Seven Kingdoms - The Characters
Wednesday, 29 July 2015 13:14![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lea_hazelI have played so much of Seven Kingdoms: The Princess Problem (or "7KPP" as the fandom fondly refers to it) in the last 9-10 days, it is faintly embarrassing. Okay, more than faintly. I've been using the game as a kind of comfort food substitute and I'll admit it's been damaging my productivity (but not, as you'll see, my creativity). The upside to this is, I have a lot more to say on the subject, as I predicted I would in my first proper review. I now even have a special Tumblr tag, black-list-able, for all the spam I post while I'm in the middle of a new playthrough. I have hundreds of savegames. I've unlocked 63 achievements -- not all of them, but a lot.
The game has its ups and downs. Overall, I'd say there are a lot more ups than downs, but I am saying this especially because this is just a demo -- albeit a longer, more complex and fascinating, and far more replayable demo than about half the full games I've played. Part of my positivity relies on the assumption that the full game (or even the alpha, which I will get access to, come hell or high water) will satisfactorily resolve some of the taunting mysteries, confirm some of the suspicions that the fandom has been harboring, deliver a resolution both political and romantic, fix most of the typos, and have a much better interface. So no pressure.
Later, I will write a post about the taunting mysteries. Right now, I want to talk about one of the game's major draws: the characters. I previously did a quick rundown of my overall impressions of the delegates here, on my Tumblr. These are mostly powerfully emotional gut reactions, based more on my observations as a player than on any sort of analysis. So now I want to discuss the characters at more length.
The characters are easily divided into four formal groups: the delegates, who are a big group of young, unmarried nobility looking to forge political alliances through state marriage; the chaperons who are meant to supervise and mediate, but who all have their own hidden agendas; and finally, the staff, who include servants recruited from elsewhere, as well as the island's faintly-mystical, ambiguously-inhuman natives.
In accordance with the twisted fairy tale theme that rather subtly underlies the game's lore, the seven nations (not all of them formally kingdoms) send seven delegates each, with the goal of forming seven marriage alliances and preserving the fragile peace in the region for another seven years. Most of the delegates are faceless, nameless nobodies who only pop up in shadow silhouette long enough to stir some trouble and then disappear. Aside from the playable main character (henceforth: MC), there are thirteen named delegates who play a significant role. Hmmm.
Some of the characters, like Duke Lyon and Princess Anaele, exist to begin with to validate stereotypes about their respective nations. Ana is a fierce warrior with a blunt and direct manner, badly out of place among the refined manners and underhanded political machinations, but boldly uncaring. Lyon is a brilliant but socially maladapted scholar who just wants to be left out of this whole mess, and has to be drawn out of his shell before he will agree to make conversation. Fortunately, neither the nations nor the representative characters remain at the strict stereotype level. Like most of the delegates, these are characters with a clear vision of their future and powerful ethically-driven motivations.
Other characters are built in opposition to the stereotypes that govern their nations. Both of these factors are very important early character-building blocks. This is, after all, a diplomacy sim, and every character is first and foremost a representative of their respective societies -- like it or not. We are, all of us, a product of our environment. The game never ceases to remind you of this, which is a plus in my book. The delegates are defined first by how they function in a social political context. For one thing, they are introduced by their titles. Four of the delegates are the heirs, formal or presumed, to their nations' leaders. Ana reminds you, at the very beginning of her first dialogue, of the pressures of living under the shadow of a famous parent.
Status, power, etiquette and violence are the most prominent constants apparent in the characterization choices, and in the game as a whole. As a function of political power, personal ethics, and a capacity for violence either directly or through manipulation, many of the delegates could be described as dangerous -- exceedingly so, even. Danger manifests in many ways. The royal siblings of Revaire are pegged from the very beginning as coming from a dangerous family, what with their royal line having been founded only twenty years previous in a bloody coup, and also their general physical similarity to Targaryens, fantasy's platinum standard for corrupt nobility.
They are very different from each other. Gisette is brilliant and calculating, and her power lies in manipulation and in getting other people to do her dirty work for her. She's completely deplorable and I'm not embarrassed to say I find her delightful. On the other hand, Jarrod gives every impression of being a common brute. He's not very clever, completely unsubtle, and though he pursues his goals with the same brutal, single-minded intent as the rest of his family... he's just not very good at it. Power and privilege do not a mastermind make.
But if Jarrod wants to murder the MC (and let's face it, who doesn't?) he's more likely to go about it in a straightforward way. The game makes a point of noting his physical strength and combat training. Then again, as I mentioned, on Vail Isle the MC is constantly surrounded by powerful, dangerous people. The Prince might badly want to slit the heroine's throat, but he's not likely to succeed at it. Both siblings are terrifying, but Gisette is clearly the more objectively dangerous. At least, as far as my impressions go, from the first three weeks of the game. It would take a lot to change my mind, though.
Parenthetical aside: It seems impossible, these days, that any fantasy work should escape comparison to Game of Thrones. For a diplomacy sim, this is probably truer than most. While the subject came up I did try to restrain myself, and I honestly think it's used more as a visual metaphor than as a deeper motivational force for the characters in question. The dynamics are simply too different.
If the Revaire Princess is the most dangerous of the delegates, the second most dangerous is probably Avalie. Now, this is interesting, because Avalie is from Jiyel, a nation which according to game lore most values intelligence. Duke Lyon, mentioned above, is every bit the stereotypical nerd you'd expect from this setup. But Avalie is different, and her presence brings a little more depth to the worldbuilding, and allows this national stereotype to start to resemble a viable political philosophy. Intelligence, after all, comes in many shapes and forms. Sometimes in the shape of agiant troll clever young lady with a gift for ferreting out people's secrets. And then using those secrets to toy with their emotions. Apparently for fun.
Yes, it's my fervent belief that Avalie took the test and joined the delegation because she was bored at home. She already knew everyone's secrets and she was getting tired of being surrounded by people who couldn't hope to ever keep up with her. Being the rational Jiyel noblewoman that she is, she reasoned that a peace summit of the best and brightest of the seven kingdoms would be a good place for her to hunt for a playmate. And if you're sufficiently insightful and politically savvy,you your MC can be that playmate. This is where I stop making sense and start making heart-eyes at the computer screen.
This post is already over a thousand words long, so maybe I should try to wrap up -- even though I have only begun to scratch the surface and haven't even spoken about most of the characters. I suppose I really can discuss this game for hours -- if not days. The other day I discussed my love of cold-hearted women, so I focused a bit more on Gisette and Avalie, who fit that description, at the expense of many other characters who don't. I could go on (...and on...) but I'll wrap up and maybe later I'll make a post about the ethics of the game, and the characters who best embody these ethics.
So there you have it. Avalie is my very favorite and I think I would gladly play and replay the game just for her. Fortunately, there are plenty of other draws, enough to compensate for the literal pain of the temporary interface.
The game has its ups and downs. Overall, I'd say there are a lot more ups than downs, but I am saying this especially because this is just a demo -- albeit a longer, more complex and fascinating, and far more replayable demo than about half the full games I've played. Part of my positivity relies on the assumption that the full game (or even the alpha, which I will get access to, come hell or high water) will satisfactorily resolve some of the taunting mysteries, confirm some of the suspicions that the fandom has been harboring, deliver a resolution both political and romantic, fix most of the typos, and have a much better interface. So no pressure.
Later, I will write a post about the taunting mysteries. Right now, I want to talk about one of the game's major draws: the characters. I previously did a quick rundown of my overall impressions of the delegates here, on my Tumblr. These are mostly powerfully emotional gut reactions, based more on my observations as a player than on any sort of analysis. So now I want to discuss the characters at more length.
The characters are easily divided into four formal groups: the delegates, who are a big group of young, unmarried nobility looking to forge political alliances through state marriage; the chaperons who are meant to supervise and mediate, but who all have their own hidden agendas; and finally, the staff, who include servants recruited from elsewhere, as well as the island's faintly-mystical, ambiguously-inhuman natives.
In accordance with the twisted fairy tale theme that rather subtly underlies the game's lore, the seven nations (not all of them formally kingdoms) send seven delegates each, with the goal of forming seven marriage alliances and preserving the fragile peace in the region for another seven years. Most of the delegates are faceless, nameless nobodies who only pop up in shadow silhouette long enough to stir some trouble and then disappear. Aside from the playable main character (henceforth: MC), there are thirteen named delegates who play a significant role. Hmmm.
Some of the characters, like Duke Lyon and Princess Anaele, exist to begin with to validate stereotypes about their respective nations. Ana is a fierce warrior with a blunt and direct manner, badly out of place among the refined manners and underhanded political machinations, but boldly uncaring. Lyon is a brilliant but socially maladapted scholar who just wants to be left out of this whole mess, and has to be drawn out of his shell before he will agree to make conversation. Fortunately, neither the nations nor the representative characters remain at the strict stereotype level. Like most of the delegates, these are characters with a clear vision of their future and powerful ethically-driven motivations.
Other characters are built in opposition to the stereotypes that govern their nations. Both of these factors are very important early character-building blocks. This is, after all, a diplomacy sim, and every character is first and foremost a representative of their respective societies -- like it or not. We are, all of us, a product of our environment. The game never ceases to remind you of this, which is a plus in my book. The delegates are defined first by how they function in a social political context. For one thing, they are introduced by their titles. Four of the delegates are the heirs, formal or presumed, to their nations' leaders. Ana reminds you, at the very beginning of her first dialogue, of the pressures of living under the shadow of a famous parent.
"You shake your head no, but say sometimes the pressures put on us by our families can be universal. It wasn't hard to picture that things must be difficult for her."
Status, power, etiquette and violence are the most prominent constants apparent in the characterization choices, and in the game as a whole. As a function of political power, personal ethics, and a capacity for violence either directly or through manipulation, many of the delegates could be described as dangerous -- exceedingly so, even. Danger manifests in many ways. The royal siblings of Revaire are pegged from the very beginning as coming from a dangerous family, what with their royal line having been founded only twenty years previous in a bloody coup, and also their general physical similarity to Targaryens, fantasy's platinum standard for corrupt nobility.
They are very different from each other. Gisette is brilliant and calculating, and her power lies in manipulation and in getting other people to do her dirty work for her. She's completely deplorable and I'm not embarrassed to say I find her delightful. On the other hand, Jarrod gives every impression of being a common brute. He's not very clever, completely unsubtle, and though he pursues his goals with the same brutal, single-minded intent as the rest of his family... he's just not very good at it. Power and privilege do not a mastermind make.
But if Jarrod wants to murder the MC (and let's face it, who doesn't?) he's more likely to go about it in a straightforward way. The game makes a point of noting his physical strength and combat training. Then again, as I mentioned, on Vail Isle the MC is constantly surrounded by powerful, dangerous people. The Prince might badly want to slit the heroine's throat, but he's not likely to succeed at it. Both siblings are terrifying, but Gisette is clearly the more objectively dangerous. At least, as far as my impressions go, from the first three weeks of the game. It would take a lot to change my mind, though.
Parenthetical aside: It seems impossible, these days, that any fantasy work should escape comparison to Game of Thrones. For a diplomacy sim, this is probably truer than most. While the subject came up I did try to restrain myself, and I honestly think it's used more as a visual metaphor than as a deeper motivational force for the characters in question. The dynamics are simply too different.
If the Revaire Princess is the most dangerous of the delegates, the second most dangerous is probably Avalie. Now, this is interesting, because Avalie is from Jiyel, a nation which according to game lore most values intelligence. Duke Lyon, mentioned above, is every bit the stereotypical nerd you'd expect from this setup. But Avalie is different, and her presence brings a little more depth to the worldbuilding, and allows this national stereotype to start to resemble a viable political philosophy. Intelligence, after all, comes in many shapes and forms. Sometimes in the shape of a
Yes, it's my fervent belief that Avalie took the test and joined the delegation because she was bored at home. She already knew everyone's secrets and she was getting tired of being surrounded by people who couldn't hope to ever keep up with her. Being the rational Jiyel noblewoman that she is, she reasoned that a peace summit of the best and brightest of the seven kingdoms would be a good place for her to hunt for a playmate. And if you're sufficiently insightful and politically savvy,
This post is already over a thousand words long, so maybe I should try to wrap up -- even though I have only begun to scratch the surface and haven't even spoken about most of the characters. I suppose I really can discuss this game for hours -- if not days. The other day I discussed my love of cold-hearted women, so I focused a bit more on Gisette and Avalie, who fit that description, at the expense of many other characters who don't. I could go on (...and on...) but I'll wrap up and maybe later I'll make a post about the ethics of the game, and the characters who best embody these ethics.
So there you have it. Avalie is my very favorite and I think I would gladly play and replay the game just for her. Fortunately, there are plenty of other draws, enough to compensate for the literal pain of the temporary interface.
no subject
2015-07-29 13:56 (UTC)I love this demo. So much. You're right that it has ups and downs, but I think that the ups are both more frequent and stronger than the downs. I may be biased, though. This game brightens my life every time I play it. I laugh and I giggle and I get swept up in just the (fairly unpolished) demo alone. I have little coherence (yet) because I'm too busy being delighted at the whole thing and making new discoveries.
no subject
2015-07-29 19:04 (UTC)no subject
2015-07-29 19:14 (UTC)no subject
2015-07-29 20:06 (UTC)no subject
2015-08-01 01:11 (UTC)She says something really interesting at dessert if you compliment the chefs that I think sheds a lot of light on her character: that it's nice that you're able to view other people's talents with admiration rather than with envy. The core of her character seems to be that she's a naturally very envious person who has given up fighting it and accepted it as the driving force of her life. Hence her respect and rivalry stats so frequently raising together.
no subject
2015-08-01 13:05 (UTC)