[Spoilers] So that ending...

[diegzumillo]

The OP has a good point. I was split (no pun intended) at that choice as well. I ended up killing myself because the game made dead clear (no pun intended again) that I was going completely insane (I suspected she wasn't real about three quarters of the game). And while I don't think armor and technology are such trivial things, it was definitely very wrong to give someone a death sentence for that. So, yeah, murder suicide is the right way to go... What the hell am I saying! Wow, context really is important!

Edited June 19, 2013 by diegzumillo

[Queldelar]

Alright, so basically I made this account just to be able to throw my 2 cents in this thread.What I think the best ending is between the two, would be killing your master azai.My reasons are: I knew Ora was only a creation of my imagination because, there is of course, the tattoos effects, but I found it weird that she could find a way around places only 1 person could go... She was the icon of righteous decision and ancestral beliefs. Master Azai forgot the way of the ninja by stealing all the new era equipments.I will become crazy and mad but this is a sacrifice I am ready to make so this organization does not live under the name of ninjas any longer..

[Kensei]

I think the choice of which is ending is the proper one is still very ambiguous. On my first play through, I killed Azai....then subsequently thought that killing myself was actually the more correct choice. But on further reflection I am still not sure and might even lean towards choosing to kill Azai again. The key factor here that raises alot of questions and doubts about killing yourself as the correct course is Dosan.....the things Dosan says and implies, how he is not really sure the ink makes one as crazy/evil as said, and how he decides to help you....I am really curious what the Special Edition will do to shed more light on things, particularly as it focuses more on Dosan in a prequel level.

[MalikNZZ]

When watching the cutscene after the first level, I noticed that Azai says:"We will fight for our survival..." *CUT to Ninja* "...and, our honor!" *CUT back to Azai*Did Azai say that, or did Ninja just put words in his mouth? Something to think about...

[Fredgerd]

IMO the ending you pick has more to do with values than anything which is really cool.The ending where you kill yourself is more in line with eastern ideals of honor and right action. Confucius argues that it is better to die than to live by the suffering of others. Japanese honor systems often had warriors committing ritual suicide to defend the honor of a lord.The other ending fits much better in with American/Western ideals which tend to be individualistic and focus on stories of a hero being betrayed by a figure of authority and overthrowing that figure. This ranges from modern American film (the Matrix, the Born Trilogy, etc) to ancient Greek literature (such as Kronos overthrowing Ouranos and Zeus overthrowing Kronos).I really love the way the game has left both interpretations viable and at the same time leaves both slightly unsatisfying encouraging you to rethink each option.

[VinchenzoJackal]

The Ending is a unique part of the game. Everything that happened... it seems that it was a complex story of honor and loyalty, betrayal and insanity. I was quite saddened by the game ending I chose, but was too worried that the other option was so MUCH worse. I chose to kill Ora, I hoped to kill the madness, the hallucination I had been experiencing, and killed myself by doing so, as apparently, me and Ora were one and the same being.I could have killed Azai, but Azai had been one who had been suffering for so long, and his own suffering and shame had been occurring for the betterment of the clan. Azai had wanted his clan to survive, to survive as in the modern world, as modern ninjas, using modern technology.Sure, Azai may have manipulated you, but he never truly lied to you, and he merely wanted the clan to survive, to continue.Ora, what did she want? She was the voice of hatred, madness, and selfishness. She was the effects of the poison driving you insane. She may not have truly lied to you either... but she was an entity that was not real, and an entity of pure evil.If you choose to kill Azai, Ora also demanded that you cleave a path of bloodshed, murder, destruction and torment. I don't care if Ora was a voice of reason. Azai was good. Ora was evil. Azai suffered for others. Ora thought for herself, which was you.I'm hoping that the new content for the game will add more though. I felt the decision your were forced to choose between was extremely limiting. Two choices, two deaths, no choice of doing both or neither... even if it does not add these two new choices I want, if it adds further clarity/resolution I shall be happy.

[Ky!n]

I choosed to kill Ora and myself. I had decided to go through the last level without killing anyone, and doing so I got completely lost ("But what are those guards doing in the Dojo ? And what are those hallucinatory enemies they're talking about ?") Because of that choice, when Ora said to kill all ninjas and purge the clan, I understood that she was pushing me to do something really wrong. ("Killing them all ? Huh ? I accepted the mark to protect them...")Also, I felt pity for Azai. Killing him and all the clan wouldn't have help in any way. Maybe doing so would have protected the ninja tradition and accomplished my revenge, but at the cost of dozens of lives.So the choice was quite easy to do for me, and after I found interesting how my choice of gameplay had influenced my moral choice.Also, tis story reminded me of the comic by Frank Miller, Ronin. They have in common the ending when you understand that everything you believed to be true might be just an illusion, the japonese tradition versus modern western technology plot, and that way the protagonist kills Ora and himself in a single move...(Mild spoiler for those who might be interested in reading the comic)

...is quite similar to the way the ronin kills himself and the demon Agat.

If anyone implied in the developement of MoTN reads me, did you read Ronin ? If yes, were you consciously inspired by it ?Sorry for my bad english, please tell me if there are big mistakes that make my text difficult to understand.