Heya! This is Jo and I'm working on an RPG for the ongoing IGMC2017, tentatively titled Heaven's Door.
It's a condensed RPG, where I (as usual) attempted to 'reverse engineer' traditional RPG mechanics and make it the simplest and funnest I can.
Some mockups (I'm still on the graphics creation stage while I figure out the code structure in my head)
The battle screen. I'm going to add a shade of black to the player sprites. The battle system is simplified but dynamic-; commands are entered in real time using directionals (you assign up to 4 spells and items per character to the directionals)and, while the battles are turn based, the Combo counter is constantly rolling so you're encouraged to make quick decisions to keep it up and reap its plethora of effects. Ability scope is automatic; healing always targets the ally with least HP, attacks always target the front enemy, all debuffs target all allies / enemies.
The Specialty screen. The art is placeholder, not created by myself, and is ripped from Valkyrie Profile. I just used it to help set the creative tone and have something as a placeholder on the menu; i'll be replacing it with my own art in a couple of days.
Outside battle, thigs are simple as well: There's no Experience nor Levels, you gain AP after every battle and can use it to increase your characters' Specialties. These do thing ranging from automatically healing a low HP ally without using up items or turns, to surviving fatal damage with 1HP, to countering enemy attacks. You can equip 4 of these and bring them to battle; they will often add special effects to your commands such as Healing Guard that lets Guarding recover (the party's!) HP, or Shock Arrow that has a chance of resetting the enemy's turn counter on hitting them.
Lastly, my graphics for the game. Dungeon design has metroidvania elements, with cutting open trees, swapping places with statues and freezing and engaging enemies. Still early, but hope it'll be an endearing experience!
Stay tuned for progress! : D
