The Final Ending is what really defines this game. There are shades of darkness throughout, but the Final Ending bluntly and directly postulates that absolutely nothing in the game actually happened. A duchess unfamiliar to us awakes, still trapped in Greyghast's castle, just as the real Awesome Fellowship arrives, headed by....Alice, or rather, Ember, a fusion of her and Embric. The Duchess looks almost nothing like the character we've been playing as (she's kind of homely, and has brown hair) and the last scene is of her puking on Ember's meido outfit from the drugs Greyghast has stuffed her with (this being Embric, the scene is played for comedy) and we are then returned to the title screen.
It's almost melancholy, but not quite. Especially if one infers (and there's no real reason not to) that the Duchess' relationship with Ember will be anything like the relationship she had with Alice.
We're left contemplating the nature of the game we've just played. Was the whole thing a hallucination/daydream? The Final Ending points to yes, but as the real Loni, Good Dwarf, Fal, and Alice/Embric file in to rescue our protagonist, we're left to infer that the real Duchess finds real happiness. And it is that, not the yuri or even the hilarious comedy, that makes this game worth playing.
I'll admit that I did not initially feel this way about the ending, it frustrated me, and honestly seemed sort of cheap. After all, the implication that nothing we did mattered is kind of harsh. But that's not what's being said here, what we ultimately helped the Duchess accomplish was accept that she could not find true happiness in this fantasy world. Even the happiest of the other endings is rendered null when you realize that she was ultimately just drifting about in her own thoughts. We wake the Duchess from a drug-induced coma, where she finally has, at the very least, a chance to obtain some form of happiness. And if that's not a happy ending I don't know what is.
In short, an amazing ending and an amazing game. Personally, I hope the sequel comes to pass.
Final Ending: Ambiguous, but Satisfying
spoilers below
The Final Ending is what really defines this game. There are shades of darkness throughout, but the Final Ending bluntly and directly postulates that absolutely nothing in the game actually happened. A duchess unfamiliar to us awakes, still trapped in Greyghast's castle, just as the real Awesome Fellowship arrives, headed by....Alice, or rather, Ember, a fusion of her and Embric. The Duchess looks almost nothing like the character we've been playing as (she's kind of homely, and has brown hair) and the last scene is of her puking on Ember's meido outfit from the drugs Greyghast has stuffed her with (this being Embric, the scene is played for comedy) and we are then returned to the title screen.
It's almost melancholy, but not quite. Especially if one infers (and there's no real reason not to) that the Duchess' relationship with Ember will be anything like the relationship she had with Alice.
We're left contemplating the nature of the game we've just played. Was the whole thing a hallucination/daydream? The Final Ending points to yes, but as the real Loni, Good Dwarf, Fal, and Alice/Embric file in to rescue our protagonist, we're left to infer that the real Duchess finds real happiness. And it is that, not the yuri or even the hilarious comedy, that makes this game worth playing.
I'll admit that I did not initially feel this way about the ending, it frustrated me, and honestly seemed sort of cheap. After all, the implication that nothing we did mattered is kind of harsh. But that's not what's being said here, what we ultimately helped the Duchess accomplish was accept that she could not find true happiness in this fantasy world. Even the happiest of the other endings is rendered null when you realize that she was ultimately just drifting about in her own thoughts. We wake the Duchess from a drug-induced coma, where she finally has, at the very least, a chance to obtain some form of happiness. And if that's not a happy ending I don't know what is.
In short, an amazing ending and an amazing game. Personally, I hope the sequel comes to pass.