Fun With Flavor Text - Legend of Adrigal Dorter Edition

This past June, I introduced the concept of providing flavor text to get players to investigate the world and the items and objects inside it. If you don't recall what I'm talking about or never read the article in question, here it is. 

Today I'd like to delve into some more flavor text fun in Legends of Adrigal. Last time I showed some examples from the beginning of the game at Casey's home and in Mabel, the first village of the game. This time we're taking a look together at flavor text examples in Dorter, a trading town in West Adrigal on the coast.

For a review from last time, as a part of some world building and to encourage interacting with the environment, Casey, our hero, can walk about to certain objects and investigate them. This will usually provide the player with Casey's thoughts on a given object. This is just one form of flavor text that can be found in Legends of Adrigal. Other forms will be featured on the site at a later date. 

Ah, the pun. Not even Casey can escape its catastrophic effects.

There you go again, Casey. Another pun, another feeling of personal shame.

Hmm! How interesting... Or maybe it's nothing.

Well, I'm sort of the one having to think about things for you to say, Casey!

Primo. Strategy Guide. Totally Unauthorized. What is this, gaming in the '90s?

Our hero takes a quick look of himself in the mirror.

Volume 12 of a 24-part collection of books.

Slipping into verse happens to me all the time. Especially when I have to rhyme!
...Dammit! I did it again!

At least Casey's honest about it.

Realistically, if the player investigated this food 30 times, Casey would have eaten it completely by taking multiple bites out each time just to say this line. 

 And as a refresher from yours truly for providing this type of flavor text:

"To recap, DO be consistent with your flavor text and what objects can be examined by the player.. DO introduce the concept early to get players investigating objects as early as possible. DON'T lack personality in your flavor text. DON'T have some rooms being full of objects to read info on while having others being completely empty."

Stay glued in to StortzumSOFT for even more news, articles, and behind-the-scenes goodness on Legends of Adrigal and more!

The Enemies of Legends of Adrigal - Part One

It's been a long time since an update has been seen on StortzumSoft's blog, but now the return of regular posts is here, thanks in part to working on Legends of Adrigal for my senior overview at Webster University. It just so happens to be my final semester after over a decade of struggling.

But that's not the point of this new post. Legends of Adrigal is an RPG, and any good RPG worth its weight in Gil, Zenny, Fol, or whatever currency you would like to choose from an RPG series has a compelling lineup of enemies to slay and earn money and items from!

That's my hope at least with Legends of Adrigal initial lineup of enemies. Today, I would like to share eight enemies from the game, discussing their designs (influences and inspirations), where they are in the game, and a lot more. Enough chatter from yours truly, let's move on from the introduction and get to the enemies themselves!

Note: Don't mind any imperfections in the enemy art: The enemies are much smaller in-game, making things like imperfect lines impossible to see unless you zoom in to crazy amounts!


GOOEY

Introducing Gooey! This little ball of slime with two eyes at its top hides its lone internal organ, its heart, deep inside its body. You don't even have to get close to it to see its heart beat! Gooey enemies are the weakest in Legends of Adrigal. Inspired by slime enemies from games like Dragon Quest (context-wise) and Breath of Fire (design-wise), a Gooey isn't too dangerous by its lonesome, but when they attack in groups, you should be careful!

HORNEET

An enemy that travels and hovers around the Mabel Road area of the kingdom of Adrigal, Horneets, like Gooeys, aren't too much of a threat alone, but when paired with other enemies, things can become rather tricky rather fast. Unlike Gooeys, however, Horneets pack quite a punch... er... sting with their dangerous stinger, inflicting pain on anyone who suffers its sting!

PURPLY POLY

Designed after both a pill bug and a roly poly, the Purply Poly's shell slightly protects it more than other enemies along Mabel Road. However, Purply Polys also can be found inside the Mines of Dorter. Their attack strength isn't that powerful, but as stated, its shell provides some slight defense against attacks to make up for it. They're more cute than dangerous, however.

CARNIVOROUS PLANT

This enemy would fit right in with the Little Shop of Horrors, but maybe its singing voice could be a little bit better... Nonetheless, the Carnivorous Plant makes its home mainly along the West Adrigal Road. It is made up of a core plant and two arms. You can't see it, but these are all connected together, albeit underground. It can use a move called Photosynthesis when its HP is below 20% to get a second wind in battle.

GRASSLAND FROG

Outside of its bushy eyebrows, there are few characteristics that distinguish the Grassland Frog from a frog you'd see in real life. I mean, its name has "frog" in it, for Pete's sake! Regardless, Grassland Frogs usually don't travel alone, rather they travel in at pairs, or with other enemies. You'll never see a Grassland Frog fighting by itself. They may be frogs, but in Adrigal they aren't stupid! The Grassland Frog is based off art for the toad status effect from the Super Nintendo Final Fantasy games.

SHISH-KA-PIG

What a macabre look this creature has! Why, it has an apple in its mouth like it's fit for a luau rather than a battle. Despite its appearance, the Shish-Ka-Pig is no nice customer when it's interrupted and attacked. Usually docile creatures, the Shish-Ka-Pig will grow violent if disturbed. Though if you defeat this creature, you'll really bring home the bacon money-wise! That'll do, pig. That'll do! ...I'm very sorry for those play-on words. Shish-Ka-Pig is based off an enemy from the PlayStation 2 RPG Radiata Stories.

DEADHEAD

No, not a groupie of a certain rock 'n roll band, the Deadhead is modeled after the ReDead enemy from The Legend of Zelda series (debuting in Ocarina of Time). Despite its name, Deadhead isn't actually a zombie. Why, that would be crazy! Instead, it's a swarm of dirt and mud that has taken a human-like form. It prowls the Mines of Dorter lately, which is quite the problem when a bunch of miners are trapped inside!

ARMORDILLO                                                                
Armordillo is the very first boss of Legends of Adrigal. The fight doesn't happen right away in the adventure, so have some patience. Casey will discover this rough and rowdy bipedal armadillo creature in the Mines of Dorter. What is it even doing in there in the first place? Did it cause the cave-in at the mines? What I can reveal, though, is that this boss is ready to rumble and ready for a fight!

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I hope you guys and gals enjoyed this first look at some of the enemies and bosses featured in Legends of Adrigal! Development is continuing at a steady pace, and I can't wait to share even more about my game. I just want to strike a balance here and not reveal TOO terribly much that the entire game is spoiled! I don't think that will be a problem, however. Stay tuned for further updates right here on StortzumSoft!