I'm currently fleshing out the story and gameplay of a project I'm planning, and I'd like to hear any of your thoughts/criticism/suggestions. Here's what I have so far:
Story:
Gameplay:
Phew, I think that's all. I'm open to any thoughts you have.
Story:
The gods, known as Guardians, created summoners to serve as their prophets, and as a link between the realms of gods and men. However, as time wore on, the summoners grew power-hungry and enslaved the Guardians to do their bidding, using the threat of the powerful Guardians to control the masses. A few generations later, a summoner is born into one of the summoner dictator's families, but instead of becoming ruthless and abusing his summons, he is shut out from the world and instead becomes friends with them, becoming rather distant from humans. One day, when the boy has grown into a young man, his Guardians inform him that the order of high gods who cannot be summoned have decided to destroy the world and begin anew if the summoners do not cease their tyranny. Thus the boy, named Nathaniel, sets out to end the summoner rule once and for all.
That's the basic premise. There will be five countries that must be saved, called Pylae, Verloren, Gladius, Excidium, and Peractio. Other scattered concepts include summoners fighting to take each other's land, another summoner that plans to take down the summoner rule at any cost and must be stopped, and monks that still worship the Guardians and can be found in encampments scattered across the world. I still haven't gotten a full outline of the story, but I imagine it will be rather episodic in execution.
That's the basic premise. There will be five countries that must be saved, called Pylae, Verloren, Gladius, Excidium, and Peractio. Other scattered concepts include summoners fighting to take each other's land, another summoner that plans to take down the summoner rule at any cost and must be stopped, and monks that still worship the Guardians and can be found in encampments scattered across the world. I still haven't gotten a full outline of the story, but I imagine it will be rather episodic in execution.
Gameplay:
Using the GTBS system, I will be making a strategy game in the vein of Final Fantasy Tactics or Fire Emblem. The main character's Guardians will be the playable characters, each mostly original to the game but based in mythology. There will be a few concepts to separate it from a typical tactics game, however. You will be able to freely explore the world like in a typical RPG, unlike most tactics game which are mostly linear. However, every encounter will be story-or-sidequest-important, so there will be a limited amount in the game. However, this won't be too much of a concern since there will be no leveling system or equipment. The characters will each have unique stats, but they will stay static throughout the game. Instead, abilities can be customized freely. As Guardians are used in battle, they will earn Ability Points. Abilities can be found as items, whether they're found through enemy drops, the story, or exploration. They will each have a set AP requirement, and if a summon has enough AP they can equip it. They will be able to equip as many abilities as they want, provided they have enough AP.
Another concept which I may or may not include is that there will indeed be equipment exclusively for Nathaniel, that will give certain effects to the entire party, despite the fact that he cannot be used in battle. Inside battles, I plan to have a couple of unique ideas as well. For one, Union Attacks; if two of your units are on an adjacent tile to the same enemy unit, they will both attack for extra damage, and certain elemental combinations will trigger unique specials. Another idea is a unique take on status effects. For example, any Water-elemental attack will give the enemy the Water status. This will give certain properties, such as making a Fire attack weaker (however, after the Fire attack the Water status will be replaced with Fire) or making an enemy easier to inflict the Freeze status upon with an Ice-elemental attack.
Another concept which I may or may not include is that there will indeed be equipment exclusively for Nathaniel, that will give certain effects to the entire party, despite the fact that he cannot be used in battle. Inside battles, I plan to have a couple of unique ideas as well. For one, Union Attacks; if two of your units are on an adjacent tile to the same enemy unit, they will both attack for extra damage, and certain elemental combinations will trigger unique specials. Another idea is a unique take on status effects. For example, any Water-elemental attack will give the enemy the Water status. This will give certain properties, such as making a Fire attack weaker (however, after the Fire attack the Water status will be replaced with Fire) or making an enemy easier to inflict the Freeze status upon with an Ice-elemental attack.
Phew, I think that's all. I'm open to any thoughts you have.