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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?
00:34In 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 internet and coaxed America into launching
00:58first. Ultimately, the Who isn't actually that important, given that the Great War really just
01:04generated a canvas on which the series' stories could unfold. But considering humanity's natural
01:09desire for resolution, fans will debate which nation damned humanity to a bleak future forevermore.
01:149. Life is Strange Why Does Max Have The Ability To Rewind Time?
01:20Life is Strange is centred around protagonist Max Coalfield's ability to rewind time, which she
01:25discovers after witnessing her childhood friend Chloe be murdered by a classmate. Max rewinds time
01:30and saves Chloe, and though Max continues to manifest this ability throughout the rest of the story,
01:35it's never actually explained how she developed it. Fans have certainly come up with their own theories,
01:39that fate itself bestowed Max with these abilities to prevent Chloe's death, or that Chloe's death
01:44was a significantly stressful event to bring forth a power that had laid dormant inside her all along.
01:49But thankfully, the game itself never even begins to hint at kooky scientific experiments in Max's
01:54childhood or anything like that, and because there's no indication at all of how Max gained
01:58her abilities, its origins are really whatever the player wants them to be.
02:028. Red Dead Redemption Who is the Strange Man?
02:05In the first Red Dead Redemption, the Stranger side mission, I Know You, introduces players to
02:11The Strange Man, a suited-up, top-hat-wearing individual who speaks in largely esoteric riddles
02:16and asks John Marston to complete two tasks intended to test his morality. John will then meet the
02:22strange man once more, at which point the man will refer to a nearby patch of land as a fine spot,
02:27which just so happens to be the very place where John and his wife Abigail will be buried.
02:32Even when John shoots his guns at the man, in frustration, he walks away unharmed.
02:37The strange man also reappears in Red Dead Redemption 2, with a painting of him hanging
02:41in an abandoned shack north of Saint Denis. Better yet, enter the shack and peer into the
02:45mirror as John during the game's epilogue, and you'll see the strange man behind you.
02:50Following the game's release, man's speculation ran rampant over the man's identity, many suggesting
02:54that he might be the Grim Reaper, God, or the Devil, or perhaps even just the spectral figure
02:59of a bystander killed by John on one of his many, many crimes. The sequel clearly leaned
03:04into this, though at the same time refused to commit to a single interpretation of who
03:08indeed the strange man might be. Whether supernatural or flesh and blood, he remains an elusive and
03:14fascinating enigma.
03:157. Five Nights at Freddy's 4
03:17What's in the damn box?
03:19Five Nights at Freddy's 4 introduced the box, which is exactly what it says on the tin,
03:24an unremarkable-looking locked box complete with the vague message,
03:27perhaps some things are best left forgotten for now.
03:30Well, fans certainly didn't forget about this box, and in the seven years since FNAF 4's release,
03:35they've continually agonised over what could possibly be inside.
03:38Series creator Scott Cawthon teased fans that the contents of the box were the pieces of the
03:43story put together, and so literally innumerable theories have done the rounds over the years.
03:48One of the most popular suggestions is the box is itself a metaphor for the series' unanswered
03:52questions, and that Cawthon may in fact never have any intention of revealing what's inside.
03:57Whatever your own interpretation, the lack of clarity continues to drive fans absolutely wild,
04:02and with Cawthon recently announcing his retirement from games development,
04:05it's entirely possible the answers might go with him. But with Cawthon planning to hand the series
04:10over to a new developer, hopefully he might either tell them the answer, or in the event he doesn't
04:14have one, let the new team come up with their own. Or, you know, just leave the internet on
04:19tenderhooks forevermore, because that's kind of more fun.
04:226. The Last of Us
04:23Is Ellie the only immune human on Earth?
04:27In both Last of Us games, protagonist Ellie is the only person immune to the cordyceps brain
04:31infection that we ever actually see. Now, it's made clear that immune people are at least enough of
04:36a rarity that the fireflies are desperate to experiment upon Ellie in the hopes of reverse
04:40engineering a vaccine. Though the lack of other immune individuals might suggest Ellie to be the
04:45only one, it's also totally reasonable that other immune people would conceal their status for fear
04:50of reprisals. Plus, despite the human population dwindling significantly, there are presumably still
04:55a lot of people around the globe who could conceivably be immune. And accepting how real
04:59infections work, it's basically a mathematical impossibility that Ellie is the only immune person on
05:05Earth left alive. If a third Last of Us happens, which it probably will eventually, there's a
05:09solid chance it might clear up this mystery once and for all.
05:125. Metal Gear Solid 3 Snake Eater
05:15How did Volgan get his electric powers?
05:18Metal Gear Solid 3's primary antagonist, Volgan, is inexplicably able to produce a powerful electric
05:23charge from his body and use it to attack his enemies, in this case, Naked Snake. While Hideo Kojima
05:29has at least tried to explain the various abilities of the game's eccentric Cobra unit with some degree of
05:34internal plausibility, there's no attempt at all to make sense of why this hulking Soviet
05:38colonel can emit electricity from his damn body. Beyond the obvious answer of nanomachines,
05:43for anything that doesn't make sense in the Metal Gear universe, the lack of in-game answers seems
05:47to imply that Volgan was most likely born with the ability because… reasons. However, some fans have
05:53noted that because Volgan wears a rubber suit and has a scarred body, it's possible that his powers are
05:58actually the product of shady Soviet experiments. Despite Kojima's tendency to give every major
06:03character their own exposition-filled backstory, he bizarrely left fans to figure this one out on
06:08their own.
06:094. The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild
06:11What Happened to the Eighth Heroine?
06:14In The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild, the seven heroines are the divine protectors of the
06:18Gerudo people, and seven statues commemorating them can be found in the East Gerudo ruins. A mysterious
06:23eighth statue can also be discovered with some considerable effort in the Northern Highlands.
06:28And so the eighth heroine was removed from the Legend for unknown reasons, prompting players
06:32to speculate what could have possibly happened for the statue to have been moved from its original
06:36location. Perhaps the eighth divine protector fell out with or even betrayed the rest of the group,
06:41causing them to be exiled forevermore. Of course, it's entirely possible that Nintendo simply did
06:45this for a giggle and merely hoped to stoke conversation among players without any sort of concrete
06:49answer. There certainly doesn't appear to be a clear solution in Breath of the Wild
06:53itself, though the eighth heroine being cast out by the rest does seem like the most logical
06:57conclusion.
06:593. Shadow of the Colossus
07:01What is the purpose of the ring-like structures in the desert?
07:04Shadow of the Colossus is a game that's massively ambiguous by design, preferring to leave players
07:09to marinate on the finer details of its mysterious yet beautifully intriguing world. One such enigma
07:14that's some ring-like structures that are half-buried in the desert where you battle the 13th Colossus
07:19Phalanx. There are four rings in the area, two intact and two broken, and given that the rings
07:24look extremely similar to the rings that appear in the game's spiritual predecessor Aiko, fans
07:28naturally think that there could be some greater significance to them. On the other hand, a
07:32compelling fan theory makes the case that the rings were installed in the ground desert area.
07:37Whatever your own opinion, don't expect the director, Fumito Ueda, to ever provide a surefire
07:42answer.
07:422. Half-Life
07:44Who, or what, is the G-Man?
07:47The G-Man is the single most fascinating entity in the Half-Life franchise, described by Valve
07:52itself as a sinister, interdimensional bureaucrat, whatever the hell that means. G-Man is a frequent
07:57help and hindrance of Gordon Freeman throughout the series, famously offering him a not-so-appealing
08:02job at the end of the first game, and regularly demonstrating an ability to manipulate both
08:06space and time. Even the recent Half-Life Alyx didn't do much to clarify G-Man's natures
08:12or motivations, beyond again affirming that he answers to his mysterious employers. Honestly,
08:17at this point it's unlikely that any concrete answer about who or what the G-Man is will
08:21ever come out. Is he an alien? Is he a supernatural force beyond matter itself? And to be honest,
08:26even if we did have an answer, it wouldn't be satisfactory. So Valve may opt to simply
08:30never reveal the truth. While it seems probable that a follow-up to Alex is indeed on the way
08:34within the next few years, don't expect to learn a whole lot more about the G-Man. And
08:38let's face it, it might be for the best this way.
08:411. Silent Hill 2
08:43Which ending is the canon one? Though the events of Silent Hill 3 gave us some major clues as
08:48to which of the original game's endings are canon, Silent Hill 2 is a basically standalone
08:52sequel whose many possible endings are each of dubious canonicity. Silent Hill 2 has six possible
08:58endings depending on how you progress through the game, including two joke endings with the UFO and
09:03dog one, leaving four possible canon ones. These endings range from protagonist James leaving the
09:08town, to him attempting to resurrect his dead wife Mary, and in the ending most commonly believed to
09:13be canon, killing himself in order to join Mary. But basically, all major creatives associated with
09:18the game, most of all the writers, have flat out refused to anoint any of the endings as canon,
09:23instead suggesting the endings are basically a litmus test for players and that the real ending
09:28is whichever one they get.
09:29It's at once frustrating and brilliant, ensuring that fans will continue to debate James' fate
09:34until the end of time, even if many will argue that their own dying breath in the water ending
09:38where he kills himself is the one that makes the most sense.
09:42And there we go my friends, those were 10 video games that made you work out the answer for yourself.
09:46Hope you enjoyed that, and please let me know what you thought about it down in the comments
09:49section below. As always I've been Jules, you can go follow me over on Twitter at RetroJWithAZero,
09:54or you can swing by Liv and Let's Dice where I do all of my streaming outside of work,
09:57and it'd be great to see you over there. But before I go, I just want to say one thing.
10:01Hope you're treating yourself well with love and respect, my friend, because you deserve
10:04all of the best things in life, and do not let anything or anyone else tell you otherwise,
10:08alright? I want you to go out there and absolutely smash it today. I believe in you.
10:11As always I've been Jules, you have been awesome. Never forget that, and I'll speak to you soon.
10:16Bye.
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