Grimoire of Aeons

Overview

Hundreds of years have passed since the magic filled world of Terra was the stage for a war between the gods. Four nameless heroes managed to seal them away before they could annihilate the world, but as a result of the war a lot of places still have been changed drastically. While at first the world seemed to recover slowly, for some time now the resources are dwindling. Wells are running dry. Fields get barren. The intensity of the sunlight is increasing in some areas. Others are constantly the target of heavy storms or other disasters.
With the scarcity of food and water, tensions between countries are rising. Rivalries turn into aggressions and finally into wars. Those who once helped now steal from each other.

Liz and Levi, the last members of an aristocratic family and leaders of a small city state, are like many other rulers trying to protect their people. Protect them from other countries and the world itself. However in contrast to others, they don't want to fight other countries but strive for coexistence between them. Their village is mostly forgotten and therefore the war isn't directly threatening it, yet it couldn't defend itself against other nations due to its size and because of it's position it could suffer collateral damage if the war gets out of control.
Dangerous times await the two leaders and their city.

The World

Vastly different regions can be found in the dying world. From toxic volcanoes over scorching silver deserts to intimidating dark forests. However many locations are now even more dangerous then before with the advancing collapse of Terra. Furthermore with the usual hostility towards strangers, someone can typically not expect help outside from his or her own city state.

Demmongart

Old Ruins

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The Characters

Many different characters are in the game from a lot of different regions and cultures. While I want to introduce them briefly, neither the description here nor the longer one on the character page contains everything, since I generally try to avoid spoilers. (The same is also true for the world, locations and enemies.)

Liz & Levi
The twins are the last members of an aristocratic family. Their parents passed away early and as a result it was their duty to lead and protect the city. Through hard training Levi was, even at a very young age, one of the strongest swordsman in the village. Liz on the other side discovered her talent for light magic early. While she can heal wounds her magic isn't limited to supporting and defensive uses. Due to their status they also became responsible for the settlement.
(The image to the right shows their appearance from the past.)

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Sapphire
While she is part of the military of her country she only listens to orders if she wants to and usually reads books or does something else she actually wants to do. Sometimes she also just forgets that there was even an order from her superiors. Obviously this should have gotten her into a lot of trouble, but because of her magical prowess, she usually manages to get away with it.

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Iolia
With her high position in the army and her love for magic based science someone could expect that she would have enough which occupies her time, but in reality those are just means to an end. She wants to protect her country, the laws and rules no matter from what threat. Though rarely she forgets her own objective and focuses completly on her research about magic.

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Alexandra
As the Empress of a warlike city state she is well versed in tactics and diplomacy. She knows what she wants and how to get it, whether through words or through force. While she would prefer it to be more tolerant and merciful, her circumstances don't allow it.
Additionally through hard training and talent she became a dangerous fencer, even though she can't use magic, which is rather uncommon.

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Sora
A hunter from a small village who is very loyal and will always try to protect those he cares for. He mainly uses a crossbow for combat but is also able to wield magic or enchant his arrows. Together with the other people of his village, he is one of the last who still have faith in the gods, even after the war they had hundreds of years ago.

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Ember
Ember is a shy girl who doesn't talk much and even less about herself. Most of the time she is in her room or somewhere out in the nature. Without weapons and magical crystals she may seem weak, but she still is somehow able to defend herself. She also frequently appears to be lost in thought...

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Arthuria
A mysterious young woman. Presumably a mage. Not much is known about her. She seems to be happy and imperturbable most of the time. It is very likely that she wouldn't even care if the world ended and just enjoy the event.

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Additional information can be found on the character-page.
And more information will be added...

Enemies

A lot of different enemies await you.
Some are part of the environment, like the magical beasts. Very intelligent animal like beings, which are able to use magic. They evolve very fast and are excellent predators. Some are mysterious beings. With an unknown origin and unclear motives it's very hard to assess them. The so called "shadows" are one tribe of them which appear from time to time in an forest near Demmongart, an isolated village. Each time they emerge they devastate the environment.
And since the world is split into multiple city states which are in conflict with each other, even other humans fight against each other.

Forest Spider

Brushwood Boar

Mechanics & Gameplay

Exploration
Since Grimoire of Aeons is partially based on (older) JRPGs you may expect dungeons and an overworld. While there will be dungeons, they won't be the majority of areas. We decided to remove the overworld and allow to access the fields and forests between dungeons and cities directly.

Combat
As mentioned above, the game will feature a turn-based combat system. Each character in your party can be controlled sequencially. And each character has different abilities. Different kinds of attack types also allow different combat styles from slowly debuffing your enemy until he can't harm you and you can one-hit-kill him to aggressive offensive maneuvers with weapons and magic.
In Combat the characters will earn experience which is needed to increase their levels. Higher levels also allow to learn new or improve old abilities.
Each character has it's own skills which can be learned and trained for even more powerfull attacks.
Adjustable difficulty settings further offer you to have the experience you like.
Be aware that with a lot of deathly environmental conditions, some of them will also effect the combat.

Equipment
Different weapons and equipment can be found during your journey through Terra. Some can be bought, some are loot and some are hidden treasures. As probably expected, they will give the option to increase different status values or apply buffs before combat.

Additional features could also be added. For example an option to forge your own weapons, equipment and even magical crystals with different effects, for more options in combat.

Length
The demo will have roughly the length of half the introduction of the game. The final game is targeting 20-50 hours of gameplay, but depending on how successful our crowdfounding campagne is (it will be started in the future), this may increase drastically.

Languages
English will be the default language and while we are going to make the language-files accessible for fan-translations, we may also add more languages to the game like German.

System Requirements
OS: Windows XP SP2 or higher, Mac OS X 10.8 or higher, Ubuntu 12.04 or higher
Graphic Card: DX9 (shader model 3.0) or DX11 with feature level 9.3 capabilities
CPU: SSE2 support
RAM: currently unknown
Display: optimised for HD (1920 x 1080) but other, even higher, resolutions and a window-mode are possible