STORY
YOU
You play as the Wanderer, a curious child who's Nexus ability is to shapeshift, this allows for the player to customise who they play as.
They are the protagonist of the story.
Changing Nature: They start off as a neutral spirit, and they can grow into Corrupt or Virtuous based on what the player chooses
Gameplay wise, this will allow the Wanderer to deal more damage or resist damage against enemies
Virtuous: Increased Damage
Corrupt: Resist Damage
NEED
The protagonist wants to make a name for themselves, and to do this they feel that they need to restore peace in the world
HOW?
By destroying Evil
WHO IS "EVIL"?
The primordial being that feeds on human fear. He finds that the fear of the unknown is mankind's biggest fear.
He causes a rip in the natural order in the world with his Nexus ability, "Fracture"
WHAT DID EVIL DO?
This caused an ancient war, where people's souls were split into two, their Corruption and their Virtue.
Those who were sinful in their lives were overrun by it, losing their virtuous self.
Gameplay wise, these are the corrupt enemies
Those who were moral in their lives were overrun by it, losing their corrupt self
Gameplay wise, these are the helpful npcs that will help the player along their journey
Those with Nexus abilities are the additional Roamers the player can summon for.
Evil's idea was that because the world is cruel, almost everyone would be overrun by corruption, and then he can use people's corruption against themselves, allowing Evil to grow, however as some people were not overrun, it caused a war between the two sides.
GO!
The protagonist knows that they are weak, so decides that if they want to defeat Evil, they would have to train.
They begin to explore the realm created by Evil, nicknamed by Roamers, "The Fracture Realm".
Also by using Fracture, Evil creates a realm of ever changing environments, in which he uses to build fear amongst people. The corrupt are seemingly prone to this fear - probably because all of their positive attributes such as bravery have been stripped.
Gameplay wise, this allows for a rougelike experience, whilst still giving creative freedom over set locations, free from Evil's corruption
SEARCH
Whilst exploring the Fracture Realm, the protagonist meets 4 new Roamers, who each excel in different things.
These will be 3 free playable units, and 1 free navigation unit
The newly found crew help our protagonist to hone their strengths, with expeditions and sparring.
During an expedition, the protagonist faces a scripted loss against a boss, in where they retreat out of cowardice.
As cowardice is a corrupt trait, the crew realises that our protagonist was immune to Fracture's soul splitting capabilities. It is here that they awaken their true capability to change their own soul to their own will.
refer to YOU for gameplay implication
However whilst experimenting with this, the protagonist finds that this is extremely tiring, and so can only carry this out occasionally.
Gameplay wise, this will be called an "Outburst", which can also be called an Ultimate. Every character unlocks their own Outburst at this point.
They encounter many corrupt people, who have no consciousness other than to kill anyone who isn't corrupt out of both jealousy and excessive ambition
Some even have Nexus abilities, who will be the powerful enemies and bosses.
NEXUS ABILITIES
A technique engrained into a person when they are born, sometimes inherited. Many people do not have one, or have very weak, artificial ones
No known origin, other than artificial ones, taken from the DNA of Evil.
THE FRACTURE REALM :
as referenced in the aforenoted segment, The Fracture Realm is a constantly changing realm, made by Evil. Used to torment the corrupt as a way of building fear.
Because of Mankind's inherited fear of the unknown, this realm works insanely well, increasing the already primordial beings power, however, Evil found it strange how this power was only useful against those without any corruption in them.
Main Gameplay loop
Explore the Fracture Realm and fight bosses for loot and Nexus shards to summon for Roamers
FIND
After improving their skills, our protagonist and their crew stumble upon a serene plain within the chaos, an area unchanged by calamity and despair. As if instinct, they take initiative and halt all other plans.
They explore the calm amongst the storm, ensuring that no stone lay unturned. Our navigator finds a castle using their Nexus Ability.
"Moriarty" - an ability which uses small particles to provide a mental image of an area, seemingly bound to each segment of a place, for instance, they can map out an entire city, but not the insides of each building, or can map out a playground, but not the details of each attraction. This allows for gameplay balance without the plot hole of "why didn't they just map out the whole Fracture Realm to find where Evil was?"
They infiltrate the castle, and our protagonist is cut off from the rest of the party, as they are the only one immune to Evil's power. Somehow Evil's power is unable to kill the Roamers, probably because of their exposure to so much evil, it's beginning to restore the balance between Virtue and Corruption
TAKE
The protagonist and Evil fight, but Evil comes out victorious. Our protagonist pays the price of allowing Evil to learn about their ability, which is vital to beating him.
RETURN
The crew assumes that Evil has some of the protagonists blood as he too realised the strength of Shapeshift. This creates a new need for the crew - to stop Evil from whatever he is planning with the blood.
They return to their own Realm, taking a break from the Fracture Realm to draft up a new plan.
They meet up with another Roamer, with the Nexus ability, "Modulation", but they are unable to be friendly with them until they fight him, for they are like our protagonist, filled with both Corruption and Virtue. Only they gained this by being completely neutral with no lean towards good or bad.
After besting the neutral Roamer, they agree to use their ability to modify the DNA within the blood to allow it to also shapeshift Nexus power. They decide that it is best to give this to the navigator, so they can shapeshift their ability to be able to locate people as-well as mapping out locations
WHY DOES EVIL HAVE THE BLOOD?
As he can use the blood to test the limits of Shapeshift, adapting to it and finding how to put an end to it permanently.
Evil flees, but not without also paying a price. They leave behind a vial of blood. After awaking from the loss, our protagonist regroups with their crew. The navigator uses their ability to analyse the vial of blood. They find out that its the protagonists blood.
Gameplay wise, this will also serve the purpose of giving the location of treasure, secrets, and bosses on the map.
Gameplay wise, the improving of skills refers to upgrading character level
Gameplay wise, expeditions is the main game, while sparring is how you upgrade your characters levels.
After locating Evil, the crew decides to use Modulation to modify the protagonists blood to improve their skills. By doing this, the player gains minor buffs and unlocks adapts their Nexus ability, allowing Shapeshift to heal their injuries, but this is tiring also.
Gameplay wise, the player can use some of their Outburst Charge to heal themselves if they are playing as the protagonist
CHANGE
The final battle will take place soon, with the team ready to fight Evil
Upon arriving at the location, they are met with several, Fracture sub-Realms, with the party again getting split
Gameplay wise, the only playable character will be the protagonist, until the boss is defeated for the first time, repeat fights allow for all characters but with a significantly buffed boss
The protagonist fights through, knowing that this may be their only opportunity to beat Evil.
They eventually find Evil, again in a plain of serenity, however this time it does not seem purely corrupt, but rather with a sense of duality
DECISION
Evil asks (somehow knowing about the protagonists "need" of making a name for themself) "Are you sure you want to make a name for yourself in this way? Why not join me, and we can have the joint name of the universe"
yes
The player joins the force of evil, and becomes overwhelmed by corruption, just like Evil
no
The player fights against Evil, becoming victorious in an intense battle. After defeating Evil, his Nexus power begins to fade, bringing everyone's opposite soul back (Virtue/Corruption)