Something seems to be going on with someone on my ignore list, judging to all the replies to that someone.
Since I'm blissfully unaware of the drama, I came here to ask:
...what are people's opinions on Nika's memories? Does Nika have some sort of traumatic amnesia - i.e. he has blocked out certain memories surrounding what happened to Summer - or is Ocean simply using ambiguity as a narrative plot to keep players in suspense?
For example, Nika dreams about and has memory of him and Summer together in the Cabin. That's also the point where his dreams mostly end.
Nika seems to have difficulty either recalling or dealing with the events immediately after the cabin, something Amber is wanting to explore in their next therapy session. Even Nijoko and Nami seem to walk on eggshells when talking to Nika about those events. Is Nika blocking memories or simply getting triggered when recalling them?
I think it's both. I think Ocean's specifically using Nika's trauma/disassociation as a way to create ambiguity as well as just loving keeping us in suspense. The suspense of what happens next is what keeps us eager for the next release after all, Ocean uses suspense much better than most AVN writers. He's not stingy with details, but loves misdirection and hiding things in plain sight.
One thing I find interesting about the cabin incident - it clearly freaks him out, but when he talks about seeing Summer after then he doesn't freak out as much. If it was a violent incident, and if the last time was a coffin (not saying she's dead though, just as a thought experiment), he'd have closure, unless he blocked it out. But he remembers seeing her again, yet has flashbacks with the hospital thinking he hadn't been there before.
On this, I don't think we can guess whether it was a violent trauma or emotional trauma, as we don't know anything about it. I think someone (Edit: DoomyK) posted about Marla being in on the racing - what if the weird lights in the cabin dream foreshadow car lights? The lights seemed cheesy, but if they represent traffic that actually might make some sense. I wonder if his reaction to seeing Vic in her accident is because it mirrors something that happened to Summer, and he feels drawn to her because of the unconscious similarity of the event. Maybe we'll find out Marla hit Summer while driving near the cabin and that's why Nika is part of her problem?
About Noji and Nami talking about it:
n "We all were shocked when the whole Summer thing went down but MAN!"
n "It's been years! GET OVER IT!"
Kinda seems to me that what they know suggests they're tip toeing around his feelings more than being so concerned about the events themselves. That explosion from Nami is pretty insensitive, and expecting way too much, while she really tip toes around the 'violent' incident just earlier.
So definitely selective, and I'd say based on context. Nika's not aware he's self censoring.
