A Fullmetal Alchemist RPG?

[kortin]

I was inspired to make this after reading a post in a different thread (the character abilities you are tired of thread). Now I'm thinking this game would be a huge game, with at least 25 hours for the main quest and over 80 hours of side content and even modding tools. Here are some of the ideas that I came up with while thinking of this:

--A game that takes place in Amestris (and maybe Xing with some of the other bordering countries being added in through expansion packs) several decades after the events of FMA:B, giving you a completely unique experience and not like any of those lame games that are basically just a retelling of the movie/tv show.

--You get to make your own alchemist, however you want.

--A huge talent tree (I'm talking Path of Exile [http://zaewen.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/path-of-exile-skill-tree.jpg] level of talent trees) in which you could spec into nearly any style of fighting you would want. Maybe you could play similarly to Roy Mustang and burn people, or maybe similarly to Ed where you utilize your speed and transmutes to beat your enemies. Or you could even use your alchemical abilities to craft special bullets for a gun and run around sniping people off like Riza.

--Using a similar example in the thread that inspired this, you can "split up bomb components ammonium nitrate and simply use the ammonia to instantly deal with smell-sensitive chimeras". So a full crafting system would be in the game. You can deconstruct objects to get base components and make nearly anything.

--NOT AN MMO. A full, single-player experience, maybe with Co-op being added in later. Either first person or third person (over the shoulder) NOT AN MMO.

--WRITTEN by Hiromu Arakawa, the writer of the manga.

--Of course, Modding Kits for even MORE expanded replayability.


Now, I'm no big league game designer, but I would LOVE to see this made. I think if someone could successfully make this game and have it do well, we would be able to push quality movie games.

 

[Truniron]

If that was a real game, I would get it day one. This may be the only anime that I like, so a game adaptation of this, the way you describe it, would be awesome.

I would say that this game would have been best if it was a 3rd person game, with the option to play it in 1st person like in Skyrim.

Although, I would think that they could have made a fun and entertaining multiplayer mode. This mode should be optional and have no effect on your character, as you could have one PvE-character for offline and one PvP-character for online. In multiplayermode, you could either work as a group to complete (for exapmple) an instance, or go fo a straight up Team Deathmatch/ capture the (something) or King of the Hill etc.

 

[kortin]

If that was a real game, I would get it day one. This may be the only anime that I like, so a game adaptation of this, the way you describe it, would be awesome.

I would say that this game would have been best if it was a 3rd person game, with the option to play it in 1st person like in Skyrim.

Although, I would think that they could have made a fun and entertaining multiplayer mode. This mode should be optional and have no effect on your character, as you could have one PvE-character for offline and one PvP-character for online. In multiplayermode, you could either work as a group to complete (for exapmple) an instance, or go fo a straight up Team Deathmatch/ capture the (something) or King of the Hill etc.

I was considering putting a sort of pvp thing into it, but I wasn't sure how I could have gone into it. I wanted to make sure to point out that it wouldn't be an MMO, that seems to be a HUGE factor in whether or not someone will play a game. There's also a balancing issues, which could detract from the single player experience. Safest bet was to start with single player and see if anyone would suggest multiplayer.

It seems to be a general consensus among players that a co-op mode in Skyrim would be entirely acceptable, but definitely not a full on mmo-style of it, so that's kind of how I was imagining the FMA rpg could work.

If I had the tech and the know-how, I would design it. Maybe in a few years after college I could go indie and get a bunch of people together to get it made. Would probably take a lot of convincing to get Hiromu on board with it though.

This is all mostly speculation, but I could probably work out some systems as to how the game could work, in the same style of how some WoW players make up whole expansions. So throw suggestions as you what YOU GUYS would want to see in an FMA game.

 

[Shadowstar38]

Well now I'm sad. This is such a head shattering awesome idea that it will never exist.

Well first off, it would definitely need to be in third person. I dont know how you'd pull of a character like Ed or Armstrong in first person.

Second, that skill tree would have to cover a fuck ton of transmutations. The stuff Edward could pull out his ass combined with sheer number of possibilities I can think off, ends up with something designers would probably be too lazy to go through.

 

[kortin]

I'm pretty sure there are a couple of Fullmetal Alchemist RPGs on the ps2 made by square enix. N idea how good they are or if they are up to your lofty expectations lol.

Yeah, I was thinking about those as I made the post. I'm fairly certain they are mostly fighters or JRPGs, whereas the take I'm getting at would definitely be a WRPG. I know there are a lot of people who love JRPGs, but I'd prefer a take on the series where it's not focused on Ed and Al (as much as I love them), but more on you and the events in the game would have minimal influence from the characters you know from the anime and manga. They could still be there, no doubt, but I'd still like to take the idea and fly with it to see how far it could go.

I feel that the potential for ground-breaking games from movies and tv shows are there, just no one is going about it properly. Instead of trying to recreate the movie in a game form, they should branch out, take elements from all over the place and incorporate it into the game.

 

[Shadowstar38]

I'm pretty sure there are a couple of Fullmetal Alchemist RPGs on the ps2 made by square enix. N idea how good they are or if they are up to your lofty expectations lol.

I've played those. They suck pretty hard. They are all pretty much brawlers. Transmutations are contexual, and even then you're limited to making a wall or forming a weapon to up the brawling damage.

I want something closer to the show, where everything in the world can be molded to whatever you like.

 

[kortin]

I've played those. They suck pretty hard. They are all pretty much brawlers. Transmutations are contexual, and even then you're limited to making a wall or forming a weapon to up the brawling damage.

I want something closer to the show, where everything in the world can be molded to whatever you like.

Now that's an interesting idea. Give it a little bit of minecraft-style in that you could build dwellings or shelters or destroy cities. After all, alchemists are pretty damn powerful, and not all of them are dogs of the military.

 

[kortin]

Well now I'm sad. This is such a head shattering awesome idea that it will never exist.

Well first off, it would definitely need to be in third person. I dont know how you'd pull of a character like Ed or Armstrong in first person.

Second, that skill tree would have to cover a fuck ton of transmutations. The stuff Edward could pull out his ass combined with sheer number of possibilities I can think off, ends up with something designers would probably be too lazy to go through.

Yeah, it would definitely need a huge skill tree and have as much of it as possible NOT be simple go-to power boosts (+20% to fire damage!). It's a huge undertaking at the least and would definitely need a lot of time to perfect it. Hell, Path of Exile's talent tree might not have been a big enough example!

 

[DoPo]

That is certainly a huge undertaking. And even that is an understatement. We're talking juggling lots and lots of factors right here while still trying to maintain the free-form feel of alchemy. What I'm saying is, if/when somebody does something similar, I'll be super damn impressed and I may consider setting up a shrine and worshipping them.

 

[Kopikatsu]

You could probably do something like that in RPG Maker VX. While it would likely lack things like graphics, 3D rendering, voice acting, etc; I consider that a plus. I've made a few small games before and helped on others, and in my experience stuff like voice acting just restricts what you can do. Games that go purely on text with bit/pixel graphics are really open to whatever you'd like to make them.

 

[kortin]

You could probably do something like that in RPG Maker VX. While it would likely lack things like graphics, 3D rendering, voice acting, etc; I consider that a plus. I've made a few small games before and helped on others, and in my experience stuff like voice acting just restricts what you can do. Games that go purely on text with bit/pixel graphics are really open to whatever you'd like to make them.

Yeah, I've considered that and it could be a good start with the game, however the final product I would love to be at least 3D rendered, just so I can really push the boundaries on what the game could achieve.

 

[DoPo]

You could probably do something like that in RPG Maker VX. While it would likely lack things like graphics, 3D rendering, voice acting, etc; I consider that a plus. I've made a few small games before and helped on others, and in my experience stuff like voice acting just restricts what you can do. Games that go purely on text with bit/pixel graphics are really open to whatever you'd like to make them.

That is true, but you'd be cutting away a big portion of the alchemy mechanics. Not necessarily a bad thing but the game wouldn't be as impressive then.

 

[Kopikatsu]

You could probably do something like that in RPG Maker VX. While it would likely lack things like graphics, 3D rendering, voice acting, etc; I consider that a plus. I've made a few small games before and helped on others, and in my experience stuff like voice acting just restricts what you can do. Games that go purely on text with bit/pixel graphics are really open to whatever you'd like to make them.

That is true, but you'd be cutting away a big portion of the alchemy mechanics. Not necessarily a bad thing but the game wouldn't be as impressive then.

Perhaps, but it's kind of a choice between 'dream game' and 'realistic expectations'.

 

[DoPo]

You could probably do something like that in RPG Maker VX. While it would likely lack things like graphics, 3D rendering, voice acting, etc; I consider that a plus. I've made a few small games before and helped on others, and in my experience stuff like voice acting just restricts what you can do. Games that go purely on text with bit/pixel graphics are really open to whatever you'd like to make them.

That is true, but you'd be cutting away a big portion of the alchemy mechanics. Not necessarily a bad thing but the game wouldn't be as impressive then.

Perhaps, but it's kind of a choice between 'dream game' and 'realistic expectations'.

Yes, I agree with this. I'm just saying that people who do such a game, won't get a shrine from me. I'm still going to play the heck out of it.

 

[TaintedSaint]

Fullmetal Alchemist is terrible along with most Anime. But in truth, Fullmetal Alchemist has alot of fans but not enough to justify the cost of development not to mention marketing.

 

[kortin]

Fullmetal Alchemist is terrible along with most Anime. But in truth, Fullmetal Alchemist has alot of fans but not enough to justify the cost of development not to mention marketing.

So I've noticed you don't like anime. Glad you made that apparent and generalized as much as you did. You certainly show how intelligent and reasonable you are.

On a serious note, remove FMA from the equation. Just think of it as a game that is based off alchemy in a steampunk-esque setting. That's basically what the idea is, FMA was just an easy way to relate it. Then what do you think of the idea?

 

[Korten12]

You could probably do something like that in RPG Maker VX. While it would likely lack things like graphics, 3D rendering, voice acting, etc; I consider that a plus. I've made a few small games before and helped on others, and in my experience stuff like voice acting just restricts what you can do. Games that go purely on text with bit/pixel graphics are really open to whatever you'd like to make them.

VX Ace is pretty good, and I would play a free roaming FMA RPG Maker VX Ace. I am actually working on a VX Ace game now to get on Desura.

 

[SlaveNumber23]

This would be awesome! How about a secondary class system where you choose one of the seven Homunculus sins and gain even more abilities from that.

 

[Dandark]

All I can say is YES!
Especially if I can play using abilities similar to Roy Mustang, Bradley or even better Scar.

 

[DoPo]

Fullmetal Alchemist is terrible along with most Anime. But in truth, Fullmetal Alchemist has alot of fans but not enough to justify the cost of development not to mention marketing.

Erm, why do you assume that only FMA fans would play the game? We're talking about something with an even more freeform magic than Magicka. I would have thought that other people would be interested in it, too. For example, I can point to every Mage player in existence, as this is entire premise of that game, too.