[Davies]

That's the point, really -- what you're supposed to think. You begin by believing the sanitarium scenes are real and the freakier levels are hallucinations. Only at the end is it revealed that it's all unreal and part of Max's struggle toward life and sanity.

I actually began by thinking that it was all real, and he was somehow slipping in time and space, or between alternate realities. It wasn't until the end of the "children's village" level that I started thinking "real mental hospital and hallucinations".

My take on the bandages is that the hidden face is symbolic of his loss of identity -- or loss of memory of his identity, which amounts to the same thing.

My understanding of the Grimwall level is that it's a test of courage and strength of will. If you recall the very final action level with the black goo on the floor, the three main scenes/characters are linked to three different qualities of spirit. Can't be sure I remember now, but I think they were intelligence, compassion or love, and courage. Max had to prove all three qualities to make it through: intelligence to find the answer, compassion to care about the results, and courage to persevere -- as embodied in himself, his sister, and Grimwall respectively.

The level that baffled me most, from a plotline point of view, was the circus. Looking back from the end, this level is the test of compassion, and Max (as his sister) does show compassion, as in releasing the beast-man from the cage. But the various conversations with the people in the big top seemed to lead nowhere. It just introduced several people with personal problems, none of whom you can help. Or is this the point, to want to help and not be able to?