The second expansion to Fire Emblem Heroes releases tonight. On my birthday.
Considering this is the only video game I've played for the last two years I'm fucking pumped

The symbolism in this trailer is really esoteric so I won't get too into all of it but lemme tell you this is fucking awesome
Fire Emblem Heroes is based on the Nine Realms of Norse Mythology. The world it's set in is called Zennith and it's essentially taking the role of Yggdrassil symbolically. The last book was about a conflict between Nifl the kingdom of Ice and Muspel the Kingdom of Fire. The franchise has always used Norse/Slavik mythology motifs, but Heroes takes it almost literally. This expansion will be focused on Hel, and death. Which is a really loaded subject for this setting!

Fire Emblem Heroes is a Gacha game where you can get characters from all the Fire Emblem Franchise, living or dead. The main characters even address alternate universes overtly by saying "Oh, another Askran kingdom. Tell me, is there another me here?" when visiting your friends' castles. Up until the last three months it's been nothing more than a novelty explanation for why we as the summoner can get doppelgangers of the same character, or summon dead characters. HOWEVER! They've been using more solipsistic themes since Book II and really using the subtext of dreams/fantasy/illusions.

Maybe I'm barking up the wrong tree by saying this, but I enjoy solipsistic stories the best. I've got a lot of reason to interpret this game that way, but I wont get into a long essay about why. I'll focus on just this video. The lyrics suggest "sacrificing another self" and "return to life". Which are cheeky, and loaded with multiple meanings.

The way I see it, our avatar character in Fire Emblem Heroes is named Kiran, and they are the summoner. You summon heroes to use in battle. Everyone likes you and open their heart up to you freely and a reward for getting a unit max level is a confession from the Hero to you. Kiran does not have any dialogue, there is no story. You are the Summoner and anyone you Summon treats you like their best friend. This game relies a lot on your imagination and uses it's assets to suggest to you what kind of character and voice each Hero has. This one-sided relationship really speaks to me. You, as the Summoner, are essentially just reflecting on these personalities. Using them like puppets to battle.

The symbolism of blue butterflies and flowers dying in the intro speaks loudly to me. Butterflies are synonymous with Personas. They represent rebirth of an ego, becoming something else. Where flowers represent personal growth and gentle beauty. The comforts of a garden full of personalities and personal growth dying, as the happiness in the face of this young girl vanishes when her mother embraces her. Seeing her inner world in conflict as the Heroes characters struggle with these new antagonists while she grieves is very touching. Especially when she points a knife at her mother and the lyrics say "Return to life."

Return to life being an absolutely killer word choice, there. As it's my belief that the subtext of all solipsistic stories/video games are telling their audience "You do not need to escape, you have the power inside yourself, meet life head on, you can succeed if you believe strongly enough." Since the reason many people turn to fantasy is for an escapism. Which makes the theme of "Your self is the only one you can truly know" so compelling for a protagonist. I've enjoyed stories tailored for that specific narrative since watching Mr. Robot years ago, but I've enjoyed interpreting ALL stories that way, since, and I find I get a lot of entertainment out of that.

Of course you can make the argument that no media company would be trying to make you stop consuming, you'd be absolutely right. However, the need for fantasy and escapism is a very infantile compulsion. Maturity results in confronting your problems, not just personal problems but the problems in your family, your community, in your work, in your government. That is the way of being an adult who asserts their place in the world, peacefully.

To stay in wonderland is very tempting... And there may never be a time in your life where you leave it behind you forever. But there are times when staying in dreams will obstruct your life, your health, and your business. When escapism is the only solution you know, is where it becomes a problem. You become addicted to escape. You become addicted to putting on masks and pretending to be someone else, because being who you are would require you confront people you wish you never had to. Someone like family. More than that, even if you confront those you hoped you never had to, you may need to continue confronting them time and time again.

...

I look forward to this expansion over the year to come. I hope you don't mind my fan-boying out. The symbolism speaks to me, intimately. Thanks for your time. If you find you enjoy stories such as I do, please feel free to talk to me about them. Or anything like that. Take care. ♥