{Stylin’}

Game Concept

Thesis:
A martial arts action game wherein you take on the role of Master, a legendary fighter for humanity, trapped inside ‘The Tower’ – an intergalactic arena locale with live audiences where the greatest fighters in the multiverse gather for a once-in-an-aeon tournament to determine the best of them. The Master has been ripped from his home planet, Earth – and his reality – to be conscripted into this tournament for title of “Multiverse Master.” You must now fight for his life … and for the glory of humanity!

Setting:
The Tower | Each floor is an unique arena | Traps, timers, improvised weaponry | Live audiences and continuous chants vibing with the momentum and thrills of the fights ~
The Tower is a highly advanced intergalactic space station created by an elder forerunner race that no one any longer can recount the history of. Its operation, however, is continuous. It was designed with a singular purpose: every aeon, to identify the best martial artists within the multiverse, across planets, species and timelines, to compete in a 64-man fighting tournament, the winner of which will be awarded the title of Greatest Master of the Multiverse.

Character & Story:
You play as Master – a human at the peak of physical perfection, black-belted in every martial art known to Man, whose power exceeds that of all others on planet Earth. At the start of the game’s narrative, Master is inexplicably warped through time and space into the first floor of The Tower. From an alien voice speaking in your mind, Master is conveyed the conditions of this imprisonment, and the terms of the tourney. From there, Master fights his strange opponents – aliens of varying physicality, psychology, and capability, 63 others in sum – in 1v1 bouts to advance within the single elimination tournament unto that aforementioned title… and maybe the realer truth at the top of The Tower, concerning its true purpose and the grand intentions of its elder creators of old.

One more thing: Master is so titled as such, and wields the greatest power of the human species in martial matters, not only because of their training – but because of their style. Master is the best fighter and they make it look damn good.

Gameplay

3rd person martial combat ~ {Stylin’} features 3rd-person over-the-shoulder POV upon The Master engaging in an intricate combat system wherein all manner of punching, kicking, kneeing, elbowing, head-butting, and jump striking are available to the player. Master’s fights versus his opponents take place in arenas of varying sizes – small and simplistic to large and full of environmental obstacles – and each fighter can go about the bout offensively, defensively, or a mix of both kinds of strategies. Players can Strike or Block – with – Right and Left – Arm or Leg – and can also – Roll or Jump – in an omnidirectional motion unto dodging or setting up attacks. The gameplay style and mechanics are intended to be realistic and responsive while also being bombastic and fun {in the vein of the recent fighting game Absolver or in the spirit of the pantheon of martial arts films.} Not dissimilar to traditional side-scrolling fighting games like Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat series, the game has mechanics that are easy-to-learn, impossible-to-master.

Swift, brutal, entertaining ~ Inspired primarily by the martial arts film The Raid: Redemption and its sequel, The Raid II – as well as other hyper-stylized action films such as John Wick or Kingsmen series – the combat in {Stylin’} is meant to evoke the speed, ferocity and brutality of the complex / intricate / ridiculously choreographed fights. Strikes are delivered with bone-crunching force, last-second blocks save knock-outs, counters are enacted with precision, all with an uncanny combination of grace and speed. Fights between Master and his opponents can end quickly, or last for minutes at a time – not unlike in traditional fighting games. In an effort to capture both the force and speed of bouts between equivalently-skilled master martial artists, {Stylin’} features a mechanic of a periodic slowing of time, wherein a series of moves can be input by the player, engaging some kind of strike-counter-dodge strategy and then the next bit of battle playing these maneuvers out goes at full speed. This kind of fast-slow-fast series will be the core of most fights’ progression – though the slo-mo need not be used to win. The fights can be played entirely at full speed, always at the player’s discretion.

Style choice ~ The Master, residing at the top of the human martial arts world in ability and aesthetics both offers the player a variety of styles to choose from in his arena bouts. To start there are 4, though more can be unlocked throughout the game as the player progresses up the floors of The Tower and advances in the tourney. Styles can be swapped in the middle of combat, refreshing the kinds of attacks and blocking maneuvers available to the player.

Tiger style – Aggressive, prioritizes speed and ferocity – tries to end fights quickly, at the cost of defense

Turtle style – Defensive, prioritizes blocking and mitigating the strengths of opponent – tries to draw fights out into a war of attrition

Wolf style – Versatile, equivalently concerned with attack and defense – tries to set up devastating counterattacks

Monkey style – Environmental-user, leaps about the arena, positioning and tries to use the world around him – drawing out improvised weaponry and natural defenses to trap opponents into losing positions

Unlockables: Bear, Snake, Phoenix, Griffon, Dragon, Galactic …

Single player campaign ~ In the main campaign, in which Master enters the tourney and tries to progress against his intergalactic alien foes, all of the fights will be PVE against computer-controlled alien martial artists. The tournament is 64-man and single elimination, lowering each round in remaining combatants to 32 > 16 > 8 > 4 > 2 man final fight for the title ~ Every floor of The Tower features a different environment, with more or less obstacles and potential external forces to potentially be used in the fight. Seeding is randomly determined at the start of each new campaign, including the Master’s own. Every time a campaign is created, you never know which of the 63 fighters you will be facing and in what order…

Alien foes ~ The alien martial artists in the game – 63 in total – feature a unique ensemble of designs and combat ability. They are each relatively equivalent in strength – and every fighter is more than capable of taking home the intergalactic title. Here are some conceptual examples of the types of fighters the Master will be taking on in {Stylin’}, each with their own personalities and catchphrases as well:

Multiplayer tournament ~ In addition to the robust and replayable single player campaign, the game can be played PVP {player-versus-player} as well. From anything to a 2-man on up to a 64-man tournament, players can engage in PVP tournaments using The Master {full style progressions available} or any of the alien martial artist characters. Each has unique movesets that can be learned and practiced in a tutorial mode against dummies or AI opposition. This special multiplayer tournament game mode potentially inspires streaming / e-sports style followership and fandom among the best players of the game across the global community.

Inspired By ~

The Raid: Redemption

Sleeping Dogs

Absolver

Planet Hulk (comic)

Endgame:
{Stylin’} evokes the thrill of a classic martial arts tourney, with the fast-twitch gameplay of a traditional fighter, drawn together in the hi-tech aesthetics of a vast sci-fi universe full of aliens and strange elder beings pulling the strings on it all. Do you have what it takes to become The Master and ascend past the greatest martial artists in the multiverse to the Sweet Sixteen, Elite Eight, Final Four and on to the grand intergalactic title, and the truth behind The Tower and its secret machinations? There is only way to find out: enter the arena, and fight!