#I love writing a more than 5 paragraph analysis essays for this game :3c

[pocket-ghostie]

Ok, I knew that Buff Studio already had plans for Charlie in Underworld when making Underworld Office (bc of conext clues), but I didn't know HOW MUCH they knew what they were planing when they made the first game!!!!! Aaaaaaahhhhhhh!!!!!!

(Spoilers for UwO/CiU)

First, in chapter 4, early sleep, right before Eugene gets kicked out, Boss says "I hope I never see you again."

This implies several things, Boss hopes Eugene lives a long life and/or when they die they can immediately go to 'the other side'. This also implies that Boss can't leave. Because of the door that he is in charge of guarding, he can never leave. Of course, at the end of Charlie in Underworld the door gets destroyed so Boss could leave (after a lot of work). However in this game, Boss doesn't know that's going to happen. He is under the assumption that he is going to stay in the office forever.

Furthermore, in the Peace Somewhere Beyond ending, Eugene mentions that Boss might never find peace.

This could also be because he can't leave due to the door. Although it could be argued that Eugene mentions this because Boss will never be bright, I disagree due to the end of Charlie in Underworld. Boss clearly has a desire to right his wrongs and be bright, however he can't because his duty is to protect the door. So, because of what happens in the Peace Somewhere Beyond ending, Charlie in Underworld doesn’t happen in that timeline, and the door is probably never destroyed. Which keeps Boss guarding the door forever. The door is never mentioned in Underworld Office as an obligation for Boss, as that is only revealed at the end of Charlie in Underworld. However there is plenty of evidence that the writers were thinking about this connection while making this game.

In addition, Charlie gets sealed, leading to the beginning of Charlie in Underworld. Obviously, this is a rather basic connection. However, there is more to it. They could have had Charlie escape or get torn into pieces, without Eugene interfering and letting Joan deal with Charlie. This would get rid of Charlie and give Eugene the opportunity to get Joans help and be able to call the cane later on, because Joan wouldn’t be mad at Eugene. But, Charlie was sealed so that the Office ghosts could easily get to them. It also allows and gives a reason for Charlie to lose their memories, so that the player can slowly learn about Charlie throughout the plot. Because Charlie was sealed, we got the beginning of Charlie in Underworld.

Also, I saw a post in the Underworld Office tag (idk how I would find it now) that said “Eugene choose to be a dark ghost” and it came with this image:

When I was first playing through the game, I thought this was just a fun design choice, and it might be. But if Buff Studios was already thinking about the plot of the second game and how ghosts actually work, this may be a nod to that. This could be refuted with the argument that Eugene thought he was doing good and should be a bright ghost, however this brings up several problems. First off, Buff Studios wanted to keep the conflict of how ghosts work for the second game, and also Eugene did think what he was doing was wrong. They justified it in their head because Jack was a murderer, but I guarantee that Eugene still thought that murder was bad. In fact, Eugene wanted to stop Jack in part because he was a murderer. So it would make sense for Eugene to be a dark ghost, along with the fact that Susans desire for vengeance was still in the area too.

Next, we have the fact that Boss didn’t explain how ghosts work in the beginning of the game. It was River who explained to Eugene how things work. While giving this explanation, Boss stayed silent. This could hint that Boss already knew how ghosts actually work and was staying silent in the beginning of the game. Although this can be refuted with the fact that in the second to last chapter in Charlie in Underworld, Eugene states that Boss has been getting darker because of his guilt of keeping this secret. Which means that Eugene had to have already seen Boss before to tell that he was getting darker. But since Boss got attached to Eugene, he may have felt more guilty about keeping everything a secret. Thus, making him darker when Eugene was around. Although this is an interesting theory, I disagree with it. I think Boss figured out how things actually worked either in between the two games, or the beginning of Charlie in Underworld when Charlie is unsealed. Despite this however, Boss most likely still had an idea that ghosts did not work the way he thought. I believe the fact that River explained everything rather than Boss was very intentional, and an important fact when thinking about Charlie in Underworld.

Finally, all the ghosts have images of when they were alive. At the end of every chapter, there is an image that goes along with it. (Like this one)

I believe this image changes depending on what choices are made. Some of these images show the ghosts when they were alive. Like Hayden playing with a cat, or Joan with her gun and in her soldier outfit. Through these images, it is clear that Buff Studios already planned out the ghosts' backstories. They already had their backstories planned, but they did not say anything about them. This is because they go into the ghosts' pasts in Charlie in Underworld. Further proving that they had already planned what they were going to do in the second game, and were planning on making a second game.

In conclusion, these were all the things that I found in the first game. All of these little details show how Buff Studios was already thinking about Charlie in Underworld when making the first game. They put so much thought into these games, how they would work, the worldbuilding, and the characters. Because of their care and passion for these games, it makes their world feel so real.