1160: Spoilers Ahead

After writing yesterday’s post and doing a little more work on it today, I’ve decided that I would actually quite like to talk about my RPG Maker project a little more rather than being unnecessarily vague and obtuse about it. Those of you reading who like the concept might be able to give me some motivation to continue with it in the long-term, then, which is probably going to be a valuable thing if (when, more likely) this initial burst of enthusiasm runs out.

However, I am also conscious that discussing some things about this project may constitute spoilers of various descriptions, so I am going to add a “read more” tag to this post so those who would like the finished product to remain a complete surprise can avoid it if they desire.

So, without further ado, click the link to continue reading if you want to… otherwise, I’ll see you tomorrow!

All right, elite people. Here we are. Let’s talk about this project. One more time: spoilers ahead.

First up, the name: One Year Later, the relevance of which will be immediately apparent once I explain the concept of the game.

One Year Later is a JRPG that takes place a year after the conclusion of a JRPG that doesn’t exist. Through the game’s intro sequence and other events throughout the game, you’ll be able to get some idea of “context”, but the important thing about the game’s concept is that everything in it is taking place after all the world-shattering chaos of a typical JRPG has already been resolved and everyone has lived happily ever after.

Our heroine is Amarysse Jerhynsson (+10 Friend Points if you remember the relevance of that name), a woman from the country village of Wishford. Wishford was previously destroyed by the machinations of the demonic overlord T’Bon, and escaping from the carnage is what set Amarysse on her journey in the first place. Along the way, she met a number of companions — the brave and strong mercenary Daren “Dax” Zael; the cheeky but devout priestess Feena Denimore; the orphaned teenage fencer Hiro Nagase; the young, endearing and innocent Lily Cole; and the mysterious amnesiac former prisoner of T’Bon’s evil schemes known only as “Zero”.

Given the rest of the concept, I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that our plucky band of heroes were ultimately victorious over T’Bon, and the world was once again at peace after their adventure. The companions ultimately parted and went their separate ways, promising to meet back up exactly one year later at a pub named The Tail of the Dog in the capital city of Acathlata.

We join our story the day of the reunion. The player takes control of Amarysse, who moved back to Wishford after her adventure to help with the reconstruction efforts, and guides her through a new adventure with her companions: the various challenges of re-integrating into normal society after such an abnormal series of events. Amarysse and her companions have each dealt with their return to “civilian” life in different ways, and some are finding it easier to adjust than others. Amarysse is also not quite sure what to make of the fact she turned 30 in the intervening year.

Despite superficially resembling a JRPG — Amarysse and her companions’ stats and levels are all as they would have been at the end of their previous adventure, and there’s nothing stopping the player fiddling around with equipment and items — the gameplay will unfold more like a visual novel, with a strong focus on story and characterisation rather than epic adventures and battles. There will be a number of “paths” through the game, each focusing on one of Amarysse’s companions in detail with the others in supporting roles, plus a “true” ending to the story which will become available by fulfilling certain conditions.

I intend to use the story as a means of exploring a number of different real-life issues. I shan’t go into specifics about what issues I’d like to explore over the course of the game, but suffice to say I’d like to explore some relatively “weighty” (or at least personally meaningful) subjects over the course of the various paths down which the story will unfold. I intend to try and apply some of the knowledge I’ve picked up from all the VNs and JRPGs I’ve played in recent months to create an experience in which the player will (hopefully, anyway) give a damn about these characters and the things they’re working out. I have a good idea of who these characters “are” in my mind — the challenge now is to get this across to the player through good writing and interesting events. I’ve made a conscious stylistic decision to write the game more like a VN than a JRPG — that means Amarysse takes on the role of narrator as well as active participant in the story rather than the whole thing being presented entirely through dialogue. This allows greater flexibility to explore characters’ thoughts and feelings in detail, plus the ability to present events and concepts that are difficult to depict using top-down 2D art and sprites.

Alongside the serious stuff, though, I’m slipping in a bunch of sly references to other things. If and when the finished project finally emerges, you’ll be able to do your best and see if you can spot all of them. Fanservice (of the non-panty-flashing variety) for the win.

There’s a long road ahead — the stuff I’ve put together so far is simply the first part of the prologue, with Amarysse travelling to the capital and meeting up with her friends — but I’m pleased with how it’s going. Hopefully I’ll be able to maintain some momentum while working on this — and hopefully at least a few of you will ultimately be interested in trying it for yourselves as it develops.