Trails in the Sky #12 Telegraphing

RECAP: But I Don’t Wanna Go to School!

You're a sick man Vogt. Don't ever change.

Before leaving Ruan for the last time, the teens stop by the bar to pick up an Azelia Rose. After telling the bartender who it’s for he reminisces about the specifics of Vogt’s drink. Not wanting to leave a job half-done, the bracers decide to keep their eyes open for a Spicy Anchovy *hurk* with which to finish Vogt’s drink. Thus with all of their affairs finally in order, Estelle, Joshua, and Kloe head back for Vogt’s lighthouse. Since it’s along the way, the gang stops by Manoria to stock up on goods. There they happen to find Spicy Anchovies for sale and procure a few to finish Vogt’s disgusting beverage. Just before leaving town however, they run into the last patron of the guild, Amelia, who posted that the bracers escort her uncle to Krone Pass further along the trail. Fortunately, The girl’s uncle was impatient and left ahead of time, and since the bracers know full well that Krone pass is full of giant praying mantises and exploding egg monsters, they decide that the girl’s impulsive uncle can go to Helen Waite, so they visit Vogt first.

Oh, that was YOUR asshole face!

At the lighthouse, the gang drops off the maintenance kit and Estelle vindictively triumphantly adds the highly particular alcohol to the mix, prompting the old man to (partially) rescind his words and give the bracers his special not at all drenched in old-people sweat headband for their troubles. With Cassius name firmly lived up to, the bracers go back to Krone Pass to help out some guy with a death wish. Surely enough, they find him about to be scrambled by three Boiled Eggers (yes, those are their actual names). The gang spoils their plan by making them over easy, before consulting the client who is now insulting the bracers for their looks. It occurs to everyone that they met this man, Orvid, during their early bracer work in Rolent. He was trying to sell people poison mushrooms as a delicacy. He was also an asshole who left the bracer (read: Estelle) on bad terms. However, despite the initially vitriolic response to seeing each other again, the bracers remind Orvid that Amelia was worried about him and he apologizes for his recklessness. After some more walking and (off-screen) talking, they all safely return to Manoria and bid Orvid farewell on much better terms than last time, thus FINALLLY wrapping up all of the bracer’s guild work.

At least he's honest...

Rather than stop to rest, the gang immediately makes their way for Jenis Royal Academy to learn what needs to be done. Kloe suggests that they stop by the Dean’s office first since the students are in class. There, Dumbledore Maxwell the kind old man gives the bracers the okay to work on the play, sorts out their housing affairs, and tells them to meet the student council president. Kloe then guides the pair to the student council office where they meet Jill, the energetic student council president, and Hans the amazingly normal teenage boy. Jill tells Estelle that she will be playing the ruby knight in the play because she’s the only person who can match Kloe’s swordsmanship (apparently Cassius taught her all sorts of fancy fighting forms before she decided to just club people with a stick). However, it quickly becomes apparent that this play is actually gender bent, where the girls are playing the men and vice-versa. Jill elaborates that the play is called Madrigal of the White Magnolia and that the teachers loved the gender swapping idea because of the way she pitched it. Although, this gender bending means that Joshua has to play- wait for it.......the princess! This could not possibly be more appropriate.

That night at Estelle, Kloe, and Jill’s dorm Estelle notices that Jill and Kloe are surprisingly close which makes her a bit jealous. Jill and Kloe both astutely point out that Estelle has Joshua, the former going so far as to say she’s in denial for thinking that they’re just like brother and sister. Kloe however, apologizes for Jill’s teasing just as Estelle seems to be considering Jill’s words. Exhaustion finally begins to set in and the girls go to sleep.

The jury's still out on whether they were actually ready

Downright FABULOUS

Finally, the day before the festival, Estelle and Kloe finish up one last rehearsal, overjoyed that they finally got through it without making a single mistake. The girls exchange a few words about their hopes for the play before Kloe sheds some more light on how she met the matron ten years ago during the Hundred Days War. The conversation moves onto the subject of Joshua and how he never shares about his life before meeting Estelle, which leads both girls to feel a bit down. Kloe then adds that the two probably should’ve switched roles in the play as it ends with her kissing Joshua, though Estelle (a little too adamantly) denies that there’s any romantic connection between them. Before things get anymore awkward, Joshua and Hans walk in and tell the girls to pick up Jill at the Dean’s office and rendevous in the cafeteria.

Not wanting to look like circus performers, the girls get changed and, after helping some of the other folks prepare for the festival, stop by the Dean’s office. Jill seems to be up to something, but they don’t press her and head for the cafeteria. There they find Joshua and an affable Hans who suggests that they all share a last meal together before the big day.

Mayhaps This Ship Truly Will Sail

So much happened during this one session that I’m actually splitting it into three parts (partially because of the aforementioned dearth of combat, and also because I had a hard time stopping after "certain events" in the next update). I know, it’s crazy. That aside, what struck me most about this

As do I *salutes*

session was the way that Falcom knit the developing relationships between characters so tightly into the drama of the narrative. As someone who has played a lot of RPGs over the years, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a character admit the error of their ways in a non-plot significant context that wasn’t just played for laughs. So to see Orvid do so sincerely and during a sidequest of all places really stood out to me and actually conferred some anticipation to see him again. Even outside of the NPCs though (which are still amazing, of course), Estelle’s reevaluation of her feelings for Joshua was quite the curveball as well.

I remarked a few entries ago that Estelle has the characteristic naivety of a sixteen-year-old girl. However, with the way the game had been bluntly attempting to ship her and Joshua, in addition to Estelle’s constant spoiling of every potentially romantic scene between the two, it appeared that the developers were looking to make some sort of commentary on traditional relationships and thus were deliberately trying to be subversive. Hell, Jill’s comment this session about “ending sexual discrimination,” despite being somewhat humorous, was exactly that. But, Estelle taking a step back and thinking about all the shipping thus far, is still consistent with her character (read: being a bit slow in the feelings department), and adds another layer to the plot that was frankly absent before: budding romance.

It's nice to know that some of those "weirdos" in high school
 haunted other people's lives as well.

It’s also worth mentioning that although Estelle’s behavior paints a pretty clear picture of her mounting confusion over Joshua, we actually have zero insight into what Joshua thinks of Estelle. I left it out of the summary, but during this session, after Kloe and Estelle finished practicing and were supposed to go pick up Jill from the Dean’s office, they stopped by the boy’s dormitory and overhear (through the door) Joshua and Hans talking about which girls they are interested in. Hans (in a typical teenager fashion) expresses interest in several of his teachers and the female students, though he also asked whether Joshua and Estelle were together. At this, Joshua played it cool and denied that he and Estelle were an item as well as any “plans of attack” for Kloe. The girls promptly get the hell out of there before the scene could turn into a microcosm of The Breakfast Club, but this little vignette highlighted how close the narration is to holding a genuine first person perspective.

I suppose this was decision was made to more closely bind the player to Estelle’s point of view, though I must say that the fact that there even appears to be something going on in each character’s head is disappointingly refreshing by comparison to the majority of other role-playing games I’ve finished. Generally speaking, characters in RPGs enter the party for precisely one story beat/arc, and afterwards they stick with the protagonist for some poorly justified excuse to have more combat variety, never to be heard from again. And while today, games have gotten a bit better about giving the other characters some lines of dialogue after they’ve served their purpose, many (like Dragon Age: Inquisition (I swear, one of these days I'll stop ragging on it)) still haven’t fully grasped that creating characters solely to “plug a gap” in the gameplay/story is stupid.

Lastly, I should also highlight just how exceptionally well put together the in-game montage of

Estelle and Joshua’s student life is. There’s no dialogue during the sequence, just narration every few scenes. However, everything in each scene, from Estelle’s poor performance in the classroom to growing connections the bracers make with the student council members is immediately discernable through the amusing actions of the sprites. This sequence is understandably brief, though it’s definitely in my top 5 favorite moments in the game thus far. As I’ve already said half a dozen times before in almost a dozen different ways, this game is RPGs done right.

*I also happened to skip over (in a single sentence) about a half-hour’s worth of sidequests involving finishing up last minute preparations for the festival. None of it seems to have any lasting impact on the game (though the dialogue was still undeniably entertaining), but one of these sidequests took me to an old part of the school’s campus that had treasure chests in it. And yes, they are still delightfully snarky.*

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