I Am Setsuna: The Snow, Sorrow, and Qualities that Humanity Should Show
I just finished a game called I Am Setsuna, published by Square Enix and developed by the Tokyo RPG Factory. I chose to start this game because it has a unique ambiance that reminds me of the essential elements of JRPG.
I can say that I kinda understand the hype back when it was about to launch in 2016. As a hopeless JRPG romantic, I Am Setsuna’s trailer showed me everything I need to stay in love with JRPG, amidst the ever-changing JRPG and western RPG elements.
It showcased its 3D sprites with a detailed environment, a classic turn-based battle system with a touch of contemporary graphic art in its effect. The layered snows of the world it sets in, the slow, relaxing, orchestral BGM, the NPCs, the weapons, and more.
The Snow of Sorrow
I was intrigued, and five years later, I finally got to play it. I also decided to start this game because of its short gameplay hour, for about 20-something hours of the main story. Why, you asked? Because, one, I’m having a hard time committing to a long gameplay hour; two, I get bored easily even to something I like; three, as I’m getting older, there’s this urge to finish or complete things that will give me these small feeling of accomplishments that I have to hold onto just for the sake of living a little longer, including in gaming. Okay, that just got serious really quick, anyways.
So, with all those self-validated reasons to choose I Am Setsuna, I decided to dive in and play it. During the whole playthrough, I used my earpieces to really enjoy the music in the hope of getting absorbed into the world, as many gaming forums said to do.
I was very impressed with the details of the sound effect. The steps, the trees, the snowy breeze, etc. Yet, these many layers of sound didn’t wreck my focus in playing the game as a whole, instead, they were making harmonies.
I feel like every aspect of the game has its own role in building the perfect world design the developer trying to deliver. In Japan, the game is titled “Ikenie To Yuki No Setsuna” in which the yuki itself means snow, and Setsuna is inspired by the Japanese term, setsunai, which I then learned the meaning as sorrowful feeling.
From the title itself, I can understand how they want to convey a story of sorrow in a world where the people have to live side by side with everlasting coldness and blue ambiance from the snow. It all supports sorrow as the main emotion of the storyline that they’re trying to tell.
The 3D sprites remind me so much of the Final Fantasy IV 3D remake that I played last year, in the same month, at the same place and sitting position. What shocked me was the fact that they don’t use voice acting in the dialogue. But they did use it in-battle for each character as their battle cry.
Maybe they did this to remind players about JRPG in the PSX era, which mostly didn’t have voice acting and only dotted sound of the dialogue while it types instead. Their artistic decision was perfect as it gives off such a simple, yet harmonious theme.
The Story in Logic
When it comes to the storyline, I love emotion-before-logic stories that got me crying before sleep at night. Unfortunately, I Am Setsuna tends to annoy me rather than hitting me with the obvious angst they’re trying to sell. For me, it was just too… pious.
So, the story was about a girl named Setsuna who is designated as a human sacrifice for a ceremony that might suppress the wave of monsters that are harmful to people in the world — in Setsuna’s world at least. The ceremony has been held for years with many women of age being sent as a sacrifice in a different year.
Setsuna is a faithful sacrifice that took her duty as seriously as it could be, which made her dutiful and stay true to her fate. Heck, I am even convinced that maybe it’s her whole personality, not just as a sacrifice.
There is no hint of anger or repulsion at all within her. She’s all about second chances, forgiveness, and trust, to the point it’s enough to be called stupid. She even tried to negotiate with a monster, for god’s sake.
I feel like this game’s main idea is about how humanity can be used to stop the wickedness of the world. Setsuna, as the representation of humanity itself, sacrifices herself to stop the monsters from going havoc so the people can live safely. This really gave off a huge ‘humanity will save the world’ moment. But, were Setsuna’s natures realistically representing the quality of humanity?
Was humanity originally supposed to have that quality, or was that just some constructed idealism that people longed for? Was Setsuna a product of brainwashing conservatives and idealists? Or did she have a martyr complex? Well, this game is too short to explain the depth and answer all that. Besides, those questions are so out of place when it comes to a game with an emotion-before-logic type of story.
I think forgiveness is necessary to move on and embrace the things that had been done to you that require forgiveness. Though, you’ll never forget it anyway. As for second chances, I don’t think it can be applied to all situations. For me, to provide a second chance itself requires a great amount of trust, which we might have to salvage from the people that did us wrong. Setsuna, on the other hand, can and will give it to anyone she encounters.
So, in the end, I don’t really think that we can force ourselves to be logical when talking about Setsuna’s story. Maybe, the story was made as a refuge for us who suffer and witness very little humanity act in this ever-decreasing humanity world we live in.
