Shattered Destinies

Debuting in 1999, Super Smash Bros. began life as Dragon King: The Fighting Game, and used generic polygonal character models as placeholders as director Masahiro Sakurai struggled with how to make the game stand out. His first idea was to have the game feature famous Nintendo characters, but he knew that he'd never get the greenlight to do so. At the urging of Satoru Iwata, who would later go on to be the President and CEO of Nintendo, Sakurai went ahead and developed a prototype using Nintendo characters anyways, which was approved by Nintendo after seeing it in action. It's the sort of asking for forgiveness rather than permission attitude that, while risky, ended up paying off. Since then, the Super Smash Bros. series has grown, including more characters in each iteration, and starting with the third installment has grown to include characters from outside of Nintendo. The most recent game, aptly titled Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, sees characters from Nintendo, Capcom, Konami, Sega, Namco, Square Enix, SNK, Microsoft, and even Disney come together in a massive crossover event.

Since the success of the Smash Bros. series, a few other companies have tried their hand at crossover titles with varying degrees of success. Warner Bros., Nickelodeon, and even Sony have all tried to get a piece of the action. While the Smash Bros. series certainly wasn't the first video game to feature crossovers, and with the likes of Fortnite it's not even the most expansive. Nonetheless, it remains the gold standard for how to pull it off, with each character feeling like a natural fit while also remaining as true to their source as possible. Most, though certainly not all, of these crossovers are either fighting games or multiplayer focused endeavors that tend to go light on the story.

With this in mind, and after watching a few too many "build the roster" style videos, I decided to take the crossover formula and apply to my favorite genre, Role-Playing Games. While crossover RPGs have been done, such as Project X Zone, they don't quite fit what I have in mind. Instead, I want to focus more on a narrative that brings together an unlikely team from various RPGs that is a love a letter not only to the genre, but to gaming as a whole. That is what Shattered Destines is, and I'm excited to present my vision that blends together elements from various games, and weaves a story that allows characters to remain true themselves while also growing alongside one another.

That said, I wanted to give myself some restrictions to make things a bit more interesting. So, I decided to limit the size and scope of the recruitable party in hopes of shining a light on characters that otherwise may not get the limelight. The rules I have are as follows:

1. The party can only have one character to represent each series. This allows for more series to be represented and forces some tough choices.

2. All characters MUST originate from an RPG. As much as I love Mega Man X, who has appeared in multiple RPGs, that is not where he originates. Likewise, a character such as Geralt from The Witcher series first appeared in books, not in video games.

3. No main characters. The majority of RPG protagonists are silent heroes who display little growth in terms of character. While a party of silent protagonists has a charming humor to it, the novelty would wear off pretty quickly. This also allows side characters to shine.

4. All characters chosen for the party must, in at least some version, survive beyond the end of their original game. Obviously, some games with branching paths and multiple endings may see the characters die, but the death has to be optional and cannot be a major part of their character arc. To feature a character with a story driven death is to sacrifice the meaning and impact of such a moment.

There are, of course, other elements to consider, such as bosses, the ultimate Big Bad, modes of transportation, and the like. These elements will not face such restrictions. Likewise, there are plenty of characters that I can justify as being recruitable, but they don't necessarily get to join as party members. The goal is to create a cohesive story that sees worlds collide and destines torn asunder, a story in which an unlikely ragtag group of characters get the chance to show that the true heart of a hero can beat in the least likely of places, and that the bonds forged in the fires of hardship can be strong enough to reunite the worlds shattered by despair.

This is a project that I have come to adore working on, first as a thought experiment, then as a narrative framework with which I can explore some of my favorite characters. I've also had the chance to work with some truly amazing artists who have helped me to begin bringing my vision to life. I'm excited to begin sharing this project, and hope that it's as fun for you as it has been for me. Remember, at the end of the day this is all for fun, so if you disagree or think another character should be chosen, then by all means, share your ideas and stories.