Playlist:
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The Vibe~~~
- DnD type fantasy! (lotsa nature)
- Hype combat moments and revelations
- Positive vibes and funny/wholesome story
- Toby Fox-style dialogue, perchance?
Directions⬅️⬆️➡️⬇️:
Direction 1: TBS
Turn based strategy, less so one like Chess or Honkai: Star Rail, but instead something like YOMI Hustle. Players explore different classes which have their pros and cons, special case uses and strategies, etc. Each level is gonna have unique architecture and layouts that’ll force players to think of new solutions to either beat the enemies, who have their own strategies and tools. The game will feel like a grand journey through the world (woods, caves, sky islands?)
Leans heavily into narrative, challenge, and fantasy aesthetics.
Enacted story!
Direction 2: Open-World Fantasy
Open-world fantasy! For the vibe, think along the lines of Light No Fire and Genshin Impact, but with combat that’s more like Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice or Zenless Zone Zero (except defensive assist is just parry because there will only be 1 character/player). Parries, counters, and skills come together to create a very fluid system of movement and combat, further immersing the player. Dodging and parrying won’t be hard unless the player plays on the insane difficulty or something–this one is only a little bit of challenge, mostly lying in the discovery and sensation aesthetics (the game will be designed to make the player feel like they’re in flow state even if they’re not that good).
Uses embedded naratives a lot more, but still has some micronarratives within.
Direction 3 (⭐️personal favorite⭐️): 2-D Platformer
This was heavily inspired by Witch Hat Atelier. It’s a 2-D platformer, but with a twist! Usually, in games, there is a set amount of skills the player learns, and a set function of said skills. In this game, that will not be the case! Players will be able to formulate their own spells and abilities and assign them to hotkeys, which they can then use to fight! There are a few base elements the player gets to work with (more elements as they level up), with which they can create spells that either do more damage, heal themselves, stun enemies, etc. The idea is to give players the freedom to do whatever they want without being restrained by the devs’ creativity, which they usually can’t. Another idea for this is that bosses can have unique interactions to certain skills, such as beam clashing, M1 trading, counters, etc.
Other inspirations include:
- Dead cells (duh)
- Hollow Knight: Silksong (duh x2)
- Nine Sols
- Elden Ring
- The Owl House (Cartoon)
This’ll also give players the opportunity to create insane builds that would break the game, which will need investment but it’s also half the fun.
As for aesthetics, it’ll play into expression, fantasy, and challenge. Of course, it’ll touch on discovery too, but a bit less.
No clue what to do with narratives for this one, so I’ll just say emergent + embedded for now (since the gameplay is so flexible).
Also yes there will be parrying.
