Quote: Original post by glBender
I think he means you can sometimes communicate with/hear the thoughts of your alternate twin guy.

Just to interject real quick: After reading the storyline presented by Grant, I started wondering what options could be explored if the player instead controlled the evil alternate twin, and later came face-to-face with his good side. This springs from the talk on mistaken identity and the reversal of roles.

But completely controlling the evil guy probably wouldn't work out well in this story. So perhaps the player only partially controls his evil side?

I was thinking, what if by being in the evil world, the good character begins to become tainted, in a manner of speaking. When dreaming, he has these horrible nightmares of himself attacking and killing people back in the utopia-like world he came from. The protagonist would only think these to be merely dreams, though, and nothing more, when in fact it is this telepathic bond that's allowing the main character to see what the antagonist is actually doing in the other world (during these dream sequences, the player would control the evil twin). In other words, he thinks it's a dream, but it's really happening. And when the two twins finally confront each other, the good one realizes that his alternate self actually did all those horrible things, and in a way feels shamed by this (of course, he's angry, too). Then they fight, one loses, yadda-yadda....

But, I digress. This is Grant's story, and I don't want to turn anyone's attention towards fruitless speculation. As for your original storyline, Grant, it's not bad, actually. As mentioned by previous posters, you have a solid good vs. evil distinction in the works which will clearly define the game itself and perhaps lend a hand towards defining the style of play later on.

The only thing I think the game could use more of is unique characters. By my count, you have the twins and the trainer who helps the good guy. Is there anyone else the player meets along the way? Perhaps someone else came to the world along with the protagonist? A girl, possibly, who through the laws of RPG's would have to have a romantic fling with the good guy. Perhaps this girl's alternate self plays a role in the game somehow as well--could be the evil guy's second in command, or maybe she's his wife; I don't know. Either way, adding more characters will certainly give the game some extra spice.

Thanks for all the comments and suggestions. Although I can't use everyones suggestions, I am going to take pieces from each suggestion and use them since there were some really interesting ideas.

i'm kind of confused.
so, your game is set in parallel realities? which would mean that the main playable character and his alter-ego guy are the same person, correct? and the planets are actually the same, just in different parallel realities.
wow, that could make for an awesomely charged story.

one random idea i think could really enhance the game would be the introduction of wormholes. i'm not sure if this is viable programming-wise, put in gameplay it would be awesome.
Example: your running along, doing your thing, and you run into a worm hole. it transports you back in time, and suddenly you find yourself fighting beside the original you. the original you would do the same things that you originally did, while the new you (that you are actually controlling) would be free to walk around.

As I said, It's probably not viable to program, but i think it would meld in really well with your game, and add a whole new level of trippiness to it.