Berwick Saga, the incredible non-sequel by any means to Tear Ring Saga and… idk how to describe how much I loved and hated it. This is by no means a post about how the game is peak jank and, honestly, the hardest game I’ve ever played(maybe, it's weird). This post wants to discuss a take on how Berwick Saga talks about misogyny(kinda), our relationship with our roles… and honestly just talk bits about Kaga’s narratives and ambitions so stick with me for a moment.
A humble beginning filled with ambitions
First of all I need to introduce the man himself. Shouzou Kaga is a man of high ambitions, anyone that played the games of his authorship could attest to that. From his early works in Fire Emblem 1 it is known how much he felt trapped by the limitations of the Famicom, wanting to include CGs or just more story events, this trend while getting better with the following games should never be said it came to a full realization under his time at Intelligent Systems. The amount of discarded content FE4, Genealogy of the Holy War, has is absurd and a testament that his ambitions kept growing further. What would he do if he could do so?
Kaga left Nintendo. The entire situation is honestly too dire and by no means what this blog wants to discuss in the first place. I just want to make a last mention on how Genealogy of the Holy War is quite possibly the most ambitious game in the Super Famicom and his decision to leave IS was between all problems one motivated by his passion for his narratives and spectacles.
Seemingly realized dream
Enterbrain joins the stage. Kaga quickly went and made Tear Ring Saga alongside Enterbrain, a game by no means lacking of his previous mark. TRS features so much content in itself, not only with its replayability and many variants a run could have in its 40 chapter length, in its maps design now taking approaches to military tactics in how to approach the enemies(stated in previous interviews) but also in It’s giant story and massive cast. While there are elements that one could trace back to his first works there is no doubt in my mind Tear Ring Saga's cast is the greatest leap taken compared to his previous games. The sheer amount of events and characterization dedicated to all members to different degrees show how much he felt limited by the previous software, one could describe this epic as Kaga's dream game, a strong story about heroes that need to contront their positions and pick a role in the world and their own happiness while dealing with many conflicts bound by a past that led to absurd discrimination and persecution against sons that were no longer related to a crime. Which brings me to...
What was the point of it all?
In previous works Kaga had these thematic threads of the next generation taking place, the understanding of the past and the role the world imposed upon us seemingly as if it was destiny. They were to a degree very tominoesque narratives if i had to describe them somehow, and to a degree while could be read as stories of good vs evil they weren't satisfied in doing so. Sigurd dying at the end of the first generation of FE4 feels like such a declaration in retrospect, not only in how those stories end in what was really a prologue for the actual game but also in an examination of roles for Seliph, just like all heroes he made, needs to understand what even sparked the conflict and not to blame just who is the current villain. This trend will remain a constant of his works going forward and obviously remain in TRS with its antagonists being victims pushed to the limit once more due to the cycles of violence that put the entire world at risk that these stories seem to embrace so much. But what if his ambition was something more? Or rather, what would happen if the story was centered around a lower scope conflict.
Changing the point of view
Berwick Saga enters the stage and falls in some of these previously mentioned thematic threads but the focus it has as a story is rather different, going more for a low scale human war drama where the main group reside inside a capital doing lower tasks rather than a massive full scale heroism tale like on previous times where our heroes are the reason why the change could start in the first place, changes the way these ideas are touched.
The best way to explain how this focus changed the way these themes were approached is to look first at Reese, our “main hero” to say the least. Reese follows a seemingly already-seen path of a Kaga hero, a “royal” prince, as he is just the son of a commoner that got the title of duke of a small area due to his achievements, that has to go from an underdog to gain his status once again in the capital as someone able to support the empire in its mission, and in a way the game is conscious of that. With each new achievement the figure of Reese is started to be perceived less like a knight that came to give assistance and more like a hero of legend like his companions Lord Vester and Lord Vanmillion. However Reese has a big flaw, along with many of those characters in high ranks. Reese is unable to properly comprehend a woman.
Berwick is a story solved by matriarchy
If you know the end of the story you know what this is referencing if not I'M SO SORRY... returning to the point, in a weird vein Kaga explores the relationship between males that try to follow the way of an ideal knight with its values and principles to a fault and their inability to properly communicate with women and their consequences. Berwick has multiple moments where male characters end up either consciously or subconsciously burning bridges with women that are dear to them. We see how characters can believe a woman could be so easily swayed and emotionally manipulated by an evil man as if nothing just to be shocked at the fact the emotionally manipulated were them. Characters that for being cold and strict alike to what is expected of their roles hurt other people, especially the ones dear to them and leave them vulnerable to others. There are 2 characters that join mercenary jobs and knighthood just to find that this gender battle, trying to fit in said ideals, just shows their inferiority complex at the fact that they are women unable to comprehend such a male world of supposed coldness and the need to prove themselves constantly. Perhaps the ideal of knighthood is one of doom.
This is not the first time he talks about these relationships and women hurting themselves trying to stick to these roles. TearRing Saga had Kate and Enteh as an example. Characters that effectively ended up being hurt by their relationships with knights and their mentality sticking to a role unable of seeing themselves outside of it for their happiness. Obviously if you played TRS you would know how these stories end and can see how some of those ideas that have spanned throughout multiple games ended in BWS in what honestly feels like the greatest iteration of Kaga’s takes on the role of each individual.
Everyone is brought to the world with a role, perhaps by the hand of a divine being or by society itself. Said role, whatever that may be, is not a given though. Not understanding the implications of said role can bring upon you and people dear to you sadness and pain. This is nothing new in his games, Lewyn on FE4 or Reinhardt in Thracia776 are examples of this idea and different results on it where the lack of acceptance of a position or the opposite, not questioning it, brought doom to their lives. BWS is not different in this regard but it goes by the approach of post neglecting said understanding. As an example the entire Ruby story is her wish to achieve knighthood as a result of how her dad falling into depression after losing his wife made him forfeit his role and turn into a mercenary. It’s effectively a story about a dad turning down her daughter out of fear of losing her too in the worst possible ways and how he can’t cope with his position as a knight compared to all he lost.
It’s so ironic how the strongest and most mature character in the entire game ends up being your secretary. Many of those people in high positions end up being emotionally unstable or too attached to an ideal they keep hurting people dear to them without them knowing. At the end the thesis really ends on how said ideals of positions like kings and knights really hurt people by mistake and align others to paths that will hurt them for not being able to attain those values. And perhaps those values just minimize others and end up hurting both parties.
As weird as the thought of a Kaga game dealing with misogyny could be, it encompasses part of what makes Berwick his best narrative. He seems to love portraying romanticized ideas of knighthood, yet condemns people that stick to said role so naturally as if story isn't built in people like that condemning others.
