BeamBrain here! If you know about me as a game developer at all, it's probably because you played Xenologist. My current project is something more ambitious - I finished most of my previous games in under a year, but I expect this one to take several years, and I'm doing it in part to shore up areas I haven't gotten as much practice in - those being level design and graphics.
The project you see in the screenshot above is a Zelda clone - more specifically, from one of the dungeons, the Phoenix Temple. I'm taking heavy inspiration from titles like Link to the Past and Link's Awakening, but limiting myself to four "main" dungeons and one final dungeon to keep the scope manageable. Gameplay will include the staples you'd expect of such games - venturing into dungeons, battling enemies, avoiding traps, solving puzzles, defeating dungeon bosses, and gathering new abilities that allow them to better fight and explore more of the world. Standard stuff, but I'm not looking to make anything groundbreaking, just competent and enjoyable - if I can make the Zelda clone equivalent of plombir, I'll be happy.
The game takes place in a fantasy setting in which the hero's homeland is invaded by a conquering empire. The empire begins digging into the earth and exploiting the land's resources, and in doing so, releases a corruption that drives the native creatures to mindless rages. The poison works its way so deep that even the land's guardian deities - the Minotaur, the Gryphon, the Phoenix, and the Unicorn - become maddened, isolating themselves in their temples, warping them into deadly labyrinths designed to keep out or kill the ones who they once protected. If a hero can defeat these gods in battle, though, they will return to their senses, and out of gratitude bestow the hero with a portion of their power. If anyone can gain the power of all four gods, they just may become strong enough to drive out the empire and liberate the land. And one young man, after ambushing an imperial soldier and stealing his sword, sets out to do just that.
I haven't thought about music yet, but I'm leaning more toward something in the vein of Brain Lord or other Enix RPGs of the era than the music style of zelda games from the era.
So, to return to the title: what the hell should I call this? I'm 7 months into development and still can't decide.
Ah, yes, the isekai title approach.
I haven't done much writing for the game yet. I've outlined a couple of NPCs and personalities for the guardians, but the only actual finished text I have is post-defeat dialogue for the Phoenix.
I wish The Guardian Legend wasn't already the name of an (excellent) 8-bit era NES game, but maybe a name like it: Legend of the Guardians, or Guardians of Legend?
Legend of the Guardians has a nice ring to it, but unfortunately it's also the title of a movie about owls
Since it's about saving them, restoring them, maybe "Return of the Guardians?"
riffing off being invaded by an empire;
- Terram Nihil Vexillum
land without flag
Ooh, that's an interesting one. I've dipped into Latin for titles before. Might be worth doing again.
Thanks for the suggestions! It never occurred to me to do this, but it definitely seems helpful. I lean more toward plot-centric titles myself, so I suppose that's a good place to start.
