Just caught up on all the craziness in this thread (Curse you Simogo for keeping me up with your amazing game!). Here's my viewpoint that I'm typin at 2am so I won't get too complex: Spoiler After reading the "you've seen everytthing" comment from Simogo, I truly think the second ending was the big thing that they were hinting at. As for why they would go through the trouble of creating phony-bologna sites, I think they may lead to smaller treats that may contain some interesting material just for the hardcore Year Walk players. Alright, I'm done here. Goodnight!
Spoiler In an email after Pocketgamer asked them if there was a third ending, Simogo replied saying basically "you've seen everything" but that you had to think from here on out.
Hhhmm what I'm interested in is the story of Spoiler Romedal..Is he the cousin of stina that year-walked before Daniel??Another strange thing I observed is the date of the entry on theo's journal,which is October 10...3-10, coincidence ??? Another strange statement: Spoiler why would stina classify Daniel as a person from a different world??Surely it's not about a class difference since stina is a miller's daughter Third: Spoiler are we sure it was Daniel who killed her??as I replayed the walk again,she was already lying on the ground and dying when you'll encounter her
Guys, I am pretty sure the image on almsten.se does not contain morse code. If you look at other examples of ASCII art created by an art generator, they use those smaller symbols as shading. Here and here are examples. The symbols along on the outside of the goat are just the computer's way of shading the image. So I came across this website: http://danielsvensson.se It's probably not related, but it is really weird. It seems to be a graphic designer and it plays this weird video that kind of makes no sense but has an e-mail address and phone number it the end. Kinda seems like something Simogo might put together. There is no information on Whois about the owner of the site. I don't know guys. Just watch the video and let me know what you think. Edit: Ok, the e-mail address appears to be real. Here is a post from Daniel Svensson back in 2007. The video is really weird though with a catchy tune so if anything, you can watch and laugh at what this game has led us to uncover. I am starting to believe that the second ending is their "secret ending" and the two sites are just to help enhance the mystery of the game but that there is no additional "third ending" or meta game. We're all simply just wanting to believe it. It's starting to drive me a little nuts so I am going to try to take a break and until a solid clue comes about.
E.S The companion entry on the 17th of August has an images of two books. One is written by Ebbe Schön, an author of the book "Folktrons År" (about local swedish mythology). http://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebbe_Schön http://libris.kb.se/bib/7236389 I presume this is the person referred to as E.S.
@ crex: Yes, we've seen everything. That could mean that they put everything in front of our eyes. They are basically saying that we saw all they have to offer, including the webites and stuff. They also say that now we only have to think. This should mean that they expect us to put everything together. @ Alister: I also wondered about Romedal. But Google reveals nothing. Translation means nothing. Spelled backwards: nothing. Anagram: nothing. And yes, that's true - at first ending, Stina was already laying on the ground, bleeding to death. I don't remember that Daniel had a knife at that time. I doubt that he has killed her. Maybe she ended her relationship with Lukas. Lukas followed and killed her. Then Daniel found Stina.
Nice find! Your conclusion is highly likely. And a person with the mythical knowledge of Ebbe Schön would know about the dangers of Year Walking. Ebbe Schön, born 1929-12-13. Tried the birthday in various combinations on the keypad, nothing. This is a list of books with the year of release from him: Göm Bibliography Jan Fridegård and antiquity (PhD) (1973) Jan Fridegård (1978) Christmas in the old days (1980) Folklore in Bohuslän (1983) Fairies, goblins and other creatures (1986) Magic Gold (1986) Karolinens Boy (1988) People of Faith year (1989) Roddarpojken (1990) Witches and sorcery (1991) Tramp-Ola's rhymes (1991) Kings, wars and disasters (1993) Älskogens Magic (1996) Our Swedish Santa Claus (1996) Troll (1997) Mermaids, stonemasons and gnistapor (1997) Swedish folklore AZ (1998) Swedish traditions (1998) Trolls and humans (1999) Dragons and goblins snakes (1999) The dead return (2000) Elves, trolls and talking trees (2000) Folklore from the past (2001) Guises at dusk (2001) Folklore about fate and luck (2002) Silver Barrel (2002) The Magic Chest (2003) Asa-Thor's Hammer (2004) People of Faith ABC (2004) Kings, wars and disasters (new expanded edition) (2005) Our Swedish elf (new expanded edition) (2006) Folklore on summer pasture (2006) Giant in Brofjäll (2007) Swedish legends (2008) Witchcraft and love tricks (2008) Fate and fortune (new edition of Folklore about fate and luck) (2009) Erotic beings (2010) Kings, wars and disasters (new expanded edition) (2011) Footprints on the red granite (2012) Also involved Ebbe Schön in numerous anthologies , newspapers, magazines and yearbooks, as he has on a few occasions been the editor of the magazine Fataburen. A lot of books about folklore. And I am deep into this topic right now. Should read some Swedish folklore books.
Holy mother truck. This game. At night. In the dark. With Clark.. Or not. Holy crap on a cracker this is creepy. And I thought I was desensitized to creepy. Nope. If I stopped playing the gsme now, after the Spoiler ladder , the fact that this game has given me shivers multiple multiple multiple times makes it worth the price of admission. I'm seriously still feeling the game in my spine. I can't wait to see what dreams I'll have tonight =\ BUY. THIS. GAME.
In response to a guy tweeting that he finished Year Walk, Simon replied with this tweet: Which implies there are only two endings. The guy had yet to go through the companion app.
Possibly a controversial opinion here: I'm not convinced that Simogo lived up to their promises with Year Walk, and I felt that way when I reached the second ending after considering all the speculation to that point. Hear me out: I don't deny that the game looks and sound gorgeous and is beautifully produced, or that it's worth the money for the experience. That's beyond question for me. There's a lot of love gone into it, especially in the extended companion. I have two issues with it though. The first is with the idea of a 'big surprise' for anyone who finds 'all' the secrets. I can only assume that meant the compendium code plus the second ending, and you're given the first upon completion. The second is hardly a secret after you've read it. Unless there's something else in there that none of us have found, it seems to have been oversold on the idea of lots of hidden content. The second is demonstrated by this thread. It doesn't seem possible to be clear about what actually happened, and there are a couple of gaps that look like they could only be explained by things that are never mentioned. Speculation and chat is great, as long as it leads to something; however if you're playing this on your own with no opportunity to discuss it, you'll be even more confused by the second ending. It's like they had a story in mind and wanted everyone to reach the same conclusion, but failed to do so conclusively. The 'you've seen everything, now think' statement sums that up for me. I'm not knocking the game as it was a great experience (if a short one - far shorter than the devs suggested, even after reading the compendium) but I think it feels unresolved and that weakens the impact for me.
Is there a connection between Almsten's log entry from Oct., 1st and this: http://vedtorp.se/nyheter/20111216.htm ? Hey, look! Oct., 7th - it is the Author Ebbe Schön! The name "Ebbe" is written down here. There's also a person named Asp mentioned. Prof Asp is also mentioned Aug, 29th. Nov, 14th... on the drawing in the corner, it mentions Vedtorp and: Library Box: 1 800-ish?
They're copied from the Grim stone, the outer two of four. Somebody pointed out to me that puzzle had been solved, and it doesn't add anything to the plot.
I wasn't confused. Seemed pretty clear to me. Spoiler You play as first guy. He does his thing, sees his future. Shocking and disturbing. Continue with investigation with second guy, he gets deeper, likely obsessed. Gets pulled into the arc after certain discoveries, decides to try and make a difference, and succeeds. Very sad ending, but an ending nonetheless. I was left with closure, and no questions. Well, look, there are always questions, but the best stories are the ones that leave you asking questions that can't be answered, because its up to you're own interpretation. This isn't a crime mystery, its a fictional story. There's no right answer unless the author decides to expose it or write it in with an update or sequel. And that's ok, because it's about the experience. And all the discussion here just means the author did his job really well. Sucked us all in for a wild ride so well, we can't accept its over when its over.
