I was playing “Arise: A Simple Story” this afternoon, and it came forth an epiphany for my game.
In the game “Arise”, you play platforming levels, solving puzzles as you go by manipulating time (for example, a tide raising and raising up a wooden plank you can jump on). While you go, you find memories. In each level, you can see how many memories there are from the menu.
Viewing a memory just shows you that memory full screen. There is no dialogue in the game.
This felt evocative and brought fourth a new way of structuring my game.
For reference, so far it has all been needlessly complicated. There’s the present moment where the spirits are trying to undo the moment where they all died, and then there’s the whole lore/memories leading up to it. It’s too much to do well, and I haven’t been sure how to do the memories, how to structure the game, etc. And how to put memories to the landmarks versus interaction in the “present” with the spirits utilising locative mechanics.
When player first finds a spirit, they cannot speak and are barely recognisable as people (like, eyes just about making it out of a blob). They guide player to the location of their first memory.
Essentially, you take a walk where you uncover that spirits’ story by revealing their memories on the way of that walk. All of the stories intertwine in the end. The more memories you uncover, the more spirit comes alive, starts to look like a person, starts to talk.
The memory puzzle would be completing a missing puzzle piece of a memory. Similar to riddles as how they were before, but you are writing the right word on the environment itself.
There’s so much more to tell, but I really don’t want to spoil the whole story. Guess I’ll come here with screenshots once I have them 🙂