Genre: Fantasy/Sci-Fi
Medium: Video Game and Possible Webcomic
Entry Type: Overview
Story Overview
Euphoria, or Starchild (I always have trouble with names…), is an epic story revolving around a ragtag group of misfits and destiny bound heroes as they try to hold together a once glorious world, now on the brink of utter oblivion. They have to face down all manner of piratical thugs, ancient evils beyond this world, soulless bio-mechanical organisms staving off their own decay and the monolithic military-government CENTRAL who have their own agenda for the planet. More than anything, they’ll have to come to terms with their pasts, rivals and ultimately the dreams and nightmares each possesses.
Planet Euphoria was once a verdant paradise with the most amazing plant and animal life, beautiful and sophisticated architecture, mystical serenity and a plethora of sentient beings who possessed advanced technology that belied their peaceful existence. The planet was protected by an animaloid brother- and sisterhood called the Guardians in our language. Though many races on Euphoria carry ancestral animal traits, the Guardians were the original beings to take that shape. Born long ago from an unfathomably ancient race that have long left this universe, the Guardians were shaped with the natural instincts an appreciation for natural balance of beasts and the highest reasoning of humanoids. They were created to watch over the Aurora Core, several mystic crystals in direct communion with the planet that control the flow of “magic” (technically the combined powers of life and consciousness) in our universe. The Core rests on Euphoria and creates a nearly endless beacon of light that empowers and protects those whom it shines upon and most importantly it banishes the Guardian progenitor’s nemesis from “The Other Side” of reality. The Guardians used this power to craft their utopia and protect freedom, justice and the power of life that resonates with the Core.
The Guardians had prophesied that when the time was right, a Son of the Stars would be born and lead them into the rest of the galaxy to further their ideal. When it came to pass, the Starchild was born and all could sense the intensity of his power. As he grew, he began to master any task or discipline set before him and he was unparalleled in the use of the aura energy around him. When he came of age, great star fleets were constructed and the Guardians took the next step in their grand dream. It wasn’t long before they encountered one of the greatest menaces to the galaxy beyond the Euphoria system. They called the bio-machines “The Maw,” because they enslaved and consumed any form of life they came across to prolong the inevitable decay that comes from their fundamentally flawed design. War raged and even though the Starchild and the Guardians fought to the brink of victory, they were betrayed by one of their own. It’s unknown what happened in detail due to the historical obscurity at the time. Euphoria itself came under siege and in the last desperate battle, the Starchild stood alone inside the core shrine. Defeat must have been at hand, for the Guardians triggered the ultimate magical sanction, shattering the core stones and releasing the light that had so blessed Euphoria. The resulting force cleansed the world of the machines and all beings who did not possess aura affinity but at a terrible cost. The light became dim and the surface of the planet was ripped apart, leaving loosely connected planetoids where a proud world once stood. The world(s) then began to become shrouded in dark, otherworldly mist that heralds the coming of nightmare wraiths from “The Other Side” of reality.
500 years later, the story begins. Kit Kabbit was a free spirited canid boy (I’m loathe to give the Guardians a species limitation like “fox, dog or wolf”) who was found on the core planetoids of Euphoria. His adopted mother, Soria Kabbit, raised him to 12 in the outskirts onboard an amazing skyship. She found him and a distinct sword in Guardian ruins and learned from the artifact that it belonged to the legendary Starchild. She was convinced he was rebirth of the last of the Guardians. Despite the mantle of destiny, Soria knew that the Guardian infant wasn’t safe from the evils that had spread through Euphoria in the time that had passed since the near apocalypse. She whisked the boy away to her ship and the outer most planetoids where they were always moving and hopefully safe.
From infancy, Kit was nonchalant and upbeat but was unusually gentle and possessed strange abilities, the likes of which the crew had never seen. He seemed to see a whole different world no one else could see. After he lost his family, the crew, in a terrible tragedy a few years ago, he struck out on his own and took to taking care of himself in his own cavalier way. He made a few friends along the way, but held true to his nomadic lifestyle. He eventually partnered up with a roguish gypsy named Cadney and they managed to run a small shipping business on Kit’s scratch-built, piece-of-junk skyship when not treasure hunting. On a routine trip to a floating island cluster, they ended up in danger as dark forces finally tracked Kit down, having chased him from birth. In the chaos he is saved several times by an immense, armored stranger with an equally huge sword and who calls himself Ceta. After catastrophe is averted, Ceta enlightens Kit on the many forces that are searching for him and the magnitude of his destiny. Kit seemed to be the reincarnation of the Starchild and it was only he who could save a planet spiraling downward. Even though he was scrawny and a constant goof-off, it would be up to Kit, Ceta and the Order of the White Rose (tentative name for modern followers of the old Guardian ideal) to find the newly reemerging core stones and restore them to the heart of the planet. Hesitant to take up arms for any cause, Kit finally accepted training and began to use his amazing aura control to fight for the innocent, just like the Starchild once did.
Broken into episodes that focus on one character at a time, the story is told in the present, aided by crucial flashbacks that relate to each characters journey of self-discovery and the tasks they now face. Kit will form a remarkable team of comrades and allies from all walks of life on his quest. He will develop an equally impressive roster of rivals and enemies as his past and present collide. The story may be a linear epic in some regards, but it strives to keep itself flexible by applying decisions in flashbacks of the past to the present story. It has the effect of casting different tones on otherwise static events.
Gameplay Overview
The Euphoria project has long been groomed to be a story driven RPG. It’s largely inspired by JRPGs in that it is almost a playable novel. More recently though, I’ve been working on many ways to make it a modular and custom experience by incorporating lots of nifty western features that make it a true storytelling/gameplay experience. Even though the story attempts to be equal parts drama, comedy, action and suspense, the gameplay is largely focused on extremely face paced action that plays somewhat analogous to an arcade fighter with RPG complexity and character development. It also doesn’t define gameplay as “the grind,” like some existing franchises, but rather as meaningful advances in the story or specifically to a character.
In combat, it’s as menu-free as possible and instead relies on graphical prompts to let you know what actions are available so they can be performed in real time. It is an extension of the action command systems we’ve seen in Super Mario RPG, Paper Mario and Dissidia: Final Fantasy that I call an event-driven action/response interface. It’s turned based, but in a looser sense than what’s traditionally out there. I’m serious when I say I want to be able to control the whole party in real-time. Party members are always either disabled, on offense or on defense. In lieu of traditional ATB gauges, Euphoria uses a stamina bar that slowly regenerated. Offensive action lasts as long as the gauge still has power, the player chooses to go on the defensive or until offensive actions are countered. Defensive doesn’t mean inactive. These party members can still respond to the battlefield, give aid to other party members or cast defensive magics (typically rune casting). This is accomplished with peripheral support buttons on a controller that allow either defensive party member to be given instructions at any time. Enemies are controlled by a separate mechanism than that of the PCs which means they can take action, offensive or defensive, at any time. In the heat of it, battle flows continuously and “turns” are being changed so constantly and smoothly, that it appears to be purely real-time, arcade action. To top it all off, there is even a “hyper” system that amplifies or modifies abilities and effects as the battle intensifies.
Characters can evolve in many ways, both statistically and abstractly. Physical attributes like strength and dexterity are separated from abilities that represent skill of things with melee, ranged and aura-based combat to better reflect the nuances of a persons mental and physical skills. While a persons skills are always in flux and can be improved upon, it’s unlikely that a person of Kit’s stature could ever become a muscleman beyond basic conditioning. To represent this, leveling up has only a marginal effect on physical characteristics while having a big impact on stamina, focus (limited energy that aura and technical abilities use) and the development of fighting styles and proficiencies. Just because a character might start out being adept with quick melee attacks doesn’t mean he has to stay that way. There are many divergent paths styles and skills can take over time so, basically, the way you play a character has an increasingly notable effect on them. Perhaps you prefer Kit’s aerial, lunging defense breakers to his basic hit and run sword staccato. The more you use these attacks, the more likely you will be to be able to accrue specializations like modifiers and bonus effects that can eventually become a divergent fighting style all it’s own.
In addition to characters’ statistical progression, they can also be customized with the mimeomancy system. Besides being a magic system somewhat reminiscent of popular JRPG ideas like the materia, Paper Mario’s badges and the junction systems, it allows players to expand characters beyond archetypal classes by acquiring abilities outside of their normal skill set. Fluff wise, mimeomancy is the practice of learning by interfacing directly with the memories (including muscle and genetic memory) and experiences of others. This is done by merging with core shards or, more rarely, by accessing the latent aura emanating from all life. In terms of game mechanics, this is generally achieved by coupling acquired corestone shards with finite slots each character possesses and gain as they level up. Once a shard is equipped, a tree list of abilities that can be learned is unveiled and each asset can be selected to be learned. Once selected, the asset become immediately usable, but only while the shard is equipped. Over time, however, the skill can be learned and become permanent. Learning skills is also the only way to access higher tier assets related to that skill. In this way, characters adapt to the environment by acquiring useful traits they come across and study just like people do.
Character customization only beings with statistics and skill sets. While it’s true most attributes and skills can be represented statistically, Euphoria is primarily a story-driven experience. Because of this, characters are customizable based on choices they make, and have made. Each chapter/episode revolves around one character at a time and this allows you to make decisions in the past that will make dramatic differences in the present because both are immediately relatable to the individual story within the episode. I admit most of the characters fill archetypal RPG roles like fighter or mage but the character’s equipment, stats and fighting styles can change over time to become how you think they should evolve and grow. A users experience and interpretations of or with a character are just as important as the authors conception. Both perspectives are equally valid and are both meaningful parts of storytelling and communication Because of this, characters can become an interesting blend of my preconception and your guidance at crucial moments. Video games are so amazing because they are so interactive and the potential for real imaginative connection between the conceiver and those traveling through his world is limitless.
“These crystals are the tangible connection between all life. Through corestones we can commune and draw strength from the Guardians, our brothers, our ancestors and the world itself. When you join your body with the gems, your every heartbeat is as that of the universe.”
-Ceta, on corestones
