Definitely A JSE Blog At This Point

BEFORE WE GET INTO THAT STUFF THOUGH - I do want to explain why I've not been crazy with main development on the game!

So starting off, shortly after I started working on initial pre-dev work (collecting things like references, script writing, and test assets), I realized that a due date for a script was due in like, a week. And this is a big deal too, it was for one of my old professors, and I wanted to make sure it was all good for her. So, I worked on that! And in three days I somehow got it all finished.

..... I also went like, way over the word limit. ........... By like, 10,000 words. But that's besides the point.

So needless to say, I was a little burnt out on writing. So, I decided to go in a different direction for SAV/END for this month! Something that I have dubbed: RESEARCH AND REWORK! (THIS IS WHERE THE NEW CONTENT BEGINS YAHOO)

To give some further context, I need to explain SAV/END's origins!! SAV/END was a concept I came up with originally back in Fall 2022 during one of my college classes, that required me to work on a new concept and flesh it out throughout the semester. Coming relatively fresh out of watching Summertime Render (fantastic anime, loved it a lot, and one of the core inspirations behind this game) and looking back at some of my favorite games that explored meta-narratives in any capacity, I landed on making a game concept. My class and my professor ended up loving the project so much that I was allowed to continue working on it during the following Spring semester (which was an oddity in the program). By the end of the two semesters, I had a full blown pitch bible made for the game that was considered one of the best in the class.

However, I haven't had time to really look back and see if I still like everything from it, and what I wanted to change from it. And thankfully, I still liked a lot of it!

BUT WHOO BOY, SOME STUFF NEEDED TO CHANGE.

Which is where the R&R work comes from!!!

The first thing I want to talk about is the Research section. What exactly do I mean by "Research?" Well, for starters, it meant playing video games. And while yes, it was for fun, but it was also to take my own notes from the games about what I liked and what I didn't. My research actually started with Persona 5 Royal back when I was still fighting cancer, but knew by that point that I wanted to work on SAV/END once I was done with my treatment. From there I also played and completed the OFF 2025 Remaster, Persona 5 Strikers, The World Ends With You -Final Remix-, and NEO: The World Ends With You (as of the time I'm writing this). These were games that I had on my list of things I had wanted to play, but were also games I heard a lot of positive things about and wanted to see why they clicked. And from there, I did take actual notes (usually in mini-reviews I sent to my friend group):

(My thoughts on the OFF remaster, for example)

My overall main take-aways from the games that I played honestly was writing funnily enough, and mainly what makes a good and memorable character. I'll talk about the main characters at a later devlog and/or update I make to socials, but these games really drove to me how a good script can make a character have an amazing impression on you in the long run. Like, for example, as much as Ryuji can be clowned on for his almost trademarked "for real?!," it is something that does stick with you because of the other amazing aspects of his character: being a bro who truly believes in you and will stick to your side, no matter what you both go through. You remember the "for real?!" because it's a silly goofy aspect of his character that compliments the good sides of him as well. Like when you get freaking banging fries with an already good burger! ... Geez that made me sound American, sorry.

My main point is that since you travel with your partner character for pretty much all of the game, I want to make sure that your partner is someone that you do thoroughly enjoy and remember, and not someone that by theoretical hour five you want to dump my game because you can't stand another word that comes out of their mouth.

Another note that I came across is how much actual gameplay can be a make or break point during your experience. To bring back Persona 5 Royal, I loved that game SO much regarding the actual Palace experience, to the point where I got them done in a day because I legitimately didn't want to leave. Same case with Persona 5 Strikers (granted a guilty pleasure of mine are Musou/Warriors games). On the flip side, as mentioned above in my screenshot, I got really sick of OFF's gameplay about halfway through, and the only thing that made me stick with it is the fact that it's a naturally short game (took me only around five hours). I could make the same case with The World Ends With You -Final Remix-, mainly because the Switch controls absolutely sucked. I have heard how notorious the original gameplay is on the DS, but I think I would've preferred it way more in retrospect. I blasted through that game because I didn't want to do the optional content, but as much as I was meh on the gameplay, I really enjoyed the story.

The next thing I wanted to do was start addressing the content from my pitch bible and see what I didn't like, hopefully being able to fix it, and if it wasn't salvageable, trash it in lieu of the things I have picked up from games I do enjoy. As I mentioned earlier, a lot of the things I still did like, just mainly required some small tweaks or changes (one of the biggest things I realized I made a mistake on was me mistaking the term kingdom for capital regarding one of the locations, YIKES, THIS WHOLE GAME TAKES PLACE IN A KINGDOM, PAST TEFA WHAT WERE YOU DOING).

The one thing that did stick out to me though, was one of the designs for the mini-bosses, which they SCREAMED "TeFA character design pre-2024," AKA, it's either fine (not great though) or really rough and I don't like it anymore.

The notable mini-bosses in particular are inspired off of OCs that belong to one of my friends Sparky, as I wanted to pay homage to him as thanks for being another main inspiration behind SAV/END's initial development during my college years. However, Sparky has since updated the designs of the OCs, and with me looking at the original designs from the pitch bible, I collaborated with him a little to improve the designs for my game, and we are both really happy with the results. :) (Left is fall 2022, right is new!)

Like look at them! I love them!!!

I also won't reveal much from here (again I would like to make dedicated posts for characters at a later point), but these two are a pair of thieves you'll encounter during your journey!

The last major update for today I would like to give is MUSIC!!! I am working with one of my most closest friends, FishHead, to bring the OST to life! I gave them a rough estimate of the amount of tracks that will be needed for the game, and we're at a total of at least 31, with another potential 4!!! Of course this might be subject to change once I get into major development of the game, whether it be from a coding or writing standpoint. I asked her to give me a reflection of how work has been going on his end, which I'll put here:

“I’m already really enjoying writing this music! It’s a bit challenging since it’s outside the scope of my usual musical output, which is primarily performance/concert music, but I’ve been really loving that challenge! The parts that are really teaching me to think differently about this kind of music is primarily coming up with a convincing point in each theme that needs to be looped (along with limitations of the soundfonts that I’m currently using for mock-ups, but that’s neither here nor there). Coming up with something catchy that works with being repeated and hopefully doesn’t become annoying after many listens is the main goal, and I hope I can deliver on that front! As well, I’m trying to really make the music WORK with the story beats. How? Well, I guess that’s to find out later on~”

And as a final treat, as thanks for reading this craziness, here's a snippet of dialogue, because yes, I did get a bit of writing done :)

I'm not sure if I'll make these monthly like I have today, but I figured I give you all an update since I've been radio silent since. I hope you all have a wonderful rest of your day wherever you are!