SOMA Ending / Final Cutscene

[@TheLeninTrain]

now i understand how my save slots feel when i duplicate them for backup... :p

[@jiririnagl302]

:D best coment ever

[@chloemcholoe3280]

xD best comment ever

[@chubchub1307]

Im sorry original minecraft server but i had to make an extra copy of you so i wouldn't lose progress if I used to many mods on you. Original minecraft server: *Fuck you*

[@Stanutuleee]

Duuuuuudeeeeeeeeeeeee omg thats so trippy

[@speeddemon5339]

Good one man clap and half to you my friend.

[@roycebracket1010]

We actually play as four people in this game: Toronto Simon - dies from brain damage. Swimming suit Simon - left alone or dead depending on what you do. Power suit Simon - left alone at the bottom of the world. And ARK Simon.

[@okayokaynowkids7673]

I hope they made "soma 2 : the Simons" , when they meet each other and become... *Me and the bois*

[@okayokaynowkids7673]

And they will say *Well boys we did it* The end

[@slyseal2091]

@@okayokaynowkids7673 WAU is no more

[@okayokaynowkids7673]

And I hope they made "SOMA 3 too

[@sauceman5744]

Simon is just one big loser and a bigger selfish even to himself If I got to be copied and I didn't turn over. At least, I know that my copy will still have my memories and thinking. I just hope that he will still remember the previous copies he left on that station.

[@BaggyMcPiper]

The only reason you continue playing after Simon is copied into the power suit is because you wouldn't be able to experience the rest of the game. All four Simons are real, they all existed, and they all experienced reality from their own point of view. You play as each of them in order to experience the story, though it could be interpreted that you're only playing through Simon #3's memories.

[@TheEnthe0s]

+Inkshooter This.

[@janbulusek6172]

+Inkshooter except for the brief part you experinece on the ARK in the end. Which means that you play two characters in the game.

[@BaggyMcPiper]

Jan Bulušek Right.

[@tarikay93]

+Inkshooter Wow, never heard it explained any simpler.

[@TYPOQ]

+Inkshooter but what would you say happens to the consciousness of Simons mind? I mean is this him really aware of what is happening at the end. He remembers Catherine, so it has to explain something.

[@Shinterymi]

Goddamn those two voice actors really need praises. They were amazing. From beginning to the end. They really made me care about their characters. And this ending....... MY HEART.

+Shinterymi And I remember people saying how the voice acting sucks based on the trailers. I think the best part of the voice acting was that it felt natural. Not overreacted, they all talked as human beings (how ironic), not some Hollywood, epic overdone thing. They were all great!

[@Shinterymi]

+Ádám Pajor Ahhh people should learn never to judge something by a trailer, seriously... Sound design and voice acting is what made this game an incredible experience for me. The fact that it's First Person AND with a really good actor as Simon, with really casual, natural dialogs is what makes it so good. I remember a part during which I looked at a picture of a father and a daughter, and said out loud "awwww. So cute". I put the picture down, and Simon said with almost the same way "So cute...". It seems silly, said this way, but the writing is really well thought and really captures what a normal human being (as you say : 'how ironic') might think in Simon's place. But it was only Simon, as you said, all the voice actors, even the small character ones were really great.

[@lemelon7424]

I know right? I felt so bad in the end... but I was also satisfied.

[@lemelon7424]

I completely agree with you... It was so amazing

[@yutro213]

Are you sure about Simon's VA? I actually think he sucked for most of the game, sounding so chilled, too calm, or bland. That said, in this final scene he voiced Simon's behaviour very well, though. As for Catherine, her VA was brilliant from start to end. High praise for her!

[@vyllix8546]

"Please Don't Leave Me Alone" God dammit, this is true horror.

[@neilmallick20]

Indeed, trapped at the bottom of a pitch-black ocean with nothing to do and nowhere to go, your only company horrible mutations of once-living people.

[@victordossantos5067]

@@neilmallick20 I could not sleep for a few days after this ending. It gave me so much anxiety just to think about if it were me in that situation. This game is brilliant

[@morningivy]

@@victordossantos5067 Reminds me of a movie called Passengers.

[@husamstarxin4626]

@@neilmallick20 The mutations should be gone if you kill the WAU, so really he's all alone with just fish in the sea.

[@joshuacarpenter7447]

To think there’s a guy on this video comment section that actually tried to deny that this is true horror when this is correct

[@pelinalwhitestrake99]

Guys, just imagine being left that far under on your own. The only thing you can communicate with crashes. That initial ending hit me so fucking hard, I felt really sad and I couldn't stop thinking about it.

[@IgnorantCommentator]

+Patrick Lord Yeah I had so many feels when he was like "don't leave me alone" ;___; this whole GAME was full of feels.

[@dumpster9048]

+resistance1207 there's also a chance that Simon II is already dead

[@synhet84]

+A Senior if you havent i suggest you try "the last of us" and "bioshock infinite" they are both amazing and makes you feel very emotional !!

[@PlaskiJakDeska]

+Patrick Lord If you want more "feel" games then I recommend to you Spec Ops: The Line ;> just don't look it up because of spoilers, and the story is REALLY REALLY important and REALLY REALLY good.

[@thatrainbowquickie8395]

Why did Catherine crash? Was that just the interface or what?

[@Tinseltopia]

"They're not us!" is such a powerful line and very philosophic

[@vcweeb7416]

i concur.

[@pckkaboo6800]

It is them alright, experience,memory of events from the start to launch are replicated to the ark makes them the last to board the ark and the one who stay behind inevitably will die & perish makes same guy three stories, the one in Imogen Reed body, the one in phi & the one in the ark all has different outcome,

[@mordredvonumbra154]

@@pckkaboo6800 But they are not us.

[@isaacgary6801]

4:20 crazy I missed that, I like to think as our kids, we have our kids and they will continue without us, our ancestors may have felt the same way in their death bed, but in the end our legacy continues through some sort of medium.

[@NickMC512]

The notion of “you” or “self” is not static at all.

[@krish698]

But its not a flip of a coin is it. There is no luck involved. I mean no matter how many times you would get copied in another body you would still be in your old one but the copy would feel like he has made it, like he is the original. No matter what the copy would always continue if your body was unable to proceed.

[@zbrooo]

+krish698 I was thinking this, but it's an absolute mindfuck because you would think that your current consciousness would stay in the same body, and the new copy in the new one. But until your consciousness was copied those 2 consciousness were one and the same. So it's entirely possible to be the copy that got transferred or the copy that stays. The copy that got transferred would have the memories of thinking "surely I will just stay in this body and the copy will live on in the other" but it would of got transferred to the new body. If that makes sense? When the consciousness gets copied there ceases to be an 'original' consciousness, both are exactly the same, they are copies of one another.

[@Elround4]

JR B Though there is (at least) one problem with this: the different vantage points of each permutation. You'A will still be perceiving things from his or her own sensory organs whereas you'B does so with his or her own. This would, in the long run, result in deviations between each person's personalities. We should also question the core axioms of what we use for thinking about and defining "consciousness." Do you use the idealist argument, wherein it is its own thing separate from the body, or a materialist one in which it is merely the result of the brains form & function?

[@zbrooo]

The consciousnesses would of course diverge after the transfer. The definition of consciousness isn't well-defined though and we know very little about how a consciousness is formed or what constitutes one, or whether one could be recreated as a computer program.

[@krish698]

PersonaX But its not you that comes in the existence as a copy. Like when you copy a file and paste it it is named like the same file with "- copy" added if its in the same folder as the original. There really is no luck.

[@lmd2550]

+krish698 It's odd that Catherine would refer to this as a coin toss, even though she knew you can only be copied onto the ARK. This could be some sort of ExMachina thing going on-there might be more to Catherine than what's implied. What if she is able to get transferred over without being copied, does she really "die" while back on Earth arguing with the 3rd Simon? As the game ends, no one knows for sure-alot of assumptions can be made here-this is why it's such a good ending, the player is can still guess about something that is beyond the scope of reality, even within that game's universe.

[@jaykdos9521]

The first ending before the credits is one of the scariest things I've ever experienced in a horror game. No big scary monsters, no jumpscares, no gore. Just trapped at the bottom of the ocean, the only friend you have left is gone forever, and you're all alone. Thinking about it is truly terrifying

[@flargarbason1740]

Technically there is a big scary monster AKA the leviathan

[@tnecniw]

At that point is there only one way out...

[@breather8758]

@@tnecniw Letting the water pressure do the rest..

[@MisterJohnDoe]

What are you talking about? There's lots of big scary monsters and gore.

[@jaykdos9521]

@@MisterJohnDoe I meant the ending

[@mzkrevin]

What this ending makes so utterly frightening isn't just the fact, that you were left behind deep under the sea as the only living human left on earth, but also the fact, that the last piece of human conciousness is a little piece of data in a satellite, floating around in the dark vastness of space. THAT hit me like a hammer. Brilliant game!

[@SoulBane]

there is no difference between the earth left behind and the satellite floating in space. earth itself is just a satellite floating around in space, subject to all the dangerous and chaos in the universe, surviving merely because of luck.

[@NimbleJack3]

"Human" is the software. There was absolutely a human in the computer duct-taped to a corpse. Is a brain-dead coma patient a person? Do they deserve more, less or the same rights as Simon?

[@danieljager247]

@@SoulBane There is a difference, a huge one too. Living in the ark is a worse farce than living in real Earth. In the ark, your lives have no real impact, no legacy to make, no real change to stimulate upon; just virtual copies of consciousness, floating around space awaiting death. Then what? You live "forever" as virtual data or you just "grow old" and "die" in the virtual world?

[@danieljager247]

@Shadowsafter Like I told myself, they really dropped the ball and panicked way too much. All the billions of dollars spend on the ark could have been done for something else with the structural gel on it. Nevertheless, I was still fascinated by the game and it's story.

[@1ferris778]

Who's to say they didn't? The ark as it is assumed to be is a dumb idea anyway- a satellite with no capacity to repair itself or produce more fuel isn't going to last more than a century up there before it's orbit decays and it falls back to earth. Honestly, I'd say they likely stuck some glue on there to do just what you describe.

[@No-dl6im]

I love how they spoil the ending about halfway through but still manage to make it a surprise ending, brilliantly done. Catherine is spot on about Simon's (our) ignorance

[@roguishpaladin]

@@joshuacarpenter7447 No, it's ignorance. Hope is accepting that he will die but that, through his death, he has allowed humanity to survive. The designer really seems to want to railroad the player into intentional ignorance, and so I do not appreciate this game.

[@leol.8658]

@@roguishpaladin it's not ignorance, it's denial.

[@roguishpaladin]

@@joshuacarpenter7447 Pulling consciousness is magic. This is not a magical game. Denying what the scientist who crafted the technology said (and knows to be true) is ignorance. Sometimes a person has to have the humility to recognize when someone truly does know better than themselves. Just wanting something to be different does not make it so and there is no room for relativism in a situation governed by objective truths.

[@roguishpaladin]

@@leol.8658 I was thinking specifically of willful ignorance,, but perhaps denial fits the bill better. Or, perhaps there's an element of all - ignorance of the current technology, willful ignorance of the current state of the world and how dire things are, and denial about his own status as a copy of a copy who must make another copy if anything of human culture is to survive.

[@Life-tastic]

@@roguishpaladin You seem like you'd be a joy at a party

[@Juicio87]

That ending seeing the satellite going into the stars and leaving a devastated Earth behind is just a piece of art...makes me want to cry. The whole game is a piece of art actually.

[@Blackblade-NeX]

they really did a good job, i feel so...happy but sad at the same time. its the best game ive ever seen and played through.

[@ACR_Legends]

This game is SO underrated in my opinion.

[@dmin5782]

It isn’t as popular as The Dark Descent is a sin.

[@drakoinx]

I hopw thiers a sequel wjere you are just walking at the bottom of the ocean until you find land lpl.

[@ivanbraidi]

One, with INSIDE, of the best games of all times. Colossal masterpiece.

[@PhAnToM-xf7ml]

When he said "Catherine please don't leave me alone " broke my heart to pieces ;(

[@viktorsimeonov3831]

Well, Frictional truly outdid themselves with this one. Amnesia was plain horror, Penumbra series had its moments with plot twist and storyline... but SOMA? That's serious existential thematic. I think they managed to touch our deepest subconscious fear - the fear of losing who we are. Losing the meaning of our very existence - individuality. Or at least wondering about it. Supreme job, great touch at high psychological levels. I think the reason people are disliking is because the game touched that very fear in them, that primal yet mind-blowing question - will I be that same person if the other me is me? Words are not enough to express how this aspect impacts our very being. I don't think even the creators of the game can comprehend such a paradox. I don't think any of us can.

[@viktorsimeonov3831]

+Mus Tgr I'm totally +1'ning you man. Couldn't have said it better myself. I didn't mean to diminish the first games, but this truly stands out as THE most sophisticated psycho-thriller I've ever seen. Haven't had the chance to play it - sadly - due to hardware restrictions. Now that I've watched the let's play and the ending... there's no point in playing it myself, is there? I hate my damn curiosity.

[@anxiousearth680]

@Blackfalk I was going to disagree but I suppose that *would* be the conclusion of the initial crisis. Our survival instinct would force our conciousness to eventually accept and remold its perception of self. In the end, we still have to deal with life. Thus, casting away confusion, regardless who we were or will be, for now we definitely ARE. Or not...Just a rambling thought.

[@chase_h.01]

I really was not expecting this ending but goddamn if she wasn't right calling us ignorant. There were so many clues this is how it would end and I (like so many others who played) looked right over it as I played. It's a depressing ending but man it was original and I wouldn't do anything to change it. That survey at the end was just... holy shit. I took it in the middle of the game and usually chose optimistic choices, but oh my god the feels at the end when you take the same survey at the end... just perfect. They really got me.

+Chase H Imagine that both of the poll answers were uploaded to Frictional Games' server and we could check them out. First time I didn't answer really positively. But on the ARK...

[@KingThrillgore]

+Ádám Pajor I think the first one is uploaded to Frictional

[@FIRE-LOTUS]

+Chase H Well no, Simon was really dumb. The moment I saw the ark before it was shot out into space, I knew they had to scan their bodies into the ark. It was pretty obvious at this point in the game. So yeah Simon had no reason to yell because he should've known that their current bodies were stuck. He was hoping to be carried out which was impossible, that was the problem that he failed to understand.

[@andrewmiddleton5006]

+]-)ΣΔ†]-[ What would you do in his shoes? You are stuck at the bottom of the ocean, with no one there but insane robots. You have nothing else you can do but wait for your battery to die, and for you to die with it. I am pretty sure many of us would expect we wouldn't be copied over, but would you be able to accept that when you knew that your only chance not to die alone under the sea was to get on the ark. Even if Simon did expect that there was the possibility of him not transferring, he probably would have dismissed the fact, and he would have been just as angry as he was. In that situation, I am pretty sure most of us would understand why we didn't transfer over, but would we really be able to just accept that fact? No. We would be very angry, and sad, but eventually we would work through it and find acceptance. Simon just didn't find acceptance while we were playing in his perspective.

[@FIRE-LOTUS]

Andrew Middleton That's where everybody is different. The moment I learn about the ark. I would've asked Catherine about the ark, What does it look like and how do we enter. Once she answers that question. That's when I come to realize (because common sense) that my physical current form has no hope whatsoever. That's the moment I immediately come to acceptance that I am done for, so I would have no reason later on to have my hopes up. Because in real life, I never have my hopes up when opportunity strikes because there is something "almost always" that goes wrong, I learn that the hard way. So no, in his shoes I would understand the situation and immediately accept my fate. However, that wouldn't mean I would give up and make a happy copy of myself inside the ark. So once that is complete, what will my physical form do now? I have only two options: 1) I could either do a quick suicide, get it done and over with since I have nothing to struggle for. 2) or I could simply not give up and survive a way out, die trying, even if the circumstance says it's impossible. I'll probably continue seeking another way out. (Because I'm not the type to give up either.) Because it wouldn't mattered anyways. If I fail, I fail but I manage to find that one glimmer of hope, miraculously because I didn't decide to give up like a bag of tart. If such a possibility did exist, then I can thank myself for not giving up. Me personally, it's not like I fear death. More so that I just don't want to accept it too early if there is even a slight possibility.

[@MrAnarmlessman]

I heard someone say something really powerful about this ending: "Nothing has changed at all of the crew of Pathos II, They simply traded one abyss, for another"

[@did_I_hurt_your_fee_fees]

I guess at least this is a pretty and comfortable abyss but that's a pretty good point

[@Valor06]

So many fantastic elements that make this ending very haunting: Catherine's eerie calm acceptance of being abandoned on a doomed dark world while the other version of her lives it up in paradise, how she actually never truly lied at all, Simon's only hope completely being crushed as the hard frightening truth settles in, how he is left all alone after realizing the one person he hates with a passion was also the only person left to care about and she is now suddenly gone in an instant... Disturbing, heartbreaking and incredible.

[@n646n]

She lies at the end. "You lost the coin toss" is a lie. There was no coin toss.

[@n646n]

@@BakangPrivv What are you even talking about?

[@n646n]

@@BakangPrivv You don't understand. The coin toss thing was not how it really work, that's just what Simon came up with. Brain scans are just copies, they're not transferring anything. There's no luck involved.

[@AeyakS]

@@BakangPrivv Coin tosses aren't real. There's no such thing as consciousness transference. Simon did not win or lose the coin toss each time he was scanned, but he simply used that logic to explain the seamless transition into a new body each time he woke up. In reality, he and everyone on the ARK, is artificial, only an cognitive imprint of their original selves.

[@Lann._]

​@@n646nbrainrot

[@cxcarmic]

One of the best endings in a video game. Period. The sad part really hits you hard, and seeing the happy ark ending and the Earth destroyed along with that music as the arks begins traveling in space sends chills down my spine every time I watch it.

[@tarikay93]

+cxcarmic Exactly how I feel.

[@vermilion7777]

Not really. It's THE best ending of a video game.

[@vermilion7777]

@John Moon Tell me as better one.

[@Lancym]

@@vermilion7777 nah. Just one of the best. Not THE BEST.

[@plugshirt1762]

@@vermilion7777 amnesia a machine for pigs as mediocre as it was has a god tier ending I honestly can’t decide which I prefer as both put chills on my spine

[@danial_s]

I'd rather live in another satelite rather than help another settlement.

[@faka2019]

Danial Arif "There's another settlement that needs your help.I've marked it on your map".haha xD xD xD.

[@ghemnioc-293]

Catherine's just Preston Garvey in disguise, why else would she send you on pointless fetch quests?

[@MisterJohnDoe]

Cringe

[@Bandog23]

​@@MisterJohnDoeno you

[@wd3185]

See, here's what's interesting to me. At first, I thought Catherine was wrong about saying it was a coin toss, since it was a copy, not a transfer. But then I thought about it, and I realized something- if the Simon who got left behind _was_ the copy, and not the one you've been playing as this whole time, he wouldn't know it. As far as he's concerned, he _is_ the original. I know that seems obvious saying it, but it's only just now occuring to me that the memory thing goes both ways. I knew immediately that the Simon on the ARK would think he's the original, but it's only now occurring to me that if he _was_ the original, and the Simon left behind was the copy, both would believe they were the original, the one who went through all that shit just to fail at the end. Which means Catherine is right, it _was_ a coin toss. Because we don't and _can't_ know if the Simon we've been playing as is the one who gets left behind or the one who gets aboard the ARK, since they're identical in structure and memory. It's only once they're separated and it becomes impossible to know which is which that they become distinct individuals because they start experiencing different things. That, to me, is really cool because I think about stuff like that all the time.

[@Lord_Poyo]

A year later I have come to respond. We 100% know who each Simon is. The game blatently show and tells you this. When you become the "Scuba Simon". You get the choice of leaving behind or killing the old Simon. When the clone of Simon gets sent to the Ark, that Simon will 100% know that he is not the original because he knows the process (well, he should have actually, but he is ignorant to it). Ark Catherine knows full well about the process, so she knows that she is not the OG. Her coin toss reference is simply saying "You were the unlucky one who isn't being sent to the Ark. You out of all the Simons are not the one." Just a matter of luck.

[@sosig6445]

@@Lord_Poyo the coin toss isn't referencing the moment of the brainscan, but the fact that he came to exist already in the suit, instead of in the ark in the future/present

[@Lord_Poyo]

@@sosig6445 Uh...what? What do you mean? "Came to exist already"?

[@sosig6445]

@@Lord_Poyo Essentially the moment he was "transphered" or rather copied into the diving suit he was burn as a sentient being. He was the unlucky one to be "born" into that position and not "born" into the ark

[@Lord_Poyo]

@@sosig6445 I mean, you're kind of saying the same thing as me, but just from a different perspective/phrased differently. My point was simply that he was the unlucky one to not be in the Ark.

[@RickardApps]

Please don't make a SOMA2. The ending is perfect, don't ruin it

[@kyleseville8356]

I hope they make a dlc based on the left behind Simon

[@RickardApps]

+kyle seville I hope not

[@brambles7124]

+kyle seville I would actually very much like to see that.

[@kyleseville8356]

I think frictional will release a dlc in 6 months time because they've done it before with Amnesia and Penumbra. It'll either have to be based on left behind Simon or far into the past. I think a dlc based on left behind Simon coming to terms with being condemned for eternity in bleak hell would be an interesting story point. Perhaps Simon could find Catherine again and they could decide whether life is worth living while they go on a journey to shut Pathos 2 down completely.

[@louderthenvisual]

+Raster Hamster yeah do you remember what that guy said about not letting Simon live bc he has an immunity? I think if they do make a DLC it will be the ON THE ARK Simon and they either have to save it from an out of control WAU or something. Part 2 xD!? Course that'd be like DEAD SPACE 2 haha either way I want more! This game was perfect!

[@guido7095]

"It's okay, Simon. Everything's all right now." this sentence was so reliefing but also extremely depressive when you think about the simon who is now all alone on earth trapped with monsters. There is absolutely no hope for him, not even in a religious way, because seen it that way he doesn't have a soul, only the actual real simon who lived in toronto

[@PlayNiceFolks]

I didn't try to kill the WAU. That's the best form of life in this scenario. Gotta break a few eggs kinda of deal

[@vinnycastsbufu]

@@PlayNiceFolks Me neither. I saw Catherine and the WAU as two sides of the same coin. Both trying to preserve life at all costs but having total opposite ideas of what "life" is. The former thinking consciousness alone is what matters neglecting the body while the latter sees only the physical while neglecting the mind. Both are flawed, yet only one was sustainable.

[@guido7095]

@@vinnycastsbufu your comment is very underrated, i didn't thought about this yet

[@CappyK]

@@PlayNiceFolks In my selfish hubris, I killed the WAU. The Earth I left behind is completely barren now, save for Simon and the monsters of the deep.

[@wesleyfilms]

ngl I’d probably just tell Catherine to F off and I’m not risking my “life” lol

[@straightpaulin208]

So this is how Ark survival starts

[@IdiotStinky02]

lmao

[@IdiotStinky02]

you never know xD

[@greensquirrel4019]

Exactly... Simon wakes up in an island which is the ark.. Infinite lives cause after all its data.. And you can make friends or enemies

[@tokenwebster]

This was literally one of my thoughts

[@piggyblitz4404]

Honestly, this isn’t entirely incorrect

[@bluemalhi9693]

this would make a good movie

[@gfyGoogle]

RIGHT

[@jiririnagl302]

Movies sucks.

[@asrinyoutube]

EXACTLY

[@helldoll9040]

FerhrplY fuck off

[@sonnychen9185]

I think there's simply too much to be cram in 2 short hours.

[@ConfusedAleks]

I'm still surprised that the voice actors of Simon and Catherine don't get the credit they deserve. Their performance here was super organic and believable in my opinion. Both the actors have barely any roles under their name, and it should not be that way.

[@JH24821]

I agree. The voice actors forSimon and Catherine did such an amazing job. It made the game even more immersive and got me attached to their characters. When that ending came you could hear the emotions in their final argument. So incredibly powerful.

[@DraconasTenZHG]

The writing, the characters and the actors in SOMA were all great. While Penumbra and Amnesia: the Dark Descent and Rebirth felt like "horror games that happened to be also adventure games", SOMA felt like "an adventure game that happened to be also a horror game". It does everything Frictional horrors did except better and it makes the game feel like a big journey. It's also longer than entire Penumbra trilogy, at least for me because I like exploring and lore stuff and because this game was so long (and at the same time full of dialogues) it made me like the characters more. In my opinion Amnesia: Rebirth is like combination of TDD and SOMA except it's weaker TDD and it's weaker SOMA. It has way more talking than TDD as if it tried to be like SOMA except it didn't work there because in SOMA there's dialogues between characters and in Rebirth there's lots of "talking to yourself" which in opinion of many people breaks the immersion.

[@ajaykumarsingh702]

SOMA is really a horror game. not because of the monsters in it, but because of the concept. Reminds me of a Movie - MATRIX.

[@vermilion7777]

Absolutly right. It's story disturbed me deeper as Amnesia's horror ever could.

[@sashimicheetah]

Ajay Kumar Singh. I think it's some of the best story work out there. Did you know SOMA is Greek for body?

[@lvl99paint]

Totally. A jump scare gives you a shock and adrenaline rush. Playing an entire game going through hell expecting to reach paradise, and then being left alone in the dark - trapped in eternal isolation with nobody but hostile mutants and crazy robots for company - that's terrifying.

[@DuBstep115]

How does a prison for your mind movie remind you of this? They do really have nothing in common. Even the ending in matrix you transfer your consciousness between matrix or real world. On soma you just copy it.

[@cyberdemon9306]

Matrix + Dead Space + Bioshock = SOMA

[@RaxuRangerkingsChannel]

Anyone else get a Dead Space 2 vibe from the ending? His rant was so similar to Isaac Clarke's "Goddamn it, I trusted you! Fuck you, and fuck your Marker!".

[@brambles7124]

+RaxuRangerking I really need to play that game sooner or later. I have the collection of all the games made in one container but I haven't even played any one of them.

[@MrDyingMonkey]

+RaxuRangerking i knew i heard something similar before:) awesome ending btw,, n the game itself makes u think

[@_MaZTeR_]

Oh man, that was exactly what I thought xD I thought Simon was going to almost say it XD

[@Tredoslop]

+RaxuRangerking I actually got a Dead Space 2 vibe from the entire game. Simon's voice reminds me of Isaac's.

[@RaxuRangerkingsChannel]

Tredoslop Not to mention his role, and his general mode of speech.

[@a5teroth]

This is the best horror game I've played, bar none. The ending made me feel kind of lost inside and had me thinking about life and the universe. No other game has done that. Serious kudos to the people who thought up such an amazing, thought provoking story. If anyone knows any other games that are as good as this one, please let me know.

[@joshuacarpenter7447]

It's not a horror game but if you like games that mess with your brain then there's always Monkey Island 2 heh. Another not horror game with Stanley Parable is suppose to be a real brain teaser, in a fun way, too. Horror wise, Alan Wake and Bioshock are the only other ones that come to mind on the whole psychological bit.

[@MILDMONSTER1234]

Silent hill 2?

[@brunodesouza8032]

The Talos Principle

[@JesusOnHeroin]

Silent Hill 2 is better. SOMA comes second though.

[@ivanbraidi]

The only other game that reaches such colossal masterpiece levels is INSIDE.

[@garr123]

Killing the WAU was a pretty shit thing to do. One of the last sentient life forms on earth, and in its own way aiming for a continuation of humanity. It successfully stuck Simon's consciousness into a reanimated corpse, right? Whose to say it wouldn't have created human-like life that could repopulate the earth if allowed to continue its experiments.

[@HARVEE64]

The WAU wasn't really sentient though. As Catherine explained, it doesn't really think like they do, it is just a program that runs systems and tries to preserve humanity.

[@garr123]

+Harvee™ Perhaps Catherine isn't the most reliable source of information considering the WAU was doing some pretty novel experimentation and improvisation in regards to preserving humanity, even if its thought process and understanding of humanity is alien to our own.

[@HARVEE64]

Hark I guess that is why I don't like the WAU. I don't like the idea of something next to alien being what controls the last life on Earth :P

[@naegleriafowleri76]

+Hark The game makes you believe that the enemy is the WAU, when in reality, your true enemy is right beside you all along, CATHERINE

[@HARVEE64]

Latin Lover Except the only real "bad" thing she does is not telling Simon the whole truth so that she can, in some form, save humanity. I wouldn't call that villainous.

[@MatsLindgrenMusic]

Goddammit, Frictional, I played SOMA to have the bejeebers scared out of me, not feel.

[@TheTamurai1]

+Mats Lindgren Same here, I wanted to shit my pants, but the feels hit me good and I do not regret it one bit. I loved it,that they changed it up

[@RADIOACTIVEBUNY]

I just wanted some jump scares, not to have my fucking life ruined by a never ending existential crisis.

[@maicolmallers2999]

And there's your horror, having these questions in your mind every night before sleeping. Your work will keep your mind busy and tired for a while but then, something around will make you remember and the questions will keep coming back. Those fuckers really knew what they're doing.

[@Sitchy777]

Frictional games is something else

[@camerontodd4686]

yes, its very rough

[@tarikay93]

I am depressed and I just want to die. This was the most beautiful and disturbing game I've ever experienced. There aren't any words in any language for this kind of game.

[@TheTyupi]

+Vatian Dude I fucking agree, at first I just thought... "Oh well, another horror game, guess I'll watch it..." Then I watched it, and fuck am I glad... the ending just left me so mad, and so sad, he's all alone, the other version of him, I seriously feel like they should release a new game like right now, right this instant.

[@tarikay93]

+Jade I did play lots of games, but I respect your opinion. I did not find it to be predictable at all.

[@shinodal.9096]

+Vatian "This was the most beautiful and disturbing game I've ever experienced." Bruh...

[@tarikay93]

I love Gabe What?

[@gfyGoogle]

I get you man, great game

[@anji962]

To think he was a normal guy that got in a car crash

[@beaneater4364]

That would be the simon from cry of fear

[@jetboy531]

Had he not gotten in that car, he probably would have died a decade or two later. But happily so not half bad

[@Dubb1000]

Yo, this ending is f*ckin' brutal.... Years later I'm revisiting it. I can't get how f*cked up it is man, I gotta watch some stand up comedy to was this from my mind...

[@lukekoetting8817]

This game is so messed up and depressing... I've never seen a better game in my lifetime - the philosophy, the psychology... 10/10

[@joshuacarpenter7447]

Maybe horror game wise, but I've seen better games overall

[@ivanbraidi]

@@joshuacarpenter7447 Such as?

[@lori9885]

I really got attached to Simon, he was sympathic and genuinely a good guy. This ending made me feel a bit frustrated.

[@shastealyomeal]

Sexually?

[@jdenq5943]

Does anyone think that Simon in the Ark actually got the worst ending? You know..being conscious for eternity with no purpose. I cannot imagine how painful that would be. It's like they built their own artificial hell.

[@Qurialedrilin]

There are a few dozen people on the Ark. They don't have any more or less purpose than people do IRL. They're just making new lives.

[@DoctorJ1337]

I think the Simon that was left behind might be conscious for a very long time as well. If the WAU gets to him it may keep him alive, and that fate would be far worse than living on the ARK.

[@themightychinful]

@Blackfalk Hw about this, if WAU survived and had access to simons mind scan, WAU could potentially endlessly bring Simon back to life in different and horrible forms. Spend an eternity being reborn/downloaded into various machines and structures. Good job we killed the damn WAU.

[@gracecalis5421]

@@themightychinful The WAU should be kept active. It was trying to replicate humanity; the Simon we play as is it's creation after all. Give it a few centuries and it could potentially whip out beings that would be near indistinguishable from a regular human. The WAU was ironically the best shot for humanity to start over rather than the Ark.

[@jacobhoover1654]

A virtual existence sounds like an excruciating out of body experience that lasts forever. Catherine's nuts too.

[@larubric]

This ending is a masterpiece. That line, the one where Simon asks Catherine to not leave him alone as he’s left in perpetual darkness, made me lose it. I’d come all this way as Simon, struggled and lost my fucking arm, to both lose...and win at the same time. Humanity lives on in space but that copy of Simon, as well as the others, are forever stranded - some without even knowing if they’d completed the objective. This game is fantastic and I’m so happy to have experienced this massive punch in the balls.

[@TeeReynolds]

And to think this was made back in 2015 too!

[@ShArpSh0t]

Just realized the survey in the ark is an automated contingency. The ark likely creates backup copies of everyone when they first arrive and/or other "happy" milestones. This way when everyone inevitability goes insane since they're floating in space for an eternity, the ark can just simply restore their earlier consciousnesses instead of allowing them to die.

[@T--------]

christ how do you make this ending more depressing man, but yeah i can totally see that, delete people when they start going insane and restore a previous copy without their knowledge, it wouldn't make any sense to allow them to "die" for sure anyways as eventually nobody would be left

[@4GrausDeMiopia]

Not sure if it would be this way because other people would find strange that their colleague suddenly don't remember anything about what they did in the past moments after the backup, It could drive people crazy since how shocking it is to find that your best friend of 5 year suddenly just doesn't remember anything about you or anything he did with you, the best moments, the joke, the love, it would just spread panic and everyone would freak out.

[@ShArpSh0t]

@@4GrausDeMiopia I’m thinking it’s the lowest common denominator. Basically as soon as 1 person goes insane just reset everyone back to baseline that way no one remembers.

[@4GrausDeMiopia]

​@@ShArpSh0t Ah I got it, its even sad for us in this way, they lose every progress they've made, friends, lovers, achievements, just like a game where nothing matters, no real impact which from their perspective isn't a problem since they won't remember anything. On my opinion I think something less intrusive would made more sense, like Catherine having admin features and being able to manage manually that kind of problem? Simon asked her whats the first thing she would do in the ARK which she replied that she would need to adjust the temperatue, weather, etc... So I think she has some extra features on her own model file, like an administrator thing. Learning from the WAU, I think she would guess that some human intervation would be a better solution when dealing with human consciouness.

[@a.b3203]

Which question gave you that impression? I thought it was a way to weed out potential threats, those who answered pessimistically and weren't going to 'take the blue pill' so to speak.

[@pvtred]

I don't understand why you guys feel this has a good ending at all. In case you all forgot, humanity is gone. The fake Simon and Cathy are floating in space in a computer. We all lost. Still doesn't mean it's a bad ending though, it was great.

[@Volthoom]

+Tony Banderas Well yes. Essentially, SOMA features the complete obliteration of humanity. And if you think about it, those guys on the ARK got it pretty shitty for them aswell. I mean, there are what, several dozens of them? And there won't be any new brain-scans popping out of nowhere. No babies or anything. Few dozen people stuck in a perfectly-programmed, unchangeable world for the next 5 thousand years. There's no hope, or future here, to me it sounds like an extended nightmare.

[@Telris86]

+Volthoom There is actually a survey terminal somewhere in the game where it asks how you feel about simulating child AI in the ARK. So they must've thought about some way to simulate a "normal" life even with children. If I remember correctly they didn't have a way to simulate AI growth (like a child growing into an adult) but they wanted to figure it out in the ARK. So I guess they have some kind of way to change the simulation while inside the ARK. Makes the whole ending a little bit darker in my opinion. Just think about what could happen if the wrong "person" in there is going crazy and changes the simulation to his beliefs.

[@Ninjafish51]

+Tony Banderas They're not fake they are about as real as the other Simon and Catherine back on earth. And about them transferring Catherine in the game. They never do. Her scan was always in the chip. You take the chip out of the robot and put it in your omnitool. She never leaves the chip. That's why it looks like she got transferred but really she was just moved. As the game stats you cant transfer people scans. Only copy them.

[@Femroe]

+Tony Banderas I more see the story as.. Well, in the story / scenario that we are presented with in SOMA, you can't win. That option was off the table with the obliteration of mankind, but you can figure out a way to not lose.

[@rdablock]

Ikr, I don't really understand the idea of sending consciousness inside a simulation to space, the "real humanity" does not benefit from this... like, are they expecting aliens to find the ARK and recreate humans based on their brain scans?

[@Story_Trail]

I loved this ending.

[@MercenaryFox]

+Alesia Miller great game, probably will go underrated , but great game nonetheless

[@atumra5]

The best game ever

[@chadshinobi69]

@@MercenaryFox u were correct , it's really underrated

[@nonamernobrainer846]

This was so soul crushing...´ I kept looking forward to be "transferred" to the ark to see what it was like and be out of the underwater hell-hole, but, much like Simon I had misunderstood the part about the "coin-toss". Catherine did explain it wasn't like that several times. The feeling when you realize Power Suit Simon is going to be left at the bottom of the ocean can be perfectly applied in real life: you spend time working towards something, it's your final hope, and, when you're finally about to reach the light at the end of the tunnel, everything gets taken from you. Frictional Games did an excellent work, and the voice actors did a phenomenal work - their emotions are so real and palpable.

[@loluntilmypie]

This ending really is that of a true horror game. Being abandoned all on your own in the darkness, 5'000 metres under the sea, the only other living things being absolute monsters with no humanity left in them in a hollow, bleak reality. It really just made me think about where we could end up in 100 or 1000 years time, what could happen to all of us, what the apocalypse will be and how we'll handle it.

[@manmadeartists]

+Arrow i don´t get the get lucky and come back idea?! can you explain that please? why does someone come back? and isn´t it more the wish of never dying in form of a never ending "Me" ? everything i worked for, all my experience, all the effort of learning and living will vanish and end with my death. i know i might leave some footprints..the ones lager..others smaller. But i will not be able to enjoy it..for myself or with others. family, friends and so on. because i am dead. and that´s i guess why we fear this state while being alive. thats i believe also the reason why we don´t want to end the life of other human beings. because it never comes back in it´s original form. death rips apart and ends all we love and what we live for. so the idea of living on in another life form doesn´t satisfie me because it´s not me..not this one life i lived and i fell in love with. not because of the ups and downs..just for being able to have all potential and possibilities to enjoy life with all its possible content. and may it just be the ability to breath fresh air and to realize that there are things i enjoy even if simple. in my opinion, there is death, the death of "me".

[@PandemicalShade]

+Arrow Are you serious, Arrow? You're a fucking idiot. Death is the end for your conscious existence. However, that in itself is a farce because conscious life itself is just an illusion - the data in our brains is overwritten again and again and we recycle our old selfs continously. Every morning a new "you" wakes up, the past you forgotten. We denie the end because in actuality our entire existence is just an illusion to begin with.

[@PandemicalShade]

Well, I'm just putting my theory out here and want people to feel miserable. Then overcome the sadness and live their lives to fullest.

[@cuntinakia8122]

+Dan V In the end, we will all go to sleep and will never wake up from dreaming. In the end all that matters is wether you have a good conciousness or if your sould is guilt laden. So even if you follow all the laws and commandments you can still end up in hell. Your own hell.

[@loluntilmypie]

greatorder I didn't even mean that comment in the kind of spiritual way that everyone else is going on about, I just meant where humanity might be as a species in reality but still, I like the kinds of questions and theories this game brings about. Really is an eye-opener

[@phrophannus]

Those guys know what they're doing, the whole concept is amazing, and the voice over, the conversations between Simon and Cathy, sure it has flaws, 'no game is without sins', but still.. it needs to win something.

[@3XC4L1B3R]

Catherine is portrayed so well. When she says "you lost the coin toss. We both did," you can feel that she's both disappointed that _she_ lost the coin toss, and frustrated that she has to explain it all to Simon.

[@AvalancheGameArt]

The first time i took ARK SURVEY, when i first met CATH, i said that being cloned is like SHIT... Then when i woke up in the ARK, i changed my mind. This game is fucking awesome.

+GioMetal Exactly. That's what I did too, because I felt like it. And that was Frictional Games' goal, I'm sure. I really want the game had some code that uploads both the survey results to their server to see every players' choice. I'm sure most of us selected the same and there wouldn't be too much deviation.

[@ElysaWestlandlol]

+GioMetal It's a great review to yourself, I guess. It's amazing what you feel with the second time taking the survey. Like. It almost gives you peace.

[@limanaid]

So our version of Catherine literally dies midsentence of an argument, And our Simon is left at the bottom of the ocean by himself. "Please don't leave me alone." Yikes

[@johnk.7523]

This is one of those games that genuinely hits you on a level that is difficult to describe. True horror.

[@Infarlock]

Meanwhile the Simon in omicron is going nuts about how he was betrayed, he might be thinking that catherine got into the suit and left him there in the chamber to sleep for a while. Could be a good idea for a DLC in the future, where both simons meet each other and try to escape to the surface somehow, like a 4-5 hours DLC. I'd pay for that

[@DraconasTenZHG]

Actually this would be cool idea for SOMA 1.5. But I think there was an option to "shut down" your past self, which meant killing you. You could either leave that Simon or kill him.

[@JadeiteMcSwag]

LOL Catherine stole his body

[@Infarlock]

I'd still pay for that

[@Infarlock]

I'd pay for it again

[@k_nito7954]

@@Infarlock Would you pay for it now

[@cardsharkaa]

The ending is great, what could anyone else expect from the ending? Would you rather that they failed to launch it?

[@reznorms81]

+cardsharkaa Yeah, I knew this would happend just right after Simon had to decide what to do with the "old" self.

[@Nabeshin1002]

+Massimiliano Schettino I didn't really understand all the continuity talk until I had to make that choice. Had to think on that button.

[@killeing]

+cardsharkaa The ending was fine and everything, but i have one final problem with the ending: You can't control it X/ aside tom the choice between dying and living at the end of the credits, no decision you make affects the ending! Seriously, how is that? You get the option to kill numerous people throughout the game, only to realize there's no ending based on your morality?! That's complete bogus X/!

[@YokozunoEmperor]

+cardsharkaa I would rather that they would use human DNA to repopulate planet with humans instead of mindless throving virtual reality to rot eternally without any meaning to humanity at all.. what is the purpose of that space station really? It will not benefit humanity in any way and probably whill eventually be destroyed by meteor or just rot from inside. Totally shit ending.

[@cardsharkaa]

+YokozunoEmperor Well, it's one thing to critique the direction that they took in creating the ark, and another to call the ending shit.The ending fits the story perfectly. And humanity was destroyed by a meteor.. does that mean that humanity's existence in flesh was pointless because of that? Were the people being held on lifesupport, rotting away, more human than those who now live in the Ark? I think the game delves into, quite well, what it means to have humanity. Whether they are on earth or in the ark, are their experiences that they feel define themselves as human what matters? Or is it the biological construct that matters over all? I think it's quite poignant how the main character reacts at the end... considering he is just as human as Catherine within the machine. It's more likely than not that one day the entire universe will cease to exist as we know it, and more likely than not long before that the existence of humans will be wiped entirely, does that mean it was all worthless for us? Is it not worth it to let the fruits of our technology and success allow for some form of expression from the last of humanity, just so some remnant of us all can experience joy in some small way?

[@csatornabazmeg]

Imo it could have been better if they swaped the two endings. After the upload we are on the ark with Catherine and its just like heaven, everything is fine. But after that we could see them still stranded on earth. It could have been a more brutal ending, with this secondary "oh no, wtf" moment.

[@bassfight2936]

I'd like it even more if it randomizes which ending you get first on each playthrough, for each player. It's a coin toss, after all.

[@sicksock435446]

@@bassfight2936*chef's kiss*. Imagine the internet arguments. "THE ENDING WAS GOOD!!!", "THE ENDING WAS SHIT". "YOU'RE WRONG". "How do you the "good" ending???"

[@Byssbod]

I was just thinking the exact same thing. This game did a great job of communicating the concepts it was dealing with, the illusion of continuity, but it would have worked even better with the two endings flipped. Present Simon 4 first, but then present Simon 3. Then roll credits.

[@magnum66]

Just finished this game now and wow, the ending is so depressing and impactful. Such a perfect ending though and unexpected. When those credits hit after and the music plays, you are just left sitting there in disbelief. But it's a good kind of disbelief. It just hit so damn hard and felt like the perfect way to end it with the way the story was set up and the game itself. It's the kind of game that really makes you think, and sticks with you in your head hours, days, months after you have finished it. Masterpiece.

[@MrNoBody198]

The real Simon died a century ago. Nothing left but imitations.

[@worsethanjoerogan8061]

But why is the original Simon the "real" one?

[@bozoben]

@@worsethanjoerogan8061 because he was the original, the template and first to be scanned you philosophical bastard

[@kharngotrekson1726]

​@@worsethanjoerogan8061 Ok, imagine a person and that person's kids. Parents transfer their DNA to their kids, but you don't doubt about identity of parents and kids, even if they have parts of the same DNA. So the original Simon passed his brainscans, so other Simons can appear and "live".

[@munecaxmuerta]

all these years later i still think about this game....

[@gal3xystar]

Same… it still creeps me out to this day I came back to watch this because I thought the ending was Simon waking back up in the chair in the doctor But I was wrong Very wrong

[@Genotenic]

"Please don't leave me alone." That sentence carries so much weight...

[@visorak168x]

It was sad when Simon finally realized too late that he and Catherine didn't transferred, but made copies and he became angry. What really became heart breaking was when Catherine overloaded because she was so mad that it even destroyed the omitool and SHUT THE POWER DOWN. Now he is truly alone in the powerless station and it was so sad when he was calling her name in a worried way. I hope they make a DLC of what happens to Simon. We all know he cried at the end because he lost everything. He lost his girlfriend, went through all the monsters, lost Catherine, and even lost his hope for himself.

[@shastealyomeal]

So Catherine died?

[@proudhellene5874]

@@shastealyomeal Pretty much.

[@Methuselah5]

I don't think she had anything to do with the power shutting down, Pathos II was already crumbling anyway, and whatever power they had left was probably redirected to serve the space gun. You can even see bolts of electricity when the ARK is being launched, it hugely affected the station's power system. Simon would have been left alone, in the dark, anyway, but it's sad that he made his last conversation with Catherine a nasty argument. She deserved better.

[@visorak168x]

@@Methuselah5 Oh wow, I definitely see you. To give where credit is due, Catherine did tell him more than once that they won't be teleported in the Ark, but he didn't want to hear that. I don't think he would have been in the dark alone if she hasn't exploded, I think she would still be with Simon until he died or figure out a way to get power or something.

[@n646n]

@@Methuselah5 Nope. Look at her name as you go about the game on the omnitool. It slowly gets more corrupted due to the omnitool not being able to handle her. Eventually, she's overrun with emotion and the tool overloads the station.

[@JohnSacapano]

"Please don't leave me alone" Damn that's line alone almost reduced me into tears.

[@user-rs8sp7wh6b]

Kind of makes you think about teleportation. If you teleport, (which implies complete destruction and reconstruction of atoms) does your whole life end in that moment, as in the you who entered the teleporter? Like it all cuts to black. Then a perfect copy of you comes out the other side. With all the memories you had, but he wasn't you. The real you died when the machine went off. How could you tell it's a copy of you, or really you. Only you would know. And you died when the machine started. Wild.

[@PkorniBoi]

I imagine it would be like this

[@amityFinder2099]

if its like start trek teleportation yes. if its something that warps spacetime then youd prob be ok

[@MrMeddyman]

What's really cool is the survey you take once as Simon - 2 at the beginning of the game and again as Simon - 4 at the end. I wish that data was uploaded so we can see how people felt at those different moments and whether their opinions changed at all.

[@Voidflyssa]

It wasn’t a 50-50 coin toss if you think about it, the main character would’ve still been there, and their ‘copy’ out there. The consciousness of both would have stemmed from the one who stayed. It is really a matter of perception how you see it, since the copy would only “exist” after the download, meaning it would’ve never really “been” in the chair. It really questions humanity, and what is the meaning of “I”. It’s so powerful, and you could write thousands of pages, but never quite get the point across.

[@johnk9200]

There's actually no perspective that allows you to determine the original of a copy, except that one would physically be in the same place. If you remove the property by, say, moving the original and the copy simulatenously to a random location instantly in the process of copying, it's impossible for anyone to determine the original. Neither the two copies, nor an external observer, even one with omniscence and the ability to see infinitely into the past, can possibly know which one was the "original." This concept vanishes and it's like asking which of two tines on a fork is the original tine. Consider Simon closing his eyes and coping himself onto a body on the opposite side of a merry-go-round. When he opens his eyes, it's impossible to know which one was the original, and nobody observing them get off the marry-go-round could possibly determine it. From each and every perspective they are identical.

[@Voidflyssa]

That makes sense in a closed scenario but in this case there are two very different scenarios, hence the copies are different. Ultimately this is such a terrifying and hard-to-understand scenario so any theories we make on it will be flawed at best

[@ujbx]

I wonder about the critical failure that shut down catherine and all the power at Phi. Currently there are two possibilities: a) Catherine exceeded her stress limit when she got into a fight with Simon. This caused her simulation to automatically shut down. Since she was operating the Phi facility this critical failure automatically shut down the entire site. b) The critical failure was the exact moment WAU was terminated because of the virus. As I recall even though WAU was twisted it still maintained its primary functions which among other things was governing the sites power supply, life support etc. When it died it killed the entire Pathos II facility. This version also means that Simon is eternally trapped in the Abyss since the lift leading out of the canyon is also dead. Since Simons hand is crippled he cant even attempt to climb out of the Abyss even if he wanted to. Not to mention he dosen't have anymore light pole markers to guide him to the Canyon wall. That and well the hostile alien lifeforms swarming the area. Personally I support this version. Forever alone, cut off from the last human like contact he had (Catherine), Simon no. 3 is condemned to die in a eternal darkness filled with sorrow and regret. Finally one cant forget that he is infected with a new strain of the construction gel so maybe one day a new strain of Simon-WAU infestation, stemming from Phi, shall fill the vacuum left behind the original deformed WAU. Ironically this kind of mutated fusion between man and machine might be the perfect candidate to adapt as a new dominant life form on a radically ravaged Earth... Just some thoughts I had about the game, its philosophical themes and the possible future developments considering the game worlds internal logic.

[@ujbx]

+Raster Hamster Hmm good observations. Didn't think really about the power output that a five km electromagnetic artillery might require. In conclusion then one thing is for sure: Simon 3 is condemned to die at Phi since he cant climb with his mangled hand and because there are no lights there is no protection from the surrounding wildlife. That and well, even if he could establish emergency power he would need a omnitool to even open the airlocks. So yeah, he cant even enter Phi anymore...

[@TheKingofbrooklin]

+ujbx If he dint destroy the WAU he keeps his hand.

[@Xxsorafan]

I doubt she exceeded her stress limit just from arguing with him. She already accepted that she wouldn’t be saved and she succeeded in sending the ark to space.

[@reddeadbret4218]

An ending where you win, but you lose, and you lose everything - destined to a lonely and depressing existence. Fantastic video game. Definitely one I'll remember.

[@Ticklehug]

Seriously hit me hard. The happy ARK ending felt kind of pointless though.

[@Ticklehug]

+Pizza Bear I get what you're saying, but I think it should have stuck with the depressing ending. The world is dead, all human being are dead, there's going to be a cube floating through space with a fake reality populated by simulations of humans. This is all very depressing stuff, so there's really no need to cop out at the last minute and say, 'good job buddy the world is saved'.

[@PrOxAnto.]

+Pizza Bear I think it would've been better if they showed the happy ending first and then show us the conversation between Catherine and Simon still stuck 4000m below.

[@danielmelo1153]

+AnthonyJellema Exactly

[@gokhanileri6977]

wtf are u kidding ? 2 different simon, 2 different life, this isn t happy ending

[@MrPuschel]

+Ticklehug The ark ending afterwards actually didn't feel like a happy ending to me. It was even sadder, i can't really describe it but the feeling like they didn't know that they 'died down there' made me crinch.

[@hitman7706]

This game is incredibly well written. It really gets you thinking about love, life, and everything really, in ways that you’ve never thought before. Probably the most ‘meaningful’ message and story ever in a video game. It changes you. Truly, it does. Extremely touching. Can’t recommend it highly enough.

[@Filip6754]

They could make a DLC where you play as the Simon who got left behind at the launch station. Your objective would be to leave Pathos-2 and explore the surface.

[@justnick6092]

the simon behind got consumed by the WAU. what did you think was the monster chasing you at TAU

[@_b1ack0ut4]

i mean why would that be a problem? youre a robot

[@sashimicheetah]

Just Nick Well no because you could have chosen to destroy or leave the WAU behind.

[@justnick6092]

The Amazing Arcanine! I don't think WAU creatures die doe

[@sashimicheetah]

Just Nick​ I believe it does kill them if you kill the heart. The Biogel can do things autonomously when applied certain ways but I believe the WAU creatures are specifically controlled by the heart.

[@joshm8348]

This ending reminds me of some lore somewhere in the Mass Effect series. The Citadel races find a strange satellite floating around and decide to study it. They discover it contains the copied intelligence of a species that escaped their dying planet millennia ago. An entire civilization in a computer. Eventually volunteers allow their minds to be replaced by the digital copies so that the species can "live" again, in new forms. That's the best hope the ARK would have, that an advanced species would find humanity's remnants and help them live again. Maybe more robotic suits, maybe organic bodies, anything. Or a tiny rock traveling at a fraction of the speed of light rips the whole ARK into pieces.

[@ElliotSlade]

Hey I know this is 4 years late but i'm looking for this lore. Do you know what the race were?

[@sicksock435446]

@@ElliotSlade 4 years later. As far as I know that's not in Mass Effect, and I consider myself fairly knowledgeable with ME lore. But it is an event that can happen in the game Stellaris, so maybe the poster was getting mixed up. 8 years ago, stellaris was just released... Anyway in Stellaris your nation can stumble upon a vault containing millions of alien brainscans like he described and depending on your tech level, you can choose to delete them and use their computers, save them for later, reupload them into robotic bodies or just accept that they are dead and treat it like a tomb.

[@nightstriker3592]

I actually cried when the ark went into space and seeing all the devastation on earth, plus knowing the previous simon was left behind as the only survivor left and losing Catherine, it really broke me down

[@lrj1827]

...over two years since this came out and somehow the ending hurts even more as time goes on. Just watching this makes me want to curl up on the floor and enter a state of unending existential crisis...

[@notanartist6304]

Still hurts after a years

[@ntyd1s]

That sudden silence and darkness gave me goosebumps every time..

[@wsbolivar6644]

Am I only one who thinks that the Simon that was left on the Earth is the happiest Simon in a world? I mean, he should be happy, because he EXISTS. Not just exists (Catherine and Simon inside oif ARK exist too), but he can DO STUFFS. He can go wherever he wants (if a station wasn't destroyed), he can try to find a good place on the Earth's surface (if it isn't completely destroyed tho). The fate of Catherine and Simon inside of ARK is so desperate/hopeless. Just think about it: they will NEVER go outside of the ARK. They will be inside of simulation forever. It can be a perfect world, but it's still small and...I don't know, they are trapped in there! It's freaking hopeless situation...

[@tarikay93]

+Steel Bolivar Maybe some advanced civilization can find and retrieve the people in the Ark. Who knows man.

[@Desushie]

he cant go out in the earth,the WAU is the thing that keeps the power off.. so all PATHOS-II is shut down so no way to get up with the elevator

[@ghemnioc-293]

@Fabian Kirchgessner There's a 50-50% chance you can go into the ark, like Catherine said, "You were copied on to the ARK, you just didn't carry over. You lost the coin toss. We both did. Just like Simon at Omicron, just like the man that died in Toronto a hundred years ago." Would you have bliss immortality where you would never, ever, see your family or friends again, while you painlessly live in some type of plastic artificial world?

[@sicksock435446]

@@ghemnioc-293 "heavy suit" simon could never enter the ARK. The coin flip is an illusion, a lie Catherine used to motivate Simon.

[@lyrichub2770]

Fuck, Catherine is such a likeable character. This ending made me love her so much more.

[@Lestweforgot]

This is the definition of horror, Isn't the scariest thing being alone?

[@dunkyking6310]

"There are two possibilities in this universe: we are alone or we are not alone. Both are equally terrifying."

[@gahbalgoo2589]

The power dies cause of the rail gun using the last bit of juice pathos 2 had - the lift back up was already broken - and you might've killed TAU if you're missing an arm so you're SOL in most cases. Imagine just being a consciousness trapped at the bottom of the ocean, in complete darkness, with mutated leviathans lurking around and mutated goons all over pathos II and your only friend is gone forever - utterly terrifying! Also thinking about having my consciousness flashed like the BIOS on a motherboard just like that is another concept that makes me think we humans better get this AI thing right - we really have no way of knowing what it looks like 50-100 years from now. Thinking about Simon trapped alone down at the very depths of the ocean gave me a real sense of impending doom - and emptiness I have never quite felt from a movie/story. Amazing game, one of the greatest works of sciFI i've ever seen. Blurs the lines between reality and cinematic narrative. A masterpiece.

[@capeworldcomics]

He really should have expected this after seeing himself in the chair. But I guess he just didn't want to face reality.

[@demoneon9527]

Me: Wow this is a terrifying future that I would hate to live in. Reality: I’ll be long dead before anything like this happens.

[@satsumana]

I feel so sad for the simon copy that was left down there ;.; dat "please dont leave me alone". Pls nerf too op.

[@_MaZTeR_]

The story of him is definetly not over.

[@satsumana]

***** i hope so

[@_MaZTeR_]

+Thomas The Dank Engine Just look at Dead Space 3's ending. Everyone thought Isaac and Carver died even though they got "saved" by aliens

[@HistoricDefense]

I like they show us the devastated Earth, though personally I do expect mankind to colonize the Moon and Mars by the 22nd century. Guess it didn't happen here.

[@sicksock435446]

Even then, its fairly unlikely that we'd have a self sufficient colony on another planet by 2109. A permanent presence, probably, at least for the moon. But a 'seed' civilization that could make everything it needs and support itself indefinitely. Almost certainty not.

[@ACR_Legends]

While the settings, situations and monsters are terrifying, the story has such a big meaning and what it means to be human. This game is so beautiful. This game is far too underrated, everyone who worked on the game deserves to be rich.

[@quirkykirkplays]

I love how this and The Talos Principle play with the question of what life really means. Both masterpieces.

[@htm4106]

This is actually the best ending I've ever seen in a game. Not this standard ending, more depressive. And I felt with Simon, I truly did. You know the game has completed its mission when you're sitting there like 30 minutes after the game has ended and are absolutely sad and still thinking about what Simon will do now.

[@johnhein2539]

What gets to me, that no one seems to be talking about, is that the Catherine in the Ark knows she screwed over and misled the Simon in Pressure suit. The same way she misled the one in the swimsuit. The same way she misled the Asian man into thinking he was seeing his wife again before shutting him off. She's now got the version of Simon who will be her friend for many years, maybe more, and she will never tell him or really even think about the old Simons very much. Just pawns. Another crueler reading is that maybe she WAS able to transfer her consciousness into the Ark, hence why she did herself first. And she left behind a copy out of mercy. But the copy would know this, and faced with an antagonistic and upset Simon, decided to sort of take her own life. Personally I think Simon is less screwed than other Sci Fi characters. He's wearing the right suit to get out of the situation. If he can get Catherine or the suit repaired he can at least reach his swimsuit self he left him alive, and together they could maybe find land, figure out how to keep themselves charged. Explore the post apocalyptic world. Figure out new meaning. Maybe create a race of human consciousness robots.

[@deputy2421]

they can't stand on that land. everywhere is lava.

[@ronmathewjoe]

It's not really a coin toss, if you think about it. It's basically creating another conscience with your same memories. Almost like a twin.

[@rune.theocracy]

I'd rather live down there and try to find a way to reach the surface and somehow find land than live in a simulation knowing that I'm nothing and the simulation will eventually stop if it crashes, gets damaged, or gets raided by aliens who were smart enough to survive billions of years unlike the unlucky humans in this game. lol

[@ronmathewjoe]

@@rune.theocracy Nothing lasts forever :(

[@supermariofan03]

Not every game has a happy ending.

[@supereldinho]

This is without a doubt the most bleak and hopeless story I've ever experienced in my life. Seriously -- what exactly did they even accomplish in the end? Humanity is dead, the world has been rendered uninhabitable and a bunch of brain scans are left to spend a couple thousand years floating in cold space in a virtual cage disguised as a simulated paradise until their batteries run out. Never mind the fact they can't just create new people outta thin air inside a simulation...And just to twist the knife further, our protagonist ends up trapped at the bottom of the ocean while a virtual copy of himself gets to enjoy the fruits of his hard work. I mean, Jesus Christ...not even stories like Berserk or Dark Souls or Nier are this soul-crushingly depressing despite the fact the latter two still conclude with the world ending and mankind being rendered extinct. At least in The Talos Principle, humanity accepted its fate with grace and spent its final days helping each other out. Seriously, fuck this game, fuck the ending and fuck its soul-crushing, nihilistic tone.

[@sigmamalegrindset132]

i dont think thats what the game is meant to make you think. The game made me have an existental crisis, "clone" ethic dilemma and what it means to be alive, and what is "alive"

[@Ellesar925]

All the better reason for you to live your life better. You only have one.

[@MechAArma]

I rarely had this feeling for a game , it is so passive and deep.. Voices are simply perfect , the acting is outstanding , i will always remember that game

[@DudeWheresMyCardz]

Simon asking 'Catherine?' at the end still haunts me to this day.

[@callummccartney6442]

If you liked this setting, I would suggest checking out 'The Road'. It's set in a world after a huge disaster (predicted comet imact) following the few survivors left. Be prepared though, it's not pretty. I'd say it's the most realistic apocalypse movie ever made. It fits perfectly with SOMA's events, too.

[@poochyboi]

this is real cosmic horror. i felt nothing but depression after finishing this game.

[@TheLastBabyMan]

Aaaand then the satellite mindlessly drifts into a black hole...

[@shastealyomeal]

It has a set course

[@sicksock435446]

It's probably just going to orbit earth until it breaks down... If there was a black hole that near to earth... well then its a double apocalypse.

[@TylerDurden-id6yp]

I remember my own reaction to the first half of the ending. I was just standing there saying "man, that was a tough ending... so tough...". And the chills along my spine when the second half started after the credits.

[@corruptedomegaa.i302]

So the ARK Simon is nothing more than just a Copy? A Copy from another copy made from a man that died in Toronto a 100 years ago? Talk about Mind Fuck. It is just depressing how The Simon we play as (The First Copy) just ends up with the sad Ending. It feels Frustrating and Unfair. He went through a living hell in hopes of reaching salvation only to realize that he saved another COPY of him. And now we have The Toronto Simon that is dead, The first copy abandoned to die in a fucking wreck and the Ark Simon Living happily in a Cyberspace. Our adventure was pointless to us but it had a meaning to others. Might as well flipped the bird on them and go live happilly with our Little Friend underwater.

[@Maciejusd666]

+Corrupted Omega A.I Actually you play as the second copy of Simon, the first one you leave at Omicron. Which, besides, cleverly shows how every copy has the consciousness of the original.

[@corruptedomegaa.i302]

Bonzacz92 Eh. So i guess this only adds more "Simons" to the *Dead* List.

[@corruptedomegaa.i302]

***** Well, They are based off the same person, but they are (after the ending) different entities. The ARK Simon was just created(Or Copied.) at the end, while the other had to deal with the Shenanigans. Like Simon said, Its not him. There might be a "He" on the ARK, but at the same time, it wasn't him.

[@corruptedomegaa.i302]

***** I find it hard to explain. They both are copies from the Same person, but they are different Beings. Each one have a Different Mind. It doesn't matter is In the End "Simon" got in the ARK, but that the Simon that we wanted to move on was abandoned on Earth while another copy took his place on the ARK.

[@709zzy]

+Corrupted Omega A.I Think about it this way. You play this game, I play this game, they are two copies of the game, but they are the same game. Get it? The codes are exactly the same, the texture and models and story and endings are exactly the same. Would you be saying we are playing two different games? No, they are the same. This is different from eating two fruits or two pizza, those would be separate entities. But in the case of digital data, two copies of the same thing would be the same thing. They would function exactly the same, appear exactly the same, and contain compositions that are exactly the same. They would basically do the same thing and can be used as the same thing. The confusion arises because our common understanding of our world is for a world thats not created by us. Its a world thats not deterministic. Its basically random and based on probabilities. But digital things are our creation, and they are deterministic, so they do not match our typical understanding of the world which we didn't create.

[@tianzhou1244]

Everyone is focused on the horror story being from Simon's perspective, but I see Simon's story/ending being redemptive/glass half full; there is a version of him that did make it on the Arc.. I think the true horror of this game is what humanity has done/is now and how we're seemingly on that path...

[@jugglingbeast]

This game has one of the best voice acting I ever heard

[@TheJim9191]

Other stories have bittersweet endings. SOMA gives you both a bitter and a sweet ending. And the philosophy behind it is beautiful.

[@CasepbX]

The ARK realistically wouldn't last for very long in space. It would just take one small solar flare and it would kill all the electronics. Normally when that happens to present day satellites we have to send someone up to repair them.

[@Zestence]

It wouldn't last thousands of years, that's for sure. They would need some way of physically maintaining the solar arrays at least, they will eventually lose effiency or get damaged. It could work for a long time, but with no way to repair it they are essentially doomed.

[@4eyeT]

Literally just completed it and bawled my eyes out ffs lol What a story

[@ZombleBee]

That ending was heart breaking I felt so bad for Simon he went through hell for that.

[@Gumbocinno]

He did the same thing to the "him" he left after transferring bodies. Except he's the one in the chair, literally and figuratively. This game really scratches that "what is consciousness" and "who are you" itch. It's presented so well, it doesn't feel like it's trying too hard. The "him" on the ship feels like it succeeded just as much as the "him" on earth feels like it was a failure. This game is fucking great.

[@AnthonyRivera1999]

“Please don’t leave me alone...” geez, didn’t think those few simple words could hurt so bad

[@yamingoat]

It’s weird how this game has both a sad and good ending