Giant List of Inspirations & Mechanics

I talked a bit in a previous post about the main two inspirations for this game: the game LISA and a few mods for Skyrim. I have a few more ideas that I want to outline, and where these ideas came from.

Fun(?) fact: I don't actually like this game.

I do like this game... after about 50 mods.

Because I Like It

The main inspiration for the game is LISA, where you can sort of choose who comes into your party, and there's a few platforming mechanics. However, LISA isn't... fun. Games should be either fun or interesting, and preferably both. LISA wasn't fun, and not interesting enough to keep playing anyway.

Instead, an RPG instantly comes to mind that was fun and interesting, which came out at around the same time as LISA: Undertale.

Undertale!

Combining these main inspirations gave me the following:

• A 2D platformer + RPG Hybrid... (LISA)
• ...with fun, quirky characters... (Undertale)
• ...where anyone can join your party! (Skyrim mod)

So why the whole nightmare world thing if I want fun and quirky? Those things clearly conflict each other. But stories aren't good without conflict. I believe a good story is necessary to make a game interesting, and the best kind of games are both fun and interesting.

Here's a list of various mechanics I want to explore and their inspirations. I could talk about each game in-depth and try to defend my reasoning for including them... but the truth is, this is my project, and I can do things simply because I find them fun and interesting.

• JRPG-style turn-based battles... (Lufia)
• ...with timed inputs. (Mario RPG)
• Customizable party. (Lots of JRPG's)
• 2D platforming in a large world, with different levels... (Owlboy)
• ...with a focus on walljumping and progression. (Celeste)
• Playing songs in game. (Ocarina of Time)
• Characters with different instruments. (Majora's Mask)
• Linear, character-focused storytelling. (Bioware games)

I'm sure more will pop up at some point. That's sort of what design documents are for.

I started working on character movement, which I'll talk about next time.