u/Zlurbagedoen

Like the rave cave which i dont think has any additional story, or do you only go for the ones npc quests and such

When I first played, I didn't know you could come back if you went down, and I sat there debating with myself for, I kid you not, probably 20 minutes. Eventually, I decided to go down, since the peak seemed more and more like an obsession rather than the noble goal of conquering nature. It also felt fitting because so many of the characters along the way seemed to struggle with obsession themselves (the goat lady, the miner, and the mountain guy at the end).

Of course, I later found out that you could go back up and got the other ending as well.

After browsing this subreddit, I saw a lot of different interpretations of the endings. For example, some people saw reaching the peak as Aava finally taking control of her own life, while others had a similar take to mine and viewed it as her embracing her obsession in what was effectively a suicide. I also noticed that she appeared sad and empty in the other ending, which made it feel somewhat implied that it was the worse one.

I obviously have a preference. On my second playthrough, when I saw the star sequence at the end, it kind of felt like a heroin addict pushing their loving family away to experience one final high before overdosing. It's a morbid comparison, I know, but that's honestly what came to mind.