Game Design Document

RE:Carnate

Logline:
The rules are simple; each of the 9 immortals takes turns trying to kill the other eight, only when they are killed, those they vanquished are reborn. Ceris has decided that she is not satisfied with accepting this eternal fate, and tries to bring the others back together .

Ceris has decided that the violent isolation of the nine immortals has lasted too long, and is no longer interested in sitting around waiting for myriad deaths. After defeating her mentor on the roof, Ceris then sets out with the intention of reconnecting with her counterparts, travelling through the different parts of the eternally-lit city, exploring the relics of the world that used to be. Each life follows the same general path; travel the city to each Immortal, attempt to convince them to open up, fight them when conversation reaches a dead end, continue on the the next until she dies, wake up, review the new information, and start all over. Upon meeting the other Immortals, she refuses to fight unless they talk to her. Some are more willing than others, but none break on the first attempt. When she eventually dies, the immortals she had killed up to that point are resurrected, and she must wait until the one she lost to is eventually defeated. While she is dead, time continues on, and relationships between the other immortals may have changed in her absence. One of them will always be missing, so their insight will not be available to her until their next meeting, beyond her next death. Still Ceris remains resolute, determined to reforge the camaraderie that has now become only tradition.
With every rebirth, she meets more of the Immortals that walk the empty world with her. Eventually, she sees a change in the others over the time she had spent in death. As she fights, dies to, and challenges each of them again and again, she begins to know her companions more fully; the solitude that has lasted an indefinite amount of time begins to crumble. Each knows this world and existence differently from the last. Some have grown comfortable, fearful of what is to come if any manage to defeat the rest, some want this unending cycle to reach its conclusion, and others are afraid that whichever of them is left at the end must continue on in solitude for eternity. Having shared this uncertain existence, Ceris is able to foster a companionship with the others, sometimes forcibly reconnecting the others. Equally as challenging as defeating them all in combat, is helping each to heal the hardening of their hearts and minds over time. Eventually, Ceris is able to reach the only other remaining immortal of the nine, and is given a choice. She can die; go back and attempt to help anyone who hasn’t found their closure in this life, or simply continue on in the cycle. The other option, she can close the cycle and find out what awaits on the other side. The choice is entrusted to her, the one who brought them back together again.
The game is comprised of only two main things: Boss fights and dialogue. The gameplay loop sends the player from one section of the city to the next, with Ceris traveling by foot, vehicle, or otherwise as she moves off screen (depending on the current stage environment). In each stage, the design of the world changes drastically; Ceris travels from junkyards, to virtual gardens, to skyscraper roofs, to oceanside cliffs, and more. Ceris will not always visit these locations at the same time of day, or year for that matter. Lighting and weather will change as the player makes continued runs. Each immortal tends to stay in one place, but eventually they will begin to travel as Ceris does, with one location empty on each run. Ceris does not encounter each Immortal in the same sequence every life. After the immortals begin to change locations and move around more, sometimes she is called to them, or finds herself in their vicinity earlier than her last life.
The player can choose to fight the last immortal if they defeat the other seven, or they can choose to lose. Only if they defeat the last does the game truly end, allowing the player to start over. While there is a definitive end to the “story” and content for the player to experience, the game itself can go on. The game is potentially unending.
After significant story points are reached, new scenes are unlocked (i.e characters visiting Ceris in her apartment at the beginning of each run after enough successful dialogue sequences with them). Each of these scenes will grant the player with knowledge about the world, the history of the city, the past of each of the characters, etc. SImilar information can be gathered by collecting relics and data from the travel in between Immortal location or in the occasional exploration stage. These relics can be in the form of old books, toys, flyers, or data from computer terminals.
Aside from combat, the secondary part of the game is piecing together the character profiles of each immortal by learning more about them through conversations with them, or from questioning the others. After each immortals individual story is completed, they give Ceris a permanent combat upgrade. Once the player progresses far enough into each characters story, they may even find two of the immortals together, marking the players progress in getting the others to reconnect.
This game is an Action/Adventure game, inspired by the character driven storytelling of Hades, by Supergiant Games, and the combat style of Devil May Cry. The marquee difference being that there are no mobs of minions for the player to rampage through, only the other nine characters, and the game is evenly split between the dialogue and RPG-style choices and the boss-fight-gauntlet of the other characters.
The audience for a game like this would most likely by those that like a sci-fi setting, narrative driven games, fast paced combo-focused combat, and fans of the movies Highlander and the Bladerunner movies, as it is inspired by those worlds. I anticipate that it would be marketed towards young adults to adults.

Tutorial Scene

The camera is focused over the player character’s shoulder as they walk out into the rooftop. It is dark outside, with the only light shining from the city around them. There is a figure waiting for them, the glow of the neon city lights illuminating half of their face. They have a long carbon fiber rod that they are leaning against.

“You sure you’re ready?” They say. “It hasn’t been very long since the last one.”

“Pretty sure.” The player responds.

“Alright, go ahead and pick your weapon and we can try again.” They flick a switch on an electrical box and lights on the roof flicker on, revealing three open cases. One of them has a curved sword in it, a large crossguard and glowing blue elements along the blade. The second box has a set of gauntlet looking weapons, a band across the knuckles crackling with electricity. The third box has a pair of laser pistols resting in the leather lined box.

After allowing them to pick up the weapons and instructing them to test them out, the figure tells them not to hold back this time. They step out of the shadow and their staff erupts into a glaive, the energy blade springing to life. The player fights the figure, learning the controls for the game from the figure’s direction in the fight. If they win, the man before then congratulates them, while dying from his wounds. He tells them to bring the same intensity with them when they meet the others, and that he hopes to see them again. If the player loses, the screen fades to black and the voice of the other can be heard saying that it was a good try, but that he couldn’t let them carry the burden of victory. The player then wakes up in their room, looking out over the city from the apartment window, and wonders how far the other made it before they died.