#warframe analysis

[cardinalgoldenbrow]

The narrative whiplash between The Old Peace and The Devil's Triad is intense.

Exhibit A: Margulis

The Operator's plot: Margulis was used by Ballas for horrible ends but also loved you enough to sacrifice herself to protect you as best she could in a bad situation. Margulis herself says afterwards, "We can finally begin to heal."

The Drifter's plot: Roathe confidently asserts that Ballas and Margulis loved each other, and if it weren't for those meddling kids turning Ballas into a Scooby Doo villain, it would've been a love story for the ages. If you don't believe him, you're naive. 

Exhibit B: Loid

The Operator's plot: despite the dangers posed by the Dark Refractory, Loid nonetheless cares so much for you that he dives into that pool to guide you through your meltdown and give you the courage to face the memory of how your best friend died. 

The Drifter's plot: Roathe, like a devil on your shoulder whispering, "Hey, we should manipulate the butler into doing what you want. How? Why, I'll simply lord my Orokin authority over him and he'll do whatever I say...and this is the good ending, Drifter."

...

Again, the tonal whiplash as The Devil's Triad undercuts the story and character arcs in The Old Peace by disrespecting characters that the Operator (and presumably Drifter too!) cares about is wild to me. 

[leolithe]

"What sustains me... It is you."

Since The Old Peace introduced the Xenoflora, we wondered how Lotus managed to survive as she does now, far away from home, in an Origin System without the Tau Blooms.

This line of hers in the Dark Refractory explains everything:

I know I ask much of you. Yet, you rise to the challenge. Always. What sustains me? It is you.

Like how the Holdfasts are given strength by the Tenno to resist the call of the Void Angels, the Lotus system is being sustained by their surrogate Void children.

Either in a literal sense: being a source of energy for Lotus to passively "feed" upon... Or in a more abstract sense: by allowing Lotus the protective strength of love for her children that keeps her safe from the Indifference.

So when we think of the Tenno and the Lotus as synonymous, symbiotic beings working in tandem... We can infer that by willingly putting her children in cryosleep after the Old War, after the Night of the Naga Drums, the Lotus was also willingly weakening herself to other hive minds, influence, and outside control.

She, Natah, must have known that she could gather ambient strength from the Tenno. This would add even more layers to her decision to defect from her birth's purpose. She must have known it was a huge risk for her to take: to seal this newfound alternative for Sentient strength - her Tenno - away on Lua, sending the entire moon to the Void with herself in it.

If the Void is truly as toxic to Sentients as we were led to believe, Natah was taking a calculated risk doing what she did to protect the Tenno. Regardless of her success as a spy in the Origin System, her body would have always been on the line: in danger of being reclaimed by her father, into another hivemind without the Tau Blooms, or in danger of being reprogrammed by the Orokin.

When Hunhow's plan was in motion, Natah knew her role as a spy was integral, but she saw different paths to take:

She could follow the plan: kill the children and return to Hunhow. But she risks being "reclaimed" into another hivemind should she disobey more orders.

She could save the children by hiding them in Lua - sealing away her source of power, keeping the children safe from harm. But she again risks being reclaimed into another hivemind OR by the Orokin, without Tenno strength.

She could join her children in hiding in the Void - allowing herself to suffer from Void poisoning for decades and generations during her long vigil for her children. BUT, she keeps her individuality as a (relatively) lone Sentient.

This third option was a calculated risk. For her to defect, to betray her father, to live as the woman she wants to be. A mother, despite her barren self. With children who love her, who give her strength in more ways than one.

Against the odds of her pre-determined fate, the desperate misery of her people after catastrophic Orokin sabotages, Natah saw an opportunity for new life, and took it.

Her adoption of the Tenno was as much an act of love, as much as it was an act of survival.

It was an act of someone who saw more to Sentient suffering, who saw a way to, in time, heal and return what was stolen from her people.

This extends to her acceptance of the Margulis within her. To the Lotus system... Their love, their children, the love for themselves, and their survival... They are synonymous.

To teach the Sentients of Tau that they can heal from Orokin cruelty... To love her children, to protect them, to show her people that it's possible to live in peace, to give each other strength... For Tenno and Sentient to ally as a family...

It may very well be her singularity of purpose.

[gillyeowalters]

Thank you DE for making this distinction. The way people are towards their children can be vastly different than the way they are towards the rest of the world.

I am just glad that someone at DE has done their homework when it comes to child/parent dynamics, family dynamics and childhood trauma.

There are so many games that do a shitty job when it comes to these things (staring angrily at the 2010s trend where every plot twist in every indie horror game was that the crazy father murdered his entire family).

[chronicler-of-narrative]

If you think about it, the gameplay dynamic between Stalker and Jade is hilariously absurd. On the one hand, we have this mixture of dps and support with entirely newly-minted abilities the likes of which we've never seen before. And then you pan over to her boyfriend who has 3.5 recycled abilities and unlike his wife, who just blows everything up, just dinkily executes enemies one by one.

Actually, now that I think about it...Are Jade and Stalker not representative of Warframe's change in design philosophy over the years? From the fact that Stalker has been around for basically a decade compared to Jade being shiny and new, to how Stalker is more stealth-based like early Warframe was, with Jade just blasting everyting to kingdom come with no remorse while ALSO supporting her team like how most new frames are like. Not to mention how they use literally the same weapon classes, except Jade's all have unique and cool effects, while Stalker's just kinda...kill stuff.

Damn, DE thought this through much more than I thought...Kudos to them!

[gillyeowalters]

Xaku and the Entrati family

Just a small analysis I wrote a couple months ago. [Spoilers for Heart of Deimos] I love how Xaku's background story is a reflection of the Entrati family's situation. Of course, there is a direct connection between them and the family, as Xaku is composed of three Warframes that were asigned to the Entratis, but there is also a more emotional connection.

Let's put it into simple words, to compare: -> something is lost to the Void -> as a result of that, something breaks -> through another's influence, broken parts become something new, damaged and changed, but whole again

Xaku: -> the three Warframes were lost to the Void -> they broke while in the Void -> they were fused back together (either by the Void itself or some other force) into Xaku, a broken Warframe Entrati Family: -> Albrecht Entrati is lost to the Void -> Mother's grief over loosing her father breaks her family apart (definitely there were other factors, but this seems to have been the main catalyst). -> the Tenno helps them grow back together as a family. They are damaged, emotionally and physically by the infestation but seem to slowly become a unit again.

Also, notable is the theme of Mother dismembering Father, quite literally breaking his physical form. We have three Warframes becoming one and three family generations (Grandma/Parents/Children) coming together. Xaku's deluxe has the art of Kintsugi as its main theme (putting broken ceramics back together and painting the cracks golden, not only repairing it but elevating its status). Why does a fixed plate hold more value? Because someone found it worth fixing. It was valued. The same goes for the family; after saving the Heart, the Tenno could just leave, but they instead decide to run errands for the family, helping them come together-finding value in them. What would have been the other option? Indifference.

[gillyeowalters]

Warframe Design Notes

Hei, so today I want to start my mini series on Warframe designs in which I will try to analyse the visual design of all Warframes and find out what they potentially are based on. Today I want to start with an easy one, Ash. Ash is the classical ninja. Like many early Warframes, his design is heavily influenced by japanese design elements. The stereotypical ninja outfit we know out of popular culture is based on the kuroko from kabuki theater, stage hands dressed in all black. The tabi/toe shoes and the legwraps are directly taken from these outfits, although kuroko would have worn a different type of head dress. The arms are covered by chitin plates that are made to resemble sode armor plates-they even include the ropes holding the plates together. Why chitin plates? Because Ash is also based on insects, which is easily proven if we take a look at the names of his variant helmets (Scorpion, Locust). He even has mandible like parts on his helmets-it also explains its color theme; historical ninja's probably weren't dressed in black anyways and the brown and beige hues give him a beetle like look. Beetles apparently (please correct me here!) are symbols of rebirth and transformation in Buddhism, which matches the themes of the game. And they are small, barely noticable-perfect for a character that is supposed to be stealthy.

Please correct me on any mistakes I have made, I only have an old french book on fashion and the internet at hand to help me with these analysis and I do not want to be culturally insensitive.

[gillyeowalters]

Jade shadows was...rough for me.

I am not going to talk about how it is a bit off that Jade did not get a single voice line, other people have pointed that out before.

But it is so clichéd when it comes to its themes.

Edgy dude has pure and literally angelic girlfriend. Girlfriend/wife gets pregnant, everyone is happy, then tradgedy strikes. Girlfriend/wife has to sacrifice herself for the plot to go on and character development of edgy dude to happen.

Edgy dude is now the sole caretaker of a child, and the child is the only person besides the girlfriend/wife edgy dude ever interacts positively with. Edgy dude reveals his softer side for his child.

I am aware that it is not the first time in Warframe that a woman becomes a sacrifice, but Lotus is a fully-fledged character. Jade is an incubator. Not because she is pregnant (being pregnant and wanting to have kids is an absolutely valid choice), but because she is never *shown* as anything else. Storytelling-wise her role is "die for drama, make baby for story".

The only other bit we get is her protecting Stalker for a split second, but that scene is frozen. She does not really do much, just float there, we learn nothing about her.

She does not only not talk, but she does not show any emotions or reactions .

When Lotus died, she was angry, disappointed, she died for what she thought was right. Reaction wise, Jade does a reenactment of the 'This is fine' dog meme.

In the end, I think describing the theme of the quest as 'motherhood' is incorrect. We do not get to see her be a mother. Her role ends before that.

It would have had much more impact if she herself would have walked the way to the shuttle at the end of the quest, to then collapse and die. Show her being a mother, show her protecting her child. Show her make the active decision. Show her doing *anything*.

It fits the theme of an angel perfectly, a symbol, a herald with no agenda of their own, but it makes for a lack-luster character.

[gillyeowalters]

Hello I just randomly discovered you, and your view and analysis of WF as a story of stories of broken families may have just now, after 9(?) years answered why I fell in love with the game in a way I have never before been able to put into words. Huh.

Thanks.

Thank you for your kind words, I am glad that you could find something enjoyable in what I write.

I began playing Warframe at the same time I underwent my training in family mentoring, and I think that the family aspect of Warframe also is my personal reason why I adore the game so much. It uses broken families as part of its storytelling without sensationalizing them.

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Warframe does show relationships being tended (the Entrati family; because they all begin to appreciate each other again as people, not just because "family belongs together") but also relationships that are completely broken because they were grown on rotten soil and the game does not forcefully try to mend them.

Family and empathy are very important aspects, but the game does not force us or its characters narratively into the role of the ever forgiving martyr. Anger has its place, and it is not shown as amoral or righteous but as an emotion and a consequence of other's behavior. It is shown as something normal and human, not something that can only exist as to be either condomned or justified by higher goals.

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