RECAP: Plot Sandwiches
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| Suuuure, you were |
Estelle and Joshua arrive
at Malga mine. Inside they talk to the various workers and find the chief who
after examining the Mayor’s writ, hands them the giant Septium. After receiving
the gem, a small tremor runs throughout their floor of the mine. A new (suspiciously
unnamed) worker apparently blew a hole exposing a monster nest. The bracers react
by evacuating the mine, including the nameless newbie, who runs off alone. In
an aside the worker says that he has to report the events that transpired to an
unknown superior/organization.
With the Septium in tow
Estelle and Joshua return to the Mayor’s Residence. When they walk through the
door, they find him engaged in conversation with Josette, the Jenis academy
student the pair had seen around town for the last few days. After a cordial
introduction, they give the mayor the Septium which he places inside of a safe.
He says that he plans to have it refined into a necklace for the queen of their
neighboring kingdom. Josette, Joshua, and Estelle continue their own
conversation outside of the mayor’s residence and say their farewells as Josette
leaves for school. Joshua can’t take his eyes off of her.
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| She has a portrait, ergo she is actually important |
The pair then return
to the guild to offer their report and accept the last of Cassius’ tasks. But
first, they decide to fulfill another request to find Ida’s cat. After apprehending
the skittish kitten, courtesy of Joshua’s adept animal skills, the pair asks
Aina for Cassius’ last job. She tells them that a reporter needs an escort and
awaits them at the inn. However, they do not find him and ask Verne the hotel
manager where the reporter wandered off to. He tells them that the reporter
went to the bar for some reason. At the bar they meet Nial the surly reporter
who, after being convinced of the pair’s competency, explains that he needs to
go to the top of Esmeldas Tower to solve a mystery, but needs to pick up his
eccentric partner Dorothy from the Orbal shop. And so, the group rally with
Dorothy, and travel to Esmeredas tower.
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| Foreshadowing!! |
At the tower Joshua
reveals a little bit about its history, that there are other towers just like
it in the other regions, and that he might know more than should be possible
for a sixteen year old. Regardless the group scales the tower, fending off
several dozen monsters on their way to the top, where they meet Professor Alba,
the Archaeologist who also seeks to uncover the tower’s mystery. Alba points
out that the mystery revolves around a mysterious and ancient device on the
roof and that it is likely tied to the Sept-Terrions, seven ancient treasures
supposedly imbued with power by the goddess Aidios. But, he needs time to start
figuring the mystery out. Thus, the group collectively agree to take a break
while Alba and Dorothy do their jobs. Estelle notices that Joshua is feeling
odd, but he assures her that he will recover shortly. After talking with the
group, they unfortunately fail to solve the mystery and return to Rolent. Nial,
Dorothy, and Alba all praise the young bracers’ assistance and the group parts
ways.
Estelle and Joshua then
return to the guild where they coincidentally find Scherezard who is also
reporting her progress. The three start planning to celebrate their success in
completing Cassius’ work, when suddenly the Mayor barges through the door,
distressed and out of breath and shouts that his house has been ransacked. The
three bracers immediately mobilize to investigate.
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| No, he was not, in fact, staring at her ass |
At the mayor’s house,
Estelle and Joshua discover that the Septium ore was stolen, the mayor’s room trashed,
and the residents were locked in the attic. Upon further investigation, they
learn that there were 3 or 4 burglars, one of them was a woman, and the group
knew exactly where to find the ore. Much to Estelle’s dismay, Joshua logically
concludes that Josette had to be one of the burglars. The three then rush to
the landing port to catch her before the airship arrives. Unfortunately, at the
landing port they learn from the perverted attendant that she never went to the
port nor did she arrive from there to begin with. Just as the group begins to
despair, Estelle then remembers one piece of evidence found at the crime scene
that indicates that the group came from the Mistwald forest south of Rolent. As they exit the landing port, the group runs into Nial and Dorothy one last time as they have apparently found the scoop of the ages and need to investigate. But refuse to say more. Regardless, with renewed purpose and direction, Estelle, Joshua, and Scherezard resolve to
catch Josette and the criminals in Mistwald.
Before The Iceberg Breaks
Okay, A LOT happened during this session, but unfortunately,
I really can’t cover it all in one post in addition to the other interesting
observations made this session. So, as much as it pains me to do so, I'll have
to save most of the plot analysis and speculation until the next post, when I
finish the Prologue. So, let’s talk about Joshua. Or rather women’s reaction to
Joshua.
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| Cougar Status: CONFIRMED |
Over these last three sessions, every female character in
this game, bar those who are married and Josette (for obvious reasons), have either praised Joshua’s looks or outright hit on him (including some of the children). While NPCs hitting on party members isn’t new, it’s usually reserved for female characters with large…
tracts of land, or a cheap laugh. Failing that, if it happens to a man, it will almost always be the protagonist or a jerk that the audience is not supposed to relate to (initially, at least). But Joshua
isn’t
our main character nor is he some un-relatable prick; he’s a sharp young man
with an equally refined wit, and a wealth of knowledge far beyond his years. Even
though he is highly critical of predilection towards pragmatism (rather than
compassion, like Estelle), Joshua is a genuinely good person that easily elicits
empathy from the audience. So, the repeated objectification strikes me as more
than a little odd, since it runs the risk of diminishing his character (though
it thankfully hasn’t thus far).
I understand that his looks are exotic (“raven black hair
and amber eyes) and likely have some form of plot relevance considering his
mysterious introduction by Cassius, but the degree to which it occurs and some
of the female characters’ comments veer a bit into pure Female Gaze territory. That
pervasive perverted-ness, in accordance with Joshua’s bishounen art work (which
is supposed to appeal to young women) led me to wonder, are young adult women
the target audience for this game?
The protagonist’s sex is generally analogous to that of the
target audience. But since, this obviously
isn’t always the case (and I never
pay attention to it anyway) it’s better to examine the way our protagonist is depicted,
characterized, and the situations they find themselves in. And since I’ve been
playing the game for almost 10 hours now, I think I’ve seen enough to render a
decent tentative judgment of our protagonist.
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| Can I just give you a big hug? |
In a word, Estelle is
amazing.
She is courageous, compassionate almost to a fault, and extremely relatable (especially
for someone like me who grew up with a parent who was largely absent). Her sense
of humor isn’t so low as to be childish or so high as to be snobbish. She’s a
bit naïve (as any sixteen year old should be), but isn’t stupid. Her outfit is
sensible and body isn’t ridiculously proportioned. No one leers at her, though
I’d say she is drawn with an attractive face. She doesn’t think about boys or
girls and has interests that are socially gendered both towards men (fighting)
and women (shoes…). She’s perhaps a bit too innocent for a sixteen year-old
girl, though it may have more to do with her specific upbringing with Cassius
and protective nature. In short, she is well characterized as a female
character.
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| Well, someone woke up on the wrong side of 1955 |
However, she also isn’t a character whose gender is irrelevant
either. Numerous NPCs comment on her lack of traditionally feminine
characteristics (chiefly demureness) and some characters even think less of her
because of it, but she still asserts her gender, neither viewing it as an
obstacle, nor as a rallying cry; she is comfortable with who she is. And maybe
that’s why I like her, so much. She has room for growth over the course of the story,
yet is likable for a wide assortment of reasons by default. So based on all of
this
stuff in addition to the high
volume of other respectable female characters, at this point in time I’m pretty
confident that this game is targeted towards young women. It doesn’t really
mean anything, but it’s an observation that I’ll likely ruminate on in the near
future.
However, despite this belief, I’m almost certain that the game’s
incessant teasing that Joshua and Estelle will end up together, or that Estelle
will fall for Joshua, is a red-herring designed to snare people interested in
watching relationships form (again, traditionally women).
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| Best wing(wo)man ever? |
Back at the farm, Tio planted the seed in Estelle’s mind that Joshua is having
difficulties with his love-life (though she personally assumes that he is
saving himself for Estelle). However, Joshua’s limited bits of dialogue
responding to Estelle’s matchmaking suggestions imply that he simply isn’t
interested in women at the moment or has some other reservations that supersede
his interest in courtship. There are no definitive answers yet, though now that
multiple characters have suggested that the two become a pair, I’m almost certain
that the reveal as to Joshua’s intentions will change that entirely. I can only
speculate.
Now, the other thing
that captured my notice was just how many plot threads the game set up in the three hours I played for this session. A mysterious miner deliberately exposed a monster den
where a valuable Septium ore was found, likely in an attempt to bury it or
steal it. A young woman who genuinely did not appear to have an ounce of malice
stole the Septium ore for reasons unknown. An ancient, but supposedly powerful
artifact was discovered and has six siblings scattered across the globe. An
event of groundbreaking proportions has caught the interest of at least one
respected news publication. And war from the Erebonian Empire is lurking
beneath the surface of a seemingly lasting peace. It’s just layers and layers
and layers of intrigue wrapped in mysteries and I have no idea how any of it
will turn out. It is…refreshingly exciting. Well, at least there are still a
few constants I can always count on:
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