Fire Emblem 15's Imbalanced Storytelling

Why was Fire Emblem 15 split in half between Alm and Celica?  They are clearly not equals from the narrative’s standpoint.  FE15 treats Alm as the protagonist it was designed to have, but Celica feels more like a secondary cast member who was promoted to a narrative position she wasn’t qualified for.  In terms of being the heroes of the story, Alm and Celica are grossly imbalanced.

First of all, look at the level of relevance Alm and Celica’s respective journeys have to the plot as a whole.  Once the prologue is over and done with, and the game has started properly, Alm is caught up in and spearheading the major, action-driven part of the plot in which a resistance-turned-invasion army turns back an enemy army, then marches straight into the heart of enemy territory.  The momentum of the plot carries Alm along from answering the call to serve as defender of his nation, to recapturing the capitol, to striking out into the hostile northern empire with the intent of ending the war once and for all, which takes him directly to the game’s finale.  While there are plenty of steps along the way that are minor ventures of liberating and/or capturing territory, it’s all clearly, logically part of a plot in motion that connects to and accomplishes the narrative of Alm’s attempt to achieve peace through force.

And then look at Celica.  Where Alm is marching from 1 story goalpost to the next from Day 1, Celica spends a truly indefensible amount of time dicking around with pirates that are functionally irrelevant.  Seriously, it’s basically all she does in her whole half of the game’s first dual-act chapter.  Fire Emblem 15 clearly just doesn’t need Celica to really be doing anything for the majority of the first third of its tale.  Whereas the story of how Alm rose to military prominence, established himself a capable leader, defied the social system by (supposedly) being a peasant whose virtues outclass those of a noble, and took back his country’s freedom from the invaders is one which easily fills the span of the first chapter, all FE15 actually NEEDS from Celica is to display her kind nature and connect it to a determination to better the lives of all people, for her to be established as a competent crusader herself,* and for her to arrive at the capitol at roughly the same time as Alm so they can meet.

The problem is that that list doesn’t need a full chapter to accomplish.  A mere 2 detours against marauding pirates are ALL that you need to cement Celica’s nature inasmuch as has relevance to her position in the plot, and her fighting prowess (as well as establish the setting lore that conditions are bad all over the country by this point, which is a valuable secondary priority).  The pirates themselves don’t have any relevance to the game’s story, not the way squads of soldiers from Rigel do--the latter are a necessary gear in the machine of a story of Alm’s military conquests, but there’s no overarching part of the plot that the pirates actually relate to.  They’re just there to be tools of Celica’s character development, and once that’s done with, they’re no more than filler.  As such, Celica spends the majority of her first act wasting time.

Now, once the first chapter is done, both Alm and Celica each have a more competitive pace of moving toward their respective journeys’ goals, at least.  Although it does still feel like Alm is more steadily progressing forward in a sequence of story events, while Celica has spurts of starts and stops with it.  Still, her futzing around with pirates just for the hell of it is finally over.  But even once the pacing problem is fixed, Alm and Celica are still drastically mismatched as protagonists.

Once they’ve had their extremely forced parting of ways, Alm’s plan is to continue to fight for the safety of his homeland and end the war through force, while Celica's plan is to save everyone by getting the goddess to step in. Now obviously, trying to end things without extra bloodshed is the preferable option!  But in practice...Celica's plan turns out to be total bupkis, because Mila's not only unavailable via kidnap, but starting to go malevolently nuts anyway.  So even if she'd been around for Celica to petition, Mila wouldn't have been able to actually do anything useful.

So, Alm's approach succeeds, and continues to succeed fully as he marches straight into the enemy capitol and defeats the emperor...while Celica's approach achieves nothing beyond putting her in a necessary position for mucking about with self-sacrifice.**  And let me tell you, getting a magical plot girl into position for a weepy self-sacrifice is not exactly a difficult thing to accomplish in an RPG.  Fucking Kemco can do it without much effort.

And Celica’s penchant for being wrong is only further underscored with her decision to accept Jedah’s terms and be his sacrificial soul.  I mean, it’s an absurdly stupid, shortsighted decision to begin with, and it only gets worse as the game pads the closing to Celica’s story out by making it more and more clear how untrustworthy Jedah is by having him throw up obstacles to his own plan as he attempts to kill Celica’s allies in front of her.  While Alm is closing in on the emperor’s throne and forcefully uniting the 2 countries, Celica is hemming and hawing about selling her soul to an insane dark god, and moronically swallowing every lie an obvious villain is feeding her like she’s a prototype for Edelgard.

I mean, just, like, contrast the final climax of Alm and Celica’s respective journeys.  Alm defeats the emperor in battle, discovers the truth of his own origins, takes the Rigellian throne through both victory and birthright, and puts an end to the war between his nations.  Celica...willingly offers her soul to an insane god at the urging of a cult leader, mistakenly believing that it will get the dark god to calm his fucking tits for 2 seconds.  Alm is successful in his aim and achieves a demonstrable, significant positive result, while Celica’s entire journey has all been leading up to her voluntarily falling into the clutches of the game’s villain.  That’s what half of the game has been about!  Futzing around with pirates, doing a Twitter drama with Alm, fruitlessly trying to petition and then rescue Mila, following Jedah and trying to get him to concentrate on something other than random murder for long enough to make his sales pitch...ALL of it, to the end goal of having this “protagonist” get duped by the main bad guy.

I’m really supposed to buy that Celica is an equal partner in this game’s story?  Her major role in the course of Fire Emblem 15’s events is to be the idiot who donates her body to science a dark god, an action designed specifically for the purpose of allowing Alm to get the magic hero sword, do the magic hero things, and stab some basic fucking sense into her.  How exactly does FE15 expect me to look at Celica as a protagonist, when the entirety of her role as such is to be a mirror and vehicle for someone else’s heroics?

She doesn’t even work as a protagonist on a meta level.  Fire Emblem 15’s story is, in largest part, a message about the importance of we human beings relying upon ourselves to resolve our conflicts and govern our affairs, and that we can’t trust higher powers like gods to lead our species.  Alm’s story of a (supposed) peasant leading a resistance to forcibly unite warring nations, a human settling human matters without divine interference, is in perfect thematic alignment with this moral.  Celica’s entire story, on the other hand, is nothing but a series of follies that serve to underscore the idea that trusting in the gods rather than humanity is hopeless.  She is the goddamn Goofus to Alm’s Gallant.

Now, sure, it’s quite possible to have a very effective protagonist and successful story when the work’s message is made through a protagonist’s repeated failures rather than success--but that’s only gonna work when there’s 1 protagonist to work with.  When you’ve got 2 main characters, and 1 of them is always right as he proves the overall theme by successfully implementing its ideals, and 1 of them is always wrong as she proves the overall theme by acting against its ideals and consistently failing, then obviously the guy who actually embodies the story’s message is going to seem far more genuinely the protagonist of the game!

Hell, Celica’s side of the story isn’t even fun to play.  I mean, sure, it’s an RPG, so it’s not fun anyway, but there’s no denying that having to deal with poison terrain and mob spawns over and over in Celica’s story makes it far more of a slog than Alm’s.

Fire Emblem 15 presents itself as a joint story of multiple protagonists each journeying to save the world in their own way, but Treasure of the Rudras this ain’t.  Alm and Celica’s individual worth as protagonists is just completely lopsided.  The fact of the matter is that FE15 is just a regular RPG story of a hero and a supporting magical plot girl that he’s ultimately responsible for babysitting.













* And honestly, even this is kind of just unnecessary.  Since her goal is to find a non-violent means to end the war, first by appealing to a mother goddess and then by agreeing to a really, really stupid deal, Celica’s being a capable fighter and military leader isn’t actually important the way it is for Alm to be.


** Which, by the way, annoys me greatly from an ethical standpoint.  While I accept that there are times when a peaceful solution to international conflict is simply not possible, Fire Emblem 15 seems eager to make the case that attempting a diplomatic solution is invariably so ineffectual that it’s pointless to even try.  This is a game where crushing your enemies and annexing their territory is how peace is achieved, while attempting to involve greater powers as mediators and treating with your enemies only worsens the situation.  Yeah, very healthy perspective to have, Nintendo, thanks a bunch for the great insight.

Omori's and Whisper of a Rose's Similarities

Yeah, so, major spoilers for both Omori and Whisper of a Rose.  Like...don’t read this if you’re not fully familiar with whichever game(s) you have any intention to play in the future.



So, like...has anyone else noticed that Omori is uncannily similar to Whisper of a Rose?

The answer to that question seems to be no.  Which is surprising, considering that Omori has gotten an Undertale-esque level of attention, adulation, and intellectual interest since its debut 2 years ago (an earned response, I should note).  You wouldn’t think some random ass internet yutz like me would be able to notice something interesting that no one else has recognized about such a widely beloved and scrutinized title, so long after its release.  But it’s also not surprising at the same time, because Whisper of a Rose is a pretty damned obscure indie RPG whose lasting impact on its player base could be considered tepid at best, when it’s not simply outright forgotten (and frankly, that’s not exactly an unearned response, either).  For me, however, all RPGs entrap themselves within my mind in cages of relevance, so, as long as my memory still functions in any capacity, even obscure and frankly unremarkable titles stay fresh enough in my consciousness that they’re on hand and ready for purposes of comparison.

And that’s why I’m in, as far as I’ve discovered in my searches online, the unique position of realizing that Omori is not the first RPG I’ve played which does all of the following:


- Showcases an adventure that takes place within a colorful and varied dream world.
- Intimately connects the characters and purpose of said dream world with the protagonist’s past emotional trauma.
- Incorporates significant counterparts of a number of the signature elements, items, and individuals of real-world childhood into the dream realm.
- Creates a plot-essential dichotomy between this dream world and the real world.
- Thematically features phobias as enemies or obstacles to be overcome.
- Involves a final battle against an unemotional entity of the dream world who aims to manifest himself in the real world.
- Tells a story about the necessity of confronting the source(s) of one’s trauma and pain.
- Contains an ending in which the protagonist has jumped off a skyscraper, and the credits roll as we watch them falling to their death.


I mean how does that last one happen twice?  Granted it’s at least not the 1 and only ending for Omori, but still.

So now, having established this bizarre level of similarity between Whisper of a Rose and Omori, I have reached the part of the rant where I usually would reveal that I had some sort of point for bringing this up.  Except...I’m kinda at a loss as to what to do with this information.

I mean, I’m not drawing these comparisons because I think Omori plagiarized Whisper of a Rose.  I genuinely think these parallels are coincidence--nothing about Omori’s actual approach to these similarities feels like that of Whisper of a Rose, I haven’t seen any indication that Omocat has ever mentioned the game as an influence or even ever played it before, and as I noted above, WoaR is so exceptionally obscure even by indie title standards that it doesn’t seem like anyone before me has noticed the resemblance.  Omori’s definitely a work quite proud to have been influenced by others that came before it,* but I would honestly be surprised to discover that Whisper of a Rose was 1 of them.

I guess I could go into a whole big, extensive rant about why it is that Omori succeeds so effectively while Whisper of a Rose never seems to bring it home on any of its points, but...I don’t wanna?  I mean, most of what that rant’s gonna come down to is just Omori having better writing, more varied and layered storytelling methods (which is really just “better writing” again), a more genuine and varied set of personalities and means for speaking in those personalities’ voices (which again really just falls under the “better writing” category), and a stronger purpose in communicating with its audience (“better writing” yet again).  If you ARE familiar with both games, nothing I’d say would be news to you; I’d only be noting the obvious.  And if you’re only familiar with 1 of them, odds are that such a rant would only be shitting on some game you don’t know anyway, so who cares?

Besides, while I don’t shy away from criticizing it, and while I don’t like it, I still do respect Whisper of a Rose for trying to do something meaningful and cerebral.  It doesn’t deserve to be dragged out into the spotlight to have its every failing re-examined just so I can hype up another game that’s already received its critical due anyway.  Hell, WoaR probably didn’t fully deserve it the last time I got my licks in on it.

So yeah, I guess that means that we’re kinda at the end of today’s rant.  I just thought it was interesting that I’ve played 2 unrelated Indie RPGs that shared so many significant and signature elements and directives, and wanted to say so.  Make of it what you will!  Don’t worry, I’m sure I’ll be back to form with another 6+ page analytical treatise on something tiny that doesn’t matter in the slightest all too soon.















* Is it just me, or are all the best Mother-styled games not actually part of the Mother series?

Shin Megami Tensei 5's Protagonist's Inaction Against Lahmu

Goddamn is there ever a lot of Voyeuristic Paralysis Syndrome going on in Shin Megami Tensei 5’s second chapter.  I mean, standing around gawking uselessly while bad things go on around them that so easily could be prevented is an epidemic among RPG heroes all over, to be sure, but I haven’t seen levels of slack-jawed motionlessness this bad since Xenosaga 3!

Let’s count’em off, shall we?


Lahmu’s Initial Attack: Alright, so right off the bat with this namby-pamby demon dipshit who looks like something that’s been left in the back of the fridge for a few periods of “too long” stacked on top of each other, we get him arriving and stirring some shit.  Then, once his bad intentions have been made clear, Lahmu turns to gaze at the rest of the city, monologues (with no particular haste) about feeling the source of his true power out there, and then moseys off to pursue this power.  And what does our hero, the Nahobino, do while Lahmu waxes villainous about what he’s gonna be getting up to, and makes his exit?  Why, our boy stands and watches the whole time, of course!  Yeah, by all means, buddy, don’t prevent a new enemy from leaving after hearing him outright state he’s out to acquire greater power.  I’m sure that’s not gonna come back to bite us all in the ass.  I know it’s not exactly the easiest thing to take Lahmu seriously when he looks like a drain clog badly cosplaying as calamari, but come on.

Maybe our hero’s hoping for those little things in the credits that give special thanks to YOU, the viewer, and figures he’s gotta earn the title if he wants to feel special from it.  Anyway, that’s 1.


School Lobby: So upon arriving, the Nahobino discovers that Lahmu has grabbed Sahori, claiming that she’s his fated other half and the one that gives him his greatest strength and whatever other drivel he’s read on his favorite simp channels on Discord.  The Nahobino is given the choice of whether he wants his priority to be to save Sahori, or kill Lahmu...but apparently he must have thought the question was just a thought exercise, because whatever his answer may be, his next action is to just stand there and watch events unfold before him.  The lazy dumbass doesn’t even make a move when Lahmu actually drops Sahori!  She’s RIGHT THERE, like 10 feet in front of him, 2 steps and a slightly stooped back away from being fully and completely rescued...and the Nahobino does NOTHING but watch as she slowly, clumsily climbs back into what I really hope is Lahmu’s mouth.  Lahmu is then once more allowed to just wander off unimpeded, and Aogami actually has the shamelessness to remark that Lahmu needs to be put down quickly.

Maybe the protagonist has a deal with Atlus in which he gets to pocket whatever part of the game’s animation budget doesn’t get used.  At any rate, that’s 2.


Classroom: Upon arriving at the classroom at the end of the school mini-dungeon, the Nahobino witnesses a scene in which Sahori threatens her bullies, and delivers a short speech to them which makes it clear that she’s not going to grant them the mercy that they’re begging for.  And boy does he witness it.  He witnesses the hell out of this scene.  Keep your Schrodingerian cats far away if you value their ambiguity, because our hero is going on an observational rampage over here!

Now granted, the Nahobino actually does make an attempt to do something about this situation a minute later...but that’s only AFTER Lahmu has shown up and can thus adequately take steps to stop him.  For the full time that Sahori was talking, making it clear that she intended to kill the hostages before her, our protagonist had a clear, unimpeded shot at getting to and restraining her without any interference whatsoever.  There was every opportunity through Sahori’s entire speech to remove her and thus completely resolve this situation and save the lives of all involved.  The protagonist specifically waited to act until Lahmu was back on the scene and able to foil his efforts.

Maybe our guy just believes in fair play to an absolute fault.  Whatever the case, that’s 3.


Final Confrontation: After a prolonged, exceptionally boring slog through Chapter 2’s map involving constantly moving goalposts, hide-and-seek distractions, and fetch-quest delays, the protagonist finally comes upon Lahmu, whose attention is fixed entirely upon Sahori.  Aogami observes that, with Lahmu distracted, they may be able to take him off-guard, once again adding insult to injury as we all know goddamn well by this point that this chucklehead isn’t gonna do anything of the sort.  Once again, the main character is given a choice to either concentrate on saving Sahori, or on killing Lahmu, and once again, neither choice does anything to prevent him from standing there and doing absolutely nothing, as Sahori gets eaten by Lahmu, and Lahmu gets a huge power-up from it.

Maybe the Nahobino’s just got a vore fetish.  Regardless, that’s 4.

...Except, no, hold on.  This shouldn’t just count as only 1 point on our scale.  Because this dumbass isn’t JUST passively watching an anguished teenager get murdered before his eyes.  No, when Tao tries to intervene, our great hero actually reaches out and holds her back.  Yes, the Nahobino is so aggressively committed to inaction that he deliberately prevents others from being proactive and heroic.  Surely that’s worth a bonus half point there, yes?


So that’s 4.5.  An entire 4 separate instances of conflict with the same villain, all during the span of a single chapter, in which the hero of this game conspicuously just stands around and lets bad things happen in front of him, and an extra half point for the fact that he even forces his inertness upon others who might otherwise have made some kind of effort to save lives.  Even considering the puzzling inclination that RPG characters naturally have for listlessly watching the world go to shit around them, that’s the kind of poor writing that really stands out.

And remember: this idle, mindless watcher is the same guy that a resurrected Tao later decides to support for godhood, endorsing him on the grounds that he was "the only one who tried to help Sahori."  What an absolute goddamn joke.  Fuck you, Atlus, don’t piss on my franchise and tell me it’s raining.