(Spoilers) Which ending do you prefer?

[aimlessgun]

Just recently finished the game (wow! you know it's a good story when afterwards you are compelled google 'enderal forums' to see discussion about it).

It was also very hard for me to decide. I initially thought I would do as the Black Guardian suggested, as it was an appealing scenario plus I got to live. However a couple things changed my mind.

One is asking Calia what she would do, and she would choose to save what can be saved of the world, and her opinion meant a lot to my character.

The other is that the Black Guardian is definitely not a trustworthy person to be taking suggestions from. Even before his attempted betrayal he reveals his arrogance and pride despite explaining how those very things are humanity's downfall. And ultimately the goal of making a 'better mankind' is a megalomaniacal fantasy probably doomed to failure (though as Cassiopeia points out this is not necessary to end the cycle). It's also arrogant to think you wouldn't go totally insane after being alone for so long.

Also I trust Calia to spread the word and become the new hero of the story after my death. I have a lot of headcanon parting words said to her on that topic

[Thenoobkiller1996]

When it comes to the morality of the high ones compared to that of humans, I think of it like this. We as humans don't insult, taunt and mock bacteria as we kill it. We don't manipulate bacteria to wage war on itself for our amusement. The high ones are completely malevolent and psychopathic in their nature. They manipulate humanity's desire to survive in order to absorb them. It's not something they unconsciously do, it's a pretty big ritual for them.

In the end I chose the sacrifice ending. Sure the world of Vyn can be a horrible, dark place at times. But it doesn't deserve to have everything it's people have achieved wiped out so some malevolent entity can reproduce. I just hope they take what Enderal taught them to heart.

[Ragnarok]

Hey, I'm brand spanking new to the forums, but I just finished Enderal about five minutes ago so I can't wait to rush in and talk about everything at once.

My opinion keeps changing every five minutes, but this was my latest thought. I'm sure I'll have changed my perspective by morning, but I still think this is worth thinking about.

I chose the escape ending, not because I thought it would work, but because I thought NEITHER one of them would work. I think the Cycle is inevitable. And I'm not 100% sure that's a bad thing. As human beings we are made up of millions of micro-organisms, but none of them give us sentience. We depend on them for survival so that we can be something so much more than what they are.

What if the High Ones are the same? What if humanity truly is just a collection of parts, waiting to be assembled into something great? Perhaps the High Ones aren't selfish, but self-less, willing to risk their own destruction by means of the Beacon in order to help humanity advance into something truly alive. In real life, we would give no thought to the cares of micro-organisms. As far as we're concerned, they don't HAVE cares. The High Ones feel the same about humans. We are nothing to them, perhaps we don't even count as life to them. We wouldn't care much whether bacteria live or die. But if we had the power to construct them into a human being... would we give them that chance? The chance to develop a conscious? What if we could create something beautiful at the expense of micro-organisms we don't even consider to have feelings?

If this is true, then maybe the High Ones are doing us a favor. If it's not, but we truly can't stop the Cycle, then it doesn't matter anyway.

So in the end, I didn't care which ending I picked, and I "let" my character decide. In my game the Prophetess reached the same conclusion I did: there was no way to stop the Cycle. So, rather than give up her own chance of happiness, she decided just to leave with Jespar. If he proves to be immortal, she's willing to wait it out and try to help the next generation of humans. If he dies, her first plan is to try to take her own life. If that fails... well, I imagine when the next generation comes along, she'll be an insane woman living in a house full of wooden puppets or something.

[enderal_champion]

Pretty late to this discussion. Downloaded the game the day after the English release and finally just finished the story, today. There were positives and negatives to both endings for me. Let me explain.

Flee Ending: Personally, this ending was gratifying because I got to finish the game with Calia along side me. However, I felt the end was too sudden and abrupt. Like the other ending, I felt some kind of narration by Calia with a more dramatic end shot would've been a perfect sendoff to this ending. However, was I the only who thought that would've really sucked if the Prophet had fallen off the edge as he went to sit next to Calia?

Sacrifice Ending: I love the narration by Calia as the camera slowly zoomed out. It was bittersweet that the lovers couldn't finish the game together but the end narration was very satisfying. It was a great way to end the game because it felt smoother and not as abrupt as the other ending. However, I felt that destroying the crystal was too simple a task. I think that destroying each crystal should've gradually made the player weaker and slower. So that by the last one, you were dragging yourself to reach it. That would've been a nice touch and would've made the end felt like it really was a sacrifice that was a struggle to the very end. But instead, the screen just goes white...

Very good story line though. Some moments really did have me feeling immersed and the romance with Calia felt natural and I think Caitlin Buckley did a beautiful job voice acting the role of Calia.

[khalkists]

So, a bit late; but here is a novel idea.

If the aged man is a prophet like many of us think, then obviously your survival is just another path on the cycle; though apparently exceptionally rare by the black guardian's accounts.

Though it does leave some room for an interesting future. If progressively more and more prophets could survive, they could represent a counterbalance to the high one's. Never truly freeing us from the cycle, but using combined knowledge and wisdom to extend the time between cleansings. This is basically what a high one is; a massive collection of will that furthers its own existence.

Because, honestly, it doesn't sound like you really can banish them with the beacon. Its more like, the proof of their existence. In giving power to their antithesis, you give power to them. Avoiding it is literally the first thing a high one ever did.