The Way Of The Warrior-Bushido

[Saikoden]

It is Hitori Watashi's 6th year as Shogun.The land is currently in turmoil as the years of the samurai are slowly drawing to a close. With the push of the westerners on the front lines of the country, the need for steel and bronze are vastly declining. For with the westerners comes new technology, such as the invention of gunpowder to mass produce firearms. With this technology at their disposal, most of the clans samurais traded in their swords for the musket. However, many clans thought these firearms to be more harm then good. Claiming that one could quite as easily shoot a family member then they would the enemy.

The dispute over allowing the westerners into the continent spilt the former alliance of the clans creatings civil war. Half of the clans following Shatori Kun, who was the current shogun's half brother. His claims that Hitori was to scared of change and that under his rule the lands would soon be overtaken by the enemy struck fear in the hearts of his followers, which Shatori ruled with an iron fist. The other half, still loyal to Hitori and the old ways of Bushido held close to their sword and beliefs, their main thought being that without swords they would no longer be samurai.

These sudden outbursts between clans divided the land in half, weakening the continents military power. The westerners seeing this as an oppurtunity to claim more land offered their help to Shatori, who in return allowed them into his borders. When this act of indecency reached Hitori, the time of waiting and wishing was over and the time of action was now. Immediately his armies began preparation, concription was issued. Any man over the age of 10 who could wield a sword would do so, they were samurai after all, death meant nothing to them over honour. The shogun wars had finally begun.

In a village hidden deep with in the mountains, completely untouched by the outside world for 1000 had no idea of the war that was about to begin. Although, the affairs of the samurai didnt affect this town, the samurai their mortal enemy. For they were the last survivors of the shinobi, a group of warriors who trained in the art of stealth and surprise or how the samurai put it "Guerilla Warfare".

The samurai, out of fear of the shinobi began mass genocide. They destroyed countless villages all in the name of "honour". Believing that the shinobi's way of fighting was dishonourable and should be eradicated before they could cause more harm. The samurai's fear came from the fact that whenever a returning samurai came home after i fight with a shinobi, they would state that the enemy had magic powers and at times could even duplicate themselves. However, this was not the case, the shinobi liked to travel in small groups of 3-4. The fact that they wore lighter armour then that of the samurai meant they were more manouverable, giving them an edge speed wise. Although these claims may have been untrue, the shinobi had no problem with acting them out.

On one occasion, one shinobi even faked his own death and came back alive just to give away the effect that he was "immortal". With the samurai on the move and most of the shinobi villages being wiped out, the remaining leaders of the clans decided it best to take refuge in the mountains, hiding being the best form of defence at the moment. The remaining clans set out on their journey for Mt Kashika, where they closed themselves off from the outside world.

Our story is set in the present time, the shogun wars have been going on for a good five years now. The hidden village of the mountain, still unaware of the turmoil that stood below them. A young shinbo named Ryu Musashi, has come of age, and is ready to start his trials. He is summoned to the shinobi clan leaders who still think he is not ready to become a shinobi. As the man spent most of his child years being a nuisance.

The boy is about to protest to their claims but the elders quickly change their mind. It seems they have a task for him to do after all, one that will certainly prove he was ready for the title of "Shinobi". The clan leaders ask Ryu to venture out of the town and go on a basic scouting mission. To find out what has been going on in the continent since the time that they shut themselves in.

Apparently, many of the younger clansmen have wanted to rage war on the samurai for quite sometime now. The elders, not wanting to seem weak feel it best to get some basic info on the matter first, no point fighting an enemy that might not be there. Ryu, eager to prove himself accepts the task without a second guess and heads off down the mountain. After all it is just a basic scouting mission....or so the shinobi thought.

Characters

http://img182.imageshack.us/img182/2649 ... shigu9.png[/IMG]Ryu Musashi
Age-18
Gender-Male
Class-Shinobi
Weapon-Kunai
Skills-Ninjitsu
Ryu is an enthusiastic character, always ready to rush into things gets him into a lot of bizarre and dangerous situations. Most people wouldnt call him "leader" material, yet when push comes to shove he is always helping his friends with a plan. At first, Ryu would seem like a coward as he is always trying to get out of a fight with his words instead of his blade. Although, once in a fight he is struck with a sudden burst of confidence, the desire to push himself to his limits and to prove that he is worthy of the shinobi name. Gives Ryu the determination to accomplish things he never thought imagineable.

http://img92.imageshack.us/img92/4044/shunharagi2.png[/IMG]Shun Hara
Age-22 (looks 16)
Gender-Male
Class-Martial Artist
Weapon-Gloves
Skills-Taijitsu

Shun is best described as a bitter old hermit. He first meets Ryu when the ninja carelessly breaks into his little mountain shack where he brakes one of Shun's priceless antiques. Well, atleast he told Ryu it was priceless. For the last six years or so Shun has lived by himself up in the mountain. Having learnt Taijitsu from his sensei in the school of the hopping frog, he mostly spent his time training his skills. The only reason the hermit joins Ryu is for the sole reason to get his money back for the antique, at least thats the excuse Ryu is given. The years of being a hermit has left Shun very socially scarred, the ability to construct long conversation leaving him long ago. Although one thing is for certain, he is more then he is letting on.

http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/7278 ... itamd2.png[/IMG]Takumi Yamashita
Age-28
Gender-Male
Class-Samurai
Weapon-Katana
Skills-Bushido

Takumi lives in a small samurai town positioned on the border between the lands owned by Hitori and Shatori. Being a samurai means that this hearty fellow has a very big sense of honour and his build means he has a extremely large appetite. Takumi meets Ryu when the pesky shinobi trys to sneak through the town dressed as a samurai. Takumi uncovers him as a shinobi and immediately flys off the handle, going on about old birth rights and how it was his duty to rid the world of the last remaining shinobi. Ryu being the sneaky pest he is manages to evade Takumi at every turn and explains he is not the last shinobi. Takumi wanting to complete the task of his forefathers makes a cunning plan to join Ryu in attempt to know the whereabouts of the hidden village. Takumi and Ryu's relationship can be best described as a rivalry, each trying to best the other in any situation. Also, each trying to kill the other although the plans they hatch never fall through.


http://img242.imageshack.us/img242/6490 ... otowq1.png[/IMG]Akari Sakamoto
Age-19
Class-Assasin
Weapon-Needles
Skills-Acupuncture

Akari is a moody and sarcastic woman at best. She comes from the same village as Ryu, although the two haven't spoke in while due to Akari studies in ancient medicines based around the needle theorum that and the fact that she left the town when she was ten, deciding that there was more for her then what the quiet little shinobi town could offer. Akari found herself being hired as a assasin for Shatori who is eventually told to assasinate Ryu. Seeing this as a way to prove herself better then her old sibling rival she eagerly takes the task. Although her assasination attempts always end up failing and she even joins Ryu as a way to get closer to her goal. With friends like Akari and Takumi who needs enemies.





http://img90.imageshack.us/img90/2853/s ... aralb4.png[/IMG] Shai Hakushi (shy doctor)
Age-23
Class-Alchemist
Weapon-Fan
Skills-Alchemy

Shai is a shy and sheltered girl. She came over to this continent with the westerners as a way to study the cultures herbs and medicines. Not very skilled in fighting, she mostly uses her alchemy training to make healing herbs for her friends or things to weaken her enemies. She meets Ryu when he enters the westerner town of Ladia, as a unconcious prisoner. Her curiousity took over her natural feelings of being shy as she inspected Ryu closely in his cell while she applied to him his treatment. Ryu, being shy with the ladies himself however jumps up and runs out the cell doors locking her in, it seemed she had carelessly left it open. Feeling guilty about her clumsiness, she sets off to find Ryu and spends most of the time she is with him trying to convince him in returning to Ladia so she can atone for her crime.


Features

+ side on battle system.
+world map
+the ability to use some of the party's skill out of battle.
+Ninja mini games

(still under construction)

Screenshots

(none as yet)

Credits
Japan for having such a good history :P
Japanese Site for the sprites of the main characters.

(thats it for now)

Conclusion

This was just a project i thought of five minutes ago and to me it felt orginal so i decided to turn my thoughts into a reality. Also, as proof to some people that i am quite capable of making an orginal game if i want to :P.

Please post comments on the story and characters. Also, any suggestions you might have on names or whatever the case might be. Please post them as well, i like criticism. P.S. Im aware there might be some grammer problems. Bare with me as microsoft word is on the fritz so i had to write this up in word pad. Which, stupidly doesnt have spellcheck and if it does i am yet to locate it.

(i will make the page more pretty soon with a titlescreen and fancy logos :P)

 

[Erk]

Just crazy me talking, but given how easy it is to find real information on Japan's history and feudal culture you might want to either research a bit (in which case you will learn a ton of cool new information that will set you apart from 9/10 Japan geeks) or establish that yours is a fantasy world, not real-life japan... one of the first things almost anyone who had studied japan could tell you is that in 1800, there were essentially no westerners in Japan; the borders were not broken until 1858. In 1800 Japan was ruled by the Tokugawa shogunate, not a dude named One Guy Me (hitori watashi). More specifically, the bossman was called Tokugawa Ienari.

I am not trying to diss your efforts, it's just... well, if you are going to make a game set in a real place in a real time period, wikipedia alone can furnish you with a lot of mostly accurate information for building the environment. Far from making your job harder, that will help you keep your plot holes and story sorted because much of where your setting comes from has already been written for you by history itself.

If you want to make up your own world with feudal japanese standards, though, you could always go for the standard-fare anime/manga thing (Naruto for example) and design your world as though it were feudal Japan, without ever actually giving a date nor a name to the land itself. Then nobody can do what I just did and pick your world apart, because you have created a fantasy land that is just very obviously inspired by a historical period. I would be careful about that myself, but then, I like learning history so actually knowing what I was talking about would seem like a plus to me in a story like this.

Also, why is a blonde western girl named Sachiko Fujiwara? Shouldn't she be something like Jane Smith?

Just my two cents.

 

[Saikoden]

I just said "feudal japan" as a reference to what the time period was like. So, i was just simply stating that the fantasy world would look a lot like feudal japn in respect to the buildings. Im quite aware that they didnt breach the borders until 1858, thats why i just said 1800's and not giving any particular date to the matter. I studied the subject for a good 2 hours, thats why i made up a random shogun, as more reference to the story not being precisely around the japanese history. The only thing around japanese history is bits and pieces of the backstory i.e the samurai being afraid of shinobi because they thought them to have "demon powers".

I will re-edit the story to better state the claims that it is a fantasy type place, also, the fact that i always said "land" and "continent" instead of "japan" was another way to show people that it wasnt in fact japan. Also, there was no shogun wars in respect from the westerners being at the borders. Also, as i said the samurai way was slightly declining, which was true in the 1800 because when Emperor Meiji became he charged he made a law that samurai could no longer carry swords on their person, abolishing them as a "special class". I believe he was in power around 1858 where you said westerners finally broke the borders, after japan closing themselves off for so many years.

I will admit though, i should have better chose my words in the first part of the story, i was just trying to set the scene of "feudal japan". Also, the girl having a japanese name even though she is a westerner also fits in later on with my plot. I didnt just randomly put things together for the fun of it, i researched what i was doing and chose certain parts of the history that i liked and manipulated it in a way to make it my own.

I will of course edit the first post to clearly state that this is in fact a fantasy world, although i feel i made a few little hints to suggest such a thing. As, to my recollection the samurai didnt commit genocide on the shinobi, i of course could be wrong but from my understanding of the samurai, it would go against their code to butcher innocent people.

I value you your opinion, and thank you for showing me that my point of it being a fantasy world wasnt pushed out there as much as i was to believe. But, please dont just assume i just randomly wrote things and hoped it would be historically correct.

Edit: First post edited a little, abolishing the date and any reference to actual "japan". So, all and all it should seem fantasy-ish. Of course, unless you know a basic history of samurai/shinobi, Also, Erk. A part from the few mess ups i made with my writing what do you think of the story in general? As a writer, i like to know how my stories are put across and if they are believeable

 

[Erk]

That's a good way to do it. As long as you don't claim any specific real-life place or date, you're safe.

The rest of this is unrelated to your game as you have reset it, but cool nevertheless.
For the sake of nitpickin' your historical knowledge, the Meiji Restoration was 1866-1869 (in terms of a specific date it is usually 1867, the date of the fall of the Shogunate), and the abolishment of the samurai class was a while after; The Last Samurai is a somewhat accurate representation of the final gasp of the samurai class: Takamori Saigo's army lost rather soundly in 1877. Realistically though, what we think of as feudal samurai were drastically changed in 1600 when Tokugawa Ieyasu came into power (the book Shogun by James Clavell tells this story beautifully). He turned the samurai class from warriors into bureaucrats and scholars... there were no wars in japan from 1600 until 1877, so after Ieyasu took control the samurai as portrayed by romantic fiction had really finished their job.

Really, if you like feudal Japan, I highly recommend you get out some books on it. The truth is a lot more interesting than most fantasy representations good luck with your game though.

 

[Saikoden]

yeh, i was a little unsure about the excact time that the shogunate fell from power. That i am aware of, most samurais during the 1600's would also become monks and also, some even converted to christainity. I also learnt that in different stages of a samurais life, they would receive different names, sometimes a shogun would even give a samurai apart of their own name a gift. Although, you most likely already knew that lol.

I was going to do a game entirely based around the history of the samurai, but, in more my own beliefs i could never do the actual history the true justice that it deserved. So, i decided it best to take some parts of the history that i liked, and turned into something that wouldnt ruin the actual history japan.

Also, i was thinking about making a prequel to this game, about the genocide of the shinobi, which in turn would be based more on the samurai and history but, i need to get this one done first lol. Thanks a lot though Erk, ive actually had fun in discussing this with you, also, i appreciate you taking the time to give me ideas on how to edit the story to make it appeal more as a fantasy.

Edit: Front page is edited with complete blurbs of the five main characters. NPC's to be added shortly. For a game i only thought of an hour or two ago i think i am making steady progress

 

[Calibre]

Before everyone asks, yes i am still working on Pokémon windchasers. This was just a project i thought of five minutes ago and to me it felt orginal so i decided to turn my thoughts into a reality. Also, as proof to some people that i am quite capable of making an orginal game if i want to :P.

Just a word of advice, when people introduce more than one thing to focus on, they seem to lose focus altogether. That would mean that you wouldn't finish either game and both would have been a waste of your time.

Of course, it is strictly possible and completely down to your discretion, ands I'm sure you'd have already considered this anyway, but just thought I'd bring it up.

 

[Saikoden]

Yeh, i understand that but, i dont intend to lose focus on either game, as i will be working on this while i wait for things to do on Windchasers and vica versa. This was just an idea i had which i liked and instead of just losing it all together i decided to do it as well, personally i believe i am capable of both.

Besides, if i slack off on windchaser everyones hard work would be for nothing and they would most likely attack me with viruses etc :lol:. With that out of the way, what do you think of the idea in general Calibre? I actually value you your opinion :P

 

[Calibre]

EDIT: I may have just sugguested a few things already changed... whoops, I haven't really read yours and Erks discussion. Though i stil lthink my general stance on the sotry is demonstrated.

Okay, in my own personal opinion, this isn't really my cup of tea at all, though this could obviously be the complete opposite with other members.

For starters, it seems a very factual game. With factual games, you have to know EVERYTHING inside out about your story/game world or things start to not add up. And if things start not to add up your story is already flawed.

Trust me from experience with my own game, getting every minute detail right is no easy task, and your story seems far more complex than my own.

Secondly, I believe Erk mentioned get the facts right or set it in a fictional world. I would personally always opt for the latter. This gives you the option to add anything into your story to fill the aforementioned plot holes. If it all is based on real life then the detailing becomes very long-winded and laborious to implement. Plus of course, when playing an rpg, I like to explore a fictional world, a world that I have never seen before, to me it's more engrossing. This doesn't mean your game world couldn't be heavily inspired by Japan, though it doesn't have to ACTUALLY be Japan.

Finally, I tend to not like games with a set focus on a foreign culture i.e. Greek, Latin, Japanese... as I am unfamiliar with terms and customs from those cultures/era's. When making your game, bear in mind that many people are unfamiliar with what a shinobi, samurai, shogun etc actually are. pair this with the Japanese naming with the characters, villages etc and the game can begin to seem too heavy for some.

Of course, as I say, this is my preference in games and by no means represents everyone.

Good Luck.

 

[Saikoden]

I value you your opinions their calibre . As, i have stated to Erk just incase you didnt read that part, the samurai towns and empires will have feudal japanese tilesets, like the buildings etc will look like that, to match with the theme. Other then that, the country is practically fantasy, as are the characters, plots adn whatever. The only thing that is based off history is the Shinobi, Samurai's hate for each other. Everything else is just their to help my plot along, like the westerners because i wanted guns to be a part of the plot as well.

As i have removed dates, japan, and anything else that would tie this to history the game is free to be whatever i would love for it to be, it will actually be able to mold with my vision. Im quite aware that not everyone will understand what certain things are, thats why in the game when the word pops up for the first time, i will have a little box up the top, like in japanese anime to explain the words/meaning.

The japanese names are just names, like tom or phil. I just have always liked the sound of japanese sounding names. (hence Saikoden. I made it up out of Katakana (sp?)) Again, if they have a special meaning i will explain it the best i can. Thanks for your input though Calibre, realy made me think about some things :D. Now, all i need is for someone to quote on if the chracters seem cliché and im set for a bit :lol: :P

Edit: Just for the record, a lot of fantasy type games somewhere down the track have something tied to realism, be it weapons, power struggles etc.

 

[Calibre]

The japanese names are just names, like tom or phil. I just have always liked the sound of japanese sounding names.

Yeah sure I know they are just names, i have Japanese names In CR as well...
Kenji and Suki. My point was, IMO, throughout the whole game it can be easy to muddle characters as they have names that are uncommon to an English speaking person. That's why I tried to make my Japanese characters roll off the tongue easily for an english speaker. Phil and Tom are easy names for us to recall because we are familiar with both the name and the sound. For example "Sachiko Fujiwara" doesn't roll off the tongue so well. I hope that makes sense, I mean when the whole game is like that, it can be a little over-bearing for some unless the names are choosen wisely.

Edit: Just for the record, a lot of fantasy type games somewhere down the track have something tied to realism, be it weapons, power struggles etc

Not sure why you added this. I would go as far as saying ALL fantasy includes realism in some context. Otherwise as readers we couldn'tn relate to any of it. The great thing about a fantasy world is that you start with what you know as the rela world, and can then add and subtract as you see fit.

 

[Saikoden]

I added the last bit about the realism in fantasy games just as a statement of fact. It just made me feel good to put it short lol.

As for Sachiko's name, i was thinking about shortening it to something different, maybe even giving the character names with meanings towards their personalities. The only name that is stuck in cement, is Ryu's as it it what some generator said my real name translated to, so i kept it lol.

Expect a small name edits (with english meanings if needed) soon. Im doing this not only for the readers/potential gamers but because the name was also getting on my nerves xD

Edit: Changed Sachiko's name to Shai. Her name now stands for Shy Doctor. As for the other names, until i can think of words that i can translate to japanese and still make them easy to associate with, they will be staying the way they are.

 

[Nakama]

Guerilla warfare* spelt that wrong. Anyways looks quite original and I thought from the title that you'd be on the side of the samurai but alas I was wrong. Looks interesting but my only ocmplaint is that I also have the samurai, ninja and kunoichi charsets. Can't even remember when I got them but I just do, my advice is change them a little (colour, different head, hair) anything to make them more original, if you use them unchanged it looks too familiar but that's just me. I had those charsets for like seven months and they look too familiar to me...

The story looks nice but I had to come back to this thread three times before I was in the mood to read it but hey that's just me. It looks like it could be exciting depending on how it's done, I look forward to the ninja games.

~RoaringSasuke

 

[Saikoden]

Yeh, i thought i spelt Guerilla wrong. Thanks for letting me know, front page updated with correct spelling . The samurai i will be placing in the traditional garments, also will most likely make his hair greyer and bump up his age. The ninja i really liked as he but alas, i will find something to change about him. Maybe just a simple re-colour of his hair to brown?. Akari or the kunoichi girl, i will most likely make her clothes blue or purple and change her hair.
Posted them up like that because no one else had them up here :P.

As for the name, i sort of did that on purpose lol. To make people think it will be about samurai and then have the scene change completely to the shinobi village. Of course, the samurai play a big role so the name isnt too bad xD!.

Thanks for your support though Roaring, i was kind of hoping you'd eventualy post :P. Front page should be edited shortly with new colour edits for the characters.

 

[Saikoden]

Update! Posting a colour edit of Akari.

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i198/ ... riedit.png[/IMG]

RoaringSasuke, if your reading this topic. Tell me if that is editted enough or if i should change the hair colour as well.

 

[Nakama]

It looks nice and I suggest unless you have reason too don't change the hair colour, also maybe you should add a pouch or something for her needles, I'm sure they don't magically appear.

~RoaringSasuke

 

[Saikoden]

In the actual battle system she is likely to have a pouch on her leg, but, seeing how most sprites don't walk around with their weapon holsters, i assumed it wouldn't be necessary. The only person that will walk around with his weapon out of battle is the samurai, as it is sort of customary for him to do so. Front page will be edited with new samurai sprite when its done and also the new coloured version of Akari.