The Spirit's Light || Assignment 2 — Game Concept Devlog

Working Title:  The Spirit's Light

Concept Statement:

"Embark on an adventure through a forest cursed in darkness. Harness the power of light, help the townsfolk in need, and dispel the shadows that curse the village."   

 Genre/Category: 

• action-adventure,
• fantasy,
• story-driven. 

My selected genres are action-adventure, fantasy, and story-driven. Firstly, I picked action-adventure as the game's core genre, as the game focuses on exploration and combat. Players will move through different areas and fight shadowy monsters. My game was greatly influenced by the 2D Zelda titles that are well known in this genre. Secondly, I chose fantasy, as this describes the game's setting and characters. The player gains magical powers and adventures through a mystical forest. The world includes NPCs with animal-like traits. All of these are common within the fantasy genre. Lastly, I chose story-driven, as the game will include small sequences of dialogue and an overarching narrative that gives purpose to the player and helps tie the game world together. 

Concept Creation Process: 

To develop the concept of my game, I decided to take elements from games I liked and include them in mine. I really enjoy adventure and narrative driven games, such as The Legend of Zelda (TLoZ), The Last of Us (TLOU), and Your Turn To Die (YTTD).  

My main inspiration came from TLoZ, specifically the 2D titles, especially A Link to the Past, (Ref Image 1) for its top-down perspective and fun, colourful art style. Another TLoZ game I took inspiration from was Breath of the Wild. I took the element of Zelda’s Triforce power (Ref Image 2) as the inspiration for the players magical powers, as well as the idea of a lone player exploring a corrupted world and fighting monsters and helping NPCs and restoring peace.  

I took inspiration from other titles such as Stardew Valley (Ref Image 3) and YTTD for their pixel art style and character sprites, especially YTTD for its change between pixel sprites in the game world (Ref Image 4)  and flat 2D drawings for dialogue portraits (Ref Image 5).  I chose to base the NPCs on my real-life friends (with their permission). This helped me create unique and memorable characters, as well as giving me a source of inspiration for how the NPCs might talk and interact with the world around them, making each character unique.   

I then thought about how I could make these ideas work in the time frame given, and with the knowledge and skills I had, making me think of a short yet fun story, what type of scripts I would need, and what I could reuse, such as the 8 way movement script, and skills I've developed, such as using tile maps.   

Ultimately all these things helped me come up with the concept for my game. 

Audience and competitive analysis: 

The target audience for this game is primarily casual gamers aged 10–30 who are drawn to cozy, narrative-driven, fantasy, and emotionally engaging experiences. The game is aimed at players who prefer a relaxing, slower game rather than a fast-paced, combat-driven game. The cute art style and heartfelt narrative are often associated with female players, while light combat elements tend to attract male players. While these are general industry trends and not strict rules, using a balance of story and combat helps create an experience that can appeal to a wide range of players regardless of gender. The use of magic and fantasy themes with animal-like characters makes the game more engaging for younger players, while the emotional depth of the story can resonate with older teens and young adults, again widening the player base.

As my game concept fits within the “cozy/indie” genre, a category that has seen a boost in popularity in recent years, it would face lots of competition.  Examples such as Spiritfarer, Garden Story, and A Short Hike. Are just a handful of recent indie releases that have similar audiences. Even though they are no longer new games, classics like TLoZ: Minish Cap and A Link to the Past are still very relevant because of their enduring player base and strong legacy. My game is inspired by these games story/fantasy elements and exploration mechanics, which set a standard for 2D action-adventure genre games. Therefore adding even more competition.  

What would set my game apart from these competitors would be its characters, as these are based off of real people. I believe this would be a way to make the characters more relatable and fun for players. While the magic mechanic adds a gameplay hook.  The game's even balance of story and combat makes it stand out in a market that is predominantly filled with games that have a focus on one rather than the other instead of this balance. Offering an alternative that appeals to a wide player base. 

Game treatment and concept art: 

In The Spirit’s Light you are thrust into an unknown world where light is slowly fading, and a mysterious darkness is overtaking what was once a vibrant forest. You are the chosen hero, granted the power of light by a strange spirit. (Ref Image 6) With these newfound abilities, you must explore the land, rid the forest (Ref Image 7) of evil, and help struggling villagers return to the world of light restoring balance with each act of kindness. 

As you navigate this new land, you will encounter creatures corrupted by the forest’s curse, with each battle presenting new challenges to harness your light magic. However, it’s not just your magic that will help you, it’s the connections and friendships you build with the villagers (Ref Image 8) (Ref Image 9) that will make you stronger. Through these interactions, you will not only bring light to the landscape but also to the hearts and souls of the villagers (Ref image 10). 

With its fun and cute pixel-style visuals (Ref Image 11), The Spirit’s Light blends a top-down perspective with exciting combat and emotional storytelling. The world is alive, and your light brings energy back to it. In a land shrouded in darkness, you are the torch that makes it shine and bloom once again. 

• Light Magic System:  

-  Harness evolving light powers to battle corrupted creatures and unlock new areas. 

• Emotionally Driven Storytelling:  

- Build relationships with villagers through dialogue that influences their stories and the world around you. 

• Cute Pixel Art Style:  

- Enjoy charming, retro pixel-art visuals unique to the game.  

• Unique Player Customization: 

- Allows players to put themselves into the world, by choosing their name, with a gender neutral character design (Ref Image 12) (Ref Image 13)