Otherworld Project

What is [Otherworld: Chronicles of the Blades]?

It's a game, but not just a Role-playing Game "RPG" or Action Game or Fighting Game or even a Puzzle Game... it shares all these facets in to it.  It is meant as a journey through the stories of two swords and the 'truth' that their wielders discover about the worlds they live in.

Why cover so many genres?

While it's true that gamers often pick a specific genre for a fix, there are those gamers who like having fun in various tasks within one game... I'd like to do something of that nature.  Perhaps not as complex to the level of "Shenmue" but more of a fantastical nature akin to the likes of "Final Fantasy/Valkyrie Profile", "Guilty Gear/Chaos Legion", and several other types of games (like "Shadow of the Colossus/Tetris/Zone of Enders").

This is more than just an 'exploration game' as there will be 'battles' and struggles and conflict of varying natures and means... the game centers around a rivalry between swords, but also a means of learning the history of that struggle up to that point and how the player will play a role in that history.

I also want to explore the limits of game design up to this point in Game Design history, somewhat like Daisuke Ishiwatari and Hideo Kojima have done.

So is this a sand-box title?

I suppose in a way some gamers will eventually call it such, as you will be doing lots of things and doing things that don't feel as connected to the main story as you normally would (of course they will be connected but you won't find out till later).  What I want players to like is the way characters interact with varying situations, doing stuff they didn't expect to do in a game of this nature.  I want players to feel the feelings that each character has as they progress through the story and as they do various things.  I want players to get the sense that this is a long and winding unpredictable journey and that anything can happen and nothing should be expected.

How much of this will be a challenge/difficulty to players?

As a gamer myself, challenge is something that affects my mood for playing games.  I don't like "grinding" or feeling like putting in tons of effort to achieve something, but at the same time, if it's something worth doing, I want to feel like I did accomplish something.  In that sense, I want to make a game that challenges players not with statistical figures or hard bosses... but with 'experiences' that challenge their way of thinking about how a game is built to be played.  I want players to feel powerful as they progress through the game, but at the same time I want them to put that power to use without feeling like something is 'broken', not in the same way as "Megaman" games where you defeat a boss, pick up a key item or weapon or learn a skill and progress... but in the sense that as you grow, the game grows with you.  Actually I liked the way SaGa games did it... when creating EX Arts... basically fusing things you already know how to do to make something new...  I want players to learn how to do things by trying different things and growing through discovery and surprises, coming up with different things along the way.

As players come up with new ideas and pick up on new concepts, so will enemies, so will allies, and the story will grow based on decisions the player makes.

How will the story be structured?

In the sense that it is a story to be told, it will have a somewhat 'guided' structure, not unlike "Legend of Zelda" or "Final Fantasy", but unlike those titles I don't want players to feel pressured in to going places or doing things or feeling like there's no options but to follow the 'tunnel' of plot.  I actually like the idea of making the story a "puzzle" in and of itself... something the players have to solve on their own.  Granted, such a structure might make players feel a little 'lost', but in older games, that feeling of being lost lent to part of the experience, and made games much bigger in scope as a result.

It won't be something as simple as talking to the right people during the right events either... talking to people will provide "clues" perhaps, but they won't necessarily trigger 'events'.  I want players to feel like everything they do is something they "chose" to do of their own volition and not because the 'quest' demands it.  At the same time, I want players to feel like they aren't stuck in a "town > dungeon > town > dungeon" scenario either... as that is totally boring and way too played out.

In another sense, I guess you could say that there are no safe "towns" in the sense that you have a place to rest... as there will be much to interact with and do wherever you decide to go.  Sure, you can rest and relax in some places, catch up on news and events, overhear things perhaps, or talk to people or eat food and go shopping... but not all towns are built like this as you may run in to trouble and can't let your guard down.  Also, in some cases you'll be surprised to learn that you're being followed on your journey, and the actions you take have a side effect on what the 'enemy' chooses to do about you.

There will also be places where you don't have the luxury of thinking about what to do and have to think fast... in that sense players may get a feeling like they "messed up", but the game will be somewhat forgiving no matter what decisions you make (of course, you still have to pay the price for messing up in the long run, but this has more of an affect on how the story plays out rather than missing out on any benefits per se).  Making hard choices will also be something players have to do and saving the game and reloading isn't necessarily a good idea as dedicating yourself to a decision affects how the game is played in the long run and not something as simple as picking up a rare item.

Will there be multiple stories?/multiple endings?/side stories?

I thought about that, and to be honest I don't see the point of making a player play through the game several times just to achieve a result.  Instead, I want players to get the sense that "this is it" and "this is what I set out to do" without regretting their decisions (even if they make a mistake or two along the way).

Instead of your typical "this is a side quest and not part of the main story" idea... I want things to happen along the way that make you feel like EVERYTHING is part of the main story, even in a small way.

At the same time, this isn't a story about people alone necessarily... it's the story of two swords and the people that carry them.  So in that sense there are at least two stories that center around these swords: the Mimeblade and the Chaosblade... but depending on your actions you can find out stories about other weapons too and where everything came from.

Each weapon has a story to tell, and that story involves people and things they do and places they go and decisions they made to shape this world in the way it has become.

At the same time I don't want this game to be like "Soul Calibur", where character collect swords and have a very black and white "good versus evil" concept.  As you will learn that even swords that seem "evil" serve a purpose in this story.  I also want players to feel the weight of the swords they carry, the responsibilities of their weapons and the duty they bear.

So how much progress have you made?  Will there be extra content?

So far, I've written parts of the story, but the game's structure has a long ways to go... not only that but its visual appearance will be different from traditional concepts too.  I like "anime style" but I also like the sense of realism that some games provide... so it will be a mix of both visually.  I want players to feel like they can take this game and do various things with it without feeling like they are burdened with DLC or extra content (like alternate costumes).  I want this game to have all its content from the very start and be self-contained.

At the same time, I want the game to be something that doesn't play itself out unless the player learns about everything there is to know about the game's story, even as things come to a major conclusion, I want players to feel like they have a home to go back to and decide to end their journey at some point on their own.

But even if you "end your journey" you can also pick up where you left off later and continue to explore the world you travelled.  The game will know when you're mostly done and take that in to consideration with a few surprises in store, and once you complete those, THEN maybe (?) you'll be done.

Anything else you'd like to mention?

This is a work I am painstakingly crafting.  It's not something that was born overnight and has taken several years to think about conceptually.  As game designs evolve, so does my ideas and what I think is possible to achieve.  I've been taking notes from games in the 8-bit (NES) 16-bit (Genesis) 32-bit (Playstation) 64-bit (Playstation 2) 128-bit (PS3) and maybe even the 256+ bit eras (PS4).  There's a lot of games I've seen in action and I've observed the progress made and the limitations and hiccups made...

I want to achieve something that players will never forget, just as they played games that molded and shaped their way of thinking, I want this game to do the same... and perhaps even open the door on that way of thinking and inspire even greater concepts.

Anyways, thanks for reading all this.