Visions of the Dream Diver: A World Away

All is well in Overworld. Nightmare, Fantasy, and Beast are all destroyed. The heroine responsible for the sweet slumber that the Overworld will have is no where to be found. The citizens mourn her disappearance. She failed to escape the Dream Realm, and may be trapped there for eternity. Overworld has seen the last of its trouble from the Dream Realm. But should any more arise, they are certain that the Dream Diver will return to save them again.

Far, far away. Way, way afar.

A new world altogether is suffering the effects of the Dream Realm’s evil. This world is one whose Dream Diver is inexperienced, and overwhelmed by what has happened to his world. 16 different races cry out for help. From average humans to primitive Wildcats, 80’s era Elves to futuristic Foxes, the alien sorcerers known as Chitinids to the space-faring warriors called the Lylatians. Seductive Succubae and pure-hearted Angels. Each tribe is enslaved by its own Nightmare, or Fantasy. A few are in the process of creating their Beast. History is repeating itself, and it is up to the Dream Diver to stop the chain of events.

This world is one where the Nightmares have gained sufficient power to enter the world of the waking. Where Fantasy has been given control of reality. Where Beasts are in the processes of creation.

And where a fateful storm heralds the arrival of the only one capable of saving these beleaguered peoples.

The sun rarely shone on the Sea of Memories. But this night the storm was worse. A storm unnatural in its intensity, in its strength. It was a storm that brought with it not only bolts of immense lightning, but an intense biting cold that threatened to freeze one’s skin. And an odor. An odor of alien distances, of other worlds, whole and entire,  with dreams and nightmares of their own. A smell that threatens to blunt one’s sense of smell permanently. No ships with a master of any sense would attempt to cross the Sea of Memories in this state, but one soul did. A small speedboat skipped across the churning waves, its captain, a tall slender Elf stood at the tiller of this vessel, gripping tight to the wheel and shielding his eyes from the rain.

A flash of lightning, brighter than the rest, flared directly over him. Its light lingered for a moment. Just long enough to silhouette a falling female figure. The boat master saw this figure, and angled his craft to intercept. With a thump, it landed on the deck, and was immediately conscious.

“Where am I?” it asked, barely audible over the wind.

“Welcome aboard, Nakiss of Kontiki.” the boat’s captain called to her.

“How do you know my name?”

“I called you here. My name is River Maerd. I’m the Dream Diver for this world. Relax on your questions, Nakiss. All will be answered in time.”

Each race is plagued by one of the three main enemies. For simplification purposes, I have grouped the races into 3 categories: Humanoid, Beast and Other.

The Humanoids

Humans are being plagued by their Fantasy, which is making them believe that nothing is wrong with their society. War, disease, crime and famine have been abolished. There is no poverty, there is no hunger, there is no prejudice. There is no truth to this. You must defeat the Fantasy warping their minds, and force them to see the miserable condition they have let their state fall into.

Elves live in a 1980’s era environment, and they are plagued by a Nightmare that forces them to believe that their most hated enemy, the humans, are preparing an invasion. And so, under the veil of pastel suits, hair spray and new wave music beats a heart powered by a war machine. You must wake them from this Nightmare, so that they will hold off on this attack.

Chitinids are highly advanced aliens, who depend on magic as much as they do technology. They are steadily working on their Beast, a wizard android whom they believe will be able to defend their colony from the fighting Nightmares and Fantasies. You must sabotage this device before it is complete.

Lylatians are a close genetic relative to Chitinids, though they rely more on technology. Lylatians are a war-like race, and their Fantasy is leading them to believe that they are advancing on their neighboring countries without opposition, and are conquering and pillaging at will. You must make them realize that all their victories are in vain.

Zoanthropes, similar to werewolves, are also under the spell of a sweet fantasy. Their Fantasy lets them believe that they live in a state of bliss with the humans who endlessly persecute them. As much of a pain as it is, you must make them realize that the humans do not love their Zoanthrope neighbors.

The Beasts (not really the animals them selves. but humanoid forms of them, the tallest of which is onlt 3 feet tall)

Hares live in a strict military society. Their Nightmare is leading them to believe that their base is under an insurmountable siege. They are attacking and killing any thing that wanders into their crosshairs. Defeating their Nightmare will open their eyes to their peaceful surroundings.

Squirrels live deep in the forest. To help them in leadership against the Nightmares and Fantasies that are warring over this world, they have elected a Wildcat warrior. You must defeat this warrior in combat so that he will leave the Squirrels to their own devices.

A pack of Wolves is on the run from their Fantasy, having realized what is going on of their own accord. Go behind them and destroy this Fantasy, before they succumb to it again.

The Foxes make their home on this planet’s only moon. They have just created their Beast, a supercomputer called Acorn. You must find a way to shut down Acorn, before its evolving programming brings it to a sentient state.

The Otters are under the spell of their fantasy, which makes them believe that they are unstoppable pirates. As such they are raiding and destroying any vessel bold enough to ply the rivers of this world. Wake them up before their mischief leads to disastrous consequences.

The primitive Wildcats are dealing with their Nightmare, in which every spell they attempt to cast fails horribly. Their prehistoric culture is a precious thing in the midst of so much technology, and they are about to give up magic in favor of machinery. To preserve their heritage, you must get their magic research back on track, and destroy the Nightmare torturing them.

The Others

A clan of good-hearted Succubae have settled near the human city of Ecrofria. Ever since the Humans fell under the spell of their Fantasy, they are starving to death, since they can’t find any humans willing to--ah, feed them. Their Queen, the kind Jezebel, is slowly being possessed by a Beast, and must be freed from it before she goes mad, and leads her followers on the warpath.

The less than benevolent brothers of the Succubae, the Incubi are already on the march. Their dream is to eradicate their kind sisters, and their Fantasy is guiding them to victory. The Succubae cannot defeat their big brothers, and if attacked they will be slaughtered. Destroy this Fantasy to awaken the Incubi, so that they will return to their citadel, to fume and plan forevermore.

The Agents are sophisticated Androids developed by the humans as law enforcement tools. With each batch of Agents, their AI became more and more advanced, to the point that they questioned their human masters. They left their lives of legal servitude and settled in a small valley. Their Nightmare is making them think that the humans are mounting an army to come and drag them back to slavery. It will be quite a challenge entering a mechanical dream to defeat a psychic enemy.

The final race to cry out for help is the Angels. They are powerless against a force that seems to be the master of Nightmare, Fantasy, and Beast alike. A force they are calling the Presence, because it is simply there.

This time around, you will be able to choose which Dream Diver you would like to use. River Maerd is armed with two scimitars, but no projectile weapon. He can however hurl one of his scimitars at foes, boomerang style at flying enemies. With the proper timing, he can rally these attacks, bringing airborne foes down to within range of both of his weapons. His fighting style is more acrobatic and flashy than Nakiss’, but he is easily knocked off by stronger attacks.

As per request, I reiterate that this game is played in a style similar to the N64 Zelda games. You fight enemies in real time, and lock onto them. While locked on, you can back away from, approach, and circle them. You will also be able to lock onto anything of interest (important people, switches, things that require your immediate attention, etc.)

Nakiss has learned a multitude of new sword combos, and has trained herself to “lock on” to enemies with her gun, making her able to put bullet after bullet into moving targets.

Both Dream Divers can learn “forms” to do with their respective weapons. These are used similar to spells, and consume a small amount of their magic. These forms range from a more powerful single attack, to long combos that attack an enemy with oppressive force.

After being trapped in the Dream Realm, Nakiss' memories of her magic techniques have been clouded, but as she travels this new world, she should see things that will jog her mind. Simple things will remind her of her old skills. A striking match will remind her of Inferno, an electric arc for Thunderstruck. Fighting Incubi will reminder of Soul Eraser. Taking a tour of the Chitinid magic school will clear up the memory of Event Horizon. And once all the Nightmares of this world are defeated,  she will relearn Deity. Just as a start. The rest will have their own way of being remembered.

River, on the other hand, has not delved into the world of magic. As soon as you free the Chitinid race from their Beast, he can attend classes at their magic college to learn spells. He will learn spells like the fiery Meteor Storm, and crushing Gravity Sink. A few he will be able to divine on his own, such as Solar Beam, and Aurora. He will not be able to modify his spells. College is not free however, and you will have to pay a certain amount of money to learn spells.

If you have a friend, you will be able to play as both Dream Divers in a co-op adventure. (This can either be the start of a beautiful friendship or a good way to ditch that bothersome boy or girlfriend that you can’t think of way to tell to get out.) Split screen will not allow the players to see much of what goes on onscreen, so it would be best to be able to link two systems or play over a network for co-op games.

Defeating the enemies of the game will entail a bit more strategy, as the people of this world do not believe in a Dream Diver, and scoff at Nakiss and River’s claim to be able to enter dreams. You will have to sneak up on a sleeper and hack into his mind, in order to defeat the Nightmare or Fantasy plaguing his/her people. Further more, just because you enter one person’s dream does not mean that you will exit from the same person. The Nightmares and Fantasies are of a collective nature, and plague each citizen every night, and simultaneously. Each chamber in the Visions for this adventure is a different person’s mind and each mind has a different exit to the waking world. So that you can keep track of whose mind you are in, a picture of that person will be hanging somewhere in there mind. Residing somewhere in the community consciousness, is a Nightmare or Fantasy. This can be useful in reaching areas that are unreachable in the waking world, such as high-security areas in the Foxes’ space station or the Incubus Commander’s chamber. As in the Final Illusion, you will fight the Beasts in the waking world, and the Presence must be dealt with in the Dream Realm. This Presence will only be able to form into the Fantasies, Nightmares and Beasts from this world.

As of right now, I am still debating on whether or not to put in a different weapon system. You will still be able to modify Nakiss’ gun and learn new ways to throw River‘s scimitar, but a lot of combos and attacks depend on them using a sword. Another thing I am considering is the starting of a small party to follow the Dream Divers, and maybe be trained as Dream Divers themselves. Two possible party members I have though of are Zaphia, a Chitinid magic instructor who joins you after River has completed his magic training, and Juno, an Incubus Knight who doesn’t want to kill his Succubus sisters. Agent Fox, of that particular race, will join you once you free them from their nightmare. If you have ANY ideas for possible party members, tell me. These members would learn their own combos and spells, and have their own weapons. In a co-op game, you could tell party members to follow a certain Dream Diver if they have to split up. You will be able to take one party member into a Vision with you. As you get farther along into the game, the party members will become full-fledged Dream Divers, and after your party defeats the Presence, they will be assigned their own worlds to protect.

Will Nakiss return to Overworld? Or has the road to that land been closed for ever? Who can tell? I can’t. I didn’t think I could make a fourth Dream Diver game, but here it is. Can a Fifth Illusion be not too far away?

I guess this series has become my Final Fantasy. What I thought would be the last of it has continued. FF was supposed to be Square’s last RPG if I recall. And we all know what happened to that.