This game will place the player into the role of a French-born Catholic knight living in Early Modern England in the late-16th century. The English conversion to Protestantism under the reign of King Henry VIII brought religious persecution for many Catholics in the region, and the story will follow the main character's travel back to France to reunite with old family in Marseille in search of refuge. The game will attempt to integrate Early Modern conceptions of religion, spirituality, politics while providing an Assassin's Creed-style Historical page that details famous landmarks the player finds on their journey.
Game Introduction
- Genre (Horror/Adventure)
- Given the supernatural element that will later become apparent throughout gameplay, I think a Horror genre would be an interesting and new take on this particular style of game. Conceptions of death, while varying from individual to individual, still viewed the final transition as a worrisome and scary time. Ideas of the hereafter, whether Hell or Purgatory, were rather unpleasant.
- Gameplay (Survival Horror-Ish)
- The game would provide a mixture of stealth and action elements with a strong reliance on puzzles and atmosphere. Wide, open areas filled with heavy gothic elements (Such as Early Modern Paris, for instance!) would bring an air of dread. Natural landscapes, especially during the eclipse portion, would be dreary, shadowed, and uncertain.
- Target Audience & Platforms (18 - 22)
- The primary target for the game would be young adults. The content itself could be jarring or scary given the nature of a horror game and should be limited to older audiences. The historical elements of the game would also gear it towards those with a fascination in the period and a love of the supernatural.
- Look and Feel (Dark, Eerie)
- The game will largely take place in the night, as the player is attempting to flee England without being caught. They will travel through English countryside (Forests, Marshes, etc.), the shattered ruins of sacred spaces following the Protestant Iconoclasm, and cityscapes (Marseille, Rome, etc.). The darkness of the evening and the eerie red-hue of the eclipse would aid in bringing a sense of uneasiness. I want to encapsulate the feeling of oil paintings of landscape and the emptiness that seems to worm its way into such pieces of art.
Story
As mentioned, the player will follow the main character as they flee from Protestant England to return to their family residing in Marseille. It will have the player attempt to survive and sneak their way across the English countryside under the cover of darkness, continually evading the torchlight of wary individuals. The game takes a darker twist as the pilgrimage home progresses and the player returns to Marseille. Under a burgeoning eclipse, the main character returns to find their city empty, and as the celestial event progresses, a more insidious nature takes shape. The threat is no longer solely human imposition, but monstrous figures and demonic representations. Realizing something spiritually malevolent is afoot, the player will continue their pilgrimage to Rome under an ever-present eclipse, where they will come to the realization that their character has been dead all along and this journey has taken place in Catholic conceptions of purgatory.
How to Play
I want the game to function similarly to other Survival Horror games (Resident Evil, Outlast, etc.)
- Gameplay will encourage the management of limited resources designed to sustain you on your journey. Pieces of historical relics, holy water, etc, amongst traditional survival-horror items, can all be used for different functions to protect you against unholy creatures the player would encounter.
- Health and Stamina systems will be integral. I wish to incorporate an Early Modern understanding here, where your health is managed through conceptions of the four humours (blood, phlegm, yellow bile, black bile) where sites of restoration (holy spaces, abandoned altars, etc.) will balance these humours in your journey. Each humour would cause a varying detriment as well.
- The game will primarily function without a detailed map, encouraging a pseudo-open world experience that have markers appear as points of interest are discovered. The idea is to promote a sense of isolation and discord, while ensuring people are still able to orient themselves during gameplay.
- Equipment and talismans will be available to provide unique upgrades to the player at the offset of minor detriments. New weapons, however, will not be granted to the player. Minor damage increases would be available, but the primary focus of the game should not be to hack and slash your way to victory, but rather juggle the consequences of the main character's sinful life and how they are grappling with death, albeit behind the guise of a pilgrimage home.
- Firearms would exist within the game's universe as well, of course. Their historical context would allow them to be present. But, to offset their reliance, the game would provide relatively little ammunition and, given the nature of firearm technology, they would be quite inaccurate. This would instead encourage a shift towards melee combat, through swords, axes, etc. to give a more personal, threatening feel to the dangers lurking in the dark.
