What can we learn from Stormblood?
As November creeps upon us, we approach the release of the highly anticipated Final Fantasy 14: Endwalker expansion. Final Fantasy 14: A Realm Reborn has grown to be a critically acclaimed Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG) since its re-release in 2013, sitting at over 32 million active players at the time of this article. Given its rising popularity, and with the shared disappointments towards Final Fantasy 14’s rival in the MMORPG market World of Warcraft along with the previous award-winning Shadowbringers expansion, the game is seeing a shocking increase in players to the point of uncontrollable server crowding in the past few months. Given the rising interests of MMORPG enjoyers towards Final Fantasy 14, it is no surprise that Endwalker will fundamentally shape and lead to a developmental shift of MMORPGs and gamers in 2021. Despite the excitement towards Endwalker, there is worry concerning the representation of cultural narratives, how these may play out and further a sense of otherness, and how they might perpetuate Orientalist ideas as a norm for millions of players.
Current Endwalker footage presents several settings referred to as the “Near East”, with the primary city-state of Radz-at-Han consisting of “ornate buildings” which “boast vibrant hues.” Similarly, current descriptions from the official website and promotional content indicate the importance of Radz-at-Han’s locally-produced textile. Alongside the problematic and surface-level cultural characterizations of a sort of “bustling-market-environment” (not in the Kantian “spirit of commerce” kind of way), there are strangely borrowed cultural integrations in the quest-givers or Non-Playable Characters (NPCs).
For example, the main beast-tribe questline involves a tribe of elephants that wear sarees. Although this may seem like a blatant real-life rip-off and insensitive Orientalist-derived concept similar to the notorious inaccurate cultural fusion witnessed in the film Aladdin, Final Fantasy 14 is no stranger to cultural themes through story-driven content in its fantasy world of Hydaelyn. Rather, Final Fantasy 14’s cultural narratives have gone deeper than borrowing for aesthetics, exploring harsh cultural realities and clashes in a fictional video game world.
Previously, the Stormblood expansion which was based on what may seem like superficial concepts of Central Asia heavily emphasized themes of Ala-Mhigo’s liberation from the oppressive and colonial Garlean Empire in a somewhat Fanonian fashion. Although Stormblood’s political narratives may fly over the head of a typical gamer who is just trying to get through their Omega raids and score a minion or some glamours, the story explores power dynamics, specifically highlighting the characterization of Ala-Mhigans as people who require civilization and must step away from their practices, religion, and identity in favour of the “universal” Garlean identity. Ala-Mhigans have a shared understanding of their potential to revolt against the Garleans, sharing a sentiment towards the anti-colonial revolution. Similarly, the story explores the reality of the colonized “in-betweeners,” who are Ala-Mhigans that have sworn allegiance and duty to the Garlean Empire. Still, they cling on to false promises of ascending to a higher class in the Garlean Empire.
In these political narratives, Stormblood seemingly borrows from ideas presented by Frantz Fanon in The Wretched of the Earth, specifically involving attitudes toward the colonizer and the role of the “lumpenproletariat.” Fanon explores the responsibility each generation has to discover and fight for national culture, a theme heavily emphasized by the leading Ala-Mhigan character, Lyse, during several of her dialogues. Lyse emphasizes the duty she owes to her people given her family’s direct intergenerational involvement in Ala-Mhigo’s liberation, expressing the restrictive grasp the Garlean Empire has on the freedom of expression in Ala-Mhigan culture. Fanon specifically highlights strength in national culture in The Wretched of the Earth, concluding that there cannot be a national culture with the presence of “colonial domination.”
Although these references may not be perfect in certain places within Stormblood (with exaggerated concepts of what it means to be uncivil from a satirical interpretation of nomadic communities further into areas of the Azim Steppe), there are efforts by developer Square Enix to create a story displaying realities of the oppressive perception in all its harshness. Despite this effort, it is fundamental to hold a developer as large as Square Enix accountable for accuracy, and that they stray away from inconsistencies when they are so clearly borrowing from an existing culture or struggle. The average gamer may not be able to critically separate meaningful representations of culture from satire.
Given the story-based nature of Final Fantasy 14, there are ways of producing cultural and historical recognition, even if it comes from a fictional city-state and world. Despite these efforts towards creating an informed storyline which is sensitive to the harsh realities faced by cultures and can move beyond mere aesthetic borrowing, there are still some shortcomings that may create problematic and unnecessary representations of culture as witnessed in the current Orientalism in current game footage. Although Final Fantasy 14 does not mention the cultures from which they are borrowing from, they make it obvious. This comes with a responsibility of fair and consulted representation given the resources possessed by Square Enix. This can have a lasting impact, given that for many players these interpretations and borrowings may be their first intimate explorations of certain cultures they might not witness in their everyday life. Given the rising player base and lasting impact an expansion like Endwalker might have, Square Enix has a responsibility to ensure accuracy and meaningful dialogue to ensure places like Radz-at-Han are not just a mockery of the cultures and nations that inspired them.
In terms of what we can anticipate from Endwalker, and the inspiration from our real-world cultures, we can only give a fair review and weigh the importance of concepts explored in the story, along with cultural integrations, following its ultimate release on 23 November 2021.