First, I know that the title isn't the most inspiring or original, but this is a concept that I had in mind after playing the original Zelda back when I was in high school. I drew up a few maps and slowly added gameplay changes over the years. It wouldn't be until my sophomore year in college, after playing Betrayal at Krondor, that this game idea fully cemented in my mind. Sadly, it hasn't moved much from that point.
Second, this is more of a video game idea than a story idea, but the story part of the of game is where I got stuck. This concept is one of those where I might have over-thought myself. Basically, I wanted to create a game that encouraged multiple (I mean sixteen) plays, each with a different view of the game and the story.
The gameplay is like Zelda, a top-down exploration/adventure fantasy game. The player starts with a standard main character. Originally, I was in high school when I designed this, all of the characters were male. Were I to start work on the game today, the first character would be a female knight looking to prove herself and save the world. As I was stuck on the stereotype, her village is destroyed and her secret heritage is given to her. She is told to seek out other heroes to help her save the world.
The Knight goes through her section of the world, following whichever storyline the player chooses. She has basic sword-wielding attacks, her sword takes on different powers, and she can deflect with a shield. Depending on which direction the Knight goes, a second character is met. The three other characters are a Wizard who is trying to recapture a demon he accidentally loosed on the world, a Ninja (it was the early nineties) who is trying to restore his (her) clan's honor, and a Jester (who is my personal favorite) who wants to find a story worthy enough to bring him back into the good graces of his liege. Each has unique special abilities, attacks, and stories. The Wizard can hit things at long range, has fireball and lightning attacks (I was playing D&D based games on my computer), and can teleport short distances. The Ninja has fast, close attacks, can climb, and can turn himself (herself?) invisible. The Jester somersaults everywhere, throws his juggling balls as weapons (that bounce off enemies and walls to appear back in his hands), and can send everyone (friend and foe alike) into paralyzing laughing fits.
The player can only play one character at a time. This makes it so each character opens up new means of exploration and new ways of dealing with encounters. The lame story explanation is that their essences are all held in a crystal which only allows out one at a time. Yet, somehow, in story sequences, they would all be there. I still haven't worked a better way out of it.
The player completes each of the four main areas, bringing the each character's story to a completion, before arriving in a final end area where evil is defeated. Pretty standard.
The twist is that once the game ends (or maybe because of how the story ends), the player gets to start the game again as any one of the four characters. If the player chooses the Knight again, the first part stays the same, but the story changes depending on which character the player goes for next. For example, let's say that Knight first teamed up with the Ninja and then the Wizard, but on the next play-through went for the Wizard first and then the Ninja. The Ninja's story would be at a different place because he (she?) had to face his (her?) Act 2 choices without the help of the Knight. Meanwhile, the Wizard's situation would not have been as dire.
But the player doesn't have to start as the Knight. Depending on the character chosen to start with, the game takes a different tone. Whichever one chosen first is the "hero" of the story. In fact, after playing The Bard's Tale, Bastion, and The Stanley Parable, I thought that having a narrator (in this case a different narrator for each character) might be a nice addition. This makes the Ninja's tale more mysterious, the Wizard's tale more magical, and Jester's tale much more comical. However, whichever character is added last has the most tragic story.
I even thought of adding a fifth character (a dark archer searching for redemption) while still keeping the game to only four acts and a finale. This way, one character is forever lost, but the added level of complexity, not to mention macabre, might be a bit too much. As is, the game basically needs sixteen different plot lines depending on who is the "hero" and the order that the characters are chosen. I would not want any of the endings to be the "correct" ending; players should feel both satisfied with any ending they get as well as curious about how everything might change were things slightly different.
And that's where I got stuck. I haven't really plotted anything out as the concept would take a great deal of time to etch out and I don't have the programming know-how to make the game a reality. Still, I like the concept; although, I would like a better title.
Second, this is more of a video game idea than a story idea, but the story part of the of game is where I got stuck. This concept is one of those where I might have over-thought myself. Basically, I wanted to create a game that encouraged multiple (I mean sixteen) plays, each with a different view of the game and the story.
The gameplay is like Zelda, a top-down exploration/adventure fantasy game. The player starts with a standard main character. Originally, I was in high school when I designed this, all of the characters were male. Were I to start work on the game today, the first character would be a female knight looking to prove herself and save the world. As I was stuck on the stereotype, her village is destroyed and her secret heritage is given to her. She is told to seek out other heroes to help her save the world.
The Knight goes through her section of the world, following whichever storyline the player chooses. She has basic sword-wielding attacks, her sword takes on different powers, and she can deflect with a shield. Depending on which direction the Knight goes, a second character is met. The three other characters are a Wizard who is trying to recapture a demon he accidentally loosed on the world, a Ninja (it was the early nineties) who is trying to restore his (her) clan's honor, and a Jester (who is my personal favorite) who wants to find a story worthy enough to bring him back into the good graces of his liege. Each has unique special abilities, attacks, and stories. The Wizard can hit things at long range, has fireball and lightning attacks (I was playing D&D based games on my computer), and can teleport short distances. The Ninja has fast, close attacks, can climb, and can turn himself (herself?) invisible. The Jester somersaults everywhere, throws his juggling balls as weapons (that bounce off enemies and walls to appear back in his hands), and can send everyone (friend and foe alike) into paralyzing laughing fits.
The player can only play one character at a time. This makes it so each character opens up new means of exploration and new ways of dealing with encounters. The lame story explanation is that their essences are all held in a crystal which only allows out one at a time. Yet, somehow, in story sequences, they would all be there. I still haven't worked a better way out of it.
The player completes each of the four main areas, bringing the each character's story to a completion, before arriving in a final end area where evil is defeated. Pretty standard.
The twist is that once the game ends (or maybe because of how the story ends), the player gets to start the game again as any one of the four characters. If the player chooses the Knight again, the first part stays the same, but the story changes depending on which character the player goes for next. For example, let's say that Knight first teamed up with the Ninja and then the Wizard, but on the next play-through went for the Wizard first and then the Ninja. The Ninja's story would be at a different place because he (she?) had to face his (her?) Act 2 choices without the help of the Knight. Meanwhile, the Wizard's situation would not have been as dire.
But the player doesn't have to start as the Knight. Depending on the character chosen to start with, the game takes a different tone. Whichever one chosen first is the "hero" of the story. In fact, after playing The Bard's Tale, Bastion, and The Stanley Parable, I thought that having a narrator (in this case a different narrator for each character) might be a nice addition. This makes the Ninja's tale more mysterious, the Wizard's tale more magical, and Jester's tale much more comical. However, whichever character is added last has the most tragic story.
I even thought of adding a fifth character (a dark archer searching for redemption) while still keeping the game to only four acts and a finale. This way, one character is forever lost, but the added level of complexity, not to mention macabre, might be a bit too much. As is, the game basically needs sixteen different plot lines depending on who is the "hero" and the order that the characters are chosen. I would not want any of the endings to be the "correct" ending; players should feel both satisfied with any ending they get as well as curious about how everything might change were things slightly different.
And that's where I got stuck. I haven't really plotted anything out as the concept would take a great deal of time to etch out and I don't have the programming know-how to make the game a reality. Still, I like the concept; although, I would like a better title.
RSS Feed
