Finished the other day and WOW. Amazing game with an incredible story. I ended up choosing Maelle's ending first, then going back to do Verso's. They are both excellent and true to their character's personalities. Rather than debate between the endings like a lot have done already here, I'd rather just explore some parts and themes from each.
Maelle's Ending
Truly horrific and disturbing. Ultimately this is Alicia escaping from her reality, she so desperately wants to be Maelle - someone who doesn't need to feel guilty about their brother's death, someone not disfigured and who can speak, and in this world someone who can leave the confines of her home and have freedom to see the world. It's clear she never thought her family cared much for her, and so she prefers to be with her chosen family inside the canvas. To Maelle, Gustave was her true brother and father figures. Why wouldn't she choose this ending of control for once in her life? It makes perfect sense for her character.
But just like she rejected her own reality after the fire and Verso's death, Maelle rejects the gommage and the tragedy that happened within the canvas. At the end, we are supposed to see a happy image of people brought back to life. I loved the characters in the game and I am in the camp that they are real enough to be considered sentient and deserving of life. When you think back to Monoco's speech about Noco, you realize even if Maelle recreats them, they're not exactly the same. You can see this is all an illusion Maelle is desperately trying to justify, but the shots near the end tell you she knows she is lying to herself and indulging in escapism while still wasting away - and the saddest part is it's made clear she knows it too.
I feel especially bad for Renoir. The way he said "I'll leave the lights on for you" and left the canvas I thought he was lying, but it seems he was telling the truth despite knowing Alicia would not be coming back for a long time (if ever). It's like a parent with a bad drug addiction doing everything they can, praying for their child to make the right choice despite how many painful repeats.
Despite all of Verso's lies, he did not deserve this fate. I have Verso's panicked terror in his last moments scorched into my mind, "I don't want this life". Being brought back in Maelle's image, she thought she was doing something righteous, but look at Verso's face while playing that piano. He either remembers, or feels something is very wrong - it seems like he is suffering even if he doesn't fully know why. Not sure which is worse.
I'll post about Verso's ending later.
Verso's Ending
Tragic can't begin to describe Verso's ending. From the very beginning he was telling the party half-truths, and he continued right up until the end. Part of his motive is that he is helping save Maelle from a terrible fate wasting away in this fake reality, and he tells it to her. But at the same time, he is selfishly choosing to end his own existence (that he never wanted, and has suffered with for so long). I do think he cares for Maelle, and it's not clear whether he was painted that way or truly cares, but surely he is making this one choice to erase the canvas for himself. He is willing to sacrifice everything to escape, and maybe a bonus is helping Maelle avoid her doom here. His "I don't want this life" pleading from Maelle's ending further enforces this point. Maybe it helps him to believe that Maelle can simply paint a new existence, unlike himself who as a painted being can only be destroyed.
What's so terrible is that he believes Maelle's real life is a better fate, and acknowledges his hypocrisy in his decision. Whether or not his decision was decided for a noble cause, he is dooming Maelle to a different hell - one she clearly does not prefer, to be voiceless, disfigured, and alone in the real world. It also disrespects every other being in the painting, and the ultimate hypocrisy is that so many other painted beings, like Verso, wanted to continue to exist. Verso is doing a lot of decision making for others, despite he himself being a painted being. I'm not sure if it would have gone any differently, but Aline painted Verso specifically - suppose she was somehow ejected from the canvas in another way, it could have ended his miserable existence without destroying all life in the canvas. I go back and forth though, it's clear Verso's soul (and keeper of the canvas) wanted to stop painting, so it would have came to an end at some point anyway. Still, I understand why he did what he did.
The most interesting part of Verso's ending is how everyone else reacts, whether that's the somber acceptance of Esquie and Monoco, the empathy of Sciel, and Lune's mix of frustration and defeat. The rest of the Dessendres are shown at Verso's funeral making peace and amends with each other, which gives some hope as it seems like some of Verso's goal was achieved and the family is healing. Well, everyone except for Maelle. The real funeral for her is the loss of her entire chosen world. Her whole party is there, even painted Verso, and maybe most of all, Maelle herself.
Overall, I preferred the narrative of Verso's ending, but the more I think about them the more I see all the perspectives in favor of each. Truly masterful game and story - this one is going to be discussed for decades.
