Fantasy bites... Thread

I always preferred sci fi (don't get me wrong, I still love the fantasy genre very much, especially dark fantasy) and I guess this applies to both genres but I always figured 'magic' was overpowered. If you can have a bag of holding and defy natural laws then for what reason would you need to wield a staff or sword? Why would any story unfold in an environment where anyone could end world hunger with an a randomly enchanted staff of bread? The 'rules' don't apply, so I usually spend half of my literary creativity on explaining why the rules can't be bent; even in magic-less environments I explain why a culture like LoTR doesn't advance to the post-industrial age. I, personally, set limits for the genres I delve into to make them not only more intricate, but less la-dee-da and more... Realistic. Anyway...

I had a concept for a return to badassdom a la late 90's style (when cheesy catch-phrases could send shivers down your spine instead of turning you red in the face) but updated a bit for today's standards...

A Hack 'n Slash (INSERT GENRE) FPS RPG with a nostalgic element and some new ones: A game that doesn't care how you feel but progresses forcefully and quickly. It sets the mood and you can take your time but you're so deeply immersed in the immediacy of the environment that you don't actually have time to question it...

Aspect of Immediacy and Immersion

When I played HeXen for N64 I was absolutely creeped out by the art, audio, and environment but what I learned was that if given the lore and not straight forward directions (while you are in fact progressing) you're more apt to feel... Lost. Nothing really told you if you accomplished anything except for the fact that you made it to the end (at which point you could see how badly you failed or how well you succeeded). This is counter-intuitive to today's games who activate player's cranial "reward-system" like a bloody dinner bell (take Diablo 3's screen shaking, colorful effects along with exploding monsters and loot drops as an example) I'll get to that later on, though. I'm not saying it's a masochistic thing - but it's an entrenching and belief-suspending thing when you're in it and the 'reward' that you get sometimes happens more outside of the game (sense of accomplishment/skill building). So in summation, the art style, the audio, and the presentation of lore and NOT directions would create this aspect.

Aspect of Badassdom

You should understand the difference between Epic and Grand. An Epic battle is one where everyone's fate is hinged on it, like the fate of the planet (or against impossible odds, etc. etc.). A Great or Grand battle/adventure would really be just a drop in the bucket as opposed to an epic one. Badassdom is when damn near everything is epic and it flies in the face of accepted norms or standards. Fighting incomprehensibly large foes is a good way to invoke that sense of "holy $%!#". Kratos from the GoW games did this really well. He was also an anti-hero who was overcoming, technically, his worst foe of all: himself while being presented as a protagonist. All of these things add to the level of badassdom thus I'd suggest that the protagonist mash the hell out of much larger foes. The difficulty here may only lay in NOT using mini-games to accomplish such deeds. Whether it be stages or boss evolutions I don't know but the gimmicks and mini-button-mashers should stay off table and instead repetition and skill should be all that is needed. So in summation, the protagonist should be defeating very impressive mini-bosses and insanely impossible end-bosses, he/she should also have either a sense of humour (like a real one) or say very little at all or whatever: he/she should represent the last thing you'd think of when you think "Hero" while still fitting the environment.

What would add to this aspect and make some players happy (while activating that 'reward' nub in our brains) is an X-Ray view of an enemy's bones as they shatter - combining this with the stages necessary in oversized boss battles would be a nice combination.

In Closing

I might be hated for suggesting this: A lot of players come for the gore and stay for the story. We're possibly ending that era soon as games like "Hatred" push the boundaries but really, tell me that Flak-Cannon in Unreal didn't feel f$^&ing; good when you managed to unload it right in your enemy's chest. Finishers, fatalities and combos tickled a lot of players' fancies. Those feelings can be identified and the method of delivery can be changed to suit any genre. This would seem anti-thetical to the immediacy and immersion but along with the graphical bonus of the X-Ray dynamic, they may be the only things that remain in the game or rather, is rewarding only while you're playing the game. The rest is practice and accomplishment.

Example

In either a fantasy or sci fi setting: Throw the player into whatever scenario the story demands and present only a touch of lore/explanation and no clear directions. Give him/her a defined, solid character, and go to town destroying the enemy (like 90% of the game is just that). Give no real clues or evidence whether or not the player is even supposed to be killing the bad guys, their only hint at times will be that they're being attacked (make them feel lost), or whether they're even going in the right direction (make them question every action/decision). Hurdle some puzzles (break them out of just killing stuff), add open room to manoeuvre in at times to suit the sizable bosses (the proportions must also be epic, right?), really whatever the level design is just make it adhere to the story, and not for ease-of-play. The dynamics would probably be dependant on the genre but if fantasy the player would have to gauge, time, and execute their attacks (this is FPV, by the way) not to appease the failing structure of the game (by way of latent or unresponsive controls) but because the enemies are attacking as well (should actually all be quite fast paced and adrenaline producing/skill testing). If sci-fi then more duck and dodge/spray 'n pray with an ammo conservation and other, longer range dynamics and skill requisites (preferably less like modern games and more like old Quake).

Apologies for deviating at times, and if you read the whole thing I hoped you enjoyed at least some of it. Productive critique is welcome and although it's not a fleshed out design it is a very basic concept that doesn't lean toward gimmickry but would rather lean toward entertainment and a spirit not often seen in games, I believe. Thank you for reading.

inspirations: Doom, Hexen, Duke Nukem, Unreal, that feeling you get when Isaac Clarke head-stomps a downed necromorph, God of War, Dark Messiah of Might and Magic, Mount and Blade, The Witcher ++