1 review liked by Wingtwz
This review contains spoilers
the Hearthians are born into a world without choice. you are going down with the ship, so to speak, whether you want to or not. the base game toys with the idea that maybe you might be able to stop this, maybe you can evacuate everyone, maybe you can just fight and do.... Something, anything in the face of inevitable annihilation. slowly through exploration, you learn more and come to terms with your fate. pulling the warp core from the Ash Twin project is looking your own death in the face and choosing Yes, like a warm handshake of a deal for one last goodbye to all of your friends. you understand what Solanum has known for what must feel like an eternity. the Nomai were wrong: the Eye of the Universe was not malicious or cruel, it simply Is. and we Were.
in Echoes of the Eye, it reframes this question. who are we to deny the universe the privilege of hearing the siren's call of the Eye? how do you come to terms with your world's inevitable death when your species is what caused it? how do you cope with the fact that your people destroyed their only home in the stars in pursuit of an unknowable power, only to discover they were wrong about it from the beginning?
the answer is that you do this violently. you hide yourself from the public world. you destroy the evidence of what you've done. you imprison your own kind. you kill intruders. you enact this so that you can maintain the idea that things can go back to The Way They Were, despite the glaring cracks in the façade. it is these cracks that the player is able to exploit and push through, and eventually cause the dam to break.
only at the end of everything, after the waters have flooded and put out every fire keeping the Strangers alive, The Prisoner accompanying you to the Eye is able to see what their kind was so afraid of: Uncertainty.
how strange to meet obliteration this way... not alone by blowing out your own lantern in a prison cell, but surrounded by new strangers that care for you. i wish we had more time together. ah, oh well... until we meet again
in Echoes of the Eye, it reframes this question. who are we to deny the universe the privilege of hearing the siren's call of the Eye? how do you come to terms with your world's inevitable death when your species is what caused it? how do you cope with the fact that your people destroyed their only home in the stars in pursuit of an unknowable power, only to discover they were wrong about it from the beginning?
the answer is that you do this violently. you hide yourself from the public world. you destroy the evidence of what you've done. you imprison your own kind. you kill intruders. you enact this so that you can maintain the idea that things can go back to The Way They Were, despite the glaring cracks in the façade. it is these cracks that the player is able to exploit and push through, and eventually cause the dam to break.
only at the end of everything, after the waters have flooded and put out every fire keeping the Strangers alive, The Prisoner accompanying you to the Eye is able to see what their kind was so afraid of: Uncertainty.
how strange to meet obliteration this way... not alone by blowing out your own lantern in a prison cell, but surrounded by new strangers that care for you. i wish we had more time together. ah, oh well... until we meet again
