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Examples Of Focalization In The True Ending

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To elaborate further, the game makes use of multiple techniques to emphasize this bond and how crucial it is to the narrative. Perhaps one of the clearest examples of this occurs in how the story is focalized. Focalization is the specific point of view of the narrator and ties in their knowledge of the characters and events: “It refers specifically to the lens through which we see characters and events in the narrative” (Abbott 73). At first, the game appears to have a third-person narrator who is emotionally distant from the events of the story. After all, they express no grief or fear if another player is killed. In the end, however, it is revealed that the narrator is actually Akane describing the events she sees through Junpei’s eyes. In the True Ending, Junpei wonders how he could have possibly known about the password to open the coffin or Ace’s true identity since those facts are only presented to the player in alternate routes. While Junpei is left bewildered by the source of the information, the narration …show more content…

The dialogue, as well as Junpei’s thoughts, are all shown on the top screen of the DS. Akane’s narration is given on the bottom screen. In other words, the top screen can be considered the present, and the bottom screen can be considered the past. Therefore, when Akane narrates events that occur in the first Nonary Game, they appear on the bottom screen, while the top screen is blacked out. In the True Ending, this concept is pushed even further. Once they are both in the incinerator, Junpei and Akane are able to directly communicate with one another— Junpei calls out to her, and Akane responds on the bottom screen. In the final puzzle, the player is required to turn the DS upside down so that Akane is shown on the top screen and Junpei, solving the puzzle, is on the bottom. From a narrative perspective, this represents how the perspective switches to Junpei’s for the first and only

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