).
 

Superimposer

This is getting weirder all the time
I get the whole multiverse thing and what's happening at the end. I really do. I just don't fully understand why the Luteces don't just use a tear to kill Booker at the baptism instead of engineering the whole thing for Elizabeth to realise what's happening and do it herself.

The best explanation I can come up with is because in some universes the Luteces are dead because Comstock had them killed (from voxophones), and they are not able to perceive every single reality in the way that Elizabeth is. So only she can kill him in every universe.

Is that right?

And if it is, how is he still alive in another universe post-credits?

-----

And another thing. Who had access to tears? I know Albert Fink did because he got all that music from the future. And, as Truant stated, Jeremiah Fink did too. Where does it stop with who has knowledge of the tears? If everyone did Comstock would fall.
 

Truant

Member
I get the whole multiverse thing and what's happening at the end. I really do. I just don't fully understand why the Luteces don't just use a tear to kill Booker at the baptism instead of engineering the whole thing for Elizabeth to realise what's happening and do it herself.

The best explanation I can come up with is because in some universes the Luteces are dead because Comstock had them killed (from voxophones), and they are not able to perceive every single reality in the way that Elizabeth is. So only she can kill him in every universe.

Is that right?

And if it is, how is he still alive in another universe post-credits?

-----

And another thing. Who had access to tears? I know Albert Fink did because he got all that music from the future. And, as Truant stated, Jeremiah Fink did too. Where does it stop with who has knowledge of the tears? If everyone did Comstock would fall.

As far as I know, the Lutecs can't open tears at will, like Liz (after the Syphon is destroyed).
 

Superimposer

This is getting weirder all the time
As far as I know, the Lutecs can't open tears at will, like Liz (after the Syphon is destroyed).

Well they certainly open a tear to get Booker on the boat at the very start of the game, and we are to believe that they have done this thousands of times, each time with a slight variation until Booker is able to free Liz. Also, isn't that how they keep appearing and disappearing throughout the game as well?
 

Sn4ke_911

If I ever post something in Japanese which I don't understand, please BAN me.
What i wonder is why only Booker used Vigors? why not other Columbia people/enemies?
Why does the Songbird get hurt when it touches water (?) please someone explain the whole thing about the Songbird.
 

Truant

Member
What i wonder is why only Booker used Vigors? why not other Columbia people/enemies?
Why does the Songbird get hurt when it touches water (?) please someone explain the whole thing about the Songbird.

Pressure? His visor cracks the first time they enter Battleship Bay.
 

Superimposer

This is getting weirder all the time
What i wonder is why only Booker used Vigors? why not other Columbia people/enemies?
Why does the Songbird get hurt when it touches water (?) please someone explain the whole thing about the Songbird.

Well with the Songbird, I think it's the simple case of being a machine so it can't be in contact with water. I'm not sure on that though.

There are tons of enemies that use Vigors. The crow and fire guys for example. Remember most of your enemies are just troops so they probably don't have access to Vigors because it's too expensive to supply or something.
 

Sn4ke_911

If I ever post something in Japanese which I don't understand, please BAN me.
Pressure? His visor cracks the first time they enter Battleship Bay.

Hm... but it's not only his visor that cracks, it's also bleeding purple.


Well with the Songbird, I think it's the simple case of being a machine so it just shorts when it hits the water. I'm not sure on that though.

There are tons of enemies that use Vigors. The crow and fire guys for example. Remember most of your enemies are just troops so they probably don't have access to Vigors because it's too expensive to supply or something.

Who build the Songbird? Comstock?
Ok but why can't Booker teleport around with a swarm of ravens like the other dudes can?
 

Superimposer

This is getting weirder all the time
Hm... but it's not only his visor that cracks, it's also bleeding purple.




Who build the Songbird? Comstock?
Ok but why can't Booker teleport around with a swarm of ravens like the other dudes can?

We can assume that Comstock built the Songbird, the point was that Comstock must keep Liz in the tower because he knows Booker will come for her and attempt to unleash her power, at which point she would realise she had to kill Comstock. So yeah, I think he built it to make sure she remained in the tower until the false prophet (Booker) is dealt with.

As for the second question, I think that's a simple gameplay point. If you could do that it would be too easy. Just imagine it's an upgrade that is in very limited quantities.
 
Fink built Songbird, when you're at his area of the game you come across a design diagram of Songbird along with a voxrecording, Fink talks about the fusion of man and machine and that he would build it for Comstock to keep watch over the tower.

Funny thing is
I figured out Booker was Comstock very early on. I was in a random NPC's place and she was speaking to the police describing how Booker looked, and the cop was drawing the sketch, the sketch was basically Comstock.
 
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