Pokemon Spirit Chronicles (We Want You!)

[ReasonableGamer]

Hey, everyone. This thread's about a project I work in: Pokemon Spirit Chronicles. The basic premise of the game is that it's a game that uses the resources of the Pokemon world (the Pokemon themselves, locations, characters and such) and adds a battling system and setting similar to the Breath of Fire or Final Fantasy series, applying a strong narrative and plot as opposed to the traditional take in the Pokemon series. The gameplay focuses on the capturing of Pokemon as per usual, but this time, the essences of the Pokemon are used in crafting weapons, armour and accessories. 'Magic' is the arsenal of Pokemon moves you will glean from the 'Pokequipment' and they will provide the majority of the party member's stats, levelling equipment instead of individual members.

The set-up for the plot, as written by GrooveMan, is as follows:
In a parallel world to the Pokémon universe we're familiar with, Pokémon are rapidly starting to become a threat to society. The urbanisation of cities, and travelling across the region of Kanto becomes difficult when unknown numbers of monsters with seemingly magical powers hinders progress. In order to get by, the century-old practice of Soul Forging has been revitalised, allowing humans to convert the souls of Pokémon into tools, weapons, and other items; more effective than tools made from ordinary materials. While expensive, Pokéquipment has taken the entire world by storm, commercialised as a way humans can live free without fear of monsters.
But it's not so cut-and-dry. Soul-infused weapons are a prime target for the millitia, the government, and underground organisations. The High Councils across the regions of the country have tried their best to keep things in the balance, but something always slips through the cracks. On the other hand, individuals who find the extraction of souls cruel and abhorrent are becoming increasingly more vocal, and try to look for other methods to balance humans and Pokémon. But what happens when these philosophical differences collide?
At the same time, there's trouble brewing in Johto. Rooted firmly around a feudal political practice, the region refuses to adopt the govermental system of the High Council, and is starting to barricade itself from the rest of the country; not taking kindly to interlopers. If someone doesn't intervene and create a solution, there might be a civil war on their hands. Maybe the Kanto High Council can be mobilised to assist?
We follow the journeys of Blue - a charismatic thief from Pallet Town - and Gold, a hot-headed bodyguard drafted in from Johto; as their misson to do some research for Philosopher Samuel Oak gradually turns into an adventure embroiled in the wonders of Pokémon, a quest for peace, and the mysterious-yet-influential Guild Rokka.
Will they restore political peace to Kanto? Who's outlook on society is the one true answer? Only time will tell.

We have a dedicated team including concept artists, writers (myself included) and composers, but we're always looking for more help, especially in the programming and spriting departments. We're using GameMaker 7 to create the game.

An example of the kind of look we've been going with so far, these are some of the major characters:
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/__YBTLExDu9I/SXIBC6O9tAI/AAAAAAAAAAc/evVXCbjdh2A/s1600-h/Blue.jpg

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/__YBTLExDu9I/SbNEbofNwNI/AAAAAAAAAAs/eGMnP1WR_vE/s1600-h/Gold2.jpg

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/__YBTLExDu9I/Sbm4j5d5ICI/AAAAAAAAAA8/zvKoteDz_80/s1600-h/Green.jpg

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/__YBTLExDu9I/SfpihssRROI/AAAAAAAAAB0/EOr2zeLRTo8/s1600-h/Sapphire.jpg

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_PuAgMSUTRsc/Sgzna8zyzCI/AAAAAAAAAAs/WOKLd2m9iek/s1600-h/platinaoutfit.jpg

(Had difficulty formatting those as images)

And this is an example of how the character would be represented during dialogue:

And some music from our composers:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=9LAZPKIS
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=CF4WMMNG

Any interest or criticism (as long as it's rational) is welcome.

 

[silver wind]

Hmm.. I'm not going to be nice, but consider this constructive criticism.
The pokemon battle system was used in games for over 10 years.
players who like pokemon games will be looking for that battle system.
Besides, what weapons can you give a pokemon? a mythril sword, an axe? pokemon are not homicidal demons. and if you mean the humans battle with these weapons, then this is hardly a pokemon game anymore. You may as well use some random creatures called Magicmons to give you magic, if that's all you need.
Looking at these battlers pictures, you can easily make up your own characters and make a real RPG, where you can have a crafting system, gathering system, weapons, magic.. really, it seems like the pokemon only get in the way here.

 

[GrooveMan.exe]

You've misinterpreted what the project's about a little. I'm helping out on this project as a writer and a smalltime spriter and correspondance dude; so I'll help out with questions for now.

The established battle system is kept intact and is infact integral to the way the battle mechanics operate. The game is designed with fans of the original series in mind - giving them the basic gameplay mechanics they're familliar with, but also augmenting it with a plotline and lore taken in a different (indeed a more dramatic and less idealistic) direction.

As for how weapons feature in this, Pokémon don't wield weapons. Pokémon are weapons. Established about a century ago, humans found a method to capture the wild feral Pokémon that inhabit the land and posed threat to the urbanisation of settlements - by extracting their souls. The souls held unusual and powerful properties (as the soul of any fire/ice/poison breathing monster would), and in short order the technology to infuse those souls with weapons and armour was invented, creating Pokéquipment.

From a mechanics standpoint, Pokéquipment funtion like regular Pokémon, in that they learn moves, grow as you battle with them, and a person can have 6 of them equipped. What this allows is a hightened sense of customisation, as you're essentially managing a separate Pokémon team for each of your party members.

 

[Deebs]

Nice to see you here. Hopefully you find the help you're looking for.

 

[ReasonableGamer]

Thanks, Deebs.

And silver wind, as well as what Groove said, this project is first and foremost a fan project. It's really a contemporization of the Pokemon series. We took a series we loved and we're applying a new way of experiencing the world, characters and such. Whilst we appreciate the feedback, taking the Pokemon out of Pokemon Spirit Chronicles won't be happening.

 

[Twirly]

If you are making something different from the original pokemon games, why don't you just make a completely new game?

 

[GrooveMan.exe]

2 reasons, although one's a bit more romantic than the other.

1) Because we all grew up playing the Pokémon games and all appreciated the complex mechanics it offered, but also as we grew our tastes in what we want from a game progressed; and many fans (not just us) would appreciate a new take on Pokémon, just as much as they want their Nostalgia gland massaged. This game will hopefully do both!

2) Admittedly, it's also easier if you have base material to work from, even if you heavily distort it. And Pokémon has a WHOOOOOLE lot of reference material. Also consider that a Pokémon fangame is considered a homage, while an unrelated game with merely pokemon elements is often percieved as a clone. We don't want to be a clone. D=

 

[Twirly]

2) Admittedly, it's also easier if you have base material to work from, even if you heavily distort it. And Pokémon has a WHOOOOOLE lot of reference material. Also consider that a Pokémon fangame is considered a homage, while an unrelated game with merely pokemon elements is often percieved as a clone. We don't want to be a clone. D=

1) Fangames haven't got a good reputation...
2) Good point,but weapons and pokemon just don't work together, really...

 

[GrooveMan.exe]

Are you saying that because you've seen it evidenced, or because you can't picture the regular depiction of Pikachu wielding a sword?

The former has been evidenced in several mon-collecting games with various successes. Giving a monster you control a weapon or armour isn't especially different from giving a human weapons or armour. The 3 best examples of Weapons and Tamed monsters in the same game would be any of the modern Shin Megami Tensei games (Imagine Online especially), the Digimon World DS games, and Dragon Quest Monsters Joker. As for the latter, well while Pokémon designs won't change, the demeanour about them will. They'd be depicted as more wild and ragged, or in the case of the excessively cute, skittish and easily provoked.

Amusingly, neither of those preconceptions are relevant, since Pokémon don't wield weapons at all. The player characters get weapons made from Pokémon which is altogether a different concept with different imagery. Have you played Zack and Wiki or the Monster Hunter games? Where you can turn your defeated foes into weapons that look or resemble the foe defeated? That's the case here. It's a little grim, and a far cry from the tone Pokémon normally has, but that's the whole point, and the beauty of it. Being a fangame, we have the ability to look at Pokémon from a different angle, one that we choose to embrace.

But srsly, we're sold on it being Pokémon.

 

[Jason]

I get this cool idea of seeing a cutscene where some guy catches Pikachu, snaps his neck, throws him to the floor, and rags his head off, rips his tail off, and then ties them together to make a mace, where the head would be, well.. the head, and the tail would be the shaft to hold onto.

... Yeah I get strange ideas.

But this DOES sound pretty different to the usual Pokémon games, and it's going to have to be PERFECT to get it right, I mean, I can't see alot of fans being happy with the idea I've just wrote up, which in theory, is what would have to happen in order to make the Pokéquipment, and the whole idea of absorbing Pokésouls... reminds me of Shang Tsung from Mortal Komat, when the heck did Pokémon go from a 3+ to an 18, lol.

But either way, it's going to be a pretty interesting project to follow, and I'd love to see how it turns out, so if you want my advice... go for it.

 

[GrooveMan.exe]

While grim in implications, the soul extraction process isn't particularly graphic. Think how Pokéballs are shown to work, in turning the target into light/energy/poptarts, then ensnaring that. Soul capturing works in a similar way, you see the life force of a 'mon dragged out, then the body of the target collapse and fade like you killed it the normal way.

To turn it into a weapon you'll need a Soul Smithy. From there it goes as you'd expect.

What does the capture device look like? We can't reveal that at this time; stay tuned. ;D

 

[Jason]

So Shang Tsung has invaded the Pokémon world, and is absorbing Pokésouls right ?

I've got a couple of questions;

After a Pokésoul has been extracted, can it be put back into the Pokémon, giving it life again, if not, that seems pretty darn cruel of you, Pokémon will become extinct!, and if they CAN be put back, would it be possible to say, get the soul of a Nidoking, and exchange it with the soul of a Magikarp ? That'd be fucking hilarious...

The second question... The "capture device" is made up of a rubber band, two paperclips, and a drinking straw from McDonalds, right ?

Thankyou for the answers !

 

[GrooveMan.exe]

It's an imperfect technology, not to mention really goddamn expensive. Your average resident isn't going to have a top-of-the-range (i.e. functioning) one, and if they did, people would be suspicious as to how they got it. Souls are made up of concentrated energy, so releasing said energy (by breaking a weapon, or just via standard death and decay) will put it back into the environment. If the technology became more prevailant, then there would indeed be a risk of a species extinction.

It'd sake some extreme Dr. Frankenstein levels of SCIENCE to put a soul back in a living body once removed; although you could argue that the extraction process sacrifices a mortal physical body for an immortal incorpreal one. Although not showing biological signs of life, as Pokéquipment grows in strength with use it's suggested that the soul still lives in a very base form.

Capture Devices may or may not have been invented by McGuyver.

 

[Velocir_X]

The second question... The "capture device" is made up of a rubber band, two paperclips, and a drinking straw from McDonalds, right ?

Mine is :P Heres The wiki: www.robertmcguyverwiki.org/wiki/pokemon/capturedevice

But anyway It is an interesting (dark - I always like Witcher style ambiguity ;]) idea
And the fact that we get several parties of pokemon :thumb:

However I don't catch the correlation in style
(Pokemon have always been cute weapons not so much)
It'll be hard to give fans that emotinal connection
Pokemon =/= weapons
This would be much easier to do with something like Duel masters where its already dark

But anyway; Good Luck

 

[ReasonableGamer]

The drama in the game is still really focused on the human aspect. Don't expect many grim tales about Rattata or anything. Pokemon, for the majority of the game, are treated like your average wild monsters, except you can use them to create powerful weapons. This time, connection to your Pokemon isn't really focused on.

 

[Velocir_X]

You see that's the problem many of us fans will have
The connection to Pokemon is INTEGRAL to its success
and if you lose well X_X
I just don't see how you can do that with weapons

Its nice that you're focusing on the human aspect of Pokemon
(which is one of the series really lacking parts, and in some parts really kills it)
But if you lose the Pokemon aspect its just as bad...

 

[ReasonableGamer]

Well, the Pokemon aspect ISN'T completely gone. It's just that the game focuses on their impacts on humanity and civilization in a much different way.

 

[Velocir_X]

I dunno;
guess time will only tell...

 

[Tdata]

Am I understanding this right? It is like Shaman King. The souls are put into something that allows them to interact with the world around it. In some Cases temporarily taking a physical form.

 

[GrooveMan.exe]

Not the last part. Souls stay souls, or become weapons. Apart from some notably unique cases, the weapons stay that way; you don't get to summon 'the spirit of the Rattata' from your dagger. Mostly because it wouldn't have much practical use.