Mana Star

For the past few years, I've been working on an RPG project that's been heavily inspired by the Golden Sun series. It isn't a fan game, containing a completely new cast/world/assets/etc, but has been very mechanically inspired by the series. After years of work and planning, I’m excited to reveal my project, Mana Star! 

The story follows the young adult Merric, heir to the prestigious role of Archmage of Falter. Having much to learn to fulfill his eventual role as Archmage, Merric has spent the majority of his life in preparation for the title. Things have not been calm in the world, though. Unexplainable, magical phenomenons have been sprouting up all across the globe, putting extensive pressure on the magical leaders of the world to find the cause. However, while out on a research mission, disaster strikes. By the time Merric is able to make it back to this home, there is nothing left of the city. Everything and everyone having been sucked into an unknown magical void.

And so Merric, alongside his cautious and stern guard Tyra, set off on a quest to find out what's behind all the strange magical happenings, and find a way to save their home. Along their adventures, they'll encounter and team up with several others who have befallen a similar fate, coming together to save those they love, and discover the source of the mysterious events that are slowly consuming their world.

	Merric: Merric is an apprentice magician, training to eventually take over his father's role as Archmage. While realizing the weight and importance of this position, he can’t help but feel some level of resentment towards it, wanting instead to make a name for himself through his own accomplishments.  He’s confident in his magical abilities given his status and noble upbringing, sometimes to a fault. However, he isn't very worldly, and grew up sheltered. He loves both to see himself improve, and to help others improve as well.  Has the passion to be a great leader, and the heart to empathize with the unfortunate, but can be blinded by his pride. Wants to help those in need, and be a leader to something great that he built himself, without his birthright given to him.  He wants to prove he is more than his bloodline.
	Tyra: Tyra was raised by her brother, William, from a very young age after they lost their parents.  She sees William almost as an idol, the peak of honor, duty, and compassion.  She aspires to one day be an Army Captain like him, and in doing so was assigned as the Royal Guard of Merric Solarus from when she first enlisted at 16. To her, this is both a blessing and a curse. She’s strong willed, and more stoic than the rest of the group, at least outwardly, but like the others carries a fair bit of baggage of her own.
	Maria: Maria has long ago determined she finds the greatest joy in helping others in need, and decided on the path of being a cleric from a young age.  She can be a bit childish and short-tempered, but is a very hard and honest worker, and puts the wants and needs of others before her own opinions.
	Nala: Nala is the daughter of a Ridge Island Academy instructor, and studies alchemical ingredient trait compounding. Encouraged by her father, she has developed an intense desire to learn all of the different traits and how ingredients interact with each other, and why some ingredient combinations result in unexpected potions. This has led her to be sent out into the world at a young age, something that hasn’t been without struggle.  While very intelligent,  she is not very worldly and often oblivious to those around her. Her and Maria have been close friends since they were little, growing up in the same village.
	Mindas: Mindas is the orphaned daughter of Arkaid Plasmid, right hand man of the Technomancer movement's former leader, Yvonne Pell. Even at a young age, she has proven herself a skilled engineer, and a prodigy in Technomancy. From birth, Mindas was paraplegic, being paralyzed from the waist down.  She overcomes her inability to walk with her greatest invention, the Exo-Walker, a highly advanced magitech mech that she uses to get around and fight. Mindas is an outcast for her race, being a Dreck.
	Raptor: Raptor is a stoic, yet adventurous Talus warrior. He was exiled from his clan and had his true Tallus name stripped as a result of not only associating too often with outsiders, but ultimately saving the passing-by dreck Mindas from a group of Kodrin bandits.  While it may seem a good deed to most, his Tallus clan, like many other clans, forbid intervening in conflicts between other races.  Raptor believes he did the right thing and rejected any apology to his clan for appeasement of his actions, and so he became a quiet and protective friend of Mindas. Raptor’s birth name is not translatable to Common, but as he is a bird of prey, he decides others can call him Raptor, and he appreciates being allowed as part of the group, as he never was well liked in his clan, even before exile.
	Diana: Diana is Captain Sham's daughter. Of the two leading the crew, she's the more serious and level-headed of the two, despite her short temper. She doesn't have much patience for incompetence, and likes to tease those that are easy to fluster.
	Captain Sham: Captain "Nord" Sham is the captain of the crew aboard the S.S. Sham, and is the oldest of the main case, being in his early 40s. After a tragedy that resulted in the destruction of his home city, and the passing of most of those who lived there including his wife, Sham has made it his mission to rebuild the once great city, using the treasures he acquires to fund the rebuild. Most of his cast are actually people who have met similar fates, causing the crew to act as more than just a ship crew, and instead be more of a family. Despite his livelihood as a pirate, he's a big softie, and a bit of a goof. Captain Sham is a very jovial and kind man, and is the sort to carry the burden of others on his back, wanting only to see everybody happy in return.  Deep down, he feels guilty about the fall of Eastport ten years ago, and builds Phemera City to atone for himself.  He knows this isn't healthy, but finds a sense of belonging in it.  Everybody in his crew is not just a worker, but family.
	Isshera: Isshera lives near the Pearl Reef between Tyria and Holthehaven, being the only child of the ruling family. She's the princess of her undersea colony, and is well aware of the status and privileges it grants her. She can be sassy and stubborn, but is able to back up her words by being very capable of handling things on her own. Isshera practices her singing each night, dreaming of seeing the world, and becoming a warrior.  She is a self-titled warrior princess, with a habit of exaggerating her battle stories against the monsters of the sea. She dreams of traveling the world and becoming a famous warrior and commander.  She is capable of magical songs and may truly be fit to lead a unit of soldiers one day.

Wisps are the most central and defining mechanic and creature that you'll encounter in the project, being implemented in many different mechanics. 

Wisps are small, elemental creatures that you'll encounter and collect through exploration. Each wisp has their own personality, and a unique design to reflect this. There are eight wisps for each element to collect, making 72 total.

On the overworld, wisps provide a variety of overworld skills you can swap between to affect the environment, such as destroying rubble with a fireball or lightning, or shifting from the real world into a mystic plane that might feature a secret path or new enemies.

From the menu, you can equip wisps to each character. Each wisp provides a unique skill to it’s equipped party member, with this skill increasing in power for each wisp of that element that the party has befriended. This allows for additional character customization, and alters the wisps a character can call within battle. Obtaining new wisps is often tied to exploration and optional quests.

In battle, Players and enemies can upon Wisps by using the skills granted by their equipped Wisps, after which they become active and float around the battlefield. If an attack or skill is used that matches the element of a Wisp stack, that stack acts as a damage multiplier, and all Wisps of that element are spent. 1 Wisp is x2, 2 is x4, 3 is x8, and 4 is x16. Additionally, passive abilities can provide bonuses based on the number of Wisps, and some powerful skills might have a Wisp cost to use at all. The player must be careful with stacking too many Wisps for a high multiplier, however, as enemies may also put and use Wisps on the field, they are a shared resource.

The game has a strong emphasis on exploring the world, with most objects being interactable for flavor text and item discovery. The items will most often be useful as ingredients for potions, or potions themselves for use in battles, as well as equipment and quest items. Some of the more useful items would only be attainable beyond obstacles and puzzles to be removed or solved with Wisp Skills. Wisp Skills are overworld skills you can swap between to affect the environment, such as destroying rubble with a fireball or lightning, or shifting from the real world into a mystic plane that might feature a secret path or new enemies.

Enemy groups roam around hostile areas and can have different roaming behaviors, and have awareness based on lighting in dark areas. Wisp Skills can be used to get their attention or avoid them, and when an enemy group is defeated, they are removed from the overworld. Players may choose to save or heal at a checkpoint, a Mana Crystal, however this will cause all enemies on the overworld reappear.

Battles take place in a side-view CTB (Charge Turn Battle) system. Instead of choosing the whole party’s actions at the start of the turn, each party member chooses their action and immediately acts in order of their speed. A turn order ribbon is featured to determine who will be acting in the next several turns, and will display how much an action will move a player down the ribbon after they do their selected action.

The player characters can attack, use skills, use items, view basic enemy information, attempt to flee, but the real stars are the Wisps. Both the party and their foes can call upon Wisps. If an attack or skill is used that matches the element of a Wisp stack, that stack acts as a damage multiplier, and all Wisps of that element are spent. Additionally, certain combinations can be used to perform powerful summons!  Some passive abilities can even provide bonuses based on the number of Wisps, while some powerful skills might have a Wisp cost to use at all. Be careful with stacking too many Wisps however, as your enemies may wise up to your plan, and use your plan against you! 

Weapons and armor both play a larger role in combat than what is usually seen in traditional JRPG combat. Instead of a static Attack command, every weapon has 1-3 weapon arts, skills unique to that weapon that cost no MP to use. Similarly, some other equipment such as shields and talismans can change the standard Guard command into something more specialized for the types of encounters you are currently facing.

In Calnern, there are several different humanoid races that you'll come across in your journeys, alongside several intelligent monster species. From the mole-like Moleders, to the sleek avian Tallus, you'll find that these different races each carry vastly different lifestyles, morals, beliefs, and more.

Monsters aren’t just the baddies that dwell in caves and forests, they’re an integral part of the world and how it functions. Many types of monsters are kept as pets or companions, while others are domesticated to help perform tasks. Much of the world’s natural phenomena are dictated by monsters and their own unique abilities. Some are cute and friendly, others are a massive threat to nearby civilizations, and are treated as such. Others yet are even intelligent enough to communicate or barter with humans, and even have their own developed society. With over 400 unique monsters to discover, and a monster-fanatic leading the party, you’re bound to find some favorites, and stumble into many misadventures exploring just what makes this vibrant world of creatures so special.

You can find the full, updating playlist here.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMhpqY3dNpbjfIdxIvnxNKsAudivPDYvq

As opposed to simply offering an Easy/Medium/Hard difficulty option, players are able to fine-tune a variety of aspects of the game, allowing people to play through the game just how they like it, and allows for built in challenge modes. Some examples of adjustable parameters include buffing enemy stats, preventing the use of certain gameplay mechanics such as wisp calling or item use in battle, preventing healing in battle, raising or lowering gold and item drop rates, disabling level ups, and even a perma-death mode for those wishing to push their skills to the limit!

We also have a Discord set up for everyone that’s interested in helping out, or just wants to follow along with progress, so that we can all keep in touch easier. You can join us here: https://discord.gg/6sGtkR3