New Bioshock: Infinite - Page 26

That song is like the theme to the game (obviously even the title); they have multiple "versions" of it throughout the game. Like you said, they play it when you first see Columbia, they sing it in the slums, the people of Columbia also sing it prior to your baptism (that was no religious hymn lol it was the song again :O)

why DeWitt is Comstock until I read this thread >.<

At the moment where Dewitt says 'Im both' or something similar just before Elizabeth(s) drown him, I have to admit I didnt really immediately get it. After a few minutes of thinking and putting a few facts together that I got from recordings in game+previous events in game I remember having an epiphany type moment and going 'Uhm, yup that totally makes sense, holy shit'. I might have forgot about some things that make it more blatantly clear as you progress through the game, but to me at least the revelation that Booker=Comstock felt like one of those things where you can put all the pieces together after youre told the twist, but before you know the twist the pieces dont really tell you enough to guess the twist accurately. Kinda like a Sixth Sense (the movie) twist where on first viewing finding out hes been dead all along can kinda come as a complete leftfield what the fuck moment, but when you think through the previous events of the movie you can find a hundred different moments that support the idea, you just didnt look at it that way initially.

The only thing I really saw coming from early on was Elizabeth being Bookers daughter in some way - just some general vibe I got that I cant really put my finger on. I also had a feeling that Elizabeth was perhaps going to be a younger version of Lady Comstock taken from another universe etc, some moments just seemed to draw massive parallels between Elizabeth+Lady Comstock that kept bugging me - in the end it didnt happen tho.

I think overall the game delivered its story pretty damn perfectly, I personally loved that feeling of ':O wat' I had after the drowning scene and how hard my brain hurt by the end of the credits as I hurriedly tried to put it all together.

i think i figured it out. After finishing the game i wanted to watch some reviews just to get other opinions on the game and the in one (The Adam Sessler one) he mentions the idea that the game brings up the gaming medium as a whole and i thought about it.

AND i figured it out. When Elizabeth shows us all the lighthouses and the alternate version of herself and Booker she says a line "These are all different oceans but they all end at the same dock" (maybe not exactly how it goes but about that).

These alternate worlds aren't just different universes of the game-world. THEY ARE DIFFERENT GAMES THAT WE AS PLAYERS ARE PLAYING. Every games of Bioshock Infinite that we play is a new world (ocean) and we ultimately all end at the same point when we finish the game (the dock). Our oceans are different because we all have different experiences in our game, different reactions, upgrade choices, skill, etc.

Through that it all makes sense at the end. The universes are simply copies of our game and thus eventually we (the players) will all have Booker die at the focal point where he either becomes Booker or Comstock.

THIS IS GENIUS

OR

IM INSANE....you decide =p

I don't think I agree with this theory. That theory should only be applied to a game with branching paths that are derivative of the players' choices (with the same end and obviously same beginning). It seems that this game has a story that it wants to tell in a pretty precise order and it does so. All players at all times will experience almost identical main events, as you mention the minor details are different. But, I don't find that a deep sentiment in a game where the path is always the same no matter what. Especially, because from what I have gathered the game-play is typical FPS waves of enemies with trite mechanics. So in this case every ocean (story path) is always going to be the same, except for minor details and maybe that's what you might argue is different.

Perhaps, rather than disagreeing with the theory I just find this to be a rather weak attempt (on the writer's part not the poster's) to draw parallels between the story and the medium. Similar to Spec Ops (these games seem to have A TON of similarities) where the story being linear detracts from the message, IMHO.

your not "wrong" about that but my theory was based on PLAYER's experience not Booker's (although i would think not finding some/all the audio logs does change some of the context and knowing how X works a lot and there ARE really minor choices you can make but they don't impact much of anything).

And the 2nd part was "landing on the same dock" so really the events can't really diverge THAT much and still end the same way. I suppose a river is the better metaphor here than an ocean.

Its things like; did you blaze through the areas or did you take your time? Did you only kill enemies or did you kill EVERYONE?, did you explore area X or Y? Did you use X and Y weapons and vigers? Did you 'die' a lot?

While these things do little to nothing for the actual game's plot they would be pretty significant to the individual's experience/enjoyment of the game itself, hence my theory.

I think myself and many other people have been tripping up on the idea that the versions of Booker Dewitt+Elizabeth we play as/with during the course of the game are far more important/special than they actually are.

The game basically shows you point blank to your face in the last five minutes that we're really, really not all that unique - outside the lighthouses we see an implied infinite number of Bookers+Elizabeths wandering along infinite number of piers doing the exact same thing we're doing. This calls into question slash outright destroys any idea that we (the Booker controlled by the player) are somehow denying any Comstock EVER from EVER existing. If we alone are doing something so grand, wtf is the point in all these other Bookers wandering along the piers?

I think the answer is quite simply that there are basically an infinite number of pairs of universes:

Say we have a version of Dewitt who goes to the baptism after Wounded Knee. Now this version of Dewitt is an exactly precise version of Dewitt who has lived a very specific life up to this point at the baptism. A tangent is formed at the point of the baptism however, as this specific Dewitt will sometimes decide to get baptised and sometimes not (although in reality this can be debated for days, but we'll assume this is the case).

So we had Dewitt X (pre-baptism), who then could turn into Comstock X or Booker X depending on his baptism choice.

Booker X's wife dies in childbirth and has Anna X.
Comstock X makes Columbia, gets infertile etc.

Comstock X buys Booker X's Anna X and that story proceeds.
Booker X later goes over to Comstock X's universe to get Anna X back (although obviously he doesnt really know it).

You go through the events of the game and in the end you, the player, Booker X, die in the Universe of Comstock X's baptism and thus (through time travel magic) end all tangents that follow on from Comstock X being baptised. This means that Comstock X never built Columbia and never came through to purchase Booker X's Anna. It means Booker X never sold Anna, never went to Columbia, never went through the entire series of events that led to his death via drowning. Booker X gets moved back to presumably just pre-contact with anything inspired by Comstock X's universe. Story ends.

Your Booker, Booker X, does nothing more. He doesn't save or change the history of Booker/Anna Y, Z, XYZYJYZ or whoever else, thats for the other Bookers wandering along the piers to do. Theyre doing their own version of what you're doing. Your Booker is not particularly special - the entire sequence has happened, is happening and will happen forever - you just watched your specific version of it.

The other Elizabeths that appear then disapear in the final drowning scene are other Elizabeths that tangent off from Booker/Comstock X's baptism/lack of. Random events/decisions could occur post-baptism that make Comstock X build Columbia earlier or later, treat Elizabeth X better or worse or any other number of things. The same variations could happen in the Booker X futures leading to different Elizabeths, different Bookers (like Booker X-2, a Booker originating from Booker X's non-baptism, but with a different future). These things could all pair up and would all be ended by Comstock X being killed at his baptism. Perhaps we could make ourselves feel more special if we said that only one version of Booker X makes it to the end to save the futures of all the Booker X/Elizabeth Xs - that only one Booker X/Anna X/Comstock X takes the exact path they need to post-baptism to end all of the other X-versions horrible futures. Only one Booker Y/Anna Y/Comstock Y take the exact path needed to end all of the Y-versions horrible futures, etc.



One thing that kind of makes the ending bittersweet when you look at it this way is that the Elizabeth we spend the entire game with actually ceases to be. Although we 'die' through drowning, we (in my interpretation) do wake up again in our apartment once time has been erased - Elizabeth sadly/happily reverts back to ~1 year old Anna. Everything that made her who she was through being brought up in that tower - her interests, mannerisms and personality etc are essentially erased and shes given a new chance to be brought up with her father, which is lovely, but sad at the same time.

Was a bit high when i started this game yesterday. I think i spent 30 minutes walking around and just looking at the floating houses when I first entered the city... amazing. And mindfuck T_T

it might be possible that one decision in your life might have a great effect on what you become

For example when they jumped twice between the two parallel universes at different points in the game (e.g. where they switch to the universe where the Vox revolution has basically destroyed Columbia), I found that to be a completely pointless addition to the game because it's a complete deus ex machina. "Oh, we can't solve this problem, so lets switch to a parallel universe where our problems are solved". Even more so since it's not just a small temporary switch but you eventually stay in that universe until the end of the game. WTF? Did I misunderstand something here? What happened to that other universe?