Cave Story and the Perils of Becoming Human

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A fun bit of lore regarding the flowers, in game, one of the mimiga talks about how king and iirc arthur both took red flowers, but they boiled the petals in a tea so they could get the buffs without the downsides. It's also why king has those red eyes, and why arthur had the flowers in his home.

The logic behind booster surviving the pit, is that since you don't come down, he doesn't give up As we see with Momorin, the booster works as a tool for working with machinery. When he sees you fall in the pit, he knows it's either him or you, but he knows only you can beat the doctor, so he stops fighting, mostly for Sue's sake. If you don't fall down there, he realizes he can't just give up and gets working on the teleporter, eventually producing the booster 2.0 What doesn't make sense is that he just passes away on the spot, but it may just be symbolic or he doesn't actually die in the moment. idk that part is weird, someone should ask Pixel

"Rabbits are universally recognized as timid, harmless creatures" Someone's never seen Monty Python & The Holy Grail

I feel like the things the player does in order to get the best ending is can be tied into the name of the final area. The “Blood Stained Sanctuary” can be taken in the sense of “I have to do what I have to do even if it means doing some wrongs” which is why you kill the mushroom of ignore Prof. Booster. It’s like a neutral run in undertale, sans says you killed out of self defense or “because you did what you needed to do” Basically, by doing the “right thing” you need to hurt or even ignore a few people

Making the player leave Professor Booster behind is genuinely odd; the implication that you going down to offer him a hand only extinguishes his will to live is genuinely ridiculous; But I like your interpretation of the Bad and Good ending being the 'human' endings since they are very human focused, whereas the Best ending is the Robot ending, where you as the player make calls that would normally not occur to a human brain and act very pragmatically, saving your counterpart and working with her to finish the job you were programmed to do. You, Curly and Balrog, three evidently robotic beings who were just programmed to do specific tasks, have all finished their work forever. They celebrate their success and form their own community, proud with the work they've done, now being beholden to no-one. I don't know if Pixel intended for this interpretation to be what the player takes away, but at the very least I enjoy that the Best ending pulls focus away from the side characters and puts the spotlight on you, Quote, and the people relevant to him.

Even Misery's actions play into the brutality of war. the whole reason why the demon crown exist is because she went up to the island and asked Ballos to make it for her

I never put the idea of the robotic bosses being unnatural in my head. Good point you raised there.

Honestly, there's an easy way to explain why abandoning Booster is the better choice but it requires you think outside the box a little. The moment you go down and talk to him, once he's finished explaining, he immediately dies off. However, if you run right past him, he doesn't die. Realistically it's safe to assume that if left alone, he focuses on his own life and fixes himself up before his condition worsens to the point where he poofs into smoke. On the other hand, if you do try and help the same way as before, he wastes his precious second wind explaining information that in the end, is meaningless since regardless of if you know of the core or not, you're forced to confront it. To me this communicates that, sometimes the best way to help another is to let that person fix the issue themselves. No person can help with every situation they see, and sometimes it's better they don't, lest they worsen the situation instead.

Fun fact, the little red mark in the Professor Booster room marks where you are supposed to jump to get over the gap!

I read somewhere that King cooks the red flowers to mute the rabid effects; hence why he has red eyes and is able to stand toe to toe with Balrog. I like the idea that he learned from Authurs mistake of simply becoming powerful by sacrificing some of that power to retain his humanity. Yet, his fate is still sealed. It could be inferred that Aurthur also cooked the flowers, but i much prefer your interpretation of the events. The idea that he's willing to use a source of war to protect the village is quite interesting to me. Theres a dialogue dump from Jack that describes how he defeated the Last Cave's Red Ogre; perhaps he wasnt under the influence there, but... overcome with responsibility and titles of heroism, decided to protect at an ultimate cost.

Come to think of it the themes of the story found here aren't all surprising given Ikachan's commentary and parody over oppressive leadership structures. Kero Blaster also had interesting themes regarding the importance of empathy vs work, and the expression or bottling up of emotions. Daisuke Amaya is one of my favorite artists ever and I can't wait for him to put out another masterwork.

Loved this video, I hadn't even realized the Animals being mechanized to become the bosses, never noticed the eyes on the blocks hinting to Ballos, never understood why Curly was there at the start of the sanctuary until now, thank you for putting effort into this, you're perspective is no one I've seen before and really changed how I see My favorite game of all time.

The thing with the nuclear bomb analogy is that, with many Japanese pieces of media, there is often a slight or overt reference to it. Like Godzilla and Mega Man (Doctor Albert Wily is named after Albert Einstein)

One detail you might've missed about King is that his eyes are always pink in game. Daisuke hinted in a FAQ answer that this was because King consumed red flowers too, but instead of eating them raw and whole, he made and consumed a boiled infusion of red flowers. I know, others have pointed it out... Otherwise, that's a neat video essay!

One thing you mention is how "...all the natural inhabitants of the island would be floating peacefully and safely in the sky." But that doesn't really stack up with the Gaudi. The beetle people. One of which even expresses a desire to eat Mimiga flesh. There's also the fact that Arthur had to be a hero to begin with. If everything is peaceful, then why would one need a hero?

So, theme wise, I think there is a big theme of "loss of childhood innocence / journey to adulthood" for quote, and the player, and the game uses video game tropes, and subversions of those tropes, to hammer that point home really hard. The beginning of the game features quote, and the player, entering a cave with relative quiet, as you are trying to figure out basic movements, how to shoot, etc, with relatively little hand holding. Mostly mechanical exploration, and exploration. Kinda like how babies are when they first enter the world. And sure, you stole a gun from a guy, but like, you don't know who he is, whether he's a good guy or bad guy, how much he needs that gun, etc. It lacks much moral impact, because you don't have the knowledge or context to understand how much it is right or wrong. Kinda like *babies*. Hmmmmmm. And you know what music track is playing while this takes place? "GESTATION". BOOM. MIC DROP. This is similar to how we start in life, but it's also how quote is without any memory. In taking his first steps around the world, without his memory, his development, and mental maturity, makes him basically a super powered human baby. And the game uses video game mechanics to get you into that frame of mind. So anyways, after this, you are dropped into mimiga town. You have people talking about all of this stuff, which is ominous if you really think about it, but you probably won't really think about it too hard, because you're too busy exploring this interesting bright world, jamming out to this utterly happy music. Kinda like children. What talk you hear about their problems, you probably assume is solvable / fixable with a little elbow grease, because all of the problems you've encountered so far have been pretty solvable with some elbow grease, like children tend to think. And the game gets you into the "child like" frame of mind really hard, with the cheery upbeat music, bright color palette, cute character designs, fun to explore world, interesting quirky characters. The game even uses low bit graphics / soundtrack, old school gameplay, a "princess being kidnapped", a fetch quest in the form of bringing the jelly back and forth, all to evoke the mentality of your happier childhood years, in order to bring you into this frame of mind. This mostly continues further into the game until the end of the sand level. At that point, the local parental figure, who you probably assumed was in control and had things figured out, shows themselves to be relatively powerless, and freakin *dies*. Similar how, as we grow up, our parents are shown, at some point, to not be all they're cracked up to be, and there is a scary outside world outside of their control. What's more, Tokoro, the icon of innocence, and reminiscent of your video game princess, also gets CORRUPTED AND DIES. Up until now, this has been one of, if not your primary, video game objective. And the history of video game tropes, along with the history with the game to this point, are all telling you that this should *not happen*, making it all the more horrific. This is a big "end of childhood" moment for Quote, and the player. You, and your parent / hero figures, aren't as powerful as you thought they were. The outside world is way more dangerous than you thought it was. There are scenarios where you will fail in a way that utterly cannot be fixed; where the tools you learned as a child hood (aka video game logic) do not get you what you want. Even if those things are really important. In fact, there are some scenarios where, no matter what you try and do, you're going to not get what you want. Life may not always have a clear purpose to direct you on where to go next. So overall? Life after childhood freakin sucks sometimes. The themes encapsulated here get hammered home again and again repeatedly later on in the game, using the gameplay to hammer these themes home. After this encounter, you don't get to murder the doctor hardcore (aka the video game logic, childhood logic, solution). Instead, the game teleports you to a labyrinth, where people in there are talking about the futility of trying to get out of the hole, and dead corpses are lying about you. And you're just left there, to STEW in your thoughts. Not much satisfying revenge going on here. Your sense of lost purpose, guilt, powerlessness, and lack of ability to fix / redeem things, is brought to an emotional peak, with the mimiga town and the egg corridor revisiting. You enter mimiga town, it's an empty shell of what it once was. All of the other people you thought you could save are missing, maybe even dead. The egg corridor is a bloody mess. You cannot go back to the areas symbolic of childhood innocence. And you barely have any idea of where to go anymore. You're meandering, searching for a hope or solution, when there are very little outward indications that such a thing even exists. And here, when quote / the player is at their lowest point, they are faced with a difficult choice. Either assume that the setbacks they've encountered so far will continue happening, that the things that they cherished from their childhood are forever unachievable, and give up on them. Choosing to scrape together what meager satisfaction they can obtain from their own safety / survival. This might parallel the cynical folks in life, who disregard the values / ideals they learned in childhood, in favor of looking out for themselves. Or: press on anyway, against all odds. Maybe, just like you didn't have the full picture in childhood, you don't have the full picture now. Maybe something will change, in order to make things not as hopeless as they seem. Maybe you've decided that your purpose in life, and those things you learned to appreciate in childhood, are so valuable, that you would be willing to die even for the chance of a chance at obtaining them. This might be representing the people who transcend themselves, and are willing to sacrifice everything for a greater cause. Up to this point, continuing to play the game was kind of a given. This is the first time the game is really giving you a choice in deciding how you are going to deal with the setbacks you've encountered as a result of your loss of childhood innocence. So it makes your choice much more impactful. The game might be saying that struggling with choices as heavy and impactful as this are hallmarks of being an adult. Along with taking responsibility for the outcomes that those choices result in. Or perhaps the game is saying that you only really get to make the choice to transcend yourself once you reach adulthood, and you have to make those kinds of decisions for yourself. And after you make this choice, you scale the wall with the oh so excellent song "moonsong" playing. And not much dialouge. Just lots of time for the player to contemplate what's happened, and what he is choosing to do. Considering the game is longer, more satisfying, and quote achieves more, from choosing to go on, it is clear that the author has a side on which of the two approaches to dealing with the "loss of childhood innocence" is the better one. After this, things start taking a turn for the better. The player is able to save some of what he valued in childhood, but he can't recoup what was lost. The player is just forced to make the best of this new reality, which isn't as bright as he thought, but it's not all doom and gloom, as kazuma lead you to believe either. In so doing, the game might be saying that adult hood is a mixed bag, of both good, and bad. And the author might also be saying that, while you can't make life as good as you thought it was as a kid, you can still achieve some truly exceptional things. But only if you are willing to hold onto what you value, and sacrifice yourself if need be. I still don't have a super good interpretation on the best ending. My initial interpretation of the best end was just to give the players an option to escape all of the gloomy talk about the death of childhood innocence, if they wanted to. That stuff is pretty heavy and disheartening to think about, so if people wanted, the creator gave them a totally unintuitive way to reclaim much of what was lost during the game, and not need to wrestle with the sad thoughts of the game quite as much. But eh, that interpretation isn't especially robust, considering toroko and king still die. Seems weird to give players only half of an escape. My lack of satisfying "best end" interpretation does shoot some holes in my theory. But I still think there's some decently good evidence for it overall, considering the "gestation" thing, the innocent mimigas getting corrupted, the initial innocent areas you started getting all messed up, and giving the player a whole lot of dis empowerment, and meandering without a strong sense of purpose. Thank you for coming to my ted talk.

I played Cave Story in 2018 on the Switch. But I knew about the game long before thanks to YTPMVs and other media. Since then is became one of my all time favorites. I loved how it felt, the atmosphere and the characters. And for it all to be made by one guy is impressive especially in the early 2000’s. I have dedicated a lot of my time playing it. I even took the time to beat hell under 3 mins. I feel like it doesn’t represented and loved today, but I will hold it dear to me.

Leaving Booster does make sense. He is the inventor of the booster, by saving him and giving him an easy way out you take away his reason for living. The situation he is in gives him the final push to perfect the booster and get down and exit via the teleporter. Once you know his reason for living, his invention, it makes far more sense. It also plays into letting him be free to be who he wants to be and not forcing a fate on him, like Balrog and Misery.

This was a fantastic essay. You've earned yourself a subscriber.