BrokenLore: LOW tells a mind-bendingly dark tale about an aspiring singer looking to make it big in the music industry. Her determination shifts to desperation as she looks past the red flags to stardom. Invited into the cursed Kirisame-mura, Naomi quickly learns that nothing good ever comes for free and that time waits for no one.
Haunted by statues that depict dark themes of miscarriage, Naomi tries to escape, but with no exit in sight, her autonomy and will are stripped from her as she becomes a part of the vicious cycle that started with the disappearance of a sacred temple many years ago.
Here is a full rundown of the events and our interpretations of the morbid and puzzling BrokenLore: LOW.
Warning for spoilers and themes of abuse, rape, self-harm, and suicide throughout.
BrokenLore: LOW story and themes, explored
The setting
A tori gate stands tall as an ominous greeting into the foggy fictional Japanese village of Kirisame-mura, a futile attempt to ward off evil as the village temple is nowhere to be seen. What we presume was once a peaceful place has become a form of purgatory, resembling the likes of Japan’s urban legend—Kisaragi Station. A place where the living travel through to reach the afterlife, BrokenLore: LOW is setting traps for its inhabitants. Time doesn’t work the same in the village, moving more like a circle than a single ever-moving line. The design of the village is much like the Ouroboros, symbolizing time, life, death, and rebirth.
The story starts with Naomi reaching Kirisame-mura following a phone call with her boyfriend. He’s hesitant about Naomi meeting up with the producer, Hideki, because of the “strange stories” he’s heard. Control is mentioned off the bat, hinting that this is the main theme of LOW‘s story and describes Naomi’s loss of autonomy. The village is bizarrely quiet, with no other person or animal in sight. The village feels like a freeze frame of a moment in time.
An old tale is told through scattered kanji notes, describing an old temple at the heart of the village, where a curse has since encompassed the land in a thick fog. The reason of the curse is slowly unveiled in snippets as you learn about a woman who was accused of betrayal and dishonor. Her death released a vengeful entity, the Gashadokuro.
The monsters of our past, present, and future
We meet Hideki, and describing him as creepy would be a massive understatement. While he treats all women this way, this shouldn’t in any way excuse his behavior. Questions arise on whether there truly is a record deal on the cards for Naomi. But she isn’t the only one who has been brought to this cursed land either, as another woman is hoping to land her own record deal with Hideki.
Naomi feels the fog surround her, unable to escape or find her way back to the car. Things escalate since our first meeting with Hideki. Now that we’re trapped inside this never-ending circle, the scenery begins to shift, where statues depicting a pregnant woman watch Naomi’s desperate attempt to make sense of her surroundings. A trail of blood flows down the street, trickling from one of the statues. A bloodstained crib is at the end of the line, where Erika makes her presence known (the other aspiring singer).
But something is different about her. Something’s off. She knew you needed a lighter and offers hers. It’s as if she’s been here before. Hideki calls about the village specter, knowing there’s truth behind the legend of Kirisame-mura. Naomi performs at the Moonlight Karaoke after being offered a drink by Hideki. Regardless of your decision, Naomi will feel forced to drink. Drugged, she performs her song and is invited to sit next to Hideki afterwards.
It isn’t shown, but it’s clear Hideki takes advantage of Naomi. In this time, Naomi is transported to a low-poly world with highly saturated color. Playing a much younger character, we’re shown a glimpse into the past.
The past bleeds through
The story here is harder to decipher than the hyper-realistic section with Naomi. The girl had smashed her mirror, tired of looking at herself whenever she went to her bedroom. The mother had put it there to remind her of how “embarrassing” she looked. The mother appears heartless and neglectful, putting shame and responsibility on her child.
Reaching another broken mirror, you walk through, finding a nightmarish version of the same world. Your mother is sobbing in agony on this side, becoming an antagonist you must run away from as you collect 10 shards of glass to fix your broken mirror. This shows how the mother is full of shame, likely a result of her damaged name because of what’s happened to her daughter. But instead of protecting her daughter, she takes her anger out on her.
Fixing the mirror, we discover that the reason she broke it was because she saw her mother on the other side. While it isn’t implicitly said, I interpret the imagery of the mother’s vengeful spirit disappearing to say that she overcame the abuse and didn’t follow the same path as her mother, thus she can see her true self again.
The time dilation
We return to Naomi, who calls Hideki in a panic, confused about what has happens. Hideki tells her the contract is hers, which causes Erika to grow violent. Darkness and a downpour falls over the village, keeping Naomi from returning home. Instead of helping Naomi out by offering her lighter, she chases after her with a knife, telling her that “success comes at a price” and that she’s paid for it.
After escaping from Erika, Naomi discovers she’s suddenly pregnant. Hideki calls to tell her they cannot continue with the record deal, giving it to Erika instead. Erika’s face appears all over posters advertising her debut album, LOW, which links back to this installment’s title.
The legend of Kirisame-mura
The legend of Kirisame-mura is revealed, where a woman from the village gained notoriety when she became pregnant. The cause for the pregnancy, the village chief had told the rest of the village, was that she cheated on her husband. A fate similar to Naomi’s, the chief had raped and impregnated the woman. She sought comfort and refuge at the temple, where she took the child and her life.
Learning the truth, lanterns now light the way, guiding Naomi to the temple. Hideki tells her to save her future, even though he was the monster that did this to her. The Gashadokuro makes her appearance; a gigantic skeleton with hair resembling Erika’s.
BrokenLore: LOW endings, explained
Default ending
The default ending for BrokenLore: LOW is a difficult one to watch as Naomi battles with her own dark thoughts to end the life of the fetus from inside the ancient temple’s walls. Holding a knife to her stomach, she cannot bring herself to take the life. Instead, she falls to the ground, for it’s too late. The baby is born, revealing a twisting long neck and a demonic head.
Secret ending
The secret ending is harder to achieve. You need to find all the broken pieces of the Elysium device. Finding these and keeping them in your vision for a couple seconds will fill the screen with static, and the piece disappears shortly after. The Elysium device reveals a different fate for Naomi, where she has a daughter called Anne. Anne required help as she’d grown distant from her mother. An Elysium Technologies was named, where Anne received therapy to deal with her “demons,” but Naomi sees her as a different person altogether.
Another link to Greek mythology, Elysium is described as perfection and happiness, something Anne claims to be and have. But Naomi fears something bad will happen again and that she’ll lose her. Marked as the Hidden Truth in BrokenLore: LOW, the secret ending is far more confusing to grasp than the default. This will likely be expanded upon in BrokenLore‘s upcoming games—UNFOLLOW, DON’T WATCH, and FOLLOW.
Our BrokenLore: LOW theory
Our interpretation of BrokenLore: LOW, however, is that Erika, Anne, and the Gashadokuro are one and the same. This would explain the time dilation and Erika’s behavior throughout. She appears to Naomi multiple times; first shown near the bloody crib, and then her blade reappears inside the temple that Naomi could have used to take her daughter’s life, but didn’t. It’s highly unlikely Erika wanted to become a pop-star, but more that the posters of her around the village was Naomi’s fear that the pregnancy would ruin her chances, and that her daughter would take over her life.
Naomi had told Erika she “followed my heart, my passion. I didn’t mean to hurt you,” hinting she may have left her daughter behind to “find her place.”
Their relationship links back to the mother and daughter in the low-poly world. Naomi, who couldn’t have the career she dreamed of, likely blamed Anne (Erika) for this. But her interaction with Erika and the secret ending may be telling us that Naomi did go on to have some kind of music career and left Anne behind to pick up the pieces. Or, perhaps Naomi forced Anne into stardom at a young age, which gave her long-term mental health issues.
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