A Story Retold

[GhylTarvoke]

After suffering a tragedy, a man is somehow reborn in the post-apocalyptic future. The remnants of humanity live in a reinforced structure whose technology is slowly failing, besieged by strange horrors that attack both mind and body. Confused by his new identity, our hero (and later, his female companion) must journey through these horrors. In one scene, he walks in total darkness at the bottom of the world, hunted by a giant slug-like creature. One of his incarnations ultimately lives on in a sort of paradise, while another dies alone.

I've been describing William Hope Hodgson's "The Night Land". Admittedly, to make the connections clear, I've suppressed some details: the story takes place billions of years in the future (after the sun has died), rather than a hundred; the hero is a warrior, not a wimp; the female companion is a lover, not merely a guide. Still, the similarities struck me when I first played SOMA, especially in the abyss. I highly recommend "The Night Land: A Story Retold", a modern revision that lacks many of the original's flaws.