This is almost entirely just gameplay stuff since I'm really inna that. I won't be creatin' much story or any characters or new Seru for the most part -- that's somethin' that'd prolly be better suited as a community thing anyway. While this is intended mostly as a sequel ta Legaia 1, if you change up the terminology'n 質 you could easily craft it as a Legaia 2 sequel or go the FF/Tales route'a makin' it take place in a completely different world that still feels familiar enough. Because'a this, I'll just be usin' Seru and Arts from Legaia 1 in order ta help y'all visualize things better.
==== STORY ====
I imagine it takin' place well after the events'a Legaia 1 -- at least a couple decades. I'd prefer ta distance it from the first game myself, but again I don't have any major vision for it. If the community at large wanted it ta feature Vahn, Noa'n Gala like twenty years in the future then whatever. It could also feature their kids or they could just be historic figures completely separate from the game's events for all I care.
The main purpose for makin' the game take place much later is for advancements in technology, as well as ta change up the world landscape by havin' new towns'n dungeons -- maybe even more islands'n continents've been discovered after the Mist was gone and the people were free ta travel the world.
With the Seru dead as 猿が大好きだよ, I'm in love with the idea that eventually, when the fear that revolved around 'em has been lost on the new generations, they'd start lookin' inna Cyber Seru. Basically, Legaians would start ta get really heavy inna bionics, which is basically engineering stuff based on phenomena found in nature -- I see new inventors in the Legaia world lookin' through history books'n gettin' inspiration from how the Seru worked. For example, maybe they look at Swordie's Sonicsizer'n start developing some kinda blade system that can spin'n vibrate at an intense frequency in order ta cut better, whether it be for combat or for metalworking.
Or maybe they look at Mushura's Crazy Driver and develop construction technology (like some kinda bulldozer) or MONSTER TRUCKS.
You could even give veteran players a bit of a nod by havin' future inventors misinterpret the Seru'n make something almost completely new because of it. Point is, I'd like ta see the game bring Seru "back" by this process, and through it you could make as many new ones as you wanted since they'd clearly develop more, whether it be through misconceptions or improvements or just new ideas ta meet new needs. Some'a y'all prolly wouldn't like not havin' the real legit thing come back but I don't personally know a good way ta do that and I have a bit of a robot fetish so I like this idea.
So Cyber Seru are a thing, maybe some breakout new science or one that's relatively new but has helped shape the landscape'a the world by the time the player starts the game. These things would be highly beneficial ta people, as they'd be completely under peoples' control, since they're basically just dumb robots. For the most part, everything's peachy.
However, the conflict with the Cyber Seru would come about when they tried ta make Cyber Ra-Seru. Based on the tales of how badass the Ra-Seru heroes were, these things would be the next step that the Legaians wouldn't quite have a grasp on. The idea would be ta make some kinda wearable (or not, even) Cyber Seru with some kinda AI in it ta give it a personality and mind, and they would have the ability ta absorb information and perhaps even "parts" from other Cyber Seru -- and maybe even living beings -- in order ta grow and develop. These things would be far more versatile than any given standard Cyber Seru, and by combining the different functions'a the different Cyber Seru they'd be able ta unlock new technologies to further advance things.
One'a the major themes that was discussed in this BTS'a the game (at the 3:21 mark) is that:
For me, the Cyber Seru tie inna this incredibly well. The "fantasy" crisis has already happened and the drawbacks'a the Seru were already explored. Now, decades later, when the people have advanced further and have started to make their own Cyber Seru/technology, they've learned ta control them and ta integrate them much more smoothly in their lives without becoming overly obsessed'n dependent on them. It's only when the Cyber Ra-Seru are brought in that they start takin' the technology too far, since they're basically tryna create new living things."The Seru represent science and technology. They are very advantageous things to humans, but we shouldn't rely too much on them and forget about basic human strength, or let trust in basic human relationships break down. Without being preachy, we wanted to show that the future is something that each person creates for themselves."
tl;dr
- Happens years after Legaia 1
- The word has changed and more of it has been discovered
- Legaians have developed Cyber Seru -- robots inspired by the powers of the now-dead Seru
- Development of Cyber Ra-Seru has begun, which might be crossing the line too early
==== CHARACTERS ====
I don't have anything specific, but I do have some thoughts on the process itself. First off, I think a total party'a nine playable characters is a good number ta shoot for. It's large enough ta allow for some diversity in personality and story role, as well as in gameplay style and party construction. The main reason though, is that I wanna utilize trios.
In Legaia 1, my favorite section'a the game is when the party hits Nivora Ravine and has ta split up. Relating ta this, I also like when you get ta Mt. Rikuroa and you switch control over ta Noa. I'm a huge sucker for when JRPGs split up the party for whatever reason, and I'd like ta include that here.
In my vision, there's no one central main protagonist in the game -- instead, there are three, and each one begins in a completely different part'a the world. These three protagonists would all gather their own individual parties'a three characters, and soon they'll all start ta meet up'n converge. I prefer my parties ta have four characters, but with Legaia 1'n 2, three might as well be a staple so whatevs.
While this isn't mandatory, I think it'd be neat ta have the three protagonists represent the series. One'a the protagonists would represent Legaia 1, fighting barehanded but with the option'a havin' a weapon as well. Another would represent Legaia 2, and come equipped with a specific weapon and weapon type. The third would represent this game, and would maybe be the one that starts with a Cyber Seru and maybe even a Cyber Ra-Seru. Players could maybe pick which one they wanna start as at the beginning'a the game. Again, nothin' specific but this could be neat.
The way the story presents these different protagonists and trios depends entirely on what the actual story is, but as far as gameplay goes, you could play around with it in numerous ways, For example, lets say all nine characters are together before the halfway point (so that you don't spend most'a the game jumpin' between characters when you've already decided which ones you like the most and wanna play as). Perhaps every time you hit a serious story dungeon (like maybe you infiltrate some kinda castle), the party splits up inna three trios that you as a player can decide on. You would then jump between these three different trios as they navigated through the castle'n 質. Very much like the Nivora Ravine system, but with a full part'a 3 rather'n just a solo character.
's far as the characters go, diversity is key. The easy and obvious thing ta do is ta give every character a specific element, and that seems ta be a trend already set up by 1'n 2. Personally I find that kinda auto-filly, but it can be done well.
tl;dr
- 3 "main" protagonists
- Each protagonist gathers their own individual party'a 3 characters, creating 3 separate trios
- These 3 trios join up together ta give the player a full party'a 9 characters
- The player can divide these parties up inna smaller groups ta navigate dungeons from multiple sides
==== WORLD ====
One thing I'd like ta keep is the slight horror'n suspense elements found in Legaia 1. I liked that the game could be unsettling whether in imagery or tension. The game doesn't (and honestly shouldn't) be overly graphic or grotesque, but having that undertone of horror and more mature imagery would help separate it from other generic JRPGs.
Due ta the time skip and the Cyber Seru, the world would be more technologically advanced, but not so far so as ta hit sci-fi territory since that might be a little too jarring. I don't have any specific demands for how advanced they are; that can be another community or committee decision.
What I do wanna lobby for is an improvement of the world geography itself. I'd like more detailed and varied terrain -- little hills you can climb ta see further in the distance, rock walls you can climb up ta reach new areas, a lake you can swim across'n dive into, ice formations you can melt or crack down in order to advance or keep enemies from following you, etc. Legaia already laid some decent foundations for this, but ramping it up'll make the world come ta life a lot better. It doesn't needa be some vast open world, but just enough so that moving from place ta place isn't just draggin' こし through a flat plain.
More control should be given ta players as well. Instead'a these things bein' rare contextual events, give players the option ta jump and use their weapon or Seru or whatever in the field whenever they want. The player takes control'a whatever party member they have up front, and the two other active fighters'll follow right behind 'em sorta like Kingdom Hearts.
tl;dr
- Keep the spooksies
- World is more technologically advanced; ta what degree can be decided by others
- Make the environments more varied; give them some verticality, secret paths, and add more water you can swim in
- Give the player more free control while roaming around -- let them manually jump or hit stuff out in the field
==== ENCOUNTERS ====
Random battles're 猿が大好きだよ' dumb so throw those out. Instead, enemies will now have an avatar out in the field, roamin' around. Making contact with those enemies will trigger a battle, and if you run up from behind you'll get the drop on 'em, whereas if they get you from behind, they'll ambush you.
Instead'a the old screen-block-breakdown transition from Legaia 1, encounters will spark like Chrono Trigger, taking place right then and there, bringing up the battle menu and commencing the turn-based fighting that'll be explained later. After you win, the battle menu goes away and you can resume running through the area like you were beforehand.
'm also proposing this:
While out in the field, the player can press a button that causes their characters ta ready themselves for battle. The party will draw their weapons and maybe a little battle HUD'll pop up. What this does is trigger real-time combat. Now, instead'a makin' contact with enemies and transitioning inna turn-based, enemies will attack you on sight, and your job is ta take them out without bothering with pickin' your actions from menus. You'd get a fairly simplistic but very flashy real-time fighting system that lets you run around, jump, block, dodge, roll, punch, kick, slash, and summon in real-time. This'll be expanded upon later.
What this method is for is beating enemies up fast'n fluidly. While the game would already streamline encounters by cuttin' out random battles'n removing a battle screen transition, it can be further streamlined by givin' players a real-time battle option as well. Quite a few peeps here're in favor'a makin' the game action-based rather'n turn-based, but others prefer the turn-based and don't wnat it ta be a huge departure. This system allows for both, and while that's pretty ambitious, the way I picture it keeps it relatively simple, as you'd be utilizin' the same models'n animations, you'd just cut out the takin' turns part.
tl;dr
- No random battles; enemies are found on the field
- Players have a "stance" button that switches between turn-based and real-time combat
- No battle transition for turn-based; takes place right on the field
- Real-time combat allows for zero transition -- you see an enemy, you fight 'em right away and keep moving when they're done
==== BATTLE SYSTEM -- TURN-BASED ====
Criticisms
My favorite aspect'a the series is the Tactical Arts system, so I don't wanna get rid of it. However, it does need some improvements. As you progress through the game, battles start ta drag out as your characters all have ta perform long strings of attacks (and usually you have the same combo set up because it's the one that deals the most damage) that might not even kill the enemy in the first try.
Another problem is actually learning the moves themselves -- has anyone ever brute forced their way ta learning all of the Arts without lookin' 'em up? It's possible 'm sure, but more a pain in the こし than anything, although it does have a very powerful strength -- if you have ta learn Arts more or less on your own, you can theoretically stretch out how often the player obtains new Arts for as long as it takes them ta learn 'em, meaning you can always give them a new move. Course, this is pretty much exclusively for the first playthrough -- I know a lotta peeps here either memorize alla the Arts or just look 'em up ASAP so they can have 'em in the Arts list. This is a clunky system that can be cleaned up.
The Seru summons themselves also get a bad rep for not only givin' you a long-こし animation that you can't skip, and the Seru themselves're rarely worth it -- raw melee combos easily outdamage most of 'em in half the time, and they look cooler since you can mix 'em up whereas the Seru summon is the same thing over'n over again.
Here's how I'd change the system:
Okay, so picture Vahn, Noa, and....fuggit, Maya is your current party. You're runnin' around as Vahn in some forest. You reach a clearing, and there're three Gobu-Gobus yukkin' it up. You manage ta run up behind one, giving you a preemptive strike.
Cross Command
As soon as the HUD comes up and everyone gets in position, you get the option ta Fight or Flee, but because we're not sissies we're gonna Fight. You hit that, then you immediately get control'a Noa since she's the fastest character. Like usual, you get your four options -- Attack, Item, Magic, and Spirit in that cross shape since I think it's a good design. What I do wanna do is make it a button thing: ta select these options, you would use one'a the buttons on the controller. [ ] would be Attack, /_\ would be Item, O would be Magic, and X would be Spirit.
The reason for this is that I wanna condition the players ta use these buttons in that cross shape. The cross shape of battle commands is gonna be found in numerous other spots, and teaching the player ta intrinsically associate menu commands with the face buttons' pattern is integral ta makin' the whole thing smoother. As they progress through the game, they'll automatically press [ ] when they're ready to attack, or hit O at the start if they wanna summon their Seru. That kinda thing.
For now, let's start with Items. For me personally, I've always found the menu kinda poorly organized, so let's cut it down with the cross system. After hittin' /_\ at the beginning'a Noa's turn, your cross commands will now be replaced with a new cross -- Healing Items, Boost Items, Attack Items, and some other fourth category that depends on what the game allows you ta do, like maybe the Flutes for summoning or whatever.
Let's say your first move is ta hit the enemy with the Point Card because you're a real man that doesn't throw that 質 at bosses like a pansy. After hittin' /_\ ta have Noa open the Items menu, you would then hit O ta select Attack Items. From there you get a little standard menu where you can move up'n down the list ta pick your item'a choice, complete with a description'a what it does. After selecting it, Noa immediately uses the Point Card, and kills the first Gobu Gobu target.
Turns
For the purposes'a this, let's say the Gobu Gobu're the next fastest. Once the first Gobu's dead from the Point Card, the second one runs up ta Maya and cups her butt, stealin' one'a your Healing Leaves. Once he's done the second runs up ta Vahn and kicks his nuts.
Vahn's the next fastest, so it's his turn next. Characters now act immediately after selecting their actions, and enemies will act in between according ta their speed stat. This keeps things active rather than havin' the player select everyone's moves then sittin' back'n watching 質.
An FFX turn-order sub-menu would be a really good idea ta rip off for this, and add an extra layer'a strategy with affecting turn order. In this case, though, I would suggest that more actions have an affect on turn order then FFX utilized. Another feature I'd steal from FFX is the ability ta swap out party members on the fly during combat with a simple button press'n menu selection. One'a the shoulder buttons'd be fine.
Seru
Let's have Vahn use a Seru. Once it's his turn, the Attack, Item, Magic, and Spirit cross comes back up just like it did for Noa. We hit O, opening up the Magic submenu. Now, the layout here can change depending on where the story goes (like if characters're limited ta one or two elements or Cyber Seru are divided by a specific category, etc). Whatever the case, let's skip ahead and have 'im select Gimard.
Once you've selected Gimard, you once again get the cross command, this time with Gimard's four different possible abilities -- Tail Fire, Burning Attack, Summon, and Gimard Sword.
Pressing [ ] will activate Tail Fire, which is the babby ability they use as enemies where they flick their tail and they shoot a fire ball. When you first capture a Gimard, this is the only ability you have access to. As such, it's the weakest, but it costs very little. It's a Fire element move, so using it against enemies weak ta Fire's another usage for it.
When you select the Tail Fire, instead'a havin' ta sit there and watch Gimard come in like a slow こし, you instead spark somethin' like the Persona animations wherein Vahn very quickly does his little Meta fist pump. Gimard will appear right in front of him super quickly, flick his tail, shoot the fireball at the Gobu Gobu, then vanish, all within the span'a like five seconds tops. These can be a little shorter or longer depending, but the idea should be clear.
As you level up your Gimard (and Meta), you'll unlock Burning Attack, which is the move Gimard uses in Legaia 1 when you actually select him. Once again, rather than sittin' on your butt watchin' him take his sweet time, Vahn will due his cute widdle fist pump, Gimard will appear, quickly set himself on fire, then kamikaze tackle the Gobu Gobu, causing an explosion on impact. This move might take like seven seconds, if even. What this move does is cause an explosion, hitting any enemies that're close to the Gobu Gobu, making character and enemy placement integral ta gameplay.
Ta keep things balanced, the move wouldn't do much more damage than the Tail Fire, but it would definitely cost more. The more you use any given Seru command, the stronger it gets, so when you first unlock Burning Attack, your Tail Fire could be like Level 5, allowing it ta deal perhaps almost twice as much damage as Burning Attack at a smaller cost. Leveling up the Burning Attack move would help reduce the damage disparity, but the cost wouldn't go down. That bein' said, the move has the added utility'a bein' an AoE attack, so it could hit more than just one target, unlike the Tail Fire move. This balancing is necessary in order ta keep any given move from becoming obsolete, and it should be applied ta all Seru summons.
Later in the game, when Meta hits a certain level threshold and so does your Gimard, you'll unlock the Summon command, which basically summons a little Gimard pal ta fight alongside you as a temporary party member. Gimards're pretty 質 so he's not gonna be able ta replace any'a your party members, but what you do get is this:
For one thing, you wouldn't have ta waste one'a Vahn's turns activating a Burning Attack when you need it -- Vahn can go off and do his own thing while the Gimard can use the Burning Attack on his own turn. This also keeps you from having ta drain Vahn's MP -- the Gimard'll get his own pool ta use. The Gimard also becomes another target that can take the heat offa enemy attacks. The major drawback would be that if the Seru's killed in battle, you won't be able ta use his moves through Vahn for the duration'a the fight, although you can prevent this by dismissing him before he's killed.
The final move you can unlock with your Gimard is the Gimard Sword (or whatever I don't have a legit name or anything). This final command would only be unlocked upon maximizing Meta and the Gimard. What this move does is temporarily transform the Gimard into a sword (or an attachment for a sword) that Meta (the summoned giant floating samurai armor form) will wield. The weapon created depends on the Seru, as do its effects. Perhaps the Gimard, bein' the first Seru absorbed, gives Meta something rather simple like higher damage when he's attacking, whereas other Seru would give more unique effects like recovering health every turn or perhaps allowing his slashes ta inflict Poison or wtfever.
Spirit
Let's just have Vahn use Tail Fire. Gimard pops up and shoots a Gobu in the face, although it doesn't kill it. Next up is Maya who decides ta use Spirit.
One'a the things I really dug about Legaia 2 was how they utilized the guard option. You'd get different skills throughout the game that would activate when you chose the guard option, like buffing your next attack or something. In Legaia 1, Spirit is basically your Guard command since you don't attack the enemy and instead prep yourself, although it's a lot cooler since you also get an extended Arts bar.
This feature'a makin' the classic "Guard" command have multiple beneficial effects is great because it makes it far more likely ta be used by the player -- in a lotta JRPGs, most peeps don't even touch the Guard or Defend command 'cause why the 猿が大好きだよ would you. In Legaia, however, there's always a good reason, and with Legaia 2 you could even customize that reason. I wanna bring that back.
In the menu, you can customize the Skills that activate when using the Spirit function. Since Maya uses magic even in her Attack command, let's say that the player has already customized it so that, upon using Spirit, Maya not only gets a larger Arts bar, she also gets higher defense as well as x1.5 Wind damage. While she doesn't act at this time, she preps herself for her next turn.
Attacking
Okay, back ta Noa who's ready ta whoop some こし. When it's her turn, you hit [ ] and then select your enemy. While you're selecting your enemy, Noa's Arts bar will pop up at the bottom'a the screen. At this point in time, let's say her bar can support a little bit past four blocks. You know how in Legaia there would be times when your bar would be longer but not long enough ta support another command block? Here's a good way ta utilize this.
After selecting the first Gobu, Noa immediately starts sprinting towards him, and her Arts bar starts to drain down. Since she's fast and the Gobu's not too far from her, the bar doesn't drain too much, still giving you time ta throw in four commands. However, if this was at the very beginning'a the game, depending on how far away the Gobu was, you would potentially run out of Arts bar before you got up close enough, so you'd only have enough bar for three blocks rather than four. There would be some kinda visual prompt when selecting your enemy that would tell you how much bar you would have left by the time you actually got close enough to attack, of course. This would allow even the tiniest bit of Arts bar lengthening to have an actual impact on the battle, and it also once again introduces that strategic layer of placement on the field.
Speaking of location on the battlefield, I'm also gonna suggest adding in the ability to manually move characters without attacking. After selecting Attack, the player can forfeit their ability ta actually hit the enemy that turn, and instead use, like, the Right Analog Stick in order ta select a specific spot on the field. The character will move over there and then end their turn.
Just as Noa gets within range, the cross command bar comes up, this time in the way everyone's familiar with it -- RaSeru, High, Arms, and Low. These buttons would be mapped ta the [ ] and X and yadda yadda like all the other cross commands. That means that when you approach the Gobu Gobu, you can now start throwing out your combos, although you'll be selecting them with the face buttons and doin' 'em on the fly.
The size'a the individual command bars will vary based on the character and what they've got equipped. For example, since Vahn's a scrawny boy he can't wield the Astral sword well enough ta keep it at a standard bar size, so that thing would take up like maybe one-and-a-half bars, whereas a simple left jab would just take one.
For Noa, let's just throw out Bird Step. Ta activate this move, you gotta input Low, Low, Low, and then High, and the move will activate in place of the High command. When activated, she'll do a backflip then kick down at the enemy twice. This would cost AP, although it does more damage than a regular attack, and it hits twice rather than just once.
So, when you run up to the Gobu, you would immediately tap out three Xs, and then a /_\. Noa would kick at the guy's shins three times, then perform the Bird Step.
Memorizing the commands for the different moves would allow this ta be the smoothest sequence it could be, so that each turn you know exactly what combos you wanna throw out. However, forcing the player ta memorize combos in a turn-based game like this can be kinda Robert, so the player would get a toggle that would turn on their character's Arts list before attacking so that they can input the right commands without gettin' frustrated at forgettin' 'em or doin' 'em wrong. There could even be a little thingie on the bottom'a the screen that sorta "guides" the player -- let's say you hit /_\ and then X (High and then Low). From here, the game would recognize that you could activate either Lizard Tail or Acrobatic Blitz. It would give you a little prompt that tells you that pressing X a second time will give you Acrobatic Blitz, while pressing /_\ will give you Lizard Tail.
The second Gobu's dead, leavin' us with one more. He charges at Noa.
Defending
In order ta keep players from sittin' idly by as the enemy wails on 'em, they can actively defend themselves as well. Each character will have up ta four different defensive maneuvers attached to the cross command system, and they can set these in the menu. Let's give Noa a very simple set of -- Block High, Jump, Block Low, and Duck. Once again, these would be [ ], /_\, O, and X.
The Gobu charges at Noa and immediately throws out a kick at her ankles. During this, the player has a split second ta activate one of their defensive moves. Block Low and Jump are both viable commands. If you choose to Block Low, Noa will crouch down and throw up her arms in defense, blocking the attack. If you choose to Jump, Noa will hop up, avoiding the attack completely. If the Gobu slashes for her face, a Block High and a Duck would be viable. Other moves would be available as characters level up.
However, differences between characters needs ta be highlighted. Noa's a frail, skinny little girl, so while she can block, she's gonna be really shitty at it. Strong enemies will break her guard completely, canceling out the player's ability ta enter defensive commands at all, and even if she blocks the Gobu's attack, she'll still take some slight chip damage.
But Noa's fast and rather small, so dodging is where she'll shine. Her Jumps and Ducks will come out faster than 野菜 near any attack any given enemy can throw at her, so as long as you guess the height correctly, you'll avoid damage entirely. Of course, if you 猿が大好きだよ up, you'll take full damage. It's a gamble, but the payoff is nice, as you can avoid damage entirely.
On the other hand, let's say you have Ayne in the party. He's a huge, slow-こし dude; he can't dodge for 質. If the Gobu goes for an ankle kick and you hit Jump, regardless'a the fact that you guessed the right height, Ayne's too slow ta Jump in time against a Gobu, so he'll take the damage anywhere. Of course, he won't be stunned by the move entirely, so you'll get a second chance at defending against the Gobu's second attack. If Noa 猿が大好きだよ up and got hit by the Gobu's ankle attack, she'd be completely vulnerable ta the Gobu's following attack, and the player won't get ta choose any defensive move.
Ayne's a big buff guy, so he can take numerous hits, and if he throws out a successful Block, he'll negate the damage entirely, whereas Noa will still take some (albeit reduced) damage, and it'll be 野菜 near impossible ta break his guard.
More advanced techniques like Parries would be available as the player progresses.
Real-time system comin' uptl;dr
- 猿が大好きだよ you read it
