Frictional's SOMA - TTLG Forums

Renzatic on 24/9/2015 at 18:28

Quote Posted by van HellSing

Regarding Simon and his scan, I took it that Munschi and Berg were just way ahead of the curve with their scanner, and it really was that accurate.

The game doesn't give that impression. They've been using Munschi and Berg's scans for decades by that point as a baseline for rudimentary AI. As Catherine put it, they were "flatter" than her scans, which were relatively new things. Though I guess you could handwave it by saying that the WAU was able to tease more information out of them than anyone else (who hadn't even tried), and reconstruct Simon's consciousness from it.

I'm kinda nitpicking this because, to me anyway, it's the only loose nit worth picking. Everything involving how Simon came to be there was pushed aside to focus more on how he's dealing with it.

Well, that and the fact a bunch of very smart people decided to build their giant ass space railgun on the bottom of an abyssal plain that's incredibly dangerous to reach even in normal circumstances. But I'm able to forgive that due to rule of cool.

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As to why he has this unique status, I got that the WAU is constantly experimenting, constantly searching for ways to preserve humans. Simon was just another try. "Hey, here's this somewhat usable body, and oh, there's this brain scan lying around. Could work!"

Okay, that makes a bit of sense. The WAU is using anything and everything it can get its hands on, so that's not much of a stretch when you consider everything else, up to and including the fact that the WAU has been using platforms that couldn't properly handle human consciousness. It was an ever ongoing process, trying to perfect the preservation of humanity while still protecting itself.

...which makes you think, maybe it was a mistake to kill it. Maybe it would've been better to find a way to ease its panic than rely totally on the ARK as our one and only option.

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As far as the bleakness of the ending goes - yeah, the entire game is really, really bleak. But, there was no other end to this, and Simon was indeed quite stupid not to realise. Still, in the end, something got preserved, some part of the human mind carries on, and whether you believe it has any meaning is pretty much the question the narrative asks you to ponder.

Depressing as it is, I love this story.

It's kind of a multilayered question. For most of the game, Simon and Catherine asked if life were still worth living as they were, and I'd say it was, because they still had the ability to manipulate their surroundings, and improve upon themselves in ways that were previously completely impossible. In the ARK, that question becomes completely philosophical, since humanity is now more a concept living in a faked, entirely static paradise. We've preserved ourselves as we were the moment The End came, but denied ourselves any ability to grow beyond it. It's a zoo for the mind as much as it is a museum piece.

And yeah, it is a good story. The thing that makes it so interesting is that it doesn't just tell it, but pushes your face right into the hopelessness of it. It uses its atmosphere to great effect.

edit: Oh, and you do realize that, from the neck down, you spend a good portion of the game playing as the red headed woman from those teaser clips that came out back in the day, right?

Volitions Advocate on 24/9/2015 at 19:10

URRGH. SO many spoiler tags... Must not click.... I just got to Theta.

Renzatic on 24/9/2015 at 19:23

Harry Potter olol

Renault on 24/9/2015 at 20:13

Yeah, tempting here too, but I should finish the game tonight so I'll find out for myself. :p I'm a ways into Theta now. Loving the story on this one, it feels more like Gone Home than Amnesia at this point, just searching for clues and peeling back the layers to the narrative. I can tell this is one of those games that will stick with me for awhile even after I finish it. Even at work here, my mind is drifting a bit.

Btw, liked the ARK simulation puzzle, and also going through all of the station's staff members quarters to learn a bit more about their lives. Fascinating stuff.

Gryzemuis on 25/9/2015 at 00:51

Monster behaviour is irritating as fuck. I wish there was a knob in the config files to make the patrolling ones despawn in your game. The ones who don't seem to be doing anything, except walk back and forth endlessly between you and your destination.

There were some in a ship. And now one is trying to prevent me from repairing an elevator. I got no clue what I need to do to fix the elevator. But now I can hardly move around to find out what I need to be doing, without getting that dumb thing on my tail *every* *single* *time* I move.

The AI in the Thief games were predictable. And they always would move away so you had a chance to get past. Or there were several ways to solve a problem (turn off the lights, throw a distraction, blackjack, moss arrows, etc, etc). Here in SOMA you just hope the monster doesn't see you. And/or you run. Gets boring pretty quickly.

Gonna read a walk-through now to find out what I'm missing with that elevator. Just the fact that I feel forced to read a walk-through to prevent further frustration is an indication that the game fails at something. (Edit: turns out I created a keycard, but forgot to take it out of the reader, and take it with me. I stood at the elevator empty-handed).

Renzatic on 25/9/2015 at 01:27

You just described how to get past those monsters, Gryz. You make a noise, they scream and go after the noise, then you move slap the fuck elsewhere.

The one thing you should always remember: the monsters can't see that well, but they can hear a pin drop in a crowded hallway. Any loud noises you make, like, for instance, opening doors, they're going to home in on it at breakneck speed like a fat kid catching a whiff of hot ham.

Renault on 25/9/2015 at 06:24

Wow, that walk to Tau was exhausting, and exhilarating! Such a cool trek, never experienced anything like that in a game before. So, in the same session, I got through Alpha, and I know I'm near the end now, but I had to take a break for the night. Will finish tomorrow. I'm extremely impressed by the game at this point, definitely a unique, one of a kind experience. Frictional has outdone themselves.

Renzatic on 25/9/2015 at 16:39

I loved that scene, too. I don't want to get too spoily for the people who haven't played it yet, so I'll just say it's the first time I've ever seen depth of field put to such great effect.

henke on 25/9/2015 at 17:08

Man I really wanna play this, but I didn't get it during the initial discount and I'm too cheap to buy it now. :(

Pyrian on 25/9/2015 at 17:32

Well, just wait a couple years and I'm sure it'll be discounted heavily in some winter sale. :D