RPG Maker Forums

Hey all,

I've been working all day to set up a few methods to introduce a completely new battle mechanic into my game, Samsarian Tale.

Basically, it's a reinvention of the Break system from Xenoblade Chronicles. Above each enemy is a Break Gauge, which can be seen in this preliminary design here. As you can see, the gauge has three sections, aptly named Break I, Break II, and Break III. The concept is that there are different requirements to reach each stage; the higher the stage, the more lowered their defenses become.

Here's what I'm thinking: Break I and Break II are straightforward - you can reach Stage 1 by exploiting an elemental (Fire, Ice, Water, Wind, Light, Dark) or status (stun, bleed, poison, overcast, fear, sleep) weakness. Stage 2 must be achieved by exploiting a different weakness than the first. So you can combo a Fire-element attack that exploits the first weakness, then a Fear-inducing attack that causes Break II. No idea how I'm gonna script that, but where there's a will there's a way I guess.

For Break III, there are special requirements. Landing a Critical Hit will instantly reach Stage 3 if the target is on Stage 2. I'm also implementing some "cooperation" special skills that have the ability to inflict Break III. In other words, I don't want it to be easy to reach. Battles should be somewhat drawn out in anticipation of reaching higher levels; I think this is a better alternative to "Press A" normal attack-type battle systems.

Lastly, I'm considering adding in one last stage: Topple. You really can't have a Xenoblade ripoff system without topple . Topple can only be caused by a skill which does so (only a few characters have Topple-inducing skills) or another team attack. Not sure on this, but I think one more layer would make boss battles special.

So obviously this is a huge implementation, and pretty sizable for a mere RPG Maker fan game. Any thoughts? What can I improve? Would this system make the game more enjoyable, or encourage more to download it? Not looking for praise per se, I'd love to hear some honest feedback and good ideas for improvements.