Post by skylark on Nov 16, 2014 14:58:22 GMT -5
Although, this one has been swimming around for years since I first started playing Dynasty Warriors. Considering all the Warriors spin-offs that have come out lately, including Gundam, One Piece, Zelda, and now Dragon Quest waiting in the wings, I figured it was about time I actually put this idea on paper.
Timeline: From Children of Dawn all the way to the end of Odyssey.
Story Mode: Due to the amount of characters in the Saga, I'm adopting Dynasty Warriors 8's template with my own twists. Four different story arcs with stages placed in a timeline, with various side stages here and there outside of it. From 1 to 5 (possibly higher for certain important battles) characters can be chosen to play the stage, and the battle and objectives are uniquely tailored to the character you choose. However, sometimes there are roadblocks preventing progression, and they can only be broken by returning to a previous story where a new stage is unlocked that sets the stage for surpassing it.
Story Arcs: Birth Arc (Covers Dawn and Eternity), Sin and Redemption Arc (Covers Creation, Fate, and Penance), Absolution Arc (Covers Twilight, Destiny, and Hope), and Future Arc (Covers Truth and Lies and Odyssey). The arcs are played in order starting with Birth, and the others are unlocked when you complete the respective stories.
Campaign Mode: Given all the characters we have for the Saga, it goes without saying that some of them will sadly be phased out in favor of the more prominent characters in Story Mode. Hell, some of them will only be unique NPCs (Rune) or won't appear at all (Bachlan). However, Campaign Mode is meant to address this. Each and every playable character will have a 5-6 stage 'mini-story' that is uniquely tailored to them. (For instance, Solana's Campaign story is more or less Storms of Rebirth.)
The scenario around this is that a God of the Old World is board of watching the never ending struggles of the New Universe, so he invades and twists EVERYTHING around. Black is white, up is down, dogs and cats living together, and all topped off by time and space being so warped that characters who had died are walking around as if nothing ever happened. The character you choose has to stop him (for bettor or worse) with unique alliances and unexpected partnerships, much in the vein of the first Dynasty Warriors Gundam.
Battle System: Borrowing from Dynasty Warriors 7 and 8, using button attack strings and charge attacks, with a special attack once the 'Mana Gauge' is full. Also from those games, the Weapon Switch system, where characters can use just about any weapon, and has a special unique attack when equipped with their favored weapon.
Every Weapon Type belongs to one of seven affinities: Time, Strength, Chaos, Life, Death, Soul, and Heaven. So are most characters and officers. Sort of like rock-paper-scissors, striking an enemy officer with an affinity they are weak to will not only do more damage, but decrease their Resistance Gauge. Once their Resistance is spent, your character will perform a powerful Rush Attack. Attack them with affinities they are strong to on the other hand, and they can interrupt your combos and will not flinch from your attacks.
Every playable character has an Essence Gauge, that fills up when you are attacked. Once it is full, a single press of a button will give them a temporary Super Mode (Legendary Warriors armor up, Dante goes Overdrive, etc.). In this state, weapon affinities don't matter when attacking officers, and the character cannot be flinched. Super Mode will end after the Essence Gauge drains, uses a 'Musou' attack (which will be upgraded and do more damage), or engaging in a Clash with a unique officer.
Unique enemy officers and story bosses like Kale and Rasha can go into Super Mode too. If both characters attack at the same time while in Super Mode, they will Clash, and you must mash the buttons in order to come out on top. Regardless of victor, Super Mode will end for both characters, but the victor will have a temporary boost in attack, defense, and speed while the loser will be stunned for a few seconds.
Character Upgrading: Aside from leveling up, there are other ways to make you characters stronger. Every character has their own 'EX', or favored, weapon. However, each character is capable of using many different battle styles and elemental types (although Lark is the only one in the game who can use all of them) with varying amounts of proficiency. When first playing a character, you'll notice that everyone wields their weapons (even their EX) the same. That is because all characters start at 0 Proficiency for all their weapon types. However, by gaining proficiency with different weapons and elemental types, (either by killing enemies, leveling up, performing large combos, reaching kill count milestones, and defeating enemy officers), you can power up a character's skill with their favored weapons, with stronger moves and unique animations, and not only for their EX. (Aryn will wield a two-handed sword differently from Infiniti with enough Proficiency, for example.)
Maxing proficiency for a character's weapon tree will also grant unique equippable skills that are either tailored to character (Roas' Wind Step), or shared across all characters (health and attack upgrades, increased attack range and sprinting speed, etc.).
Weapons can be found in containers throughout the battlefield or occasionally dropped by enemy officers. There are 4 tiers of weapons for all characters, and a hidden 5th tier for each character's EX weapon. To get these, first you must have max Proficiency for all weapon types of the character you want the weapon for. Then, you have to use them for in a certain stage in Campaign or Story Mode at Hard or Nightmare difficulty, and perform a specific objective in that stage. (Defeating Univos and Gaea as Ninya in the stage Elara's Ambush will unlock Galadine's 5th tier, for example.)
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I'll put down story mode stages and playable characters in separate posts, but that's my idea in a very convoluted nutshell.
Timeline: From Children of Dawn all the way to the end of Odyssey.
Story Mode: Due to the amount of characters in the Saga, I'm adopting Dynasty Warriors 8's template with my own twists. Four different story arcs with stages placed in a timeline, with various side stages here and there outside of it. From 1 to 5 (possibly higher for certain important battles) characters can be chosen to play the stage, and the battle and objectives are uniquely tailored to the character you choose. However, sometimes there are roadblocks preventing progression, and they can only be broken by returning to a previous story where a new stage is unlocked that sets the stage for surpassing it.
Story Arcs: Birth Arc (Covers Dawn and Eternity), Sin and Redemption Arc (Covers Creation, Fate, and Penance), Absolution Arc (Covers Twilight, Destiny, and Hope), and Future Arc (Covers Truth and Lies and Odyssey). The arcs are played in order starting with Birth, and the others are unlocked when you complete the respective stories.
Campaign Mode: Given all the characters we have for the Saga, it goes without saying that some of them will sadly be phased out in favor of the more prominent characters in Story Mode. Hell, some of them will only be unique NPCs (Rune) or won't appear at all (Bachlan). However, Campaign Mode is meant to address this. Each and every playable character will have a 5-6 stage 'mini-story' that is uniquely tailored to them. (For instance, Solana's Campaign story is more or less Storms of Rebirth.)
The scenario around this is that a God of the Old World is board of watching the never ending struggles of the New Universe, so he invades and twists EVERYTHING around. Black is white, up is down, dogs and cats living together, and all topped off by time and space being so warped that characters who had died are walking around as if nothing ever happened. The character you choose has to stop him (for bettor or worse) with unique alliances and unexpected partnerships, much in the vein of the first Dynasty Warriors Gundam.
Battle System: Borrowing from Dynasty Warriors 7 and 8, using button attack strings and charge attacks, with a special attack once the 'Mana Gauge' is full. Also from those games, the Weapon Switch system, where characters can use just about any weapon, and has a special unique attack when equipped with their favored weapon.
Every Weapon Type belongs to one of seven affinities: Time, Strength, Chaos, Life, Death, Soul, and Heaven. So are most characters and officers. Sort of like rock-paper-scissors, striking an enemy officer with an affinity they are weak to will not only do more damage, but decrease their Resistance Gauge. Once their Resistance is spent, your character will perform a powerful Rush Attack. Attack them with affinities they are strong to on the other hand, and they can interrupt your combos and will not flinch from your attacks.
Every playable character has an Essence Gauge, that fills up when you are attacked. Once it is full, a single press of a button will give them a temporary Super Mode (Legendary Warriors armor up, Dante goes Overdrive, etc.). In this state, weapon affinities don't matter when attacking officers, and the character cannot be flinched. Super Mode will end after the Essence Gauge drains, uses a 'Musou' attack (which will be upgraded and do more damage), or engaging in a Clash with a unique officer.
Unique enemy officers and story bosses like Kale and Rasha can go into Super Mode too. If both characters attack at the same time while in Super Mode, they will Clash, and you must mash the buttons in order to come out on top. Regardless of victor, Super Mode will end for both characters, but the victor will have a temporary boost in attack, defense, and speed while the loser will be stunned for a few seconds.
Character Upgrading: Aside from leveling up, there are other ways to make you characters stronger. Every character has their own 'EX', or favored, weapon. However, each character is capable of using many different battle styles and elemental types (although Lark is the only one in the game who can use all of them) with varying amounts of proficiency. When first playing a character, you'll notice that everyone wields their weapons (even their EX) the same. That is because all characters start at 0 Proficiency for all their weapon types. However, by gaining proficiency with different weapons and elemental types, (either by killing enemies, leveling up, performing large combos, reaching kill count milestones, and defeating enemy officers), you can power up a character's skill with their favored weapons, with stronger moves and unique animations, and not only for their EX. (Aryn will wield a two-handed sword differently from Infiniti with enough Proficiency, for example.)
Maxing proficiency for a character's weapon tree will also grant unique equippable skills that are either tailored to character (Roas' Wind Step), or shared across all characters (health and attack upgrades, increased attack range and sprinting speed, etc.).
Weapons can be found in containers throughout the battlefield or occasionally dropped by enemy officers. There are 4 tiers of weapons for all characters, and a hidden 5th tier for each character's EX weapon. To get these, first you must have max Proficiency for all weapon types of the character you want the weapon for. Then, you have to use them for in a certain stage in Campaign or Story Mode at Hard or Nightmare difficulty, and perform a specific objective in that stage. (Defeating Univos and Gaea as Ninya in the stage Elara's Ambush will unlock Galadine's 5th tier, for example.)
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I'll put down story mode stages and playable characters in separate posts, but that's my idea in a very convoluted nutshell.