The entire game is actually from Simon-3's perspective (spoilers!)

[cantremember]

The way I see it, the entire game is played from Simon-3's perspective, and potentially everything up till the point where you are in the deep pressure suit could be a flashback/memory.

When you are scanned and copied, nothing happens to you. But an alternate copy is created who perceives being jumped in a new body, because he shares the same mind/memory as the original.

If you were the original Simon, you would just go home after Munshi's scan and lived on till you died of head trauma.
If you were Simon-2 then you would be the one being left behind before the abyss.

On the other hand, the fact that you are actually playing as original Simon before his scan is taken, unless it's intended as a flashback, means that there is no other way than to lose the "coin toss", but strangely, it exactly plays out the way Simon (or one of his btanches) would experience his life, so it's not necessarily in flashback form either. Simon-2 and -3 would not have physically done anything of what their predecessor did, but the course of their life really would entail being in Toronto and jumping to a different body etc.. It's hard to really explain what I mean, but what would you do if you were Simon 3 at the end of the game ?

[1eyedking]

Simon-3 came into physical existence after Simon-2, which means all actions prior to his creation could only have been a recollection of memories.

Let me explain. Simon-3 never exerted his will prior to the moment he was created. That is, he remembers and believes he did, but actually did not. The Simon that physically pressed the buttons and inserted the chip, gel and battery that lead to the third version's creation was actually Simon-2, of which we had total control.

If we had been Simon-3 from the beginning, we would only have had the chance to act out all the happenings from the Power Suit onward. Given that we play through all stances of Simon - that is, we exercise full will and control - I would say the perspectives are from all of them.

---

I guess it depends on how you look at it.

If you consider player actions a happening continuum, which is how we actually feel while playing the game, then what I said holds true. This is in consonance with what I believe the devs intended, because not only did they want us to feel pity for Simon-2, but otherwise we would have never gotten the chance to live out Simon-4.

That said, if you consider player actions as some sort of live retelling (and write off the Simon-4 as an added spin-off), then yes, we were Simon-3 all along. It does go against narrative purposes, though.

[TiManGames]

No, the game perspective just changed in that part from simon 2 to 3. We played the with a lot of Simons. That's all.

[hollowleviathan]

No, the game perspective just changed in that part from simon 2 to 3. We played the with a lot of Simons. That's all.

cantremember's point is that, because Simon-3 has identical memories to Simon-2, therefore: 1. you being ONLY Simon-3 and 2. you being Simon-2 but then switching to Simon-3's perspective are identical experiences, they describe the same narrative arc.

You're both right, because there is no coin flip.

[1eyedking]

No, the game perspective just changed in that part from simon 2 to 3. We played the with a lot of Simons. That's all.

cantremember's point is that, because Simon-3 has identical memories to Simon-2, therefore: 1. you being ONLY Simon-3 and 2. you being Simon-2 but then switching to Simon-3's perspective are identical experiences, they describe the same narrative arc.

You're both right, because there is no coin flip.

They're two very different perspectives. One of them is a memory of doing things and the other one actually is actually doing them, physically. Simon-3 never powered up Upsilon, never picked up Catherine, never got inside the Curie, never went to Theta, etc. His will and consciousness was never made manifest before his creation, which was after all of these things happened. Simon-2 did this, not Simon-3.

Furthermore, from a purely strict narrative perspective, we play as different Simons - otherwise only a video would have played from what happened since Simon-1 to Simon-3.

[Fishels]

No, the game perspective just changed in that part from simon 2 to 3. We played the with a lot of Simons. That's all.

Yea it was just the narrative letting us play with "different" "people".

[Touchdown]

This thread seems familiar.

[grrrz]

well to be fair
You play as Simon-1, then the 2, then the 3, (and the 4 in parrallel after the credits). That's pretty straightforward, no need to invent a twist. The story chooses each time a "branching" path for us, and we we learn through the game how simon-1 lived his life, and for the 2 we have to choose.
what's good about the story is its elegance, it's good, but there is no big artificial twist at the end (a few small ones but they're not big shocker).

[Kein]

There is no "coin toss" thing, it was a bluff.

Consciousness being copied,. there is no "golden core" that may be or not may be transferred during the process. Read Sarang and Ross documents.