Game Style and Intended Audience

This game is intended to be an adventure game in which you explore your environment in order to find resources to reach a predetermined destination. The player will learn more about the game world as they explore and will be rewarded when they reach their destination. The game will be playable in first person or as a third-person point-and-click game with mostly fixed camera angles. This game is intended for a general audience, but will be especially appreciated by people with a preference for environmental storytelling, darker environments, and elements of mythology/folklore.

Game World and Setting

The game takes place in a fictional feudal Japan. Humanity is at war with malevolent Yokai, supernatural entities or spirits, and has been forced on the defensive. Many humans live in large cities or fortified settlements. 

The explorable map is a contained section of a large Japanese castle. The castle, for the most part, remains structurally sound, but has been reclaimed by the wilderness due to high concentrations of magic and Yokai influence. The castle is inhabited with Kodama, forest spirits that protect and maintain the castle’s vegetation. Massive trees cut through parts of the castle. Several walls have collapsed, revealing the crimson-tinted sky and grey clouds above. The player will start in a large room. They can exit the room to explore the outer hallway and ascend the staircase to the top floor. The top floor has a similar layout to the first with the exception that the hallway leads to a long throne room guarded by a multi-layered seal.

Key Characters and Objects

The playable character is a warrior searching for ancient artifact weapons once wielded by the gods. Kodama serve as NPC’s and will nonverbally interact with the playable character. Talismans are scattered around the explorable environment. Each talisman has a corresponding color and kanji that represents a specific virtue. A multi-colored barrier seal blocks the entrance to the final room on the top floor. This barrier seal has overlapping colors and kanji. Within the final room, the player will find one or more artifact weapons.

Gameplay Mechanics and Objectives

The player’s objective is to explore the level and collect all three talismans. Once the player has collected all three talismans, they can be used to break through the multi-layered barrier seal guarding the final room. There, the player will be able to obtain what they are looking for: an artifact weapon capable of turning the tide of war back in humanity’s favor. Mechanics-wise, the game will allow for the picking up and storing of talismans, interacting with the environment and NPC’s (i.e. opening doors), using collected talismans, and possibly holding a weapon. 

Art/Visual Style

The visual style of the game will be stylized. A slight cartoonish look with flatter colors and simpler textures and shadows is the target. The color palette of the level will largely consist of brown, reddish-brown, and white. White sections of the walls near collapsed sections of the castle will have an orange hue as a result of the orange-red sky. Materials will consist mostly of wood, plaster/cement, and tatami. Weapons will consist of various metals. Talismans will be a dark wood with glowing symbols that are either red, green, or blue. The barrier will resemble visible magic energy in a spider web shape and have segments that are colored to match their corresponding talisman.