Oni2:Slaves of War/Story
Not a plot, but notes on storytelling and ideas for a story.
Possible themes/events
- Capture of Konoko using nanotech or phase tech
- Mai __ her Imago stage
- Reaches
- Ascends past/around
- Resists reaching (is it irreversible?)
- Mai leaves Earth __…
- To train her Daodan
- To convince Daomen to help us
- To survive
- …by traveling through __
- The phase veil
- Outer space
- Time
- Mai rejects the promise of great power and becomes a normal person
- Dissolution of the WCG
- Exploration of the Wilderness
- Attack of the Screaming Cells
- Discovery of other Imagoes (perhaps in Wilderness)
- Betrayal of Mai or her group, possibly leading to lucky turnout by accident
- Rejecting given identity (Oni), discovering one’s true self (Oni 2), and then finding where one belongs (Oni 3)
- Mai feels the world is on her shoulders and is over-extending herself
- Mai is being flattered or worshipped by a group she must turn against
- Alliance with Mukade
- Self-sacrifice of Mukade
- Muro’s escape and downfall
- Introduction of Daomen
- Deception by Daomen
- Mai is sent around the world to fight Daodan hosts
- Nanotech vs. Daodan
- Introduction (nano seemingly winning)
- Climax (even match, world at war)
- Conclusion (Daodan leaves Earth)
- Conclusion (Daodan beats nano)
- Enemy saves Mai because she is needed for his plans, but he dies in the process, spiteful that he saved her but not himself
- Mai’s final team combines their abilities to aid her, perhaps building a chain like Cloud’s friends at the end of FFVII: Advent Children
Plot development
Make sure to provide twists and turns in the story. Perhaps use one of the alternate paths in the polylectiloquy or Oni 2 Storyline thread as a red herring before revealing the truth. At some point I can order the alternatives from least to most interesting and consider how that would work in the story. For example, the Daodan could be something to resist at first, seeming as dangerous as Mukade makes it out to be in Oni. Then it might turn out that, depending on how/why a host gives in to it, the outcome varies. The Daomen could seem benevolent and in need of help at first, then turn sinister and cunning, or desperate and selfish.
The story should not feel “safe” or “inevitable”. There should be cliffhangers and near-death and near-failure moments, the sort that down the road will allow fans to play “what if” games — “What if Mai didn’t spare this person?”, “What if so-and-so died there?”, etc.
Leave dangling threads. This can be a way of leaving room for multiple future story paths, or simply adding a bit of mystery for thoughtful players to chew on. One opportunity is the strange case of Bertram Navarre (see Unit 731 for inspiration). One can also create a sense of foreboding by dropping a phrase that has an ill portent but not explaining it for a while, as the characters ponder what it means.
A certain pretense of agency can be enjoyable, even in a linear story. E.g., “Assemble a team from around the world to accomplish your mission”. Even if the player doesn’t get to choose where to go first, the phrasing suggests that the player is the one in the driver’s seat.
It might be rewarding to start off with Konoko taking orders as in Oni, then breaking out after a certain point and making important decisions on her own.
Players who care about plot and character backstory love it when writers plan ahead. They eat it up when those little enigmatic nuggets that you drop in a corner of game 1 suddenly become meaningful in game 2 or 3. Far from a simple parlor trick for the gamer’s amusement, this practice wins you respect from the gamer, as evidence that you are adept at your storytelling craft. Regular TV viewers are starved for stories that are planned ahead, as TV (at least in America) is absolutely awful at pre-planning stories and then following through on those plans across multiple seasons.
It’s a smart idea to do two things: (1) plan ahead for sequels, and (2) make sure that each story is “detachable” or “collapsible”.
Oni provides a fairly good template for a detachable story: the game ends with the defeat of the villain and the foiling of his plan, but there is another big problem on the horizon that needs to be dealt with, and mysteries still remain about the Daodan. A minor conclusion has been provided, but the major conclusion (what to do about the pollution, what about the oppressive one-world government, where will Mai go and what will she become...) is still out there. Arguably the solution to the pollution is simply to give everyone a Chrysalis, but Mutant Muro showed us that this is a problematic concept, thus allowing for a sequel that addresses those problems. Similarly, Oni 2 or later games can end on a note which is arguably a conclusion or arguably a cliffhanger. For instance, if Oni 2 has the Chrysalis being distributed worldwide, then perhaps by the end of the game, the resulting chaos causes the WCG to break up. If the game ends on that note, then there is a similar sense of conclusion as found in Oni, namely that there is potential for a brighter future, but there is also looming chaos. This allows for us to hang back and watch to see how successful Oni 2 is before deciding on making a sequel.