LOCKEZ'S PROFILE

I can definitely imagine a game where the exploration revolved around not just wandering and walking around, but solving puzzles, noticing small clues, investigating objects, figuring out riddles, and interacting with the environment in a wide variety of ways. In terms of gameplay, this exploration could resemble anything from Myst, to Monkey Island, to Maniac Mansion, to a trap-filled D&D dungeon, to La Mulana, to Legend of Zelda, to a hidden pictures game. The main thing is that there needs to be LOTS of different ways to interact with the environment, and they need to not all be immediately obvious. The player has to constantly be trying to figure out what part of the environment to interact with, and also what exactly to do with it.

But the real key here, to make it different in the way Darken is talking about, would be that figuring out these puzzles would be mandatory. None of them would lead to secrets. Instead they'd just lead further into the game. But there would also be a lot of dead end traps, for players who misunderstood the puzzle or the environment and went the wrong way or did the wrong thing. If you solve a puzzle wrong, bam, you spring a trap. If you go through a door without figuring out the clue that the door is fake, same thing happens. You take a poison dart to the face, or you fall in a spike trap, or you spawn an enemy, or whatever. And this damage would probably make the battles, and especially the boss fight at the end of the dungeon, a lot harder. Or if the game doesn't have battles, then faceplanting into a trap would instead lower the player's score, and maybe reduce the rewards they get at the end of the stage.

In this kind of model, the game is still about exploration. More than ever before, really, since the exploration is now mandatory. But going the wrong way doesn't net you hidden rewards. It nets you a punishment, because that's the wrong way.

It would be vitally important in a game like this that the "right way" would always be something players should be able to figure out. Preferably by some combination of thinking hard about it and noticing enough details as they explore, rather than JUST by thinking about it, because having to find and notice lots of little details is a big part of what would make this into an exploration game.

I can think of a lot of games that do everything I said above. La Mulana and Legend of Zelda, for example. Those games just all typically also reward you with treasure sometimes for going a certain wrong way and finding a hidden secret. But you could strip all that out and make every single secret lead to mandatory progress.

Certain Sierra/LucasArts adventure games kinda almost do the above. You could probably convert one of them into this idea by adding a bunch of penalties for wrong answers. As they are, guessing the wrong answer in those games usually just results in "I can't do that." Or an in immediate game over if you're playing the original Maniac Mansion.

Science fact: It actually is less. Agility (compared to the enemy's agility) affects the hit rate of normal attacks, and of any skill that doesn't have a 100% hit rate.

Final Fantasy games are AAA games that have to have tonal shifts and variety in order to appeal to a mass audience. Indie games have the ability to be better. You can focus on a specific thing instead of throwing every damn thing you want to do all into a single game.

Not to say you shouldn't make the romance plot. But consider making it as a separate game.

Save me from the nothing I've become