The Shift Saga: Esoteric

This isn't crazy, but it is like as if Terry Davis (RIP) made this game. It's somewhat incoherent and nonsensical - it's absurd in a very real way. And in this case, 'very real way' means the kind of absurdity where laughter doesn't suit it. It's not as crazy as anything you'd find with Davis, but I was crazy.

This isn't an augmented reality game, but it is like an autobiographical game. The truth is in there - it's obfuscated. A life leaves a trail and there are stories that are organic. There's a lot of truth in this game. And I wanted to reveal that grim truth that's somewhere in there.

I think the game is evil. It might even be dangerous. I think some ideas are venomous and willing to kill. I had to abandon this game because it was taking my mind away. I found myself fractured and began work on this game. And as fractured into many, I worked on this game. And then I stopped. I'm not in such a bad place now. Well, I wonder, maybe this game is a secret ritual that would have destroyed me.

But I'd like you to play it. It is a gift to you. It's a gift because it comes from very near to the center of my heart. My own horrors are shielded from you and yet I present what was left over. What wasn't destroyed formed into this. If you look into this game, I hope you have fun... and thank you.

New Content:
New City
New Quest
New Shops
Music Alteration
1/3 more exp and gold awarded per monster.

Expected for v.0.5
Last Way Station
Last City
New Quest
New Dungeons
Last Shops
Skill Books
Massive bug fix

Today the first version of Esoteric has arrived. Yay!
Well, it's nowhere near completion.
I am hoping to do small updates every month.
I'd much appreciate it if you could play it and tell me what you think should be improved or what you'd like to see next.
I hope you have fun with it, because that's what's important.

Current contents of game:

• 7 Primary characters
  Many multi-tiered characters
  Fusion Class System
  210 Weapons (not all available yet)
  135 Armour pieces (not all available yet)
  150+ Skills (not all available yet)
  1 dungeon (incomplete)
  1 waypoint (incomplete)
  1 purchasable house
  Speed Dating System
  9 possible dates
  1 gambling game
  2 (of 8) endings
  

Known Bugs:

• Fusion System may cause a gamebreaking error
  Not all fusions will work properly
  Text in opening needs to be fixed (Bah, I thought I did this already!)
  

Hoped for next update (3/31/16):

• 1st boss added
  Combat balanced better
  Armour adjusted and added to shop
  Revel main quest completed and added to journal
  Syl subquest completed
  New shop
  New area
  Increased date dialogue
  General bug fixes
  New minigame
  New search engine entries
  

Thanks for playing!

I am hoping to release a testing demo of this game in a week or two, so here is an update as to the progress of the game.

1. Polishing maps

2. Finish fishing - Hasn't been touched yet.

3. Add monsters to the cluster maps - varies.

4. Add non-required chests/items to dungeons and clusters - 1/10 done

5. Finish all intermediate cutscenes - little

6. Final 8 ending cutscenes - done, but not all are achievable yet

7. Quests - main quests roughly completed, subquests aren't done.

8. third tier of class system - Significant work required

9. classes - most skills completed, requires polishing and lots of it

10. Second tier - 40%

11. Finish all books - 97% done.

12. Lots of polishing...

I've been sidetracked by two recent events and school, and haven't gotten as much done as I'd really like. I'll probably spend most of thanksgiving break working on it and then release the demo.

Thank you for reading.

The purpose of this blog post is to discuss the symbols built into the structure of Esoteric. This will make the game less esoteric and easier to understand as a work of art for both myself and the player. This game has a life of it's own now. I have written it as much as it has written me. This is a few tidbits grabbed from development notes mixed in haphazardly with later commentary into an olio of pseudo-legible meanderings. This isn't an analysis, although it could be a useful tool for an analysis.

The title screen portrays Norse written in Elder Futhark runes (which predate Norse.) It further describes three paths. Similarly, the overworld provides the player with three paths that mirror those on title.
The runes in the center roughly mean "To awaken." The runes inside the four compass points stand for "The Way", "Dreams", "Life's Journey", and "will."
The runes along the top of the title spell the name "Fairnoth Syfon."
The runes that spell "Dreams" refer to the town of Revel. The runes that spell "will" refer to the town of Restri. And the runes that spell "Life's Journey" refer to the town of Reso.
Additionally, the runes can also be interpreted from a divination standpoint. For example, the top word on the title that looks like "PI" could be interpreted like this.
Wunjo-(Fellowship, harmony, prosperity)
Isa- (Psychological blocks to thought or activity)
This corresponds to the town Restri.

The three outer towns refer to the three great callings of life.
Restri - Governance, politics, and aspects of the will.
Reso - Science, empiricism, and aspects of the material.
Revel - Religion, surrealism, and aspects of the soul.
The inner/central town, Synovia, relates to the individual in balance between the three callings.

As Shift fuses with other characters as the game progresses, his base stats increase. In doing so, he moves up a tier. There are eight tiers he can reach. This is symbolic, along with leveling, of ascension. Each time he rises a tier, he ascends to a new state of being. I would say that this symbolism is common to RPG's, but my game takes it to a whole new level. Actually, strangely enough, this symbolism isn't universal to RPG's.
The tiers in Esoteric can be broken down into greater symbolism. The few tiers are achieved by fusing with characters of equal tiers which shows a reintegration of the self. At a certain tier, you must confront a manifestation of that which cause people to die. The next tier requires you fuse with the inverse of yourself, or more accurately, a forgotten self. The path to this tier is also a confrontation of what will be and what has been. The final tiers are achieved by completing various quests;
-The ability to draw from aspects of yourself
-The creation of the philosopher's stone