Glenbrook looks to be a government version of "Good on paper, terrible in practice." Glenbrook could work, but the goobers in charge kept kneecaping it time and again.
I always like thé irony of Gleenbrook, who's first presented as " the good kingdom" only to turn into the Empire by invading all it's neighbor. During my game I often laugh at the idea of making Roland supreme emperor of Norzelia, only for that to really happen
Technically though they aren't. They ARE in the best position in the golden ending but a majority of the territory bestowed upon them was meant to be deconstruction of the old governments in place of a united norzelian people, borders would eventually be eased and presumed to be done away with as the territories are told to promote "Norzelians" over Aesfrosti or Hyzantian. While you can interpret this as Glenbrook ruling everyone, I think the intention is more or less to make one super country and eventually establish the 3 rulers of the territory back to their former positions instead of being a nation, are now 3 leaders of the same unified super country.
Neat video! Small nitpick, Gorde Telliore was the original vassal Regna gave a high house to. Silvio was his son and inherited it when he died. This may explain why he’s an opportunist. No loyalty! I like how Glenbrook isn’t just the standard “Good Guy”. While the other nations’ flaws are more obvious, Glenbrook also had to do soul searching. As for Roland, he’s one of my favorite characters mainly because of his character arc. His carefree kind attitude in the beginning, to anger at Gustadolph, to the hopelessness of being King. To becoming strong enough not to run away. He had to be stupid for 10 minutes but he made it in the end and I’m happy for him.
I have to give TS props for showing how someone like Roland, a classic scrappy do-gooding prince, could end up willing to throw away his kingdom and and even a few of his subjects to the wolves for what he believes is the good of the rest of his people… …But under no circumstances am I ever picking the Utility ending.
I feel you are being a bit too harsh on Glenbrook. Keep in mind that Glennbrook was the battlefield in two invasions and the changing of power very quickly back to back. Let's try to break it down. - They were invaded by Aesfrost. - The first prince died. - Their king was "exposed" as corrupt and executed. - Then they had to get used to the new status quo, which they had to adjust to. - Then Hyzante invades and causes massive damage, the severity changes depending on which path you choose. - And immediately after, Royalists go all out in their corrupt dealings and kill people who oppose them. The people of Glenbrook are tired, angry, and just want some stability back for longer than a month before something else happens. The lesson can be attempted to be learned after, but they need breathing space. And this is also why I feel for Roland, despite how he made the absolute dumbest decisions at the end of the story until Serenoa knocked sense into him in the Golden Route. Roland was not ready to bear the responsibilities and never learned how to deal with politics. He was thrust into the weight of being the "last" prince and thus the heir to the Kingdom that he had never wanted. Frankly, I found this realistic. Too many times, stories romanticize characters like Roland where they don't want the throne and end up being the absolute perfect fit. Roland was not. I even felt that Cordelia had more potential because she was suffering so much, but she straight up turned Avlora, the woman who murdered her older brother and caused much devastation in her Kingdom, to her side. The fact that we got to see Roland struggle, break, and have a bit of a fall from grace really highlights the weight of how difficult being a ruler is. Overall, I think you did well explaining just how tricky things in Glenbrook had gotten. And you are correct especially how people tend to think that Kingdoms are the "good guys", and by the same stroke, people also think that "Empires" are evil incarnate.
It feels to me like Roland would be better as the most trusted knight to Queen Cordelia, who clearly doesn’t have the soft touch she looks like and is quite clever in her own right.
TBF Avlora herself was also a puppet, she was a general only in name honestly, she was denied CRUCIAL information to the war effort, she was literally reduced to just a warrior but slightly better (gustadolph literally just told her that her entire purpose is just to swing a sword and win.) She was occasionally insulted by Thalas and Erika, and Cordelia slowly bonded with her over the course of the time with her, and eventually Cordelia did a gambit that Avlora deeply respected due to them both sharing very similar forms of trauma and pain. Avlora saw a piece of herself in Cordelia and realized that Cordelia represents something that calls and appeals to Avlora, a world where nobody is used like a tool or puppet, or must struggle to survive, whilst showing her that she has the conviction, ambition, and determination to see it through. That completely and utterly moves Avlora into being her knight.
Triangle strategy is one of the few rpgs i know of that have the main and final threats just be human. Theres no monsters theres no god to slay none of that. It remains a purely human conflict filled with ploitical intrigue. I kinda wish fire emblem would take a page out of this games book when it comes to story telling. Three houses is the closest it gets. But three houses still has underground mole people and divine dragons shaping the course of history from the shadows.
The Dragon Age reference is interesting considering that Frereldan has a governance system that makes tho nobles and the monarch accountable to the people (to a degree). their western neighbors in the Orlais However, now that's a mess and a half
To be fair, House Telliore is more known for goods rather than warfare. Also, his domain borders Aesfrost. If war broke out, he would crumble regardless.
“To a whole thirty years”. Incorrect; the actual length of the Saltiron War is never specified. It *either* started or ended 30 years prior, but it’s not clear there.
Another thing that TriStrat does that I love, is playing with the SRPG/TRPG traditions of colour-coding: typically blue is our heroes (with white as a secondary complement) red is the villains with black highlights, green is the NPCs and yellow when it appears is Other… In TriStrat, Glenbrook is green, the nominal power but ends up in the middle of three power bases; Aesfrost is red and black, initially framed as the obvious villains but have a depth to them; Hyzante has blue and white, and they look benevolent but are the most broken and corrupt system; and Wolffort, technically a separate entity before the Saltiron War, is yellow/gold. While there’s growing pains that I think Team Asano and ArtDink could work on if this gets an Octopath Traveller type of continuation, there’s a lot of interesting thought in the whole thing…
I always figured the people of Glenbrook was the sad outcome of open corruption. They got used to not being able to do anything, forced to accept whatever their superiors said were right or else... And were so used to the corruption that anyone else who waltzed right in was just expected in their society. The fact their new king was an idealist threw them for a loop and didn't trust him as they didn't see what his open corruption was... And like the king himself he was easy to back down and chose whatever was the 'easiest option' unless you had someone special come along and help them make the right choice rather than the easy choice. They suck, but there is a reason for it... Even if we hate it.
It makes me wonder why the Wolforts never became an independent country. I mean Benedict, the Wolfort residents, and many others even stated that Symone had the chance to take throne but chose not to and became a loyal vassal to Glenbrook. The Wolforts had the strength of their army, their people are loyal to their lord, and they managed to maintain stability despite being at war. Glenbrook was honestly lucky that the Wolforts remained loyal despite shouldering most of the conflict and having the advantage over them.
You did cover the high houses in the video, but im curious vether you wil make a video with them as the sole focus and deep diving into them, mostly just covering wolfort.
Man, I had the same opinion of the people of Glenbrook. These people are so stupid and whiney. Also, I love the Roland slander. My least favorite of the main group.
Man, between the previous video and this one I've never realized until now how low fantasy TS is. Remove the great hawks and magic and it is just historical fiction. Also, very unpopular opinion but I always feel bad seeing Roland slander. He might be stupid, but it is not his fault that the writers made Hyzante irredeemable instead of just flawed like Aesfrost and Glenbrok.
Yeah this is my biggest issue with how religion is portrayed in Japanese media. I know that majority of the population is atheist and paranoid of religion but I expected more nuance. I recently played Metaphor and the main culprit behind most of that game's problems is the Sanctist church and all of it just made me cringe. It has become such a trope that i freaking roll my eyes every time they make religious organization to be blatantly evil and irredeemable. Like even when they say these religions have their goods, they never show them and only show their worst aspects.
@@toledochristianmatthew9919 I agree with that feeling but Hyzante is not evil because it is religious, everything that the Saintly Seven does is not because the Goddess of Salt commands to, (because it is fake) it is because that is what they want to do. And honestly, keeping a false faith alive for the sake of their ideology of equality fits with the Utility theme of Hyzante.
Slander does not apply to Roland. He is a slavery apologist who was willing to uphold a lie in order to "help" most people. He is spineless and even up to the very end, he is quick to defer responsibility to anyone else other than himself. These are all facts supported by the text and his own words. He's the worst of the main protagonists, even compared to borderline war criminal Benedict.
@toledochristianmatthew9919 Japanese people largely follow a mix of Buddhist and Shinto customs and philosophy. They may seem non religious on paper, and would even describe themselves as such to an extent if asked, but that's not completely true. Plus, RPGs exist that don't go with the trope you're concerned about. The Septian Church in the Trails series has been consistently portrayed as a benevolent force. While they have had some individual bad actors, that doesn't apply to the vast majority of its members. The church in the Dragon Quest series is also generally benevolent.
@@belias360 I would also like to add Castlevania as well where they portray the Church as neutral and actually good. But there are still a lot of games where they portray the religious organizations as the ultimate bad guys and the ultimate trope is to kill God at the end of the game. I saw vid that explains why the Japanese uses this trope a lot and I can understand but I just wish more nuance because a lot of time it feels forced and overused in a lot of games.
Hyzante ending is terrible short term, but could be weird long term. Once Idore dies of old age who replaces him, Roland being in charge of the Salt would break him having to oversee the death of many people in slavery, and Serenoa is in charge of Gelbrook's land gives him the best personal position in any ending. Even in Bendicts ending you deal with the divide between right and poor, Hyzante ending, all rebellious problems are sent to Hyzante's captial so if something happens its over there.
When I think about it, if you were to make Dragon Quest videos, you’d have to cover individual characters as… politics are never the focus, the characters are. But I’d love to see a video as to why Warwick from Dragon Quest Builders 2 is an absolute moron XD
Ok if you are interesed in worldbuilding.then check out Witcher thronbreaker( kinda forgotten gem with awesome music ,interesing chara and great story) or Arknights .great music ( just Hear flame shadow or I will touch The sky)awesome but slow starting story, great chara and one of most interesing nations ever
Glenbrook looks to be a government version of "Good on paper, terrible in practice." Glenbrook could work, but the goobers in charge kept kneecaping it time and again.
I always like thé irony of Gleenbrook, who's first presented as " the good kingdom" only to turn into the Empire by invading all it's neighbor. During my game I often laugh at the idea of making Roland supreme emperor of Norzelia, only for that to really happen
Technically though they aren't. They ARE in the best position in the golden ending but a majority of the territory bestowed upon them was meant to be deconstruction of the old governments in place of a united norzelian people, borders would eventually be eased and presumed to be done away with as the territories are told to promote "Norzelians" over Aesfrosti or Hyzantian. While you can interpret this as Glenbrook ruling everyone, I think the intention is more or less to make one super country and eventually establish the 3 rulers of the territory back to their former positions instead of being a nation, are now 3 leaders of the same unified super country.
Neat video! Small nitpick, Gorde Telliore was the original vassal Regna gave a high house to. Silvio was his son and inherited it when he died. This may explain why he’s an opportunist. No loyalty!
I like how Glenbrook isn’t just the standard “Good Guy”. While the other nations’ flaws are more obvious, Glenbrook also had to do soul searching.
As for Roland, he’s one of my favorite characters mainly because of his character arc. His carefree kind attitude in the beginning, to anger at Gustadolph, to the hopelessness of being King. To becoming strong enough not to run away. He had to be stupid for 10 minutes but he made it in the end and I’m happy for him.
I have to give TS props for showing how someone like Roland, a classic scrappy do-gooding prince, could end up willing to throw away his kingdom and and even a few of his subjects to the wolves for what he believes is the good of the rest of his people…
…But under no circumstances am I ever picking the Utility ending.
@@brandontherabboat4850 Even Roland doesn’t choose it
I feel you are being a bit too harsh on Glenbrook. Keep in mind that Glennbrook was the battlefield in two invasions and the changing of power very quickly back to back. Let's try to break it down.
- They were invaded by Aesfrost.
- The first prince died.
- Their king was "exposed" as corrupt and executed.
- Then they had to get used to the new status quo, which they had to adjust to.
- Then Hyzante invades and causes massive damage, the severity changes depending on which path you choose.
- And immediately after, Royalists go all out in their corrupt dealings and kill people who oppose them.
The people of Glenbrook are tired, angry, and just want some stability back for longer than a month before something else happens. The lesson can be attempted to be learned after, but they need breathing space.
And this is also why I feel for Roland, despite how he made the absolute dumbest decisions at the end of the story until Serenoa knocked sense into him in the Golden Route. Roland was not ready to bear the responsibilities and never learned how to deal with politics. He was thrust into the weight of being the "last" prince and thus the heir to the Kingdom that he had never wanted.
Frankly, I found this realistic. Too many times, stories romanticize characters like Roland where they don't want the throne and end up being the absolute perfect fit. Roland was not. I even felt that Cordelia had more potential because she was suffering so much, but she straight up turned Avlora, the woman who murdered her older brother and caused much devastation in her Kingdom, to her side. The fact that we got to see Roland struggle, break, and have a bit of a fall from grace really highlights the weight of how difficult being a ruler is.
Overall, I think you did well explaining just how tricky things in Glenbrook had gotten. And you are correct especially how people tend to think that Kingdoms are the "good guys", and by the same stroke, people also think that "Empires" are evil incarnate.
It feels to me like Roland would be better as the most trusted knight to Queen Cordelia, who clearly doesn’t have the soft touch she looks like and is quite clever in her own right.
TBF Avlora herself was also a puppet, she was a general only in name honestly, she was denied CRUCIAL information to the war effort, she was literally reduced to just a warrior but slightly better (gustadolph literally just told her that her entire purpose is just to swing a sword and win.)
She was occasionally insulted by Thalas and Erika, and Cordelia slowly bonded with her over the course of the time with her, and eventually Cordelia did a gambit that Avlora deeply respected due to them both sharing very similar forms of trauma and pain. Avlora saw a piece of herself in Cordelia and realized that Cordelia represents something that calls and appeals to Avlora, a world where nobody is used like a tool or puppet, or must struggle to survive, whilst showing her that she has the conviction, ambition, and determination to see it through. That completely and utterly moves Avlora into being her knight.
Triangle strategy is one of the few rpgs i know of that have the main and final threats just be human. Theres no monsters theres no god to slay none of that. It remains a purely human conflict filled with ploitical intrigue. I kinda wish fire emblem would take a page out of this games book when it comes to story telling. Three houses is the closest it gets. But three houses still has underground mole people and divine dragons shaping the course of history from the shadows.
While I love TS, I would be really disappointed if FE went this route.
@pn2294 not saying FE should completely copy TS I just mean take a little inspiration.
Unless you count Idore, who sought immortality and was preaching things using the goddess of salt.
@@0axis771 Idore definitely counts
Idore is still human, using the furthest extent of human magic and science. We don't actually even know if his goddess is real or has any real power.
The Dragon Age reference is interesting considering that Frereldan has a governance system that makes tho nobles and the monarch accountable to the people (to a degree). their western neighbors in the Orlais However, now that's a mess and a half
Makes sense. Frereldan is based on the Anglo Saxon kingdoms.
To be fair, House Telliore is more known for goods rather than warfare.
Also, his domain borders Aesfrost. If war broke out, he would crumble regardless.
I wish youtube gods bless this. Triangle strategy updating after a year of nothing is very funny
Benedict’s ending is my favorite because no more Roland.
“To a whole thirty years”. Incorrect; the actual length of the Saltiron War is never specified. It *either* started or ended 30 years prior, but it’s not clear there.
17:49 That guy seems cool.
Another thing that TriStrat does that I love, is playing with the SRPG/TRPG traditions of colour-coding: typically blue is our heroes (with white as a secondary complement) red is the villains with black highlights, green is the NPCs and yellow when it appears is Other… In TriStrat, Glenbrook is green, the nominal power but ends up in the middle of three power bases; Aesfrost is red and black, initially framed as the obvious villains but have a depth to them; Hyzante has blue and white, and they look benevolent but are the most broken and corrupt system; and Wolffort, technically a separate entity before the Saltiron War, is yellow/gold.
While there’s growing pains that I think Team Asano and ArtDink could work on if this gets an Octopath Traveller type of continuation, there’s a lot of interesting thought in the whole thing…
I hope we'll find out in 2027 as Artdink is busy with the DQ Hd-2d.
Great video and im down for more Roland Slander lol
I always figured the people of Glenbrook was the sad outcome of open corruption.
They got used to not being able to do anything, forced to accept whatever their superiors said were right or else...
And were so used to the corruption that anyone else who waltzed right in was just expected in their society.
The fact their new king was an idealist threw them for a loop and didn't trust him as they didn't see what his open corruption was...
And like the king himself he was easy to back down and chose whatever was the 'easiest option' unless you had someone special come along and help them make the right choice rather than the easy choice.
They suck, but there is a reason for it... Even if we hate it.
It makes me wonder why the Wolforts never became an independent country. I mean Benedict, the Wolfort residents, and many others even stated that Symone had the chance to take throne but chose not to and became a loyal vassal to Glenbrook. The Wolforts had the strength of their army, their people are loyal to their lord, and they managed to maintain stability despite being at war. Glenbrook was honestly lucky that the Wolforts remained loyal despite shouldering most of the conflict and having the advantage over them.
You did cover the high houses in the video, but im curious vether you wil make a video with them as the sole focus and deep diving into them, mostly just covering wolfort.
Thank you so much for this !! My hunger has been satisfied yet again.
Comment for algorithm… hearthguy you need it…
It worked. This randomly showed up on my Recommend list.
@@CassidyListon you're welcome
Yeah Roland becomes incredibly unlike by the end of this game.
Man, I had the same opinion of the people of Glenbrook. These people are so stupid and whiney. Also, I love the Roland slander. My least favorite of the main group.
Man, between the previous video and this one I've never realized until now how low fantasy TS is. Remove the great hawks and magic and it is just historical fiction. Also, very unpopular opinion but I always feel bad seeing Roland slander. He might be stupid, but it is not his fault that the writers made Hyzante irredeemable instead of just flawed like Aesfrost and Glenbrok.
Yeah this is my biggest issue with how religion is portrayed in Japanese media. I know that majority of the population is atheist and paranoid of religion but I expected more nuance. I recently played Metaphor and the main culprit behind most of that game's problems is the Sanctist church and all of it just made me cringe. It has become such a trope that i freaking roll my eyes every time they make religious organization to be blatantly evil and irredeemable. Like even when they say these religions have their goods, they never show them and only show their worst aspects.
@@toledochristianmatthew9919 I agree with that feeling but Hyzante is not evil because it is religious, everything that the Saintly Seven does is not because the Goddess of Salt commands to, (because it is fake) it is because that is what they want to do. And honestly, keeping a false faith alive for the sake of their ideology of equality fits with the Utility theme of Hyzante.
Slander does not apply to Roland. He is a slavery apologist who was willing to uphold a lie in order to "help" most people. He is spineless and even up to the very end, he is quick to defer responsibility to anyone else other than himself. These are all facts supported by the text and his own words. He's the worst of the main protagonists, even compared to borderline war criminal Benedict.
@toledochristianmatthew9919 Japanese people largely follow a mix of Buddhist and Shinto customs and philosophy. They may seem non religious on paper, and would even describe themselves as such to an extent if asked, but that's not completely true. Plus, RPGs exist that don't go with the trope you're concerned about. The Septian Church in the Trails series has been consistently portrayed as a benevolent force. While they have had some individual bad actors, that doesn't apply to the vast majority of its members. The church in the Dragon Quest series is also generally benevolent.
@@belias360 I would also like to add Castlevania as well where they portray the Church as neutral and actually good. But there are still a lot of games where they portray the religious organizations as the ultimate bad guys and the ultimate trope is to kill God at the end of the game. I saw vid that explains why the Japanese uses this trope a lot and I can understand but I just wish more nuance because a lot of time it feels forced and overused in a lot of games.
Hyzante ending is terrible short term, but could be weird long term. Once Idore dies of old age who replaces him, Roland being in charge of the Salt would break him having to oversee the death of many people in slavery, and Serenoa is in charge of Gelbrook's land gives him the best personal position in any ending. Even in Bendicts ending you deal with the divide between right and poor, Hyzante ending, all rebellious problems are sent to Hyzante's captial so if something happens its over there.
Yeah when Glenbrook gets taken over they just dlop over and actively choose to be ignorant
Hyzante’s colour is blue, which means they’re good right?… they’re good right?
- chuckles in slavery -
The Utility Ending is literally North Korea mixed with a Fake Goddess.
Awesome video!
I will absolutely be playing this game after this video and the last one.
When I think about it, if you were to make Dragon Quest videos, you’d have to cover individual characters as… politics are never the focus, the characters are.
But I’d love to see a video as to why Warwick from Dragon Quest Builders 2 is an absolute moron XD
HYPE!!!
Ok if you are interesed in worldbuilding.then check out Witcher thronbreaker( kinda forgotten gem with awesome music ,interesing chara and great story) or Arknights .great music ( just Hear flame shadow or I will touch The sky)awesome but slow starting story, great chara and one of most interesing nations ever
Cool!
You sound like someone who voiced a character in this game.
Monarchy propaganda