Game concept and characters

Style of the game:

The style of this game is heavily influenced by Eastern styles. Mainly manga and anime, so exaggerated. The characters are very much anime based given the large eyes that are unusual shapes are well as their natural hair colours being well, un-natural (Light blues etc.) And the completely unrealistic proportions (Even I'm gonna admit that I drew the boobs too big, okay? I swear I'm not a pervert.) But yes, it's not so much Western influenced concerning character design. I just honestly prefer manga because it's a style that appeals to me. As well as the East is having a far heavier influence now a days where design is concerned. The characters are 3D rather than 2D as it works better with the genre and style of the game. Mainly given that most horror games aren't particularly scary if they are 2D unless they really build up atmosphere and tension (Such as Mad Father.)

Visually with that characters I wanted them to look very sweet and rather bright so as the game continues you can gradually see their bright colours fade (Like Yui's bright green eyes gradually turn very dark green and lose the shine in them.) and see them darker and dirtier to show the effects your actions are having on them. Especially with Kadae. This is mainly because you feel for the characters if you kind of watch the hope fade from them gradually. It also makes the player feel conflicted and this is because the more selfish or bad choices you make, the faster you'll see them dullen. The player will see themselves having a direct effect on the girls. To a degree the brightness of the girls shows you how much hope they have left. So bright colours are used so I can darken them as the game progresses.

With the background and scenery, it is kind of cartoonish but based around realistic ideas. As I don't want it to look totally real because it should fit in with the style of the characters. Again, very much Eastern manga and anime. And as it is set in Japan (It was originally going to be set in Middle America but I decided against it given the style I drew the characters.) But yes, as it is in Japan it will have building such as temples and probably a number of shrines. The buildings will also have features like sliding doors, specifically Japanese products in supermarkets etc. And lockers for shoes in schools. Anyway, the setting will just all be Japanese, you know, given it's set in Japan.

The all around atmosphere I want the style to generate is very dark and sinister. As the entire game is obviously a horror. Though it does have jump scares, that's not all I want it to be about. Many fail to realize that scary house plus jump scare, does not equal horror. The scenery and the setting will generate a tense and scary atmosphere which will really add to the experience.

Concept

The basic idea of this game is that you journey as a 17 year old girl named Kadae Aoi. On a mission to find her missing sister, (Mizore Aoi) she manages to  get into a car crash. Following this, the  player, now Kadae wakes up on the outskirts of a small town; seemingly abandoned and on their own, the player must venture into the small town of Yami No Taki where they will come face to face with more than just their worst nightmares, but also choices that will bring out the darkness in those who play.

Opening scene: Setting

The player is shown to be the main character, Kadae Aoi. (In this small section, the player watches the Kadae in the car and they are not able to play at this point. This is a short video before the game starts.) The game starts with Kadae driving down a long country road in the middle of the night whilst she listens to the radio, she notices the presenter starts to talk of a recent strain of disappearances. Mostly involving teenagers and younger children. Hearing this she picks up a case file from the passenger seat, whilst still focused on the road. With the name 'Mizore Aoi' printed across the front, to the right of the name; a picture of a young 10 year old girl with deep blue hair. Kadae gives the file a concerned and slightly sad look before the radio then starts to produce static and then white noise. Wincing in pain from the sound she drops the file, in an attempt to retrieve it she looks back from the road, picks it from the floor and then places the file back on the passenger seat with a look of annoyance. Looking back up, there is a young girl covered in blood stumbling across the road. Kadae then swerves in order to avoid the young girl and crashes into a tree. The screen then cuts to black while the title of the game (Yami No Taki.) appears in white lettering while eerie music plays in the background. 

Waking up on the main road of a town known only as 'Yami No Taki', seemingly abandoned years ago. Kadae has obviously been knocked out from the crash. She has nothing with her aside from the case file thrown lazily besides her, including a small rusted key. Now the player is able to manipulate and control Kadae and play as her. You are able to explore the entire town including the few houses, stores and school. As well as the dense forest before Yami No Taki, though you can only go a distance in before you end back up at the main road into town.

                                                                       Characters:

                                     Kadae Aoi

                              Role: Protagonist

                                       Age: 17

                                 Status: Alive

Appearance: Kadae has extremely long pale blue hair that falls a little past her wait. She has a mixture of both deep blue and purple eyes, very much similar to her mothers. Usually wears a slim black waist coat with a dusty blue belt and under that a dark blue vest top that is too lose. Along with this she has black finger less gloves and deep grey jeans that are slightly baggy , attached to these jeans she has a small brown bag that wraps around her thigh. She also ties a work tie around her waist to act as a belt. And lastly she has large black boots tied together with long sky blue ribbons with purple socks slightly over shooting the boots.

About: Kadae Aoi is an independent young female who, lives on her own with her younger sister, Mizore, in a small flat in the city of Tokyo. After her neglectful parents abandoned them both at 15 and 7, Kadae has raised and loved her sister throughout her entire life so has a very close connection with her.

When their parents left the two girls to fend for themselves, Kadae lied about her age so she would still be able to look after young Mizore. And she soon moved them both from Akihabara to the center of Tokyo. Then, at the age of 16 Kadae  dropped out of college and joined a police academy in order to protect both her self and her little sister. With her intelligence and physical endurance, she isn't far off from already graduating the academy.

Kadae is very intelligent, though when it comes to personal decisions she tends not to think of the consequences and goes with her heart rather than her head. 

Health Bar:

Playing as Kadae you have a health bar that will go down if you are attacked. This can be either be by a boss or a minor enemy, so it is best to prepare yourself. Different enemies will determine how much your health goes down. It's a very basic health bar found in almost every game.  

Yui Mukami

Role: Supporting Protagonist

Age: 11

Status: Alive (Choices the player makes will determine her survival)

Appearance: She has short red hair that gradually grows in length and it covers around half of her neck. Yui usually wears her uniform, a mid length, to short white dress with knee high grey socks and light pink baseball boots, which happen to be the same colour of the small cape and tie on her uniform which has two narrow black stripes along the bottoms of it. She previously had 2 large and innocent emerald green eyes until one was taken from her and now she styles her fringe so it covers the empty socket. Obviously when you meet her, the uniform is not pristine but rather ragged and filthy.

About: From the Osaka, Yui is a sweet young girl who progresses well at school and is loved by almost all who meet her. Intelligent and strong she is fulled by determination and will do anything to achieve any goals she has in mind.

Yui was raised in a orphanage as her mother died during childbirth and her father is an alcoholic, she no interest in the people around her because she is a very distant and recluse character. Although, those who she is familiar with, she is very comfortable around. Yui is also a very trust worthy girl as she strives to be someone others can rely on. She mainly does this as she doesn't want to be anything like her father who abused her when she was younger. By striving to be a reliable person she hopes that she won't live in her fathers shadow or grow up to be anything like him.

Given her past she has a deep dislike for those who do not appreciate all they have, and those who take their lives for granted.

Health Bar:

Much like Kadae, she has a bar for her health, but it will go down faster if she is attacked, seeing as she is younger. (Giving her a weapon will ensure that she is able to protect herself for a deal of time.) Though she has an extra bar, and this is for intellect and memory. Yui has a special feature and that means she retains information that she reads in books so she will remember information for the player if they forget something. For example: Is this plant poisonous? She will be able to tell you if it is consumable. The less you pay attention or don't interact with her, the more important information she will forget.

Hitomi

Role: First Antagonist

Age:19

Status: Alive

Appearance: Hitomi has a disturbing appearance as she is compiled of different body parts gathered from numerous victims over the space of 3 years. From black to white, none of her body parts are the same colour. Between the stitches you can see the strain that has been put on the joints given the red sores and bruises all over her. She also has brown tips on all of her hair whilst the rest is white from stress and terror, she also has a small purple cross clip on the left side. Hitomi wears a deep red vest top and a short red skirt, along side one long grey boot and another smaller purple baseball boot. She has no eyes yet is able to see.

About: Driven crazy by the horrors within Yami No Taki, Hitomi is almost a victim. Though the antagonist, she was once a sweet and innocent girl, rational and determined. But that all changed.

Hitomi was taken to the town at the age of 15 with two of her friends, 15 and 16. When they first arrived Hitomi explored the town by herself whilst her other two friends sought out the mansion and stayed the in wait. And when she returned, she became so traumatized she refused to ever leave the mansion. And never told the others of the horrors that lay beyond the house.

While there, they all slowly started to starve and descend into madness; until it all became too much, and driven crazy by hunger one of her friends murdered the other in her sleep and tried to eat some of her, before committing suicide by jumping from the fourth floor balcony. When Hitomi woke she was left alone, starving and on the brink of death.

After these awful events unfolded, Hitomi explored the mansion further in one last hope of escaping wherever she was. She then found a secret passage leading to a laboratory, after finding a series of notes and books on lengthening her life without having to need to eat, drink or sleep. And obviously this came with a price, anyone who she would meet in the mansion she would murder and decapitate in order to lengthen her own life span. And after so long, Hitomi finally rationalized she was helping them escape the hell she endured all those years ago. 

Objects the player is able to obtain

The player is able to hold up to 7 objects at a time (these do not include notes and keys, these carry no weight so the player may hold on to as many as they wish.) These can range from matches to weapons. And depending on how long the player determines Yui is around, or alive, you may make her carry and additional 7. This will not effect her speed or agility. Making her discard her own personal items will effect what happens to her. So the player must chose carefully.

At the start of the game Kadae does already have a few items with her kept in the bag wrapped around her leg, this includes: Gun, torch with two extra batteries, a locket with a picture of Mizore, 6 boiled sweets, a pen and a slip of paper containing the address of the town. Yui does have a deal of items, these include: A small stuffed toy, an old flip phone with only the flash camera functioning and a sharp letter opener. Though you can not take them from her, only persuade her to use them, discard them or let her gain enough trust in you to let you have a certain item.

Keys: Quite obviously these are used to unlock doors within the town, though more of the keys access the mansion. The more keys obtained the more secrets that can be unlocked as they don't just open doors but things such as chests and safes.

Matches and candles: These are not needed for Kadae unless you lose the torch. You can collect these for characters like Yui. Although providing her with either your own torch or a candle will be one of many factors determining Yui's fate.

Notes: These will help you solve puzzles set around the town and the mansion, as well as provide you information on previous residents of Darkness Falls and other people who have been condemned there like Kadae.

Weapons: There are a series of items that can be used as weapons throughout the town, including: Scalpel, kitchen knife, rope, fireplace poker, penknife, these can be difficult to find if the town has not been explored properly. A single weapon can be given to Ava. Again, this action will also play a part in her fate.

Food: It is rare that you will find food within the game. The most food items there are  include: Tinned food, energy bars and and sticks of gum. You may also scavenge, although some of the vegetation is poisonous and will end the game if consumed. Food can be given to Yui (Safe or poison.) And it will directly effect her.

Ammunition: Ammunition is found all over the town and go to Kadaes gun she already had in the beginning of the game. This ammunition is limited and it is not recommended to be wasted unless up against a boss or higher level enemy. 

Other enemies health bars:

Minor enemies: Enemies such as will have small health bars. Small swipes will half their health bar and a bigger singular attack will kill minor enemies easily. These enemies aren't so much designed to be the death of the characters, but rather an inconvenience. It's also used to test how well the player will protect Yui.

Strong enemies: Much like minor enemies, they have smaller health bars than Kadae and Yui. Though they are far more difficult to kill and are more likely to require either being impaled or strangled in order to kill them. If the player is very good, they may be able to kill them in physical combat.

Bosses: Main bosses will be a lot more difficult to kill. There are an estimated 7 located throughout the town and to progress further they will have to be killed at some point. These bosses have a considerably large health bar. They will go down a deal slower than Kadaes or Yui's so the player will require tactics in order to kill them. They are not able to be killed without weapons, although attacks such as punching will have an effect.

Final Boss: Very large health bar and very difficult to defeat, the final boss isn't easy to kill at all. Punching and other physical kind of attacks will have no effect whatsoever.