I realized I was pretty unusual with the character design fairly quickly when I was looking at what other people were creating.
Her outfit was influenced by some of my favorite sets from Skyrim and the crystal in the chest is actually inspired by Iron Man's Arc Reactor. I deliberately didn't make Briella cute- I figured she was supposed to be a warrior so I drew her a bit more muscular (as much as you can tell with my art) and gave her short hair because it wouldn't get in the way. I mean, I don't think I've ever managed "cute" in my art style, but next time I'll give it a shot. Some of the choices were influenced by what I can draw and what I really struggle with. Although no helmet would have been easier- I still have a lot of trouble with those.
I had absolutely no idea about the magical transformation, either. I was starting to get an inkling about my character design being off early on but I didn't know anything about a transformation sequence until after the fact. Too bad- I think in retrospect I could have worked that in fairly easily, certainly much easier than reworking the character design. Perhaps for the sequel if I ever get around to that.
Plot-wise, I noticed a lot of the other games put the protagonist up against monsters and nightmares, and there was this recurring theme of fighting against evil. Is this typical of Magical Girl media or just something people tended toward for some reason?
Doing things a little different- for better or for worse- is pretty much my thing these days. As long as people had some fun with Shattered, I'm happy.