Control of Destiny 2

Okay okay, I’m putting too much time into this game these days not to want to create a thread here about it. So, here we go.

Click on most of the screenshots for a full-sized image.

Basic Plot Summary: Micras was a planet chosen by a hostile alien race to support alien life at the expense of all living things on the planet. Working slowly and manipulating geological events of
the planet from the far past into the uncomfortably near future, these aliens prepared the planet of Micras for a crushing defeat at their hands that would annihilate all life on the planet and make it prime for alien habitation.

They probably would have gotten away with it too, if the people of Micras hadn’t invented a time machine, uncovered the alien plot, and put an end to it. Over the course of the so-called “Control of Destiny” campaign, heroes from Micras banded together, discovered a lot of unsettling things about their planet’s past, eventually triumphed, and returned to the present day to use their newly acquired knowledge and skills to turn the small country of Jasonia into the Flying Islands of Jasonia, a sky empire superpower floating on poorly understood gravitron engines with an unrivaled air force.

A year passed, and the short time has had a dramatic effect on Micras. The weather has grown unseasonably stranger. The computer systems the world relies on to make day to day life possible
became unstable and unreliable. And strange disturbances, seemingly rifts in time-space itself, began to appear at random, swallowing people or entire buildings. The global economy, strained under the pressure, has begun to completely unravel. Some entire small nations were plunged entirely into chaos as dissident rioting populations overturned their governments in frustration, confusion, and fear.

The Flying Islands of Jasonia, the world’s last remaining superpower, has fared better than most due to its technological edge, but even it has begun to unravel as the freedoms people once enjoyed are being replaced with soldier patrols and nightly curfews, and money once spent on the tourist and leisure industry is being funneled into a bloated national defense budget in an attempt to enforce worldwide peace.

In the midst of this crisis, the same scientist that invented time travel a year ago makes a new, equally shocking discovery – there are parallel worlds coexisting around Micras, and powerful distortions that are having an effect on time and space seem to be centered around them. It is believed that these distortions, possibly caused by the time-traveling efforts of the Control of Destiny team, are responsible for the instability in Micras.

A machine is constructed in secret that would allow passage to these parallel worlds, and the Control of Destiny team, the protectors of Micras, are called into action once again. Their mission: infiltrate the parallel world, discover the source of the distortions, and put an end to them using any means necessary.

As you could perhaps expect, not everything goes to plan…

Game Features:

Special abilities
Every single playable character has a special ability that can be used to help exploration, transportation, training, or other in-game functions. These abilities can be activated or deactivated by a touch of a button and their current status will display in the in-game interface.
The use of special abilities is necessary towards progressing in the game. They also give you plenty of opportunities to fully explore the environments as well as offset the difficulties in certain situations. A strong grasp on your character’s abilities and what they can accomplish will well reward the player for their cunning. They also happen to be a lot of fun to use.
Some of the special abilities in the game are explained in each character’s introduction, below.

Combination Techniques
Though the game largely uses the default battle system, the number of available characters and their many in-combat options provides a lot of variety. A good example of this is combination techniques. Some characters will gain additional techniques depending on the presence of other characters in the party. Not a true dual-tech system, as that would be a complete bear to program, but enough to stand out and make you conscious of the party choices you make.

Plot-branching Gameplay
The adventure changes depending on your actions, adding to replay value. In some cases you will have two ways to complete a goal which may lead in two entirely different directions. In others, your choices will affect what characters join your party, how the public perceives you, what rewards you receive, and other plot-related issues. When confronted with any option, give it some thought before making a decision, because every action may have long-reaching repercussions.

Minigames
There are scattered minigames and other minor events to break up the exploration and combat aspects of the game. These vary from running beating on moving enemies, tests of reflexes, gambling, and logic puzzles. I absolutely guarantee that some of you will have very strong opinions on the City of the Sun Orb-based puzzles. Some feedback I have gotten has been from people that want to enter a minigame selector to fool with the puzzles and not worry about the main quest. I’m considering the idea.

Length
If you enjoy this game, there is lots to have fun with. I estimate completion time at about 20 hours, give or take depending on how many optional subquests and fights you search for.

Minor Systems
Lots of other polished bells and whistles that you should expect from a game like this, including:
•   Fully drawn battle character sets, including sets for custom attacks and status effects
•   Character set expressions, stances, and emotions that vary between characters. Each character has pleeeenty of custom sprite animations.
•   A save system that records the location you saved on the file screen.
•   Actual playtesting and balancing, which really shouldn’t be uncommon enough to make this list, but so it goes.

Major Characters

The game has a lot of playable characters. Here are some of the ones you’ll run across early on.

Jason

The President of the Flying Islands of Jasonia and the leader of the Control of Destiny team; this makes Jason the most powerful person on Micras. Fortunately, he is also an idealist dedicated towards protecting the planet from all threats and focuses the efforts of his technophile nation towards those ends. He is well-liked through his persistence, self-sacrifice, and humorously sarcastic nature, though he tends to complain a bit too much when the going gets rough and is sometimes prone to trying to handle everything on his own instead of fully using his teammates abilities. He also has a little bit of an inferiority complex since many of his teammates are better at direct combat than he is.

Jason has a wide variety of psychic-based powers known collectively as Empathy. This includes telekinesis, mind-reading, force-projection, and the occasional uncontrollable psychic vision of the past, present, or future. The other members of the team have grown to rely on Jason’s intuition and control of these abilities.

In combat, Jason can use his psychic powers to reshape the battlefield, increasing the powers of his allies, weakening his enemies, and having other effects. He also has a very strong connection to Fire-based magic and can cast stronger spells more often than his allies. His direct damage abilities are a bit limited, but Jason is the core of the party; skillful use of this support character will mean the difference between life and death.

Example Techs:
•   PSI Sharpen – uses psychic powers to make an ally’s weapon stronger, increasing damage.
•   Flame Line – damages all enemies with fire magic
•   PSI Transfer – transfers some of Jason’s massive MP reserves to an ally
•   PSI Reforge – a combination technique, this significantly increases the defense of all party members.

Jason’s special ability is Empathy. When using this ability, you can read the minds of NPCs you encounter. This may provide tips and clues for your adventure and is sometimes the only way of discovering vital information necessary to the quest.

Bill

Bill was the former leader of the Republic of Tapfer, an oversea nation that willingly joined Jasonia. Since then, Jason and Bill have been very close friends. Jason and Bill are two opposites to the leadership coin – Jason is prone to slow, methodical decision-making while Bill is quick and impulsive, invigorating the group with his enthusiasm when things may bog down. Bill gets a lot of flak for being unrefined and brash, but he knows an amazing amount about combat, swordsmanship, and worldly issues like traveling and staying safe. He is also the spiritual leader of the people of Tapfer and is the mayor of the Jasonian city Thassala, a city of Tapfer immigrants seeking a better life in the sky kingdom.

Bill is an accomplished swordsman, one of the best in Jasonia. He learned fire magic to be like his best friend Jason and has blended some of it into his physical style, becoming a Sword Mage. He is also very defensive in combat and has numerous ways to protect himself and others.

Example Techs:
•   Power Up – increase’s Bill’s attack and magic power
•   Fire Sword – combines a physical attack with sword magic
•   Block – drastically increase’s Bill’s defense for a duration
•   Brotherhood Twister - a combination technique with his brother that deals damage to all enemies.

Bill’s special ability is Toughening. While active, every time you win an enemy encounter, there is a random chance that the entire party will gain a permanent boost to HP, attack, or defense. If active at the end of a boss battle, it will trigger 100% of the time.

Matt

Bill’s brother and one cool customer. Matt is an accomplished scientist and entrepreneur and is responsible for many of the Control of Destiny team’s more outlandish inventions, such as the dimensional travel machine. He is an extremely ethical scientist and runs a government-funded science center, DERA, with the intent of protecting Jasonia and ensuring their technological advancement.

Matt enters combat with his custom-built weapon, a laser sword, as well as his variety of technical machines and his earth magic powers. Although useful in many situations, he is most deadly when going toe-to-toe with a single, formidable opponent.

Example Techs:
•   Ping – an energy blast that does double damage to robots or other machines
•   Overclock – doubles an ally’s combat speed for a duration
•   Brambles – earth magic that covers the enemies in thorny plants, possibly poisoning them
•   Missing Link – a combination technique, this restores HP while increasing combat speed

Matt’s special ability is Use Technical Device. This has a varying effect depending on the situation and what devices Matt has built, bought, or scavenged through the game. Unlike many special abilities, Matt’s has the potential to change and expand depending on devices found in the game.

Erika

The second child of royalty, Erika is one of the most accomplished fighters in all of the alternate dimension of Sunscorch. Due to a past filled with conflict and loss, she has abandoned her home city and searches tirelessly for General Awaldock, a man she blames for most of her troubles.

Erika has potent wind magic powers, much to the chagrin of her hometown of traditionally earth-based mages. Through tireless training and development of skills, Erika can now effortlessly use the wind in conjunction with her own muscles, increasing her movement speed, making her arms swing harder, and increasing her ability to dodge attacks. She’s not the strongest person in the world, but man is she fast. She can also command the winds directly and blend wind magic into her combat in a style similar to Bill’s.

Example Techs:
•   Sky Slash – by using the power of the wind, Erika makes a tremendous leap at an enemy’s head, ignoring their defense in her attack.
•   Wind Slash – a sword magic skill that lowers an enemy’s resistance to wind damage.
•   Sword Combo – doubles all of Erika’s normal physical attacks for the remainder of the battle.
•   Mind Slash – a combination technique that disrupts an enemy’s concentration, leaving them open for attacks directly upon their mind.

Erika’s special ability is Levitate, one of the coolest in the game. This calls upon her mastery of the winds to lift the party above the ground. With Levitate active, you can fly straight up, down, or across certain structures, pits, and other otherwise inaccessible areas. Don't look down!

Sai’Kar

Everyone’s favorite light-based Micron holy woman! Sai’Kar’s origins, past, and motives are a boggling mystery to the Control of Destiny team, and getting to the bottom of them will lead towards a whole new level of complexity for the adventure.

Sai’Kar has extremely potent light-based abilities. She can deal direct damage to her enemies with searing beams or turn the energy into life-giving curative powers. She also has several, more bizarre spells that hint of a very strange origin…

Example Techs:
•   Mithun Soloral –a blast of sunlight that deals damage and has a good chance to inflict blindness
•   Lumsam Rolon – heals the entire party
•   Micak Soloral – revives fallen party members
•   Chronar Gulsomb – a combination technique that damages all enemies with pure time magic and has a chance to lower their combat speed

Sai’Kar’s special ability is Chronar Serlomb, which translates to Time Stop. With this active, all motion will cease – NPCs will stop moving and become totally irresponsive, smoke and flags will stop billowing in the wind, and machinery and other mechanical devices will freeze in place. As for the practical upsides of this, well, I will leave those for you to discover…

Timetable

Eventually.
No, but more seriously, probably in a month or two. I’ll post occasional updates / additional teaser information things get close.