HAPPY'S PROFILE

Let's begin with the setting, since it's basically around all the time! Frankly, I didn't want to go with another medieval, or a too generic RPG setting, so I was inspired to create a game with a steam-punkish setting. Music was crucial to achieving this goal: Koji Hayama and Hayato Matsuo, the composers of the Front Mission 3 soundtrack, are two of the major contributors

However, the game setting is not nailed down to the steam-punk we're all familiar with, it deviates from it a bit. Even if the technology is mostly steam-based, there are some new ideas, and all the style in design does not follow the design of the steam-punk era, and neither does the atmosphere so much.

I'd call Ascendence's setting a deviation to a more modern direction, but it's still not quite a modern setting either. The technology is around steam-punk level, but some of the latest discoveries are more advanced and already starting to ascend from steam-punk. There are discoveries such as radio waves, early type of cars which are rare, and some sort of phones, too. Basically it's steam-punk with an industrial feel to it, as the music of Front Mission 3 sounds. It has been a big source of inspiration!

The game world is largely unknown to its inhabitants of our kind. Mankind is only a tiny race struggling to survive and exist on the surface of their world. As the bottom of the food chain, they've set out to live in what they call Colonies, small regions they've locked themselves into, varying between cities built inside mountains, beneath or on the surface of the seas, and some daringly in the middle of bald, plain terrain, confined by huge walls towering high above their heads.

Why they are living in here is because there is no stepping outside those Colonies, for on the other side of those walls awaits nefarious nature, striving to wipe off their existence parasites, if you will. Even if those walls are barely enough to hold off the worst, it doesn't hold off those other inhabitants of this atmosphere, those known as the Beasts. The humans are one of the natural nourishments for the Beast-kind, which is diverse in species, all specialized to hunt in different ways, all with a common goal: to consume and to survive. This is not the only threat to the inhabitants of the Colonies, but the clearest one: the one coming from the outside.

What exists inside, diseases such as Miasma; deception and scheming; conspiracies; assassins, and other various methods one is willing to take to ensure self-survival.

Story-wise I've tried to avoid the scenario of saving the world from a particular threat or a person as being the main theme - even though I'm aiming for some of the events be larger scale, so all cliches on this matter can't be avoided - but the main focus in the presentation are the characters and twists of the plot.

The story is character driven, and even though the plot is rather linear in terms of gameplay, it offers many "levels" which are aimed to change its direction and draw you in. Simply put, character actions drive the plot direction, but at the same time, the surroundings won't remain stale. The story is not a simple one direction view on the things or the main characters, but there are several plot-lines and series of events, as well as a large cast of characters simultaneously affecting the surroundings, (not literally, gameplay-wise) making things collide and just, in general, be interesting.

I'd say the story starts off a bit slow; because there is lot of detail to the setting and plot, it can't be all presented at once. There are gameplay and characters, too, which you'll get familiar with first. I'd say the plot structure is in a way similar to Suikoden games, meaning you get to know the characters and setting properly before you can mingle deeper.

Aside the setting I can't explain much else of the plot except the early plot synopsis:

Today, I will tell you the story of Ascendence.

The story of a time when our world was still vast and wide, enveloped in mysteries like the soil under our feet, the growing of green grass shrouded by the morning mist. A time when mankind could only hope to grasp even the smallest glimpse of the wonder they were born right in the middle of, by craning their dreams over the walls of Colonies towering over them, covering the horizon… and covering tomorrow.

A time of despair, yet also of hope, in the soaring dreams of those with courage to walk with their backs straight in the cage their people were driven into. Structures of scrap iron and steam that could crumble into dust, the siege of the ferocious Beasts; aspects of daily life that would devour the people due to even the smallest hint of naivety, leaving only ruins as memories of the lost civilization for the future.

But where our actual story begins is in a city, standing firm from a time far before New Time; the era of an amazing new type of energy called steam-power, the likes of which were harnessed in this very city.

Hardship, fervour, dreams, labour... rising against the odds and winning the favour. Mankind's achievements rewarded them with momentum, striking a new generation out on iron steeds. Blowing steam out of their horns, they rode through the barren landscape, seeking an oasis of shelter for their kind, like an oak spreading its roots in the soil to sustain its life.

The years that went by all but wore the nest the new blood had left, driving the last inhabitants with a thirst for knowledge of strength, to stand unshaken in the new wind of expeditions. Decay, acquaintance, betrayal, salvation, and the birth of Ascendance.

Decades flew and became centuries, acorns sprouted and flourished into Colonies. The old oak has withered.



A loved child, born in the heart of crowded, busy streets, returns to his origins after many lost years, now wearing the cross of adulthood, and rumours of menace and despair, corrupting the streets he has yearned to return to for years. Where once it was time to depart, now the time comes to return… yet it is twice as difficult for a man made a Deviant, an outcast of the Colony.

Cyrus Kellan returns to home, the Kaskar Colony, after a long journey. Back to the familiar steam-filled streets, where he now finds himself surrounded by unfamiliar faces, glaring eyes, rumours and whispers. The place he once called home has changed into a strange new adventure, both familiar and unfamiliar, as he runs into his childhood friend Lenna at his own doorstep.

The raging Beasts, the oozing miasma... the dark lanterns in the night throwing shadows of deception upon the streets of the Colonies. The stories they would once strain their ears in the night to catch when they were children... revealing their hideous nature before their very eyes. That which reveals itself to be only a part of everyday life in the world of Colonies offers Cyrus the Deviant only questions. Soon, Cyrus finds himself in the ranks of the Kaskar Armed Forces with Lenna, seeking hope and answers to put all their questions to rest.

The answers they receive come at a high cost, and offer nothing but yet more questions, until Cyrus meets his counterpart: Quinn Dasstar, an ambitious young man sharing similar goals to himself. Together, they become a successful working pair on the surface, receiving critical acclaim and praise. Little do they know they will only tumble deeper into the meshes of hazards on their task to bring hope for the citizens of the Colonies... and soon drift into a momentous incident which is to change their future, and the future of everyone else, for the rest of their lives.

I'm aiming Ascendence to have strong traditional RPG gameplay, by which I mean a deep character customization with big focus on the stats, and building the characters in the direction you like. That, as well the fact it revolves around dungeons, as RPGs basically do.

Character customization:

1. Roles and Battle commands

When it comes to the character customization, when you first receive the characters, they have stat base values, which have no actual role in further character development; you can choose the stats you want to develop for them freely in the Psi Grid, where you purchase your "Infuse Psi"-slot spells, as well as your stats with "Psi Points."

However, what creates the difference in the characters' battle roles are their supporting abilities. Each character has a skill slot for an individual skill that only that particular character can use. The effects and purposes of these individual skills can be absolutely anything. Say, one of the character collects different kind of inventions, one can aim different parts of the enemy with his gun to inflict different status effects, while there is also a different type of non-magical (non-Psi) ability skill sets, that only those particular character they've been assigned to can use. Now, these unique skills might be what you want to keep in mind while building the stats of the characters.

However, you're not limited or obligated to raise only those stats which boost the unique abilities of the characters, because those aren't set in stone either.

All right, we already have "Infuse Psi" slot spells, and the "Unique character abilities" for the characters, what else? "Unique battle command"!

"Unique battle commands" allow your characters to carry out a special action in battles resulting in different rewards, depending on the context of the situation. Using "Unique battle commands" determines what type of "Unique character abilities" your character learns. For example, one of your character manipulates enemies, and depending on which kind of enemies you manipulate, determines what kind of attributes that particular character learns from that enemy, while other character like to taste enemies! Yes, Gaz'oh loves to taste the Beast, and depending on if he liked the taste, he may create a recipe based on it. Now this recipe would be one of the "Unique character abilities" of Gaz'oh. See how it works?

Let's throw in few more examples. This character called Lin likes to take his pills. What they do? They kill him for three turns and resurrect him after that with boosted stats which last for few turns. The more he uses this skill, the more he learns new "Unique character abilities."

So basically every one of your characters has these 3 important things:

1: "Unique battle command" which are singular for every character and work in entirely different ways, granting you different sort of benefits in battles.

2: "Unique character abilities" which every character learns based upon how they use their "Unique battle command."
This set also contains attacks from 4 different type of classes, where each works on different types of enemies from 4 categories (Agile, Defensive, Offensive and Intellectual.) So instead of having "Attack command" at all, you have these sort of different attacks in the "Unique character abilities"

3: "Infuse Psi" which is set of spells for all characters from the same base, Psi Grid, but the selection of the spells for particular character in that set depends on which you've bought in the Psi Grid.

2. Psi Grid

Now what is this Psi Grid? It's another factor in character customization.

You gain no experience from the enemies you beat in battles; instead, you gain Psi Points. You can use these Psi Points in the Psi Grid to purchase new spells for your characters and raise their stats.

The Psi spells from 8 different attributes are the fundamentals of the Psi Grid. Imagine them as a chessboard. Every square is a slot which contains a spell that costs a certain amount of Psi Points. However, each time you purchase a spell, it opens up a subcategory with 4 different status ups. Spells from different attributes tend to have different types of status ups attached to them.

You cannot advance further in the Psi Grid, past the squares, unless you purchase the spells in them. However, the status ups are optional, so you can choose which status ups you want to spend your points in, or even none, if you so desire, and just want to advance further in the grid to get better spells, or different stats!

Okay, now this means I can purchase all the spells for all the characters and they can all use same spells and same stats!? Wrong!

Sure you might get the character stats similar if you really intend to grind enough to purchase all the spells and statuses in the Grid, but this is possible because the encouragement of forging your characters in what you want, not to abuse the system and make everyone super saiyans. It is unlikely anyone would grind as far as to fill the entire grid! Even if they did, the character will never be all able to use same spells.

Why? Well, you can actually buy every character the same spells, but it doesn't mean they are all able to use them. If we would go more in-depth you would know Psi Grid is based on the attributes and knowledge / skills of the characters.

However, to use Psi (which is not magic), you won't just create the spell out of nowhere! For this your characters can use inventions called "Synth Cores."

3. Synth Cores

Wow, what are Synth Cores? Synth Cores are yet another factor in character customization.
A Synth Core takes one equipment slot and is loaded with two elements. These will be the elements of which attribute spells that specific character can cast in battles. Yup, you won't be able to change the Synth Core in battle, but anytime outside it! What else? You actually create the cores yourself.

You decide those two elements you want the core to obtain. You usually have 4 basic elements you can use in the creation, which are Fire, Water, Wind, Earth (surprise surprise!), but with right combinations you can unlock the Synth Core to obtain a third element. This means your character can use three elements with a successfully combined Synth Core. Is there a way to create even more elements with combinations? So far it's known there is at least 8 possible elements, meaning a lot of different combinations. Remember, your character can only use spells of these specific elements you've combined!

Now how do you create a Synth Core? There are facilities specialized in it, but they require you to bring them material where they can extract the elements from. Like? Beast loot! Yes, the loot you obtain from battles and the Beasts can be brought into these facilities as the base of the elements for the Synth Core.

So this is basically how the character customization and battles work!

Dungeons and field action

What about outside the battles and traditional RPG elements? What about the dungeons? They were mentioned to be one of the focuses.

Yeah, if you have played the original Grandia, I would like to use it as reference to what is one of the inspirations for my dungeons. Those were boring and fricking tedious! Well, the actual thing I'm referring to is the length. Dungeons in Ascendence are going to be pretty lengthy, but by any means I'm trying to keep them interesting enough with the design and puzzles and the playability outside battles.

This is a good spot to mention of "Field Abilities" and "Action Command!" systems.

Field Ability is something each of the characters have. It's unique ability only that particular character can use outside battles. If you have the specific character in party, you can switch to control him/her anytime outside battles and use his/hers Field Ability. I've been trying to keep away from the obvious default ones, so instead you'll see something different here, ranging between kicking objects, aiming objects with sniper rifle, phasing, cooking and so forth!

Action Commands are something you can carry out with different kind of objects, and most importantly, in the middle of cutscenes, and generally in important action sequences!
Action command basically means hitting a button at the right time, or with the right thing, and depending on your performance, there will be diverse outcomes for the event, or different ways to achieve something.

While Field Abilities are designed to make the dungeons more fun, the Action Commands are aimed to be what makes story sequences more interactive, though they will occur in dungeons too.