Story Outline and Plot Research

Hi everyone!

So, now for the long-awaited story outline. I know, it’s been a long time coming, especially as I don’t have much longer left of this project, but I wanted to make sure it worked.

I’ve decided to take inspiration from “Grimgar: Ashes and Illusions”, “Final Fantasy X”, and “Gaia’s Melody: Echoed Melodies”. Each one of these sources brings something to the table, which I’ll go through shortly. As this will definitely ruin the plot for anyone who hasn’t watched or played them: SPOILER ALERT!!!

Ok, so let’s start with Gaia’s Melody. Made by Echo607 (a YouTuber who has some amazing tutorial videos for RPG Maker MV), the main character Akira is in fact the reincarnation of the Goddess Melody. During the story, the Dark Lord Agares tries to kill her, but she comes into her power, slays Agares, and uses her newfound divine powers to protect the world (until she later destroys it in Endless Melody: Symphony of the Goddess, by accident!) As one of my main protagonists, Jeanné, is very similar in some respects, having been born with special, unique abilities, I thought it would be a good place to start.

Next brings me to Grimgar. Personally, I get annoyed by stories that focus on one character to the exclusion of all others, but Grimgar has a full cast of characters that form an adventuring party. Each has their own story role, special skills, and personalities that are at least somewhat realistic. I’m hoping to have a group quite similar, with their own plotlines in my own work, so I find it a good indication of how to create a believable group dynamic. It’s also massively inspiring my ideas about class-based mechanics, as well as how my world’s structure and realism will work. The series also takes into account perma-death (Permanent Death), Economics, Mental Health (including trauma and PTSD), as well as morality. Overall, it’s been a major factor in my story and world design.

Lastly, I’m looking at Final Fantasy X. As per traditional for Final Fantasy games, it has an earthshaking plot that involves saving the world. What FFX has that’s different is the exploration of religious themes, discriminatory practices based on said religions, and the age-old arguement of Science vs Religion. As Jeanné is supposed to be some sort of “Holy Maiden“, I thought it would be prudent to look at how other JRPG’s handle the concept of religion. I know Dragon Quest has major religious overtones across the series, but it’s not quite as indepth as the Yevonite religion presented in Final Fantasy X. The Yevonites persecute a culture of technology users called the Al Bhed, and because of this, many Al Bhed are killed by Yevonites. This creates some issues for some of the main characters, especially Rikku who is an Al Bhed, as well as Yuna, who is half-Al Bhed. As I’m having Priest as a playable character class, as well as having a Holy Maiden, it makes sense to look at how religion can be accurately portrayed.

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Another intersting factor about Final Fantasy X is that Yuna is in fact a priestess (of sorts). She posseses magic that allows her to summon Aeons, being formed of magic and the soul of a Fayth. A Fayth is a human that willingly allowed their soul to be trapped inside a stone statue. Only Summoners (priests of Yevon who have the power to summon Aeons) have a chance of defeating Sin, a giant semi-demonic monster that ravages the world. Later in the story, she discovers that the Yevonite religion is corrupt, and that Sin is in fact at the core of the belief system, being a manifestation of Yu Yevon, the founder of the Yevonite faith.

A truly exquisite scene from Final Fantasy X is when Yuna performs a “Sending“, a ritual that sends the souls of the dead onto the afterlife. As my project is going to utilise religious aspects, I think it would be a shame not to share this scene. It’s also tempting me to make my Priest class a bit more like a japanese Shinto priest, rather than a traditional western Cleric.

There we go! How does that sound. I know it may come across a bit derivative and simple, but that’s only the basic synopsis. To be totally honest, I’m not too sure what I’m trying to create. I don’t want to straightjacket myself, but at the same time, I do need a basic story premise. It’s a very fine line, but it’s one I hope I’ve got right.

Now on to my story concept. The reason it’s taken me this long is in fact listed in the Yanfly video I posted the other day about the 5 Traps that Indie Devs fall into. One of my major issues has been too much inspiration, so I had to spend some time thinking about how I could narrow it down into a more concise narrative and mechanics.

<STORY SYNOPSIS>

The basic premise behind my story revolves around a group of adventurers who do quests to earn a living, but with no idea that the fate of the world lies with them. Jeanné, one of the party, is in fact a prophesised Holy Maiden, who holds in her the power to save the world or destroy it. The party must juggle the ancient prophecies with their normal jobs as adventurers.

Through the course of the story, I’m hoping to explore some of the world background I laid down in my previous game project “Legend of Dragonstone Mountain“. In that game, the objective is rather simplistic; slay the dragon. However, I added a small intro and end scene that showed that this was just a part of a much greater scheme being played out by gods and demons.

<PLOT>

The story will start with Jeanné and her childhood friend Tommyn leaving their hometown to register for the adventurers guild. Once they arrive at the town, it’ll be attacked by monsters, causing Jeanné to uncontrollably use her innate divine powers. This sets in motion a war with varying factions who seek to control her for their own ends. Trying to juggle this with being an adventurer, as well as being the target of mortal and immortal powers will push the characters to their abject limits. The ending will result in her choices, as she can join the gods, the demons, or ignore them both. Each ending will be dictated by the players choices.

To be fair, I’ve always been fascinated by the effects of religion and spirituality on cultural development, so by adding these, I was hoping to add some context to my very basic narrative. This time, I’m going to explore my world in more depth, as well as setting up a more complex narrative.

I’ll be back soon with something on my core gameplay. Until later!

Bibliography:

Finalfantasy.fandom.com. (n.d.). Final Fantasy Wiki. [online] Available at: https://finalfantasy.fandom.com/wiki/Final_Fantasy_Wiki [Accessed 29 Apr. 2019].

YouTube. (2014). Final Fantasy X | HD – Yuna sending Souls HD Scene. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgVnds4gW3s&t=230s [Accessed 29 Apr. 2019].

Store.steampowered.com. (2017). Gaia’s Melody: Echoed Melodies on Steam. [online] Available at: https://store.steampowered.com/app/725410/Gaias_Melody_Echoed_Melodies/ [Accessed 29 Apr. 2019].

Funimation.com. (2016). [online] Available at: https://www.funimation.com/shows/grimgar-ashes-and-illusions/?qid=fc0df0f24b494559 [Accessed 29 Apr. 2019].