The skeletons in your closet have nothing on the demons in your basement. That much is clear in The Mortuary Assistant's newest and most terrifying ending to date. Patched in as part of the game's final major update, the sixth curtain call is one hell of a dramatic signing-off from developer DarkStone Digital.
It answers a lot of questions while posing plenty more, fleshing out the world's lore through hidden notes, video cassette tapes, and a haunting exorcism recording. Raymond and his mysterious ties to Riverfields Mortuary are explored further, as is protagonist Rebecca's own role in what happens behind its doors. Not only that, but we get up close and personal with who – or what, exactly – is lurking in the basement. You're gonna want to sit down for this, and perhaps call a priest.
Be warned, ending spoilers lie ahead
The plot sickens
DreadXP's My Friendly Neighborhood is a survival horror game with not a drop of blood in sight.
The Mortuary Assistant was already plenty dark and twisted. Through randomly generated hauntings and some more specific, item-related ones, The Mortuary Assistant has us stepping into the shoes of rookie mortician Rebecca as she battles not only demonic possession, but her own painful memories. From placing eye caps over milky retinas to exchanging blood for embalming fluid, the repetition of your gruesome tasks starts to feel quite rote – almost calming, really – until you hear a low, throaty voice gurgle into your ear: "the door is open."
In the "true" ending of The Mortuary Assistant, Rebecca achieves catharsis for the guilt she suffers surrounding her father's death, but the game continues past this point. As you return for each shift, you unlock more story elements, more unique hauntings, and can experience up to six endings. The sixth and final ending succeeds in feeling like a juicy finale to a seemingly infinite gameplay loop, and for me, it's the brand new "true" ending.
Rebecca's boss Raymond has never been considered the good guy in The Mortuary Assistant, but in the new ending, he's kind of a hero. Frustrated by Raymond's treatment of her, Rebecca is convinced by Vallery – the caged demon locked in the basement, whose blood they use for the banishment ritual – to set her free, allowing them both to escape his deadly saga.
Although Rebecca should probably know better than to trust a possessed woman – Vallery had literally been screaming "I'll tear out your f*cking eyes" just a moment earlier – her fury with Raymond makes sense. He is controlling, secretive, and puts her in grave danger every night. Not only that, but as you pick through Raymond's files in a secret room at the back of the basement, you learn that he has been banishing demons and bleeding people dry to do so for decades. He doesn't see them as human anymore, and his propensity to feel bad for it has long since expired. Between a demon and her shady boss, it's little surprise Rebecca goes for the former.
Back in the mortuary, I find the correct vessel. It's obvious for the violent slashes suddenly lacerating its abdomen, so back down to the basement I go to retrieve Vallery's demon mark. Each mark is unique to one demon, and burning it with the correct body usually binds the demon to it and sends it back to hell. Burning a corpse ends your shift in all the other endings. But in this new one, I'm now free mosey on back to the basement, grab the pliers off the workbench, and unchain my new demon bestie.
To absolutely no one's shock, that is a terrible idea. A dead Vallery slumps out of the coffin to the ground, right before she gets back to her feet with a sickening crack of bone and sinew. "I'm going to take what's mine now," she croons in your face. "It's time for you to burn."
Mother knows best
The sixth and final ending succeeds in feeling like a juicy finale to a seemingly infinite gameplay loop, and for me, it's the brand new "true" ending.
Right at the last possible moment, Raymond bursts in and tackles the demon to the ground. He rips his shirt open, and right when you think this game is about to take a truly harrowing turn, the demon springs back in agony. In a flurry of flames and red sparks, the demon vanishes, and as Raymond pulls Rebecca to her feet, you see that he has a curious sigil painted on his chest.
She angrily accuses Raymond of lying to her this whole time, calling him out on the papers and exorcism recordings she's unearthed from the back room. Determined to find out what else he is hiding, she lets herself out and storms off back home with nary as much as a thank you.
As she leaves, our perspective shifts from Rebeca's first-person viewpoint as a regular cinematic cutscene takes over. This is the first time we see the world through another lens in The Mortuary Assistant, and was reason enough to have me leaning in closer. Raymond sighs, and heads down yet another secret corridor to an as-yet unseen part of the basement: the part where his mother's rotting corpse is kept. This is no Norman Bates reference, though, because this time, Mother is very much still animated.
"No more Vallery, no more blood," Audrey hisses gleefully as Raymond takes a knife to peel off some of her skin. He ignores her babbling, grinding the yellowed flesh with a mortar and pestle to touch up the intricate sigil design adorning his chest. It's alluded to that pieces of possessed corpses, whether blood or flesh or otherwise, are the key to banishing them. He's clearly taken a fair chunk out of Audrey over the years. Half her face is missing, her haggard body covered in slice marks. Her laughs echo as he turns his pack, leaving her in the darkness once again. Raymond might have saved Rebecca from Vallery, but he's been carving up his own mother to do so.
Does this make Raymond a good guy after all? He saved Rebecca, but his mother is right - he needs demon blood for the rituals. Does this mean he will have to let Rebecca get possessed when it all runs out?
Open enough to make sense if you play more shifts, cinematic enough to feel like a dramatic, dark finale in its own right, the sixth ending is an appropriate send-off for The Mortuary Assistant. Could there be a sequel? Who knows. I'm not sure my heart could handle more demonic dissections, but with such an enigmatic guy at the center of it all, it would be a shame to say goodbye to Raymond when I'm finally just finding him interesting.
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