I have always found the musical city of Tunlan in the Breath of Fire series to be fascinating. The town’s musical theme in Breath of Fire II is remarkably brilliant.

This post will theoretically examine this town on the basis of symbolic and semiotic themes. Tunlan is a town that appears in Breath of Fire and Breath of Fire II, but this post will focus its analysis on Tunlan in Breath of Fire II. This town is unique because it is primarily, though not entirely, inhabited by women. Additionally, most of the women are playing musical instruments, and the setting combines a tropical environment with palm trees.

Semiotics can be defined as the theory of signs and symbols, though it is not exclusive to video games. Frederic Seraphine defines semiotics as the study of signs and their ability to create meaning (Seraphine, 2013). Anything that can be interpreted as a sign is related to semiotics, and a sign can function as a substitute for something else (Mazlan & Roslan, 2017).

This article will apply some of the components of semiotics to the world of Breath of Fire II and, in particular, the musical city of Tunlan.

A majority of the residents in Tunlan are women, and many of them are playing the flute. The flute and musical ability function as symbols of social belonging and of being able to speak a type of language unknown to outsiders. At one point in the story of Breath of Fire II, the characters are unable to understand the residents of Tunlan. This is due to not having an instrument, and thus the party must travel to another town called Highfort. Highfort is the home of the character Sten, and once the party defeats the demon-inspired general Shupkay, they are able to obtain the famous Highland Flute. This flute functions as a symbol for breaking the communication barrier, as the group is now able to communicate with the residents of Tunlan.

Being able to communicate through music is a sign of insider status within the town of Tunlan. Thus, outsiders cannot communicate with the residents of Tunlan until they obtain the Highland Flute. Furthermore, this town can be interpreted as a representation of a utopia, or at least a highly advanced and ideal society compared to other towns and villages in Breath of Fire II. Tunlan is one of the few cities in the game that the corrupt Church of St. Eva has not successfully infiltrated. The church nearly succeeded in corrupting an imposter and influencing him to take control of the castle town of SimaFort. Additionally, in other towns throughout the game, the party must defeat individuals who have fallen under demonic influence and resolve local power struggles. Tunlan, however, remains a relatively pure and isolated town, separated from much of the main conflict of the story.

Apart from the music, the matriarchal nature of Tunlan is noteworthy. Tunlan is the only major town in Breath of Fire II that is ruled by a woman. Other cities, such as Windia and SimaFort, have traditional male rulers, whereas Tunlan is governed by a queen. The party must help the Queen of Tunlan after her body becomes corrupted by an excess accumulation of “fat.” Once the party restores the queen, they are given a Therapy Pillow, which allows them to enter the mind of a wise old tree.

As the group advances through the story and creates meaning from rescuing the queen, one could interpret this narrative as carrying a moral lesson about avoiding excessive indulgence and gluttony. Amy Green argues:

“It might be argued that in other forms of storytelling, the meaning of the story has already been created, whereas the digital text, even one that exists in a form offering no choices to the player, is still inherently a negotiated space. The player, via his or her agency, advances through that negotiated space to both glean and help create narrative meaning” (Green, 2017, p. 37).

The player can create his or her own meaning from solving the quest of Tunlan and becoming an insider within a society where they were once an outsider.

Another aspect of the symbolism of Tunlan could be its femininity and its potential appeal to female video game players. While the overall number of female gamers has increased over the past decade, the statistics are not always consistent across game genres. Aliano (2016) notes that the Entertainment Software Association reported an increase from 38 percent to 48 percent female gamers. However, researchers such as Nick Yee argued that these statistics alone are not particularly useful for determining the appeal of specific game genres.

Discussing this issue, Cecelia D’Anastasio argued:

“Genre and gaming motivation don’t explain gender breakdown with complete accuracy. Yee adds that games with few female players often don’t offer female protagonists or involve playing online with strangers. ‘Low female gamer participation in certain genres may be a historical artifact of how motivations and presentation have been bundled together and marketed’” (D’Anastasio, 2016, para. 232).

These findings suggest that the relationship between gender and video game preferences is more complex than simple demographic statistics might indicate. Rather than assuming that all players are attracted to the same themes and experiences, it may be more useful to examine how different symbols, narratives, and forms of representation resonate with different audiences.

Anecdotally, I have known a number of women who enjoy turn-based role-playing games. I have attended the Distant Worlds concerts, where music from the Final Fantasy series is performed by a live orchestra. There have always been hundreds, if not thousands, of women in attendance. The symbol of a matriarchal society such as Tunlan, much like the largely female cast of Final Fantasy X-2, may represent one example of a setting that some female players find appealing. While it would be difficult to generalize this preference to all women, the existence of a prominent female-led society in Breath of Fire II provides an interesting point of comparison with the male-dominated political structures found elsewhere in the game. In contrast, the leaders of other major states within Breath of Fire II, such as SimaFort, Windia, and the Church of St. Eva, are predominantly male.

Whether or not the developers consciously intended Tunlan to symbolize femininity, the town presents a collection of signs that invite such an interpretation. Its female leadership, musical language, tropical environment, and relative isolation from the corruption affecting the wider world all contribute to its symbolic character. Tunlan is more than simply another town in Breath of Fire II; it is a space that can be interpreted as representing communication, belonging, harmony, and perhaps even an alternative social order centered around feminine authority.

References

Aliano, M. (2016). Women and video games: Gendered barriers to participation. [Complete publication information needed].

D’Anastasio, C. (2016). Article discussing gender participation in video games and Nick Yee’s research. [Complete publication information needed].

Green, A. M. (2017). Storytelling in video games: The art of the digital narrative. McFarland & Company.

Mazlan, J. M., & Roslan, N. N. M. (2017). Semiotic in narrative of video games: A case study of Detention.

Seraphine, F. (2013). The intrinsic semiotics of video-games: In search of games’ narrative potential.