It's official. BioShock Infinite's story, essence, and ending is something worthy of talk and praise for yearsto come-or perhaps until the next BioShock series gets released, if it can still top this one. Though judging by Irrational's track record, it's not a matter of if, but when.

As the buzz of Bioshock Infinite's ending is still fresh everywhere, here's a roundup of the notables in the game, from the theory of a split-verse to the other alternate universe twist.

The power of choice

One of the biggest twists, no doubt, is the fact that Booker DeWitt and Zachary Comstock are one and the same person. Pushing aside the very poignant ironies that exist in each Booker reality-crass drunk trying to be good and is really good; prophet on the outside, bad guy inside-here, players see the consequences of his choices.

In the first reality, IGN reports that Booker's refusal to be baptized after Wounded Knee resulted in him becoming the drunkard Booker that greets players at the get-go.

His second choice is to be baptized, but this leads him to become the game's sort of ultimate source of evil. Then there's also the ending, wherein everything leads to Booker having to choose the ultimate sacrifice for the good of all. Right then and there, you see the power of choice at work-but ultimately choice as something freely done is something that will discuss a little later on.

The Luteces: Calculation and manipulation

For a moment, it seemed like the Luteces had so much power to calculate what would happen, given their knowledge of what had happened with Booker and Comstock. But, as powerful as they are in their ability to traverse universes, they are also stuck in the loop, helpless in a way, but also knowledgeable of what is to come.

Their calculations, as correct and predictive as they are, as EuroGamer reports, still banks on so many "Booker attempts," showcasing a sort of helplessness; otherwise, they wouldn't have needed so many attempts to rescue Elizabeth.

As an aside, it is also a somehow meaningful turn of events when you realize that the Luteces were using Booker's wish to wipe his debt so that he could be their pawn to correct the mistake that they supposedly made with Comstock.

The rush of revelation

While the first events of BioShock Infinite has been mellow in setting up the stage for what's to come, PC Gamer reports that the latter half became a sudden rush of everything, which tore the pace set by the first half.

However, this still works. Think back to how David Fincher propelled the last minutes of Fight Club, where everything suddenly rushed the moment Tyler and The Narrator faced off in the hotel room to find out that they're one and the same person.

Nothing was even slightly subtle about the scene or the lines uttered, and yet somehow, it worked, because it's the same way that your brain goes on crunch time in trying to piece together the facts that you've seen scattered all over the movie up until that point.

It's similar to the flood of realization that people oftentimes have, which perhaps may be a reflection of the seemingly rushed Infinite ending.

The other alternate universe

So you know that Booker is Comstock, but after you've been blown by that revelation, Forbes brings up another twist that will make you appreciate BioShock Infinite's story all over again.

Go back to the scene where you have to operate the Bathyspheres. Remember the time when Andrew Ryan was the only person who could power this particular device?

While it's easier to assume that it's in the genes or some far-off theory that Booker is the son or great-great-great grandson of Andrew, Forbes reports that the real implication here is that Rapture is an alternate story that's parallel to Infinite. Yeah, let that one sink in.

The video game that makes you think real-life

The common misconception about video games is that you're in it for the rush of the action, the speed of shooting, or the ingenuity of strategies. But for the most part, you usually leave the experience the moment you leave the game.

But as Wired reports, BioShock Infinite gives you that feeling of somehow being in control-you are the playing the lead character-but somehow, you end up being the real pawn.

Wired points out the poignant scene where you're confronted with the ladder. Even when hesitation is involved, Rosalind Lutece's words make you feel immediately that you're the one set up for the game, not the one setting it up.

Just picture the many players who came out of the game with that kind of thinking in mind how-waxing philosophical-everything in life seems to be put in front of you, with the possibility that whatever decision you choose, you'll arrive in the same conclusion anyway. Which begs the last question.

So, is free will real?

As though all the complexities weren't enough, you're also posed this question. In the end, even when players end up in the same place, you know there will be variables somewhere. You don't all make the same choices. You don't all move the same way. So in essence, you were free to choose and move as you wish.

However, when you realize that everything ended up in that same way as though with no other choice, it does make you wonder-was all that "free will" during the journey real, when you end up where you were really meant to be?

Again, yeah, let that sink in.