--==(( Story Synopsis ))==--

In an age of strife, when the world was young, the races of the world struggle for survival. Monsters roam the lands, stepping over the borders of the wilderness and encroaching onto the war torn soils of civilization.

A shaky truce called between the kingdoms of men, Myloc and Dunkargo are two young veterans of the Great War cast aside and sent home to a land left to the mercies of the frontier. With their home found in ruins, the two ex soldiers turn to the Mercenary Guild for survival. Admitted fast for their skills and experience, their position as swords for hire soon send them deep into the chaos of a forgotten legend. A prophecy of doom that will shake the very world as they know it.


((NOTE))
- This game is designed to be both unique and cliche enough to provide original world and story for effective immersion as well as that refreshing cup of nostalgia and remembrance to evoke whatever feelings drew us to the old RPG genre in the first place... A hard task to accomplish, indeed. In my attempt to do this, I have focused heavily on the flow of story, the storyline itself, character design, dialogue, and the world.


:: FEATURES ::

- Progress through a solid, fulfilling storyline in a dangerous world.

- Live and die alongside up to 13 playable characters each with their own story.

- Explore a wild and unforgiving world. Uncover ruins, piece together a fabled past or become a tomb raider.

- Hunt down the lost secrets of the world. Can you find all the secret treasures buried in the rubble of time gone by?

- Take on jobs for the Mercenary Guild to seek out fame and fortune or make a name for yourself in the underground fight clubs of the Gladiator Guild's arena system.

- Enjoy the reminiscence of a carefully optimized RM2k3 default battle system.

- Beat the game and unlock a New Game + feature that allows the player to experience the story once again, but from the protagonist's point of view.




(( DEVELOPER NOTES ))

- Choices are a popular feature. However, I feel they are poorly implemented in most games. Folks I've talked to agree that the old fashioned "good or bad" is just that; ...old. For this game, I thought to offer a chance at building character development in the player's mind. Rather than good or bad, the choices would be more personal. Either decision could be viewed as good or bad depending on the person and their reasoning. However these choices affect the story and the interactions between the characters. So as not to give away too much of the game, I will give one prime example: There is a part where the player is locked up in the Pirate Guild's secret hideout. Monsters attack and in the chaos the player breaks out. The character that was with you, a woman named Ethni, brought you to the Pirate Guild with good intentions but you were locked up. She was locked up, too, but taken somewhere deep into the hideout. As monsters swarm into the Pirate Guild on a murderous rampage, it is obvious that you have only 5 minutes to escape. There are many rooms in the hideout. Some hold items and treasures that may be rare or worth gold. Other rooms are full of monsters. Do you loot what you can and leave? Ethni would want to "go down with the ship" so to speak anyways. Or do you bypass some to all of the loot to search for her? If the player can find Ethni before the timer runs out, she becomes a permanent party member. If the player grabs the loot and leaves, they do not see Ethni again until far into the game when she is seen on a slave stand being sold. If you saved her, Ethni falls in love with Myloc, the protagonist. This stems another choice; whether or not to return that affection which can lead to other choices down the road. If the player did not save Ethni, then when they see her being sold a small cinematic of sorts begins where Myloc buys her freedom. When you get Ethni this way, the player can tell that she as a character will never be the same. The player would find out soon after that she eventually takes her own life. Now one type of player may chuckle like, "damn. bitch is crazy" while another may sit in saddened silence wishing they had saved her way back when. But as far as that save file goes, it is too late... Can anybody say "replay value?" =P

There are many choices like this in the game.

(Combat)
- The combat system is traditional with a few new twists or additions. Players will not be able to select the "Fight" command over and over while casting Cure3 until all the enemies are dead. After the first act of the game, the monsters and the formations they come in begin to take on a rather sinister presence. I wanted to do away with useless magics and skills. Abilities that you never really NEEDED to use. Things like Berserk, Muddle, Demi, Drain, Rasp, Confuse, etc. You know, the "grey magics" that you could bypass by pounding a few Meteos, Ultimas or Luminaires into the enemy's face. Status ailments abound as monsters seeks to poison, paralyze, stun, bleed, blind, petrify, freeze, slow, confuse, berserk, weaken, and cause amnesia; an ailment that causes a character to forget higher level abilities for the duration. There are also many ways to combat these ailments with abilities such as Haste, Regen, Magic Shield, Reflect, Esuna, and the like. The battle planning has been such that monsters are given abilities to complement one another against the player. Players would be wise to target the monsters that pose the highest threat in a group first. However, some monster behavior may change under certain circumstances. Beware leaving certain monsters to be killed last as they may feel cornered and go wild.

- The elements have always been a big part of traditional RPGs. You know... Fire, Ice, Lightning, and Earth? They are important in this game as well. Enemies may be weak to, resistant against, immune, or even able to absorb certain elements. There is gear in game that can grant similar states to party members. In an effort to keep the newer gaming generation in mind, as well as the old heads that may be bored with the same old same old, other "element" types have been added. These are known as "weapon styles". Weapon styles are broken down into sword, spear, axe, bow, etc. and some enemies may be strong against swords while weak against the brute force of an axe.

- Items are incredibly important in this game. As magic is a rarity, the player will not have many characters that can use curing magics. This is the world the characters live in. And so, many times it will fall on any one character to pull a potion or antidote from his bag to save the day. Legends say that some of the last great alchemists stored powerful spells in certain items that can be unleashed or studied by a magic user to learn permanently.

- The encounter system is varied. I can remember the nuisance of walking through an area from way earlier in the game and still encountering monsters every few steps. I think back to games like Earthbound where as you got stronger monsters would actually flee from you. However, the monsters are not always visible. There are no overworld random encounters in this game save for in specific areas where it is called for. There are random encounters in some dungeons while in others there are visible monsters set for collision encounter or sight encounter.

- I REEEEALLY want to implement a tech system similar to CT's Dual Techs and Triple techs. I have found ways of doing this to an extent but not a way of consuming the wait time gauge of all characters involved. If anyone has an idea of how to do this in RM2k3 please message me. I would appreciate it.





(NEW FEATURES)
- There is an arena system similar to the Dragon's Neck Colosseum in FF6 in many of the cities' undergrounds.

- Purchase and upgrade your own gladiator for use in special arenas. (a very pokemon-esque type deal)

- New world map system implemented. Upon recieving your world map, it will be just a picture of the world. As you explore, points of interest and information on those points will be added to the map's display, (See the world map pictures in the uploaded game photos for what a new map and a fully explored map look like... minus secret areas of course.)

- A Final Fantasy 6 type ship deck map has been added that is accessible any time the player is on a ship or airship (2 different maps). The characters of your entourage that are not currently in your party can be seen milling about the ship, above and below deck. Also implemented a Suikoden-type idea of allowing visual upgrades to the ships similar to the upgrades to the Liberation Army's Castle as you get more characters.