First, let me say I absolutely adored this game- the rich, layered world, the meaty story, and Ben Chandler's ever-more-gorgeous art rocketed to this into my top five before I was even halfway through. This is a fantastic piece of work on every level.
Of course, it's that very fantasticity that makes me want to keep thinking about it, and in doing so I came across a few interesting discrepancies. I haven't gone through the commentary or even all the alternate endings so maybe these things are already answered, but I had fun thinking about them, and maybe you will too.
Mysteries of the Mandala * Why was Galatea trying to blow up Latha? Without Latha to connect all the stolen minds to Central, all her plotting has been for nothing. (It doesn't seem possible that Kriesel, even ridden by Baxter, is acting on his own- he's talking about the plan with Galatea even as it happens).
* For that matter (though this is more nitpicky than mysterious) Galatea seems pretty cavalier about handling Latha. If the mindjacker fails to capture, say, Baxter, presumably they can always find another science-mind to fill his place, but Latha is unique and irreplaceable. Yet they wait until the very last minute to secure her, and then take a most circuitous route, considering that Galatea has people inside CEL, eyes and ears everywhere, and her own adaptive-camo Crisis Team for 'dynamic exfiltrations'.
* I wonder why they abandoned Latha to city care in the first place? Even if Vargas didn't want her, Dr. Jeong seems to have continued research along the same lines, and would have been happy to have her as a resource.
Mysteries of Mind and Magnet *Regis rules out Stepford and his boys for the restaurant bombing because the magnetic field in the kitchen shuts-down synths, and the waiter was killed in the kitchen. But surely it was the Bio-bomber who killed the waiter and took his clothes. Councilman Deane may have been a bit of a rotter, but I don't see him murdering a civilian face-to-face, stripping him naked, and tossing the body on a hook.
*(Nitpicky) The timing of this is interesting. Presumably Deane has to open the vent after the restaurant is open, but how did the poorly-coordinated biobomber manage to kill and replace the only waiter in the joint without the chef noticing? If Deane got in before the restaurant opened, (knowing, perhaps, that the waiter comes in early to get everything ready for the chef), then he wouldn't need to open the vent, he could just let the biobomber in the same way.
*(Musing) It's still odd the chef didn't notice his boy had been replaced. I wonder if the original waiter was actually another clone out of Texas, who managed to escape his overlords, throw off his conditioning, and start anew on the far side of the world, only to be slain by a virtual twin from the life he left behind.
Mysteries of Murder Investigation *I was surprised that, after the leaving the scene, Regis has the murderbot,
still dripping blood, just hanging out in his office. But this was nothing next to realizing that he'd dropped a bunch of crime scene evidence into his desk drawer,
including Giels severed hand! I realize he's been hardened by years on the force, but yeesh. No wonder people think he's capable of murder. (By the by, can you use the hand for anything here? I tried to swap it out with biobomber corpse, but always ended up with the femur).
*Not a nit, but the detectives are pretty clever to have worked out that Giels was dosed with a hallucinogen. After all, they can't see his memories, and Chanelle clearly doesn't understand what's happening.
*Also not a nit but the conspiracy does get pretty lucky with Giels' murder. While the man himself would probably die of heart attack or aneurysm even without the synthoid disemboweling, its sheer luck that his husband, who also knew about the blackmail plot, is fatally wounded as well.
Mysteries of Mindjackery *It seems Galatea opted for the more murdery variation of mindjacking to keep her plans secret, but I wonder if she tried volunteers first. I bet there are a number of people who'd leap at the chance to upload their minds into an immortal city-god.
*A shame Baxter didn't have more faith in himself. He kills Viksha because he thinks the failure of the project will make him unhirable, but even as a murderer with training that's two decades out of date, Vickerman goes to considerable trouble to acquire his services, and many people still consider him to be the very brightest mind in the field.
Mysteries of My Not Having Paid Close Enough Attention *My own fault here- I cussed out Jinsel for her betrayal when she appeared in the tower, and she disappeared forever, so I never found out what her deal was. Was her movement just a puppet of Jeong's conspiracy, or were they simply dupes, or independent actors?
*I've heard internet rumors of a scene where Regis finds a girl trying to hang herself on Viksha's tree, and her portrait seems to show up in the concept art, but this scene didn't show up in my playthrough. Anyone know how to trigger it?
Anyway, that's what's has been on my mind for the past day. I'd love to hear what you think.
