When I set out, I knew I wanted the reader to discover the world as they went. I wanted them to feel like they are with the protagonist, making sense of his surroundings at the same time he does.
To that, I turned to the original legend of Zelda game. There, when you started the game, you were an explorer and... Really not even that much was explained. You had to go around and figure things out for yourself. It was engaging and fun. So I set out to start writing like you're discovering something new with every word.
Next, I knew I wanted my world to be dark and challenging. I wanted my protagonist to remain human and relatable. But I wanted him to deal with threats that were beyond human, and beyond mortal. And I wanted a horror element to everything.
For inspiration in that aspect, I turned to Bram Stoker's Dracula. Because what is more horrific than an ordinary man dealing with extraordinary monsters? Or even, the king of all monsters? The point wasn't that the protagonist defeats evil. The point was that the protagonist survived evil.
And finally, I knew that I wanted a mysterious element to my story. It is, after all, a story based heavily in discovery. So mystery would naturally flow from that. But mystery and action are difficult to pull off. It can be done, and there are examples, but it would be hard fought battle to make it entertaining.
For this I turned to Metroid Fusion. In it, Samus feels the dread and tension as she discovers more and more secrets about the X infested station that she finds herself on. Whenever there's a new threat, she first hears about the new threat, then she sees evidence of the threat, and finally, she confronts the threat. And I knew that was the perfect basis for writing my antagonists and what they can do.
What three things inspired the core mechanics of storytelling for you, I suppose is what I'm getting at.
To that, I turned to the original legend of Zelda game. There, when you started the game, you were an explorer and... Really not even that much was explained. You had to go around and figure things out for yourself. It was engaging and fun. So I set out to start writing like you're discovering something new with every word.
Next, I knew I wanted my world to be dark and challenging. I wanted my protagonist to remain human and relatable. But I wanted him to deal with threats that were beyond human, and beyond mortal. And I wanted a horror element to everything.
For inspiration in that aspect, I turned to Bram Stoker's Dracula. Because what is more horrific than an ordinary man dealing with extraordinary monsters? Or even, the king of all monsters? The point wasn't that the protagonist defeats evil. The point was that the protagonist survived evil.
And finally, I knew that I wanted a mysterious element to my story. It is, after all, a story based heavily in discovery. So mystery would naturally flow from that. But mystery and action are difficult to pull off. It can be done, and there are examples, but it would be hard fought battle to make it entertaining.
For this I turned to Metroid Fusion. In it, Samus feels the dread and tension as she discovers more and more secrets about the X infested station that she finds herself on. Whenever there's a new threat, she first hears about the new threat, then she sees evidence of the threat, and finally, she confronts the threat. And I knew that was the perfect basis for writing my antagonists and what they can do.
What three things inspired the core mechanics of storytelling for you, I suppose is what I'm getting at.
