Gwen - The Last Hope

Somewhere, in the middle of the ocean, is a small island. The inhabitants of this island are different from other people throughout the world. They are the Faethyr, born with wings, they are mostly a peace loving people who tend to keep their distance from humans. The reason; most humans see the Faethyr as an inferior people or freaks of nature. Many high ranking or rich families have procurred a Faethyr as a servant, clipping their wings so they are made unusable. While the terrible acts on these people have mostly subsided as the years have gone by, it's still a problem in this world. For the most part, the Faethyr are content by staying away from the humans on their small island.

But not every Faethyr is content living peacefully while their brethren are forced to serve. A woman named Seiryuu, known for her violent actions towards humans, has had enough. With the aid of her childhood friend, the petite Gwen Orillia, Seiryuu has set her sights on kidnapping the daughter of a wealthy, influential noble with the hopes f forcing the release of her people.

Gwen, unfortunately, is along for the ride, whether she likes it or not. She's completely against what the humans do, but she wishes there was a better way. The last thing she wants to do is cause more pain, even if it is to humans. In fact, she's made a new human friend, Serene Trillium. You know, her kidnappee.

Needless to say, befriending a human stands against everything Seiryuu has been working for, creating quite a dilemma for Gwen. In the end, Gwen helps Serene, truly believing that she can't change things by dealing with things the way Seiryuu wants. And as a plus side, she's always wanted to study these strange, backward creature called humans.

Gwen is the 8th character to join the party and is one of the few in the world who can master the Element of Light. She is quite a powerful Elementalist, but when need be she can resort to using her Morning Star to stave off the enemy.

Bro's Weapons

Because we talked about Zak's weapons last time, it's only fair that we allow a peek into Bro's repertoire. Below is the list of all the katanas (and other curved swords) that can be gained and equipped by our secondary main character. As you can see, he actually shares two of Zak's weapons, the Homemade Sword (which was hand-crafted by Bro) and the Brotherly Love.


Weapons can be gained in a number of ways, by the way. A lot of them can be bought in stores, especially the earlier ones. Some can be found in treasure chests as well, rewarding those who want to explore the dungeons a little bit more. Some can be only be stolen from bosses by Kial's Theive ability. And lastly, the most powerful of weapons can only be obtained through optional sidequests. So make sure you do all sorts of things, because you never know when you'll be rewarded with a very powerful weapon!

Also, some weapons can have special perks attached to them! Using Bro's weapons as an example, the Death Edge has a small chance of completely dispatching the enemy, while the Reverse Katana is actually classified as a long-range weapon, allowing Bro to attack from the back row. One more, if both Zak and Bro have the Brotherly Love equipped and are also in the battle together, they'll both be extra powerful!

Also, one last thing! Have you voted for Bro's possible name yet? The poll's only up for a couple more days. We don't want to keep calling him Bro, do we?

Weapon Icons - Zak's Weapons

All of the characters, except one, have multiple equippable weapons. We've already gone over some, like how Serene uses bows and arrows and Jayner uses knives. Each character has quite a few different ones to purchase, find and unlock through their journey to save the world and I thought I'd give a little preview of the selection that Zak will be able to obtain. One fun little thing I did for every weapon in the game is add a small icon next to the weapon's name to give it a little flair. You can definetly see the difference in power between an early game weapon, like the Victory Blade compared to a super powerful hidden weapon like Ragnarok. It also means you can quickly tell who the weapon is for by looking at the icon.

It's a small thing, sure, but I like how it adds personality and character to something as mundane as equipment. But that's just me. What do you think?

Serene - The Debutante

Living a posh, priviledged life of a rather influential Duke's daughter sounds pretty great, doesn't it? Yeah, I guess it would be, if you weren't being kidnapped and held for hostage by a group of equal rights radicals. If you are, you just might be Serene Trillium. Poor Serene, she doesn't even know why she's being held captive. Its not that that she isn't bright, she's just very uneducated in the ways and plights of the common folk.

And it's not like she doesn't care about those without political power, she just... doesn't know any better. She has lived a very sheltered life and outside of the the staff at the mansion, has very few friends. In fact, she barely ever leaves her father's mansion, only ever visiting other political bigwigs at social gatherings or for her equestrian and archery lessons. Even though she is a little uninformed and a bit mislead, Serene is a caring individual who sees the good in people, even going as far as befriending one of her kidnappers. After being rescued by the party, she begs them to allow her to come with them so she can see the wonders of the world through her own eyes. And, well, it's hard to say no when the girl comes with one of the world's only airships...

Serene is the seventh character to join the party. She attacks from great distances with her Bow & Arrows and she can quickly help the team out in sticky situations with her tremendously powerful use of the Ice Element.

Jayner - The Therapist

Alright, back to new characters! When we talked about Derby, we discussed how he helps the party with the evacuation of civilians. One of their destinations is the asylum, where the party meets with the highly intelligent therapist, Jayner Alexanders. Jayner was able to protect himself from attackers by grabbing a pair of butcher's knives in the nearby kitchen. As stated by Jayner, he has worked at this asylum for years, helping those whose sanity have been lost. So... you know, he helps the wackos. but don't call them that, Jayner finds it needlessly offensive.

Jayner is extremely well read and very intelligent and he always seems to be just a step ahead of people in a conversation. Which makes sense, because Jayner has a strange ability to read minds. Yes, you read that right, Jayner has the ability to read peoples' minds, though he tries hard not to do so without permission. Needless to say, working with the insane and being able to read thoughts, Jayner is a bit of an eccentric but he always means well.

Oh, I guess I should tell you why he can read minds. From an early age, Jayner has learned to harness the power of the Energy Element. Energy is a very different kind of Elemental Power; with enough training, a person bonded with Energy can learn to move objects, read minds and even create matter from nothing. Can Jayner (or any man, for that matter) handle that kind of Elemental Power, or would it simply... drive them mad?

Formation and Element Cycles

Hey, why dont we take a break from introducing new characters and take a look at something else for a second? I want to show you guys a mock screenshot of what the battle sequences may look like. Now, please understand, this IS NOT a final screenshot of anything in the game, this is simply how I kind of want the battle screen to sort of look like. Also, everything in the status window is just for show, the end result will look nothing like that (but that's for another day, I think). So, here goes!

Well, here we are! Basically, I want the game to be nice to look at with plenty of color. I'm sick of most games nowadays sticking with various shades of brown and I want to avoid that at all costs! I also want the battles to move at a nice, brisk pace. There will also be voice acting present within battles! While there are plenty of things to talk about regarding how battles will work, there are two things in particular I'd like to discuss today.

First up; Party Formation!

At most, the party can consist of 4 active members. The first two members of the party are delegated to the front row; they can attack physically at full power but are also unprotected by enemy physical attacks. The third and fourth members, however, are forced to engage in battle from the back row; where they take less damage from physical attacks, but also deal less damage physically themselves. This can be circumvented by some characters, however. Kial, Rayne and Serene utilize long-range weapons, so they can dole out their physical attacks with full force no matter where they stand in the party. Stronger characters like Derby and Pierce will want to stick to the front row, dealing out powerful attacks while protecting the back row from heavy damage. Please note, however, that Elementally driven attacks are not affected by rows.


Secondly, take a look at the top right corner of the battle screen and you'll notice two colored orbs!

This is the always present 'Elemental Cycle'. At all times during battle, the Elemental Forces governing the world are churning, ever changing. The colors dictate which Element is currently stronger and weaker at any given time. For example, in the picture above, the red orb signifies that the Fire Element is strong right now. That means Derby, who is the only party member who uses Fire, will find that his Elemental strength is now doubled, so he should take advantage of the situation. The lower orb is blue, signifying Water (Fire's Elemental opposite) is weaker, so any party member who use Water will find their Elemental strength cut in half. This also applies to all enemies as well, so be careful not to be caught unaware!

Because the Elemental Forces are always moving, the Cycle may change after enough time has passed, the only constant being that when one Element is empowered, its opposite is weakened. Lucky for you, the characters of Elementality may be able to learn skills that allow them to change the Elemental Cycle for their own gain, but be careful! You wouldn't want to accidently weaken one of your own characters just to make one more powerful, would you?

Derby - The Knight

Just and steadfast, Derby Mallis is an up and coming knight under the teachings of the legendary Murgatroyd;  Royal Knight and vassal to Prince Edwards. Having joined the military at a young age, Derby hopes to one day live up to his deceased father's ideals by becoming a famed knight known for his courage, faith and virtuosity. He is loyal, righteous... And a bit of a stick in the mud.

During a large attack on his kingdom, Derby is charged with helping the group in finding and evacuating those who can't fight for themselves. What he doesn't realize is that this mission will soon change his life forever when he finds out his father's legacy may not be exactly what he once thought it was.

Derby is the fifth character to join the party. His heavy armor protects him from many attacks and he's no slouch offensively when he's armed with his large Zanbatou (Horse Slayer) Sword. When need be, Derby can rely on his awesome use of the Fire Element.