Poll: Bioshock Infinite: The Cage or the Bird? [SPOILERS]

[Xelien]

I totally chose the cage because Robert had the satisfaction of always being right when they flipped the coin on heads that first time you meet them. So since Robert was offering the bird and Rosalind the cage, I sided with her.

 

[Headdrivehardscrew]

To be honest, the choice reminded me a bit of this:

http://darksoulswiki.wikispaces.com/file/view/2037.png/273347994/2037.png

In the end, I am not sure if the inconsistency towards the end is actually a hint at action behind the scenes, or if it is just a fluke, an error, a genuine mistake or a tiny little excuse for the content that, alas, didn't make it in after all.

To my - current - best knowledge, the choice of necklace had no actual impact on the game beyond the Joakim Morgren hand. Besides, there are hints at the bird and the cage pretty much being the same thing anyway...

OT: The bird, as I don't like cages. Turns out I also but partially liked the bird. If the bird is out of the cage, does not the bird become a mobile form of a cage, protecting, but also limiting things quite harshly? In the end, of course, it's not a proper, pure asshole bird, but a useful tool of mass destruction.

Still, it feels like an über Big Daddy, still got sparkles of that old scare, but plain being too powerful to be any fun. Is the bird not just the illusion of freedom? Did Levine and friends feel too oppressed by the Big Daddies? Did the Big Sister thing turn out to be a major turn off for them? Did they want to just tear it all down?

 

[IamLEAM1983]

Like a lot of other peeps, I chose the bird. Freedom and whatnot.

I'd love to hear that Irrational is using Steam to keep some track of the metrics involved. It'd be cool if we had a little infographic of the total percentages a year from now.

 

[Winnosh]

I chose the cage. Elizabeth called the bird beautiful but said that there was something special about the Cage. I chose it from that, as well as a reminder of where she had come from.

 

[Karoshi]

I guess I'll chuck up a

Spoiler

I chose bird but it's a trick. I thought the bird symbolized freedom but Songbird represented being captured and locked. The keyword CAGE is the thing that set her free, so in essence a cage set's Elizabeth free.

...spoilers.

Exactly! I knew even on the first playthrough that there was a catch, but chose the bird regardless. On second playthrough I took the cage, because the symbolism is pretty much reversed in this game. Nice touch, imo.

 

[itsthesheppy]

Wow. Bird seemed like the obvious choice for a lot of people. I wonder if there's some significance to the choice that we're missing. I wouldn't put it past Levine to put some really deep stuff into the design of the game that is affected by the choice.

I'm positive, though, that

Spoiler

in the ending sequence, on the rowboat, after Booker realized he gave up Anna, that the necklace Elizabeth was wearing in the boat was a cage, not the bird as I had chosen.

 

[x EvilErmine x]

Having played through the game twice now and making the opposite decisions, I can reveal that they are all cosmetic or effect the game in almost no real way.

Spoiler

Throw ball at couple/Throw ball at Fink

- Throwing the ball at the couple causes no change to the following scene.

- Throwing the ball at Fink also causes no change to the following scene. However later in Battleship bay, as you are on your way to the arcade the couple are standing by the Black/Irish bathrooms, they thank you for not being a dick and offer to help by giving you a box containing gear.

Since all gear drops are randomised then this only provided the chance to get one more piece of gear, you will not miss anything special if you throw the ball at them. But I'll think you are a massive **** for doing it though.

Bird/Cage broach choice:

Cosmetic, alters the twins dialog slightly

- Choosing the cage causes Robert to comment that he thought Booker would chose the bird,

- Choosing the bird causes Robert to comment about being right about guessing Bookers choice.

Draw gun/Demand service:

This choice causes a change to the animation and slightly alters the dialog in the skycar.

- If you chose the option to draw your gun then the guy quickly pulls the shutter down and you get attacked. In the skycar Elizabeth wipes blood from your face and Booker says "If there's one thing I have learnt then it's that if you don't draw first then you don't get to draw at all."

- Demanding Service causes the guy to stab you through the hand as you go to ring the bell, then you get attacked. In the sky car Elizabeth puts a bandage around your hand which is persistent for the remainder of the game and Booker says "I promise you this, that's the last time anyone will ever get the drop on me."

Spare/Kill Swain:

- Sparing Swain causes Elizabeth to make a comment about having mercy. Booker says it was no mercy as not Comstocks men would get him. Later in the Good Time club then you find Swain in a cell, it's obvious he has been badly tortured, Elizabeth says that you were right, sparing him was no kindness.

- Killing him cause Elizabeth to comment that she supposes that's what he wanted and it was better than what he would get if Comstock's men got to him. Later in the Good Time club the cell he would have been in is empty.

EDIT

I just remembered, there will be DLC coming latter, so maybe there is more to the choices you make. However as of now that's all the difference they make to the game.

 

[TheCommanders]

I chose the cage because I felt like the game expected me to choose the bird, and I felt like being contrary.

 

[Evil Top Hat]

I chose the cage because I felt like the game expected me to choose the bird, and I felt like being contrary.

Exactly my reasoning. I tried to justify it afterwards with some convoluted pseudo-intellectual bullshit, but in reality, my hipster drive kicked in.

Obviously the games wants me to pick the bird because it represents freedom, so I did the exact opposite to spite the developers. Take that, talented individuals that provided me one of the best gaming experiences of my life! Hah!

 

[J Tyran]

I chose the cage, I wanted to see Elizabeth take it as a badge of honour and a symbol of how she used her confinement as a point of strength. Almost like "you locked me up but you didn't break me, you made me stronger".

 

[Headsprouter]

I picked Cage, because the last bird I saw was trying to hold her captive. That's the only way I could justify it. I spent a couple of minutes going over the decision in my head, and just ended up being more intrigued by the cage, as a whole.

 

[Parallel Streaks]

I just went with the Cage 'cause I thought it looked pretty. DEEP THOUGHTFUL GUY OVER HERE.

 

[scorptatious]

I went with the bird because to me it represented freedom. Of course, thinking about it now, a bird was something that was keeping Elizabeth captive. :/

 

[seveneddy]

Bird... but just because my twisted german mind thought about beeing "vogelfrei"...

Vogelfrei in German usage denotes the status of a person on whom a legal penalty of outlawry has been imposed.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vogelfrei

 

[Terrara]

I played a couple times - the only difference I notice is in the infinite (the broche keeps changing) As with all Bioshock games, choices end in mostly minor changes. I still flinched every time Booker hit that push button (chose to wait the first time)

Spoiler

I'd like to think that the broche changes because the realities come closer together in the infinity? (or alternatively as x->∞ , y->0?) No broche = no alternative realities left for Elizabeth, every Booker/Comstock dead, no variations where she destroys the world. She becomes similar to Lucetes: all variables in one pot.

Also, in retrospect, this was all a massive rick roll, was it not?

Spoiler

The CAGE in the end represented freedom, while the bird from glimpse freedom (Liz used to like Songbird when she was small) changed to oppression. And yet we choose the bird because we associate it with freedom and want her to be free. I see what you did thar

 

[GonvilleBromhead]

I chose the bird. As my finger was closer to that button

 

[toasteey13]

I played a couple times - the only difference I notice is in the infinite (the broche keeps changing) As with all Bioshock games, choices end in mostly minor changes. I still flinched every time Booker hit that push button (chose to wait the first time)

Spoiler

I'd like to think that the broche changes because the realities come closer together in the infinity? (or alternatively as x->∞ , y->0?) No broche = no alternative realities left for Elizabeth, every Booker/Comstock dead, no variations where she destroys the world. She becomes similar to Lucetes: all variables in one pot.

Also, in retrospect, this was all a massive rick roll, was it not?

Spoiler

The CAGE in the end represented freedom, while the bird from glimpse freedom (Liz used to like Songbird when she was small) changed to oppression. And yet we choose the bird because we associate it with freedom and want her to be free. I see what you did thar

Just curious, when Booker chose to hit which button?

 

[airrazor7]

If you don't mind me asking, what anime is the GIF in your pic from? I've seen it in several threads and my curiosity is quite piqued.

 

[VoidWanderer]

While I never finished the game, I picked Cage. It was how Elizabeth reacted to it that got me, and I will point out one thing.

Elizabeth never wanted freedom, not in the way you are interpreting it. Elizabeth wanted a friend, her closest one was Songbird. Until Booker came along and broke her out of her gilded cage, Elizabeth for all her power and lockpicking prowess, never escaped. You could argue that Songbird kept her in check, but I disagree.

With the hundred of books at her disposal, and the fact that the book she was going to hit you with is about Quantum Mechanics, Elizabeth is able to understand some very advanced concepts, and surely in her books there was the clue on how to kill Songbird, but that would've killed the only companion she knew. Elizabeth never wanted to be as free as a bird, she just wanted a friend, and like it was pointed out previously, the key to her freedom was her cage itself.

 

[Zeraki]

Spoiler: I chose:

The Bird the first time, and I am now playing on 1999 mode and have chosen the Cage to see if anything different happens. I don't think it does though.

As for the second spoiler you mentioned, I honestly did not notice, but I will keep a look out for that this time and see if it changes for me.

Spoiler: One cool thing I did notice in regards to choices (Spoilers):

The first time around I drew my weapon at the festival park area. The second time I chose to demand tickets instead. The guy stabs your hand into the desk with a knife. Later on Elizabeth will bandage it up, and that bandage stays there, at least as far as I have gotten anyway (I am at the part where I need to get the guns for the Vox).

Spoiler

Yup, the bandage stays there for the entire game... including the ending. I honestly didn't realize you could avoid it.

I picked the bird myself. It is a symbol of freedom and that is what I felt would go best with her. However... I am kind of disappointed that it seems your choice has no effect on the story. I literally just beat the game 20 minutes ago, so I'll have to look into it.