#29. Gi Megami Tensei, Part 2: Small Step with Protagonist

Gi Megami Tensei is on. I'm not joking... yet.

I know, it's been such a long time since I posted anything on this alleged workshop of mine. I've been minding my own business... er, that is to say, my other own business, and as I focus more on my real life my own project went... well, just look at the posting dates and it says all by itself.

So... where was I? Oh yeah, I'm here to prove that I am making some progress, contrary to some (including, well, my) beliefs. I've been writing stuffs for Gi Megami Tensei, a fangame project based on Shin Megami Tensei franchise, and I decided to start with something small, yet something so important - the protagonist. So here we go:

- Our protagonist for Gi Megami Tensei will be an everyman in Kichijouji, Tokyo. Sometimes oldies are goodies, just like in I.

- Both Shin Megami Tensei and Digital Devil Story, the novel on which the game is based, depict their respective protagonist as their own designer of COMP. Now that we have smartphones and Google Glasses, we practically have our COMP ready-made in 2015. But I want this particular COMP I'm intending to give to the protagonist handmade, just for tradition and, well, cool. Perhaps it's a science project. Who knows?

- The gender of the protagonist will be multiple-choice: players are given both male and female, and is to choose one of them. This I have explained before, but I want it this way, you choose one of them and the other becomes your partner for the rest of the game. Perhaps the other one, the Neutral Hero, is your partner for a science project.

- Speaking of COMP, let's talk about its feature. I want to stick to the most basic features of COMP: summoning demons, talking to demons, analyzing demons. This is the three key features of COMP since I, so let's call it 'vanilla'. In SJ and IV, we are introduced the concept of Applications for COMP, powering up COMP as game progresses. This is nice and all, but maybe it was too much in IV, really. I mean, doubling demon stat boosts and fusing demons even powerful than the protagonist? C'mon.

- Oh, and here's an idea: make some slots for skills in COMP, and set skills for protagonists to use. I was inspired by oh-so-free skill setting system of DDSAT, loved it, and came up with this one. IV's Demon Whisper system also helped me, but again, maybe it was too much for protagonist whose whole concept is 'everyman'.
Here's some ideas for COMP skills: -kaja skills, -nda skills, Charge (Power Charge), Concentrate (Mind Charge), immune skills, Pierce (for Phys and Gun, respectively; both of them will be too broken), Skill Link, Demon CO-OP.

- Equipment will be categorized in five: Sword, Gun, Bullet, Armor, Accessories. This concept is based on Persona, especially 3 and 4, and perhaps 5, as long as the trailer shows me right. I was rather disappointed in DDSAT that guns are next to useless, and wanted to keep it one of the main arsenal of protagonist. Here's a philosophy: in Gun attack, damage is based on Gun itself, and the side effect (inflicting status ailment and stuffs) is based on Bullets.

So far, this is all I've got, but tell you, I'll be back with more ideas. End transmission.


So far:
 - Gi Megami Tensei is On.
 - Gi Megami Tensei, Part 1: So, Where Should I Begin?