Video games at their most infuriatingly ambiguous.
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00:00 So, when it comes to video games, it can be extremely satisfying to get to the end of
00:04 a story and finally have all of the answers neatly laid out in front of you.
00:08 But you know what, sometimes a lack of clarity can actually also enhance a story's enduring
00:13 legacy.
00:14 Dropping a compelling mystery and then leaving players to figure out the answer for themselves
00:18 is an easy way to ensure a game remains alive in the ever-shifting pop culture conversation.
00:22 So let's take a look at them as I'm Jules, this is WhatCulture.com, and these are 10
00:27 games that made you work out the answer yourself.
00:30 10.
00:31 Fallout
00:32 Who Started The Great War?
00:34 In the world of the Fallout games, the Great War was a nuclear holocaust in which all nuclear-equipped
00:38 nations – namely the US, China, and Russia – launched their weapons and sent the world
00:42 into a permanently radioactive, post-apocalyptic state.
00:46 The games have never categorically confirmed one way or another which nations started the
00:50 Great War, for though US President Richardson tells the player that China launched first,
00:55 he can't be considered a remotely reliable source on the subject given his position.
00:59 China are certainly a high-probable candidate, as are Russia, while Fallout 4 gave birth
01:03 to the theory that an AI, known as the Predictive Analytic Machine, or PAM, may have gone full
01:08 Skynet and coaxed America into launching first.
01:11 Ultimately, the 'who' isn't actually that important, given that the Great War really
01:15 just generated a canvas on which the series' stories could unfold.
01:19 But considering humanity's natural desire for resolution, fans will debate which nation
01:24 damned humanity to a bleak future forevermore.
01:27 9.
01:28 Life is Strange
01:29 Why does Max have the ability to rewind time?
01:32 Life is Strange is centered around protagonist Max Caulfield's ability to rewind time, which
01:37 she discovers after witnessing her childhood friend Chloe be murdered by a classmate.
01:41 Max rewinds time and saves Chloe, and though Max continues to manifest this ability throughout
01:46 the rest of the story, it's never actually explained how she developed it.
01:50 Fans have certainly come up with their own theories - that fate itself bestowed Max with
01:54 these abilities to prevent Chloe's death, or that Chloe's death was a significantly
01:57 stressful event to bring forth a power that had laid dormant inside her all along - but
02:01 thankfully the game itself never even begins to hint at kooky scientific experiments in
02:06 Max's childhood or anything like that, and because there's no indication at all of
02:09 how Max gained her abilities, its origins are really whatever the player wants them
02:13 to be.
02:14 8.
02:15 Red Dead Redemption
02:16 Who is the Strange Man?
02:18 In the first Red Dead Redemption, the Stranger's side mission 'I Know You' introduces players
02:22 to 'The Strange Man', a suited-up, top hat-wearing individual who speaks in largely esoteric
02:28 riddles and asks John Marston to complete two tasks intended to test his morality.
02:33 John will then meet the Strange Man once more, at which point the man will refer to a nearby
02:37 patch of land as a 'fine spot', which just so happens to be the very place where
02:41 John and his wife Abigail will be buried.
02:44 And when John shoots his guns at the man, in frustration, he walks away unharmed.
02:49 The Strange Man also reappears in Red Dead Redemption 2, with a painting of him hanging
02:53 in an abandoned shack north of St. Denis.
02:56 Better yet, enter the shack and peer into the mirror as John during the game's epilogue,
02:59 and you'll see the Strange Man behind you.
03:02 Following the game's release, fans' speculation ran rampant over the man's identity, many
03:06 suggesting that he might be the Grim Reaper, God, or the Devil, or perhaps even just the
03:10 spectral figure of a bystander killed by John on one of his many, many crimes.
03:15 The sequel clearly leaned into this, though at the same time refused to commit to a single
03:19 interpretation of who indeed the Strange Man might be.
03:22 Whether supernatural or flesh and blood, he remains an elusive and fascinating enigma.
03:27 7.
03:28 Five Nights at Freddy's 4
03:30 What's in the damn box?
03:32 Five Nights at Freddy's 4 introduced 'The Box', which is exactly what it says on the
03:35 tin.
03:36 It's a remarkable-looking locked box, complete with the vague message, "Perhaps some things
03:40 are best left forgotten for now."
03:42 Well, fans certainly didn't forget about this box, and in the seven years since FNAF
03:46 4's release, they've continually agonised over what could possibly be inside.
03:51 Series creator Scott Cawthorn teased fans that the contents of the box were "the pieces
03:55 of the story put together", and so literally innumerable theories have done the rounds
03:59 over the years.
04:00 One of the most popular suggestions is that the box is itself a metaphor for the series'
04:04 unanswered questions, and that Cawthorn may in fact never have any intention of revealing
04:08 what's inside.
04:09 Whatever your own interpretation, the lack of clarity continues to drive fans absolutely
04:13 wild, and with Cawthorn recently announcing his retirement from games development, it's
04:18 entirely possible the answers might go with him.
04:20 But with Cawthorn planning to hand the series over to a new developer, hopefully he might
04:24 either tell them the answer, or in the event he doesn't have one, let the new team come
04:28 up with their own.
04:29 Or, you know, just leave the internet on tenderhooks forevermore, because that's kind of more
04:33 fun.
04:34 6.
04:35 The Last of Us
04:36 Is Ellie the only immune human on Earth?
04:39 In both Last of Us games, protagonist Ellie is the only person immune to the Cordyceps
04:43 brain infection that we ever actually see.
04:45 It's made clear that immune people are at least enough of a rarity that the Fireflies
04:49 are desperate to experiment upon Ellie in the hopes of reverse-engineering a vaccine.
04:54 Though the lack of other immune individuals might suggest Ellie to be the only one, it's
04:58 also totally reasonable that other immune people would conceal their status for fear
05:02 of reprisals.
05:03 Plus, despite the human population dwindling significantly, there are presumably still
05:07 a lot of people around the globe who could conceivably be immune.
05:10 And accepting how real infections work, it's basically a mathematical impossibility that
05:15 Ellie is the only immune person on Earth left alive.
05:18 If a third Last of Us happens, which it probably will eventually, there's a solid chance
05:22 it might clear up this mystery once and for all.
05:25 5.
05:26 Metal Gear Solid 3 - Snake Eater
05:28 How did Volgin get his electric powers?
05:30 Metal Gear Solid 3's primary antagonist, Volgin, is inexplicably able to produce a
05:34 powerful electric charge from his body and use it to attack his enemies - in this case,
05:39 Naked Snake.
05:40 And while Hideo Kojima has at least tried to explain the various abilities of the game's
05:44 eccentric Cobra unit with some degree of internal plausibility, there's no attempt at all
05:48 to make sense of why this hulking Soviet colonel can emit electricity from his damn body.
05:53 Beyond the obvious answer of 'nanomachines' for anything that doesn't make sense in
05:57 the Metal Gear universe, the lack of in-game answers seems to imply that Volgin was most
06:01 likely born with the ability because... reasons.
06:04 However, some fans have noted that because Volgin wears a rubber suit and has a scarred
06:08 body, it's possible that his powers are actually the product of shady Soviet experiments.
06:13 Despite Kojima's tendency to give every major character their own exposition-filled
06:16 backstory, he bizarrely left fans to figure this one out on their own.
06:21 4.
06:22 The Legend of Zelda - Breath of the Wild
06:23 What happened to the eighth heroine?
06:26 In The Legend of Zelda - Breath of the Wild, the seven heroines are the divine protectors
06:30 of the Gerudo people, and seven statues commemorating them can be found in the East Gerudo Ruins.
06:35 A mysterious eighth statue can also be discovered with some considerable effort, in the Northern
06:39 Highlands.
06:40 And so the eighth heroine was removed from the legend for unknown reasons, prompting
06:44 players to speculate what could have possibly happened for the statue to have been moved
06:47 from its original location.
06:49 Perhaps the eighth divine protector fell out with or even betrayed the rest of the group,
06:53 causing them to be exiled forevermore.
06:55 Of course, it's entirely possible that Nintendo simply did this for a giggle and merely hoped
06:59 to stoke conversation among players without any sort of concrete answer.
07:02 There certainly doesn't appear to be a clear solution in Breath of the Wild itself, though
07:06 the eighth heroine being cast out by the rest does seem like the most logical conclusion.
07:10 3.
07:11 Shadow of the Colossus
07:13 What is the purpose of the ring-like structures in the desert?
07:16 Shadow of the Colossus is a game that's massively ambiguous by design, preferring
07:21 to leave players to marinate on the finer details of its mysterious yet beautifully
07:24 intriguing world.
07:26 One such enigma that's boggled fans' minds for years is the unexplained presence of some
07:30 ring-like structures that are half-buried in the desert where you battle the thirteenth
07:33 colossus, Phalanx.
07:35 There are four rings in the area, two intact and two broken, and given that the rings look
07:39 extremely similar to the rings that appear in the game's spiritual predecessor, Ico,
07:43 fans naturally think that there could be some greater significance to them.
07:46 On the other hand, a compelling fan theory makes the case that the rings were installed
07:50 in the ground to limit Phalanx's movements and ensure that it couldn't fly away from
07:54 the desert area.
07:55 Whatever your own opinion, don't expect the director, Fumito Ueda, to ever provide
07:59 a surefire answer.
08:00 2.
08:01 Half-Life
08:02 Who, or what, is the G-Man?
08:05 The G-Man is the single most fascinating entity in the Half-Life franchise, described by Valve
08:10 itself as a "sinister, interdimensional bureaucrat" - whatever the hell that means.
08:14 G-Man is a frequent help and hindrance of Gordon Freeman throughout the series, famously
08:19 offering him a not-so-appealing job at the end of the first game and regularly demonstrating
08:23 an ability to manipulate both space and time.
08:26 Even the recent Half-Life, Alex didn't do much to clarify G-Man's natures or motivations,
08:31 beyond again affirming that he answers to his mysterious employers.
08:34 Honestly, at this point it's unlikely that any concrete answer about who, or what, the
08:38 G-Man is will ever come out.
08:40 Is he an alien?
08:41 Is he a supernatural force beyond matter itself?
08:43 And to be honest, even if we did have an answer, it wouldn't be satisfactory, so Valve may
08:47 opt to simply never reveal the truth.
08:49 While it seems probable that a follow-up to Alex is indeed on the way within the next
08:53 few years, don't expect to learn a whole lot more about the G-Man.
08:56 And let's face it, it might be for the best this way.
08:59 At number one, Silent Hill 2.
09:01 Which ending is the canon one?
09:03 Though the events of Silent Hill 3 gave us some major clues as to which of the original
09:07 game's endings are canon, Silent Hill 2 is a basically standalone sequel whose many
09:12 possible endings are each of dubious canonicity.
09:15 Silent Hill 2 has six possible endings depending on how you progress through the game, including
09:20 two joke endings, with the UFO and the dog one, leaving four possible canon ones.
09:24 These endings range from protagonist James leaving the town, to him attempting to resurrect
09:28 his dead wife Mary, and in the ending most commonly believed to be canon, killing himself
09:32 in order to join Mary.
09:34 But basically all major creatives associated with the game, most of all the writers, have
09:38 flat out refused to anoint any of the endings as canon, instead suggesting the endings are
09:43 basically a litmus test for players and that the real ending is whichever one they get.
09:47 It's at once frustrating and brilliant, ensuring that fans will continue to debate
09:51 James' fate until the end of time, even if many will argue that their own dying breath
09:56 in the water ending, where he kills himself, is the one that makes the most sense.
10:00 And there we go my friends, those were 10 video games that made you work out the answer
10:03 for yourself.
10:04 Hope you enjoyed that, and please let me know what you thought about it down in the comments
10:07 section below.
10:08 As always I've been Jules, you can go follow me over on Twitter @RetroJWithA0, or you can
10:12 swing by Live and Let's Dice where I do all of my streaming outside of work and it'd
10:15 be great to see you over there.
10:17 But before I go, I just want to say one thing.
10:19 Hope you're treating yourself well with love and respect my friend because you deserve
10:22 all of the best things in life and do not let anything or anyone else tell you otherwise
10:26 alright?
10:27 I want you to go out there and absolutely smash it today, I believe in you.
10:29 As always I've been Jules, you have been awesome, never forget that, and I'll speak
10:33 to you soon.