Crystals: Legend of the Sword

In case you missed the prior posts in this series, you can find them here:
Alex the Black Mage
Van the Warrior

As part of my continuing exploration of the characters of Crystals, today I’ll be discussing Riyu, the leader and primary protagonist of the first game. Despite Riyu’s design still being in development, I felt it was important to wrap up discussion on the trio that you take through the first three dungeons of the game (Riyu, Alex, Van).


Riyu the Hero

Design

Riyu Rovgrex acts as the protagonist of the first game, and is therefore forced into your party throughout. This brings with it a special set of concerns for his design. Namely that he:
- Is relevant throughout the game.
- Displays a reason for others to follow him (to explain why Riyu is the leader).
- Is fun to play.
- Has a play style unique from other characters.

There are a couple common tropes for leaders in video games that I considered but ultimately rejected for Riyu’s design. My personal favorite hero trope is the knight: the strong, tanky, physical fighter. But Van is already the early game tank and Riyu’s character always struck me as more swashbuckler (his father is a pirate, after all). Another option is what I call the “omni-warrior,” or jack-of-all-trades. However, such characters risk being a “master of none” and serve little value to your party. I could make Riyu simply a master of all (an option I am generally not opposed to for game protagonists), but viability between characters is an important objective for Crystals, and “master of all” would go against that. The final option I call “customized,” which means the player can choose a path for Riyu to master. If Riyu were to be the protagonist for all future games, “customized” would be the obvious route to take. However, a new character will take over the protagonist role for the second game, and her design is less flexible. This creates imbalance that is not beneficial for the overall structure of the series. Therefore, “customized” is rejected as well.

In the end, Riyu is constructed like most any other character, with slight favoritism towards versatility and durability. The source material offered little in the way of Riyu’s character, mentioning only he wielded a sword, was often overly emotional, and was trained by his father. As a result, a large chunk of Riyu’s design is born from his initial creation in the Crystals demo.

In the demo, since Van and Alex were obviously not healers, Riyu was given that role. Riyu was also in-between Van and Alex in terms of attack power and durability. And to give Riyu some prestige in the group, I gave him a very powerful ability that one-shotted most enemies, but due to MP constraints could only be cast once initially. These three concepts ended up forming the backbone of Riyu’s design today.

Skills and Abilities

Riyu’s primary skill-set is Technique, which provides him slight healing powers for the early game, some situational skills (such as one which helps him cut through high defense enemies), and some inefficient but high damage abilities. Technique is intended to be situationally appropriate and not for general use, given Riyu’s small MP pool.

Riyu’s active is Boost. Boost increases Riyu’s strength by 300% for a single turn. On average this increase will double Riyu’s physical damage, but due to how the damage formula works, it is more effective with high damage abilities and less effective with low damage abilities. Combined with the inefficient but high damage abilities available via Technique, Boost makes Riyu a character who thrives in the difficult all-out matches. Indeed, even in the demo, Riyu’s ability to quickly dispatch a troublesome enemy is invaluable.

Riyu’s secondary skill-set is Cook. I am borrowing a food mechanic from Tales of Phantasia, where walking consumes food and slowly heals the party. To give the various grocery items more purpose in-game, Riyu can consume various grocery items in exchange for moderate in-battle effects. These vary from healing to buffs to damage, and balanced by their gold cost. When Riyu is looking to conserve some MP, Cook is a great alternative. Cook also gives a nod to the role he played in the Rovgrex household in the absence of his parents.

As mentioned, I am still finalizing Riyu’s design (and will likely continue to do so until I can play test him in-game). One notable absence in his kit is a passive. His planned passive was Synergy: Riyu deals extra damage to targets recently damaged by an ally (damage over time or self-inflicted does not count). I am always trying to build story into gameplay, and this passive had great potential. However, synergy was rejected because it fundamentally changed how one plays the game, which was too obtrusive to have on a mandatory character. I hope to repurpose Synergy on an optional character later.

Scan (reveal monster stats) was another ability rejected from Riyu, this time because of the protagonist switch in later games. I have not decided on how best to repurpose Scan, though it will likely be some in-game item that anyone can use rather than restrict it to a specific character. Scan may also disappear from the game outright.

Story

Riyu is a bit emotionally unstable, sees himself as a failure, and constantly looking for meaning in life. He regularly objects to actions taken by his older brother Alex, yet can’t bring himself to do anything meaningful to intervene. Similarly, he has deep seeded unhappiness towards his father for abandoning them, yet continues to respect his father’s teachings and look toward them for guidance. Ultimately it is Riyu’s desires and ambition that drive the main storyline.

Another characteristic of Riyu is the sword Excalibur, which was gifted to him by his father many years ago (apologies for the name Excalibur – it is, unfortunately, from the source material). His father also trained Riyu in the art of sword fighting using Excalibur, but despite hinting at the sword’s importance, Riyu’s father never provided details or concrete direction as to the sword’s use. This seems like as good a time as any to remind everyone that the subtitle of the game is “Legend of the Sword.”

In normal game play, Excalibur is heavy and weak, forcing Riyu to choose other weapons in battle.