Post by Frisil (the clueless prince) on Nov 19, 2006 22:58:45 GMT -5
Another theory I post here as it expired on gamespot and is no longer there:
According to other theories I have read, this is what I think about the nature of the game: The game takes place after the introduction move, after Jennifer was asleep on the park bench. We see her sitting there, she dozes off and has a short dream, than the wakes from the rain, but we see she has tears in her eyes. So she dreamt about something to remind her of the things she had forgotten, propbably Brown.
Then she starts to remember things she was in denial of, her unlucky and unhappy past. The game is not neccessarily a dream, I think it's more what is going on in her mind while she still sits on the bench, pondering and trying to remember.
First she sees (=remembers) Brown, Wendy and herself as a child, and the prince and princess talk. Then Joshua (=a thought) takes her back on a bus (=a train of thought) to the orpahnage (=her past) and gives her a half-empty storybook (=her memories and things she blanked out).
So I think the game does not actually happen the way we play it, not even in a dream, it is symbolic of how her memories come back, one thought leads to another (=one clue in the game helps to find another) and in the end, everything becomes clear, but only if whe reach the good ending (by sticking to the facts according to the newspaper article).
I think this also explains the game-over sequence speaking of that this was her funeral and everyone lived happily ever after. The remembering is a chance for her to get to terms with her past, when she dies in the game, she reached a dead end in her memories and stops at this point, the rest will forever stay in denial (her funeral symbolizes her denial of her past, as Brown's funeral (although it really happened in her past) is also a symbol for her forgetting about her beloved dog, or denying her memories as they were too painful). So having burried her past self (her memories) she can live happily ever after, but to the price of never remembering what really took place in her childhood. When we reach the bad ending, Jennifer settles with a lie by twisting the facts to stop remembering, and we do not play the final chapter where everything becomes clear and she comes to terms with her memories of Wendy and Brown. "She cannot save anyone" here means she cannot save herself from the impact of her memories coming back, she kills Gregory to instantly stop the game (=her remembering), although she reached the end. But she does not come to terms with it, it will lead her to a nervous breakdown or a psychotic state, probably even suicide.
Only when we reach the good ending, Jennifer goes on after having reached the end, she is able to cope with what she just remembered and can make her peace with her past, with her memories of Brown, Wendy, and Gregory.
So basically, I think the game is neither real nor a dream, it is entirely symbolic for coming to terms with a troubled past and being finally able to cope with it, or to kind of break your mind by remembering things that had better stayed in denial. It's about remembering and dealing with memories, not about dreaming.
Needless to say, the game then takes place much later, not in the early 30ies, but in the late 30ies or even the 40ies. And the objective is simply: Will Jennifer be able to come to terms with her past (good ending), will she break because of it (bad ending) or will she stay in denial for the rest of her life (game over) ?
Hope you can understand what I'm trying to say, as I somehow lack the words to describe it because my understanding/feeling of the game is more on an emotional level that cannot be put into words easily.
According to other theories I have read, this is what I think about the nature of the game: The game takes place after the introduction move, after Jennifer was asleep on the park bench. We see her sitting there, she dozes off and has a short dream, than the wakes from the rain, but we see she has tears in her eyes. So she dreamt about something to remind her of the things she had forgotten, propbably Brown.
Then she starts to remember things she was in denial of, her unlucky and unhappy past. The game is not neccessarily a dream, I think it's more what is going on in her mind while she still sits on the bench, pondering and trying to remember.
First she sees (=remembers) Brown, Wendy and herself as a child, and the prince and princess talk. Then Joshua (=a thought) takes her back on a bus (=a train of thought) to the orpahnage (=her past) and gives her a half-empty storybook (=her memories and things she blanked out).
So I think the game does not actually happen the way we play it, not even in a dream, it is symbolic of how her memories come back, one thought leads to another (=one clue in the game helps to find another) and in the end, everything becomes clear, but only if whe reach the good ending (by sticking to the facts according to the newspaper article).
I think this also explains the game-over sequence speaking of that this was her funeral and everyone lived happily ever after. The remembering is a chance for her to get to terms with her past, when she dies in the game, she reached a dead end in her memories and stops at this point, the rest will forever stay in denial (her funeral symbolizes her denial of her past, as Brown's funeral (although it really happened in her past) is also a symbol for her forgetting about her beloved dog, or denying her memories as they were too painful). So having burried her past self (her memories) she can live happily ever after, but to the price of never remembering what really took place in her childhood. When we reach the bad ending, Jennifer settles with a lie by twisting the facts to stop remembering, and we do not play the final chapter where everything becomes clear and she comes to terms with her memories of Wendy and Brown. "She cannot save anyone" here means she cannot save herself from the impact of her memories coming back, she kills Gregory to instantly stop the game (=her remembering), although she reached the end. But she does not come to terms with it, it will lead her to a nervous breakdown or a psychotic state, probably even suicide.
Only when we reach the good ending, Jennifer goes on after having reached the end, she is able to cope with what she just remembered and can make her peace with her past, with her memories of Brown, Wendy, and Gregory.
So basically, I think the game is neither real nor a dream, it is entirely symbolic for coming to terms with a troubled past and being finally able to cope with it, or to kind of break your mind by remembering things that had better stayed in denial. It's about remembering and dealing with memories, not about dreaming.
Needless to say, the game then takes place much later, not in the early 30ies, but in the late 30ies or even the 40ies. And the objective is simply: Will Jennifer be able to come to terms with her past (good ending), will she break because of it (bad ending) or will she stay in denial for the rest of her life (game over) ?
Hope you can understand what I'm trying to say, as I somehow lack the words to describe it because my understanding/feeling of the game is more on an emotional level that cannot be put into words easily.
