FINALLY Talking about My Game Idea

     This idea for a game has been circulating in my head for the past few months. I've played tons of story games like Undertale, Yume Nikki, and Wadanohara, and I've seen playthroughs of many more. It got my head thinking on how I could make a story that depends on the player's personality and morality but still has a linear plotline and lesson. I've come up with something that I'm proud of. Here it is.

    The main character (no name yet, male, idk if customization will be a thing) lives in a village secluded from modern society. While there is some modern technology, they are seen as mostly unnecessary to the residents of the village. The village practices a unique religion based on sacrifices and offerings. Life is similar to what you'd expect of village life. Schools are somewhat modern but are heavily biased towards what the leaders allow. Access to the outside of the village is extremely prohibited and the village is mostly walled off, without any view of wildlife. 

    The adult residents know of the manipulation, but don't speak of it in fear of being killed. 

    Every 10 years, a young adult must travel to a "shrine" not too far from the village, and sacrifice themselves to "The Deity" in order to maintain peace. This has been practiced for at least 100 years. The "shrine" is located somewhere in a modern city located nearby, which is the main setting of the game. Some time after the announcement is made, the main character is chosen for sacrifice. He's one of the people who knows of the manipulation, so it's obvious why he was chosen. He doesn't actually care about dying, thinking that he'll be free from the village after death. So, he is sent out of the village and told to never come back. This is where the game begins.

    The idea is that the main character regains his will to live by exploring the city and finding happiness. By the time he reaches the shrine, he refuses to enter and works to learn the truth behind the villager leaders and why the religion was put into place. At least, that's how it should be. If the player enters the shrine, The Bad Ending plays out. The first half of the game, making it to the shrine, establishes that the city is full of life and fun, but also crime. From the green outskirts to the deep dank underground, thugs will try to stop you. Why? They don't like people from the village.

    Gameplay is a mix of hack-n-slash, beat-em-up, and platforming. Ideally, it would be 3D Action game but I'm fine with a top-down 2D game. I don't know what I want for the specifics of combat, but I want to have a focus on bullet hell, which would work better in 2D. I could always cheap out and use RPGMaker though, RPG combat would be interesting. 

    That's all I feel like putting down for now. Been hacking at this post for a few days. 

    - Bede