The story for videogames is always what draws me in. I loved games where the story and the world-building would suck me in and help me to forget about all the stresses of life. Games like Final Fantasy 7, Xenogears, Secret of Mana...
Even Mega Man Legends or Soul Reaver. Soul Reaver, in retrospect, has some very very rough gameplay. Why then is that game so memorable? Everyone was enthralled with the writing, the stories about vampires, betrayal, and hundreds of years worth of history for their world.
So to start my entry into the competition I'm thinking about the story...
There is a country in the southern hemisphere of a fantasy world. For a long time now this country has managed its industry of engines. Engines for trains, automobiles, ships, and airships are exported to many other countries.
The engines are leagues more powerful than something like a Tesla engine in our real world. These engines are made with crystal technology. The engineers of this country (country R)
have devised a way to mix their ancient religious art of shamanism with advances they have made in science in order to harness the power of the lightning spirits to make engine crystals.
They infuse a rare sand (which is found abundantly in country R) with lightning in a secret process to create engine crystals that they export. This is the main industry of country R and a pillar in their economy.
Recently a military empire (country I) has come under new leadership and is slowly arresting control of the continent. Their leadership has decided to obtain control of country R's crystal engines exclusively for use in a campaign of war and domination. Country R did not have a large military. They called on their close allies to come to their aid, but few surrounding nations were willing to cross the empire. So country I was successful in their invasion and occupation of country R.
The plan for the manipulation of the shaman engineers began with the kidnapping of their children and loved ones, who were relocated to prison camps. With their loved ones held hostage, the engineers had no choice but to participate in the empire's war effort.
However, right before the 5th year of occupation, it was rumored that some of the engineers had been banding together in groups to wage gorilla warfare. The Shaman engineers were forced to learn new ways to manipulate the power of lighting. Instead of using spiritual magic to continue the development of their industry and country, as they had done for almost 130 years, these brave scientists were forced to find new uses for their magic. These scientists had to learn the ways of destructive magic. After almost 5 years of living under occupation, the shamans of country R began to fight back...
(The names of the countries are placeholders until I can think of something cool
)
I'm working on some art but it's very rough. I'll post something soon this week!