- 7 weeks ago
Video games at their most infuriatingly ambiguous.
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00:00So, when it comes to video games, it can be extremely satisfying to get to the end of a story
00:04and finally have all of the answers neatly laid out in front of you.
00:08But you know what? Sometimes a lack of clarity can actually also enhance a story's enduring legacy.
00:14Dropping a compelling mystery and then leaving players to figure out the answer for themselves
00:17is an easy way to ensure a game remains alive in the ever-shifting pop culture conversation.
00:23So let's take a look at them. As I'm Jules, this is WhatCulture.com,
00:25and these are 10 video games that made you work out the answer yourself.
00:3010. Fallout Who Started The Great War?
00:33In the world of the Fallout games, the Great War was a nuclear holocaust in which all nuclear-equipped nations,
00:39namely the US, China, and Russia, launched their weapons and sent the world into a permanently
00:43radioactive post-apocalyptic state. The games have never categorically confirmed one way or another
00:49which nation started the Great War, for though US President Richardson tells the player that China
00:54launched first, he can't be considered a remotely reliable source on the subject given his position.
00:58China are certainly a high-probable candidate, as are Russia, while Fallout 4 gave birth to the theory
01:04that an AI, known as the Predictive Analytic Machine, or PAM, may have gone full Skynet and
01:09coaxed America into launching first. Ultimately, the Who isn't actually that important given that the
01:15Great War really just generated a canvas on which the series' stories could unfold. But, considering
01:20humanity's natural desire for resolution, fans will debate which nation damned humanity to a bleak future
01:25forevermore. 9. Life is Strange
01:28Why does Max have the ability to rewind time? Life is Strange is centred around protagonist Max
01:34Coalfield's ability to rewind time, which she discovers after witnessing her childhood friend
01:39Chloe be murdered by a classmate. Max rewinds time and saves Chloe, and though Max continues to manifest
01:45this ability throughout the rest of the story, it's never actually explained how she developed it.
01:50Fans have certainly come up with their own theories, that fate itself bestowed Max with these abilities to
01:54prevent Chloe's death, or that Chloe's death was a significantly stressful event to bring forth a
01:59power that had laid dormant inside her all along. But thankfully, the game itself never even begins
02:03to hint at kooky scientific experiments in Max's childhood or anything like that, and because there's
02:08no indication at all of how Max gained her abilities, its origins are really whatever the
02:12player wants them to be.
02:138. Red Dead Redemption
02:15Who is the Strange Man?
02:18In the first Red Dead Redemption, the stranger side mission, I Know You, introduces players to
02:23The Strange Man, a suited-up, top-hat-wearing individual who speaks in largely esoteric riddles
02:28and asks John Marston to complete two tasks intended to test his morality. John will then meet The Strange
02:34Man once more, at which point the man will refer to a nearby patch of land as a fine spot, which just so
02:40happens to be the very place where John and his wife Abigail will be buried. Even when John shoots
02:45his guns at the man in frustration, he walks away unharmed. The Strange Man also reappears in Red Dead
02:51Redemption 2, with a painting of him hanging in an abandoned shack north of Saint Denis. Better yet,
02:56enter the shack and peer into the mirror as John during the game's epilogue, and you'll see the
03:00strange man behind you. Following the game's release, man's speculation ran rampant over the man's
03:05identity, many suggesting that he might be the Grim Reaper, God, or the Devil, or perhaps even just
03:10the spectral figure of a bystander killed by John on one of his many, many crimes. The sequel clearly
03:16leaned into this, though at the same time refused to commit to a single interpretation of who indeed
03:20The Strange Man might be. Whether supernatural or flesh and blood, he remains an elusive and fascinating
03:26enigma.
03:277. Five Nights at Freddy's 4
03:29What's in the damn box?
03:31Five Nights at Freddy's 4 introduced the box, which is exactly what it says on the tin. An
03:36unremarkable-looking locked box complete with the vague message, perhaps some things are best left
03:41forgotten for now. Well, fans certainly didn't forget about this box, and in the seven years since
03:46FNAF 4's release, they've continually agonised over what could possibly be inside. Series creator
03:51Scott Cawthorn teased fans that the contents of the box were the pieces of the story put together,
03:56and so literally innumerable theories have done the rounds over the years. One of the most popular
04:00suggestions is the box is itself a metaphor for the series' unanswered questions, and that Cawthorn
04:06may in fact never have any intention of revealing what's inside. Whatever your own interpretation,
04:10the lack of clarity continues to drive fans absolutely wild, and with Cawthorn recently
04:15announcing his retirement from games development, it's entirely possible the answers might go with
04:20him. But with Cawthorn planning to hand the series over to a new developer, hopefully he might
04:24either tell them the answer, or in the event he doesn't have one, let the new team come up with
04:28their own. Or, you know, just leave the internet on tenderhooks forevermore, because that's kind of
04:33more fun. 6. The Last of Us
04:35Is Ellie the only immune human on Earth? In both Last of Us games, protagonist Ellie is the only person
04:42immune to the cordyceps brain infection that we ever actually see. Now, it's made clear that immune
04:47people are at least enough of a rarity that the Fireflies are desperate to experiment upon Ellie
04:51in the hopes of reverse engineering a vaccine. Though the lack of other immune individuals
04:55might suggest Ellie to be the only one, it's also totally reasonable that other immune people would
05:00conceal their status for fear of reprisals. Plus, despite the human population dwindling
05:05significantly, there are presumably still a lot of people around the globe who could conceivably be
05:10immune. And accepting how real infections work, it's basically a mathematical impossibility that Ellie
05:15is the only immune person on Earth left alive. If a third Last of Us happens, which it probably will
05:20eventually, there's a solid chance it might clear up this mystery once and for all.
05:245. Metal Gear Solid 3 Snake Eater
05:27How did Volgen get his electric powers?
05:30Metal Gear Solid 3's primary antagonist Volgen is inexplicably able to produce a powerful electric
05:35charge from his body and use it to attack his enemies, in this case, Naked Snake. While Hideo
05:40Kojima has at least tried to explain the various abilities of the game's eccentric Cobra unit with
05:45some degree of internal plausibility, there's no attempt at all to make sense of why this hulking
05:50Soviet colonel can emit electricity from his damn body. Beyond the obvious answer of nanomachines,
05:55for anything that doesn't make sense in the Metal Gear universe, the lack of in-game answers seems
05:59to imply that Volgen was most likely born with the ability becauseā¦ reasons. However, some fans have
06:05noted that because Volgen wears a rubber suit and has a scarred body, it's possible that his powers are
06:10actually the product of shady Soviet experiments. Despite Kojima's tendency to give every major
06:15character their own exposition-filled backstory, he bizarrely left fans to figure this one out
06:19on their own.
06:214. The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild
06:23What Happened to the Eighth Heroine?
06:26In The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild, the seven heroines are the divine protectors of the
06:30Gerudo people, and seven statues commemorating them can be found in the East Gerudo Ruins.
06:35A mysterious eighth statue can also be discovered with some considerable effort.
06:39In the Northern Highlands. And so, the eighth heroine was removed from The Legend for unknown
06:43reasons, prompting players to speculate what could have possibly happened for the statue to
06:47have been moved from its original location. Perhaps the eighth divine protector fell out with or even
06:51betrayed the rest of the group, causing them to be exiled forevermore. Of course, it's entirely
06:56possible that Nintendo simply did this for a giggle and merely hoped to stoke conversation among
07:00players without any sort of concrete answer. There certainly doesn't appear to be a clear solution
07:04in Breath of the Wild itself, though the eighth heroine being cast out by the rest does seem
07:09like the most logical conclusion.
07:11Number 3. Shadow of the Colossus
07:13What is the purpose of the ring-like structures in the desert?
07:16Shadow of the Colossus is a game that's massively ambiguous by design, preferring to leave players
07:21to marinate on the finer details of its mysterious yet beautifully intriguing world. One such enigma
07:26that's boggled fans' minds for years is the unexplained presence of some ring-like structures
07:31that are half-buried in the desert where you battle the 13th Colossus, Phalanx. There are four
07:35rings in the area, two intact and two broken, and given that the rings look extremely similar
07:40to the rings that appear in the game's spiritual predecessor, Aiko, fans naturally think that
07:44there could be some greater significance to them. On the other hand, a compelling fan theory makes
07:48the case that the rings were installed in the ground to limit Phalanx's movements and ensure
07:52that it couldn't fly away from the desert area. Whatever your own opinion, don't expect the director,
07:57Fumito Ueda, to ever provide a surefire answer.
08:002. Half-Life Who, or what, is the G-Man
08:04The G-Man is the single most fascinating entity in the Half-Life franchise, described by Valve
08:10itself as a sinister interdimensional bureaucrat, whatever the hell that means. G-Man is a frequent
08:15help and hindrance of Gordon Freeman throughout the series, famously offering him a not-so-appealing
08:20job at the end of the first game and regularly demonstrating an ability to manipulate both space
08:25and time. Even the recent Half-Life Alex didn't do much to clarify G-Man's natures or motivations,
08:31beyond again affirming that he answers to his mysterious employers. Honestly, at this point,
08:36it's unlikely that any concrete answer about who or what the G-Man is will ever come out. Is he an
08:41alien? Is he a supernatural force beyond matter itself? And to be honest, even if we did have an
08:45answer, it wouldn't be satisfactory. So Valve may opt to simply never reveal the truth. While it seems
08:50probable that a follow-up to Alex is indeed on the way within the next few years, don't expect to learn a
08:54whole lot more about the G-Man. And let's face it, it might be for the best this way.
08:591. Silent Hill 2
09:01Which Ending Is The Canon One? Though the events of Silent Hill 3 gave us some major clues as to
09:06which of the original game's endings are canon, Silent Hill 2 is a basically standalone sequel
09:11whose many possible endings are each of dubious canonicity. Silent Hill 2 has six possible endings
09:17depending on how you progress through the game, including two joke endings with the UFO and the dog
09:22one, leaving four possible canon ones. These endings range from protagonist James leaving the
09:26town, to him attempting to resurrect his dead wife Mary, and in the ending most commonly believed to be
09:31canon, killing himself in order to join Mary. But basically, all major creatives associated with the
09:36game, most of all the writers, have flat out refused to anoint any of the endings as canon,
09:41instead suggesting the endings are basically a litmus test for players and that the real ending
09:46is whichever one they get. It's at once frustrating and brilliant, ensuring that fans will continue to
09:51debate James' fate until the end of time, even if many will argue that their own dying breath in the
09:56water ending, where he kills himself, is the one that makes the most sense.
10:00And there we go my friends, those were 10 video games that made you work out the answer for yourself.
10:04Hope you enjoyed that, and please let me know what you thought about it down in the comment section
10:07below. As always I've been Jules, you can go follow me over on Twitter at RetroJWithAZero,
10:12or you can swing by LiveAndLet'sDice where I do all of my streaming outside of work,
10:15and it'd be great to see you over there. But before I go, I just want to say one thing,
10:19hope you're treating yourself well with love and respect my friend, because you deserve all of the best
10:22things in life, and do not let anything or anyone else tell you otherwise, alright? I want you to
10:26go out there and absolutely smash it today. I believe in you. As always I've been Jules,
10:30you have been awesome. Never forget that, and I'll speak to you soon. Bye.
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