Race for the Name

Entry #4:

Another day on the island for Sora, and Kairi has more supplies for him to gather. While looking for the supplies, Sora comes across a different section of the island where Riku approaches him about their raft’s name. Riku wants to name it Highwind, while Sora (in other words, you) has a different idea.

You are then confronted with a prompt that asks what you’d like the raft to be named. Deciding for “Excalibur,” you pitch the idea to Riku, who seems to disagree. After a bit, you two decide to settle it with “the usual.” Doesn’t take long for you to realize that it is a race, with Kairi judging. If you win the race, the raft keeps your name, Excalibur. But if Riku wins, the raft gets named Highwind.

You go through with the race, jumping across bridges, climbing up ladders and over trees, but the race is fraught with obstacles. Sometimes you fall off the bridge, letting Riku get farther and farther ahead. Or you jump for a tree but miss it, falling back to the ground and having to start over again. By the end of it all, you run for the finish line only to see Riku literally walk across it casually as if he is mocking you.

And he, of course, rubs it in the protagonist’s (your) face all the more. “All right, we’re naming the raft Highwind.” Sora’s expression tells us that he is not amused. Afterward, you approach him again, and see that you can challenge him again if you so wish, and can continue challenging him as many times as it takes to even the score.

Analysis:

Here, Sora once again is faced with a challenge from other characters. Although the first race is not optional for the player, every subsequent race is. And, of course, Kairi is always present at each one. This gives light to the idea that Kairi is the “damsel” (even though she is not quite in distress), and that Sora is fighting Riku for her. Much like how a knight might fight in tournaments for other ladies. One of whom we know so well is Sir Gawain in The Story of the Grail, where he fights for the Maiden with the Short Sleeves, and for apparently no other reason except for that. Sora, here, does have reason, but the likelihood that the idea of “chivalry” or “show of strength” is one of them is quite high. So far, we’ve seen a strong recursion of this idea of chivalry when it comes to Sora – we have yet to see him rescue any actual damsel in distress, but he seems to have that desire to impress Kairi, but his inexperience in comparison to Riku usually puts him at the short end of the stick. However, it is his inexperience that perhaps makes him more relatable, so when we are given our choices, it is much easier to relate to Sora and connect to him in both our choices and lack of experience and knowledge.

This race isn’t particular a choice in the way that one would normally expect it to be – it is more like a test of our ability. However, it is a choice of the players’ in the case that an outcome in the game does make a slight change depending on the result of our actions. How big that change will be is still unclear to the player – but the appeal comes from the player knowing that his or her actions will, one way or another, affect an outcome in the game.

Expectations: Chivalry, Tests

Terms: Recursion