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
00:04a story and 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
00:13legacy.
00:14Dropping a compelling mystery and then leaving players to figure out the answer for themselves
00:18is an easy way to ensure a game remains alive in the ever-shifting pop culture conversation.
00:22So let's take a look at them as I'm Jules, this is WhatCulture.com, and these are 10
00:26Video Games That Made You Work Out The Answer Yourself.
00:3010.
00:31Fallout – 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
00:38nations – namely the US, China, and Russia – launched their weapons and sent the world
00:42into a permanently radioactive, post-apocalyptic state.
00:46The games have never categorically confirmed one way or another which nations started the
00:50Great War.
00:51For though US President Richardson tells the player that China launched first, he can't
00:55be considered a remotely reliable source on the subject, given his position.
00:59China are certainly a high-probable candidate, as are Russia.
01:02While Fallout 4 gave birth to the theory that an AI, known as the Predictive Analytic Machine,
01:07or PAM, may have gone full Skynet and coaxed America into launching first.
01:11Ultimately, the who isn't actually that important, given that the Great War really
01:15just generated a canvas on which the series' stories could unfold.
01:19But considering humanity's natural desire for resolution, fans will debate which nation
01:24damned humanity to a bleak future forevermore.
01:279.
01:28Life is Strange – Why Does Max Have the Ability to Rewind Time?
01:32Life is Strange is centered around protagonist Max Caulfield's ability to rewind time, which
01:37she discovers after witnessing her childhood friend Chloe be murdered by a classmate.
01:41Max rewinds time and saves Chloe, and though Max continues to manifest this ability throughout
01:46the 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
01:53with these abilities to prevent Chloe's death, or that Chloe's death was a significantly
01:57stressful event to bring forth a power that had laid dormant inside her all along.
02:01But thankfully, the game itself never even begins to hint at kooky scientific experiments
02:06in Max's childhood or anything like that, and because there's no indication at all
02:09of how Max gained her abilities, its origins are really whatever the player wants them
02:13to be.
02:148.
02:15Red Dead Redemption – Who is the Strange Man?
02:18In the first Red Dead Redemption, the Stranger's side mission, I Know You, introduces players
02:22to the Strange Man, a suited-up, top hat-wearing individual who speaks in largely esoteric
02:28riddles and asks John Marston to complete two tasks intended to test his morality.
02:33John will then meet the Strange Man once more, at which point the man will refer to a nearby
02:37patch of land as a fine spot, which just so happens to be the very place where John and
02:42his wife Abigail will be buried.
02:44And when John shoots his guns at the man, in frustration, he walks away unharmed.
02:49The Strange Man also reappears in Red Dead Redemption 2, with a painting of him hanging
02:53in an abandoned shack north of St. Denis.
02:56Better yet, enter the shack and peer into the mirror as John during the game's epilogue,
02:59and you'll see the Strange Man behind you.
03:02Following the game's release, fan speculation ran rampant over the man's identity, many
03:06suggesting that he might be the Grim Reaper, God, or the Devil, or perhaps even just the
03:10spectral figure of a bystander killed by John on one of his many, many crimes.
03:15The sequel clearly leaned into this, though at the same time refused to commit to a single
03:19interpretation of who indeed the Strange Man might be.
03:22Whether supernatural or flesh and blood, he remains an elusive and fascinating enigma.
03:277.
03:28Five Nights at Freddy's 4
03:30What's in the damn box?
03:32Five Nights at Freddy's 4 introduced the box, which is exactly what it says on the
03:35tin.
03:36An unremarkable-looking locked box, complete with the vague message, perhaps some things
03:40are best left forgotten for now.
03:42Well, fans certainly didn't forget about this box, and in the seven years since FNAF
03:464's release, they've continually agonised over what could possibly be inside.
03:51Series creator Scott Cawthorn teased fans that the contents of the box were the pieces
03:55of the story put together, and so literally innumerable theories have done the rounds
03:59over the years.
04:00One of the most popular suggestions is that the box is itself a metaphor for the series'
04:04unanswered questions, and that Cawthorn may in fact never have any intention of revealing
04:08what's inside.
04:09Whatever your own interpretation, the lack of clarity continues to drive fans absolutely
04:13wild, and with Cawthorn recently announcing his retirement from games development, it's
04:18entirely possible the answers might go with him.
04:20But 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
04:28up with their own.
04:29Or, you know, just leave the internet on tenderhooks forevermore, because that's kind of more
04:33fun.
04:346.
04:35The Last of Us
04:36Is Ellie the only immune human on Earth?
04:39In both Last of Us games, protagonist Ellie is the only person immune to the cordyceps
04:43brain infection that we ever actually see.
04:45It's made clear that immune people are at least enough of a rarity that the Fireflies
04:49are desperate to experiment upon Ellie in the hopes of reverse-engineering a vaccine.
04:54Though the lack of other immune individuals might suggest Ellie to be the only one, it's
04:58also totally reasonable that other immune people would conceal their status for fear
05:02of reprisals.
05:03Plus, despite the human population dwindling significantly, there are presumably still
05:07a lot of people around the globe who could conceivably be immune.
05:11And accepting how real infections work, it's basically a mathematical impossibility that
05:15Ellie is the only immune person on Earth left alive.
05:18If a third Last of Us happens, which it probably will eventually, there's a solid chance
05:22it might clear up this mystery once and for all.
05:255.
05:26Metal Gear Solid 3 – Snake Eater
05:28How did Volgin get his electric powers?
05:30Metal Gear Solid 3's primary antagonist Volgin is inexplicably able to produce a powerful
05:35electric charge from his body and use it to attack his enemies, in this case, Naked Snake.
05:40While Hideo Kojima has at least tried to explain the various abilities of the game's eccentric
05:44Cobra unit with some degree of internal plausibility, there's no attempt at all to make sense
05:49of why this hulking Soviet colonel can emit electricity from his damn body.
05:53Beyond the obvious answer of nanomachines, for anything that doesn't make sense in
05:57the Metal Gear universe, the lack of in-game answers seems to imply that Volgin was most
06:01likely born with the ability because… reasons.
06:04However, some fans have noted that because Volgin wears a rubber suit and has a scarred
06:08body, it's possible that his powers are actually the product of shady Soviet experiments.
06:13Despite Kojima's tendency to give every major character their own exposition-filled
06:16backstory, he bizarrely left fans to figure this one out on their own.
06:214.
06:22The 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
06:30of the Gerudo 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, in the Northern
06:39Highlands.
06:40And so the eighth heroine was removed from the legend for unknown reasons, prompting
06:44players to speculate what could have possibly happened for the statue to have been moved
06:47from its original location.
06:49Perhaps the eighth divine protector fell out with or even betrayed the rest of the group,
06:53causing them to be exiled forevermore.
06:55Of course, it's entirely possible that Nintendo simply did this for a giggle, and merely hoped
06:59to stoke conversation among players without any sort of concrete answer.
07:02There certainly doesn't appear to be a clear solution in Breath of the Wild itself, though
07:06the eighth heroine being cast out by the rest does seem like the most logical conclusion.
07:103.
07:11Shadow 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
07:21to leave players to marinate on the finer details of its mysterious yet beautifully
07:24intriguing world.
07:26One such enigma that's boggled fans' minds for years is the unexplained presence of some
07:30ring-like structures that are half-buried in the desert where you battle the thirteenth
07:33colossus, Phalanx.
07:34There are four rings in the area, two intact and two broken, and given that the rings look
07:39extremely similar to the rings that appear in the game's spiritual predecessor, Ico,
07:43fans naturally think that there could be some greater significance to them.
07:46On the other hand, a compelling fan theory makes the case that the rings were installed
07:50in the ground to limit Phalanx's movements and ensure that it couldn't fly away from
07:54the desert area.
07:55Whatever your own opinion, don't expect the director, Fumito Ueda, to ever provide
07:59a surefire answer.
08:002.
08:01Half-Life
08:02Who, or what, is the G-Man?
08:05The 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.
08:14G-Man is a frequent help and hindrance of Gordon Freeman throughout the series, famously
08:19offering him a not-so-appealing job at the end of the first game, and regularly demonstrating
08:23an ability to manipulate both space and time.
08:26Even the recent Half-Life Alyx didn't do much to clarify G-Man's natures or motivations,
08:31beyond again affirming that he answers to his mysterious employers.
08:34Honestly, at this point it's unlikely that any concrete answer about who or what the
08:38G-Man is will ever come out.
08:40Is he an alien?
08:41Is he a supernatural force beyond matter itself?
08:43And to be honest, even if we did have an answer, it wouldn't be satisfactory.
08:46So Valve may opt to simply never reveal the truth.
08:49While it seems probable that a follow-up to Alyx is indeed on the way within the next
08:53few years, don't expect to learn a whole lot more about the G-Man, and let's face
08:56it, it might be for the best this way.
09:00Silent Hill 2
09:01Which ending is the canon one?
09:03Though the events of Silent Hill 3 gave us some major clues as to which of the original
09:07game's endings are canon, Silent Hill 2 is a basically standalone sequel whose many
09:12possible endings are each of dubious canonicity.
09:15Silent Hill 2 has six possible endings depending on how you progress through the game, including
09:20two joke endings, with the UFO and the dog one, leaving four possible canon ones.
09:24These endings range from protagonist James leaving the town, to him attempting to resurrect
09:28his dead wife Mary, and in the ending most commonly believed to be canon, killing himself
09:32in order to join Mary.
09:34But basically all major creatives associated with the game, most of all the writers, have
09:38flat out refused to anoint any of the endings as canon, instead suggesting the endings are
09:43basically a litmus test for players, and that the real ending is whichever one they
09:47get.
09:48It's at once frustrating and brilliant, ensuring that fans will continue to debate
09:51James' fate until the end of time, even if many will argue that their own dying breath
09:56in the water 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
10:03for yourself.
10:04Hope you enjoyed that, and please let me know what you thought about it down in the comments
10:07section below.
10:08As always I've been Jules, you can go follow me over on Twitter at RetroJWithA0, or you
10:12can swing by Live and Let's Dice where I do all of my streaming outside of work, and
10:15it'd be great to see you over there.
10:17But 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
10:22all of the best things in life, and do not let anything or anyone else tell you otherwise
10:26alright?
10:27I want you to go out there and absolutely smash it today, I believe in you.
10:29As always I've been Jules, you have been awesome, never forget that, and I'll speak
10:33to you soon.
10:34Bye.