The metal door in the Refuge holds the key to a third ending
There is a door in the Refuge which is inaccessible to the player. On the first runthrough, it's inert and there's a series of unpowered Nixie tubes above it, but Niko's response is only that the door is locked. However, during NG+, the door is powered with an orange glow - a color that's shared only with the Sun and the Yellow Phosphor items. Additionally, the Nixie tubes are powered, displaying a real-time countdown that will end on March 20, 2017 (the timer isn't fooled by changing the system clock and is likely tied to a game patch). Elsewhere in NG+, other hints of another solution to the game exist:- In the txt file where the gas mask code is found changes content, with a message from The Author
- In Refuge, Rue will ask you whether you've found "the others," and tell you that the time isn't right if you haven't
- Niko will have visions at three points: the mine, the flooded tunnel, and the back alley; all of them include yellow light
- Well it's after March 20, 2017. Anyone figured this out yet?
- Confirmed, as of March 26 and the accompanying Solstice update. The door can be opened once the countdown reaches zero, the other areas and characters hinted at by the visions can be visited, and a new ending can be obtained.
The Entity is Whiteface from Imscared
An entity messing with an otherwise normal game to make it more interesting? Maybe Whiteface has stopped his haunting ways. Or a variation of him.- Jossed as of the Solstice update.
The Go Home ending implies Niko decides to try to find you to adopt them...
The fact the house Niko first appears in is empty, plus how Niko only seems to have memories of their mother suggests she might be Dead All Along. The major interactions Niko has are with The Entity and yourself. Now, where does Niko head when he goes home? On to the desktop of your computer!- Niko's conversation with Ling in the cafe works against this theory, as they mention how much they want to go home to see their mother.
Niko is from the original world, only after population has been rebuilt in a distant future.
Niko may be from some kind of an After the End world, and the World Machine could have brought them back into the past, in order for them to fulfill the prophecy.- According to Cedric's story about Proto's predictions in the solstice run, the messiah designated to save the world would not have even been born before the world ended.
- Niko's eyes glowing like the sun lets Alula guess that they are the messiah, even without the sun. However, according to Niko, that's how people's eyes look like back in their hometown.
The original world died to lack of sunlight. Either through a volcanic or nuclear winter.
- One of the Trio in the Solstice admits that the story line has been streamlined from the original world. One of the few scenarios where there's a lack of sunlight, but life continues on is with significant cloud cover. The sunlight is gone, and the world gradually becomes colder and colder until it freezes.
