The Cosmere as Video Games

[GeneralHZRD]

Let me just start this by saying that there may be spoilers in the following. 

So I was thinking about the Mistborn video game that was canceled and it got me thinking, what kinds of video games would be the best for the different Cosmere worlds. I was talking with my brother-in-law (also the one who got me hooked on BS) about this and we came up with what we think are some great ideas.

 

Stormlight Archive: Real Time Strategy (RTS), (Starcraft, The original Warcraft, most of the Command and Conquer games.) 

The Stormlight Archive lends itself to the RTS format very well, with the ability to have many different teams that all play very differently: Alethkar, Parshendi/Listeners, Ghostbloods, The followers of the Diagram, and more. All of these teams would have their heroes, such as Radiants, and Fused. They would also all play very differently, creating very different strategy's and lending themselves to different peoples play styles, for example: The Parshendi could have the ability to change the "forms" of all their units giving them the ability to go from having hundreds of workers to hundreds of soldiers. There would also be the ability to have vastly different maps ranging from the Shattered Plains to the Purelakes. Each of these locations could influence the game in a verity of ways.

 

Mistborn: Third-Person Role Playing Game (RPG), (Assassins Creed, Tomb Raider,)

We considered making this an MMO, the problem with this is that there would be far too many mistborns running around. The only way to limit this would be to limit people to mistings, but we felt that would be far less interesting given the universe. So our solution, a story driven RPG. We didn't really talk much about the mechanics of the game or how the ability of the metals would manifest in the game, but we think it's the best fit.

 

Reckoners: Massively Multiplayer Online Game (MMO), (World of Warcraft)

I know this isn't Cosmere, but It is still a great idea. We were thinking about which of BS series would work the best as an MMO, the problem is that given the way most of his worlds works, there would be way too many magic users around, be they Mistborn, Radiants, or otherwise. Then we though about The Reckoners as an MMO, there wouldn't be hundreds of people with magic or superpowers. In fact the Epics would be perfect for bosses in instances and raids.

I'm curious what you all think. What styles of games do you think would fit Cosmere worlds? Any thoughts on my ideas? Let discussion ensue!

P.S. Alcatraz is totally an 8-bit Mario style plat-former.

[Merrickz]

I've always loved the idea of Cosmere games because Brandon makes such clear-cut magic systems they could be so easily applied to games. I agree with all your game ideas especially reckoners, I would play that game to death. I'm seriously intrigued by your suggestion of a Stormlight RTS because I never even considered it but now you say it it sounds so perfect for the setting. Mistborn would work extremely well as a game as it has such defined rules and consistent rules for its magic unlike something like the Reckoners which has a lot more unpredictability to it with such varying powers for Epics

A friend and I once had a similar conversation to the one you and your brother-in-law had about a Mistborn game but we came up with the idea of a Action / Mystery Game set in Mistborn Era 2 where you could choose your abilities so that you could be a misting, ferring, twinborn or have no powers at all. We thought it would play best as a dishonoured style game, couldn't decide on 1st or 3rd person but it would play like dishonoured in that you'd have multiple ways to complete a mission but some would require certain powers e.g. you can swim into the sewers but it would require you to be a Gasper because you need a certain amount of oxygen to get in, or you could choose the guns blazing approach with feruchemical gold like Wayne (or I guess not because of the whole no guns thing, so duelling canes blazing?). 

We had some pretty cool idea going too e.g. you have Tin lookouts on the roof but using Nicrosil you could stun them by forcefully overloading their senses allowing you to take them down. As a mystery game, I thought it'd be cool if you collect information throughout your missions and at the end of each mission you'd be given snippets of information based on what your character remembers but then if you had chosen to be an archivist you could remember information perfectly better allowing you to piece together the next steps to take. Also for some random fun, we thought adding the ability to have no powers at all or useless power like Allomantic Aluminium would be a fun hardcore mode where you had to beat opponents of off skill with guns and duelling canes alone. 

The major roadblocks we met while brainstorming were that we both were complete novices when it comes to coding and game design as were both 17 at the time and that we don't know enough about what some powers do, how compounding of some of the metallic arts work e.g. Copper or Chromium.

I'm sure we will revisit this concept in future when we know more about the metallic arts and have a bit more practical experience. I would love to make this game even as just a fan work because honestly, I'd love to play it.

[King Cole]

2 minutes ago, Merrickz said:

I've always loved the idea of Cosmere games because Brandon makes such clear-cut magic systems they could be so easily applied to games.

But how would you adapt Mistborn's magic into game format? With emotional allomancy, Feruchemy's varied aspects, and steel/iron lines, it would be hard to meld these well into a game format.

[GeneralHZRD]

@Merrickz I love your idea for a Mistborn game, like I said in the OP we hadn't talked about how the game would work at all. Yours would be amazing, I especially love the being able to complete the missions in different ways based on what abilities you took at the start. I really like open ended games like that so that part sound awesome. I also like how by using that system, it would almost have some puzzle elements because you'd have to figure out how to solve each mission using the powers you've got.

Edited February 1, 2018 by TheVillageIdiot

[Merrickz]

I talked a bit about it above but I do get what you mean especially with emotional Allomancy but I thought that when selecting emotional Allomancy you can choose whether it be wide ranging or single target and then choose a specific emotion to play with much like dialogue options in fallout where you play on a specific emotion to get a reaction, for example, while in stealth you use an AOE blast of Zinc to increase fear in the surrounding guards then when you come out to confront the guards they are more likely to flee or in conversation if you want to gain information you increase trust in the target and then it makes them more likely to talk.

As for steel and iron, I'm still working on that but I've considered Iron working like a grapple e.g. Just Cause

The key thing to remember is that like the novels its based on this Game idea is a fantasy so limits are off for size and complexity so each different power can be as complex as I like without any need to worry about streamlining the game because 'it doesn't exist' he whispered ominously

Edited February 1, 2018 by Merrickz
One extra paragraph I forgot

[Merrickz]

@TheVillageIdiot Thanks, I love talking about Mistborn games wherever possible and puzzle element was a favourite idea because one of my favourite parts of Brandon's books they are puzzley and they have enough foreshadowing to let you realise the big reveals before the book tells you about them like the end of Mistborn 3 (which I got about 1 chapter before it happened and made me feel unbelievably smart even though it probably wasn't the most well-hidden mystery and I'm probably just as simple as ever.)

Edited February 1, 2018 by Merrickz
Clarification

[Dave-turtle]

I really like the “StormLightCraft” idea. My brother and I have been talking about this and I think that there could be some really interesting mechanics that you could use. The Parshendi Being a small force but being able to change forms into different Specialized units is an interesting idea.

[Wyndlerunner]

On 2/1/2018 at 11:23 AM, TheVillageIdiot said:

Mistborn: Third-Person Role Playing Game (RPG), (Assassins Creed, Tomb Raider,)

We considered making this an MMO, the problem with this is that there would be far too many mistborns running around. The only way to limit this would be to limit people to mistings, but we felt that would be far less interesting given the universe. So our solution, a story driven RPG. We didn't really talk much about the mechanics of the game or how the ability of the metals would manifest in the game, but we think it's the best fit.

You know, I came up with some interesting ideas for a Mistborn game, entirely unrelated to your post, but if you did want to have the sort of character specialization that RPGs like Skyrim and Dark Souls offer, it would be interesting if you put skill caps on Mistborn characters. Mistborn have a lot of variety, but can only acheive a certain level for each metal, while the individualized Mistings would be able to far surpass the Mistborn in their levels of power with their specific metals. So this way, you can have a balance of powers. Mistborn have variety, but only moderate strength, while Mistings are far surpassing in skill level, but only have the ability to use the one metal.

[Use the Falchion]

On 2/1/2018 at 10:23 AM, TheVillageIdiot said:

Stormlight Archive: Real Time Strategy (RTS), (Starcraft, The original Warcraft, most of the Command and Conquer games.) 

The Stormlight Archive lends itself to the RTS format very well, with the ability to have many different teams that all play very differently: Alethkar, Parshendi/Listeners, Ghostbloods, The followers of the Diagram, and more. All of these teams would have their heroes, such as Radiants, and Fused. They would also all play very differently, creating very different strategy's and lending themselves to different peoples play styles, for example: The Parshendi could have the ability to change the "forms" of all their units giving them the ability to go from having hundreds of workers to hundreds of soldiers. There would also be the ability to have vastly different maps ranging from the Shattered Plains to the Purelakes. Each of these locations could influence the game in a verity of ways.

 

Mistborn: Third-Person Role Playing Game (RPG), (Assassins Creed, Tomb Raider,)

We considered making this an MMO, the problem with this is that there would be far too many mistborns running around. The only way to limit this would be to limit people to mistings, but we felt that would be far less interesting given the universe. So our solution, a story driven RPG. We didn't really talk much about the mechanics of the game or how the ability of the metals would manifest in the game, but we think it's the best fit.

I always thought Stormlight would work better as a story-driven RPG. Like the old Bioware ones. You'd take control of a character in one of the previous desolations, and the choices you make would affect what order you end up joining. For bonus points, the final map of the game would be the scene right before the Prelude in WoK. The game would end on a happy note, with the Heralds announcing that the Desolations were finally over. Then you read the Prelude and realize, that the entire ending was a lie.

Mistborn you're spot on, although it might be easier to do the farther back in time you go. However...like the Stormlight idea above, what if the story actually follows Alendi's journey? The biggest problem would be the ending, of course, but the game doesn't actually have to stop at the Well of Ascension. What if there's a final boss right before it? It helps the fans believe that Alendi completed his goal without needing to see it, and when they pick up TFE, they realize that things haven't gone according to plan.

[Pathfinder]

On 2/1/2018 at 1:23 PM, TheVillageIdiot said:

Let me just start this by saying that there may be spoilers in the following. 

So I was thinking about the Mistborn video game that was canceled and it got me thinking, what kinds of video games would be the best for the different Cosmere worlds. I was talking with my brother-in-law (also the one who got me hooked on BS) about this and we came up with what we think are some great ideas.

 

Stormlight Archive: Real Time Strategy (RTS), (Starcraft, The original Warcraft, most of the Command and Conquer games.) 

The Stormlight Archive lends itself to the RTS format very well, with the ability to have many different teams that all play very differently: Alethkar, Parshendi/Listeners, Ghostbloods, The followers of the Diagram, and more. All of these teams would have their heroes, such as Radiants, and Fused. They would also all play very differently, creating very different strategy's and lending themselves to different peoples play styles, for example: The Parshendi could have the ability to change the "forms" of all their units giving them the ability to go from having hundreds of workers to hundreds of soldiers. There would also be the ability to have vastly different maps ranging from the Shattered Plains to the Purelakes. Each of these locations could influence the game in a verity of ways.

So I totally agree that Stormlight would make an amazing war game, and I have been saying that for a long time now, though my only disagreement is between real time versus tactical. I think stormlight would work as a strategy/tactical RPG. The reason for the distinction is a tactical RPG would open up leveling (for oath advancement) and more surgebased uses compared to a real time strategy game (to me). A lot of how fire emblem currently works, with the abilities would be very easily translated to stormlight. 

[Wyndlerunner]

10 minutes ago, Pathfinder said:

A lot of how fire emblem currently works, with the abilities would be very easily translated to stormlight. 

Storms Yeah! I'd love a Stormlight game with Fire Emblem mechanics. (So I think I can now officially say that Dalinar Kholin= Best Lord)

[Use the Falchion]

6 hours ago, Wyndlerunner said:

Storms Yeah! I'd love a Stormlight game with Fire Emblem mechanics. (So I think I can now officially say that Dalinar Kholin= Best Lord)

Adolin used Astra! Crits all around. Love it. 

[Wyndlerunner]

18 minutes ago, Use the Falchion said:

Adolin used Astra! Crits all around. Love it. 

Adolin is obviously the Myrmidon/swordmaster type character.

[Use the Falchion]

19 hours ago, Wyndlerunner said:

Adolin is obviously the Myrmidon/swordmaster type character.

You know, it might work weirdly. 

Dalinar would either be the early-game prepromote (great stats, but terrible growth rates most of the time*) or a very weird take on the Lord. 

Adolin, as you said, could be the Myrmidon/swordmaster. But we also don't have that many horse-riders on Roshar, so Adolin could fulfill a niche role as a Cavalier. 

Kaladin - and by proxy most of Bridge Four - is a Soldier. Or the future Lord of the game, but goes through the first part of the game as a Soldier.

Shallan has that red-headed Mage thing down.

Jasnah is the late game Sage.

Lift is the Thief. 

Szeth...I mean, it'd be easy to label him as Assassin...although he probably would fit Swordmaster just as well. 

Renarin would be a Shaman.

Navani would be...a Sniper maybe...? Or probably a new class. 

Wit is the Bard!

 

 

*exceptions include Seth, Titania, Frederick, and Felicia.

[Pathfinder]

On 11/2/2019 at 3:35 PM, Use the Falchion said:

You know, it might work weirdly. 

Dalinar would either be the early-game prepromote (great stats, but terrible growth rates most of the time*) or a very weird take on the Lord. 

Depending on which video game, I would see Dalinar as either an oni chieftain with the crit ability that the lower his health is, the higher his crit chance is. Or could potentially be a general (lol literally and class wise) with pavise to reduce incoming damage. 

On 11/2/2019 at 3:35 PM, Use the Falchion said:

Kaladin - and by proxy most of Bridge Four - is a Soldier. Or the future Lord of the game, but goes through the first part of the game as a Soldier.

I think windrunners would be better represented by pegasus knights. They can fly, get lances, and staves (the staff used would reduce enemy movement to zero). There you got gravitation and adhesion.

On 11/2/2019 at 3:35 PM, Use the Falchion said:

Shallan has that red-headed Mage thing down.

Lightweaving could be accomplished like the mechanist class with replicate. Give them limited uses of the abilities, and maybe have the illusions get 1 hp. Soulcasting can function like dragon veins, just it is a per use power. 

On 11/2/2019 at 3:35 PM, Use the Falchion said:

Jasnah is the late game Sage.

Have her function like dragon veins and teleport squares, just like I mentioned above, have them be a per use. 

On 11/2/2019 at 3:35 PM, Use the Falchion said:

Lift is the Thief. 

Lift would be a troubador. Large movement via horse (abrasion), and staves (regrowth). Only problem would be the weapon being magic. Dustbringer could be a malig knight. Again large movement via horse (abrasion), and tome magic attack would be division. 

On 11/2/2019 at 3:35 PM, Use the Falchion said:

Szeth...I mean, it'd be easy to label him as Assassin...although he probably would fit Swordmaster just as well. 

Skybreakers would be wyvern lord (if I remember correctly) with ax and tomes. Again flying, and blasting would cover gravitation and division. 

On 11/2/2019 at 3:35 PM, Use the Falchion said:

Renarin would be a Shaman.

Maybe the mechanist again, but have to change one of the weapons to staves for the healing

On 11/2/2019 at 3:35 PM, Use the Falchion said:

Navani would be...a Sniper maybe...? Or probably a new class. 

Lol Navani I don't know. 

On 11/2/2019 at 3:35 PM, Use the Falchion said:

Wit is the Bard!

Neither do i know with him lol

 

[Use the Falchion]

6 hours ago, Pathfinder said:

Depending on which video game, I would see Dalinar as either an oni chieftain with the crit ability that the lower his health is, the higher his crit chance is. Or could potentially be a general (lol literally and class wise) with pavise to reduce incoming damage. 

I think windrunners would be better represented by pegasus knights. They can fly, get lances, and staves (the staff used would reduce enemy movement to zero). There you got gravitation and adhesion.

Lightweaving could be accomplished like the mechanist class with replicate. Give them limited uses of the abilities, and maybe have the illusions get 1 hp. Soulcasting can function like dragon veins, just it is a per use power. 

Have her function like dragon veins and teleport squares, just like I mentioned above, have them be a per use. 

Lift would be a troubador. Large movement via horse (abrasion), and staves (regrowth). Only problem would be the weapon being magic. Dustbringer could be a malig knight. Again large movement via horse (abrasion), and tome magic attack would be division. 

Skybreakers would be wyvern lord (if I remember correctly) with ax and tomes. Again flying, and blasting would cover gravitation and division. 

Maybe the mechanist again, but have to change one of the weapons to staves for the healing

Lol Navani I don't know. 

Neither do i know with him lol

 

Great choices for Dalinar and the Windrunners. Maybe early Dalinar would have been a an Oni Savage/Cheiftan, and later Dalinar would have been a Great Knight (or sword using General)? It could be like 3H where Windrunners start as soldiers and then can turn into Pegasus Knights. Navani would totally be a mechanist! Why didn't we think of it sooner!

Most of the other characters fall into specific tropes rather than what their order would best be suited as (i.e. Shallan being the red-head mage like Ewan, Tormod, Ricken and Miriel (and if official artwork hair color is anything to go by, Laurent), Hayato, and even Annette (to a degree) have been).

Lift might turn into a troubadour, but the first time we see her, she's literally a thief. And both Awakening and Fates have promotions for thieves that can use staves. Give her Pass for large movement. 

The rest of your choices I 100% agree with. 

[Eluvianii]

I've always liked that idea of Mistborn as a story-driven RPG. It could be split in action and Game of Houses sections. In the action ones you would mainly use physical metals. It would take a lot of skill to juggle them but I'm thinking a slow-motion system would help with that, like, when you have to shot coins time slows so you can choose a numer of targets (depending on your level) or for movement maybe have an option to choose several anchors and when time starts moving again, you hit al the targets or make that stunt in one swift movement. Those actions could cost flaring the metals.

As for the other sections, it could be walking around the city during daytime or attending parties and stuff like that to get information, that's where emotional metals come into play. Maybe craft a system where depending on who you affect, with which metal and on what level, they give you different answers, so that the information gathering would be entirely up to the player giving a sense of freedom.

This would be completely unnecesary but maybe have an online mode with team battles where each team has a limited number of players, each one a misting specialized in one metal? Physical metals would be the attack power and emotional metals the support (like lowering speed or attack power with the pretext that they confuse them or lower their motivation).

 

Warbreaker could work with the character collecting ideas on how to use Awakening, either along with the story or by the player finding something that makes the character say "Hey, I could use this.". They would have to carry a stack of cloth pieces for the color and probably have certain objects in the enviroment work as fuel too.

 

Aons are easy enough, you learn them, you use them. So I think it could be a mistery game with a big map with a with the pacing of the story up to the player. To advance you have to discover secrets, to access those secrets you need certain aons, so you have to find where to learn them. The more you advance the more map and characters you have access to. You get the idea.

 

I completely agree with Stormlight as a strategy RPG but since I live for traditional epic RPGs I'll throw my idea because why not. What about a game series (or a really long game) where you control a set of Radiants where you have to take decisions for them and at the end of each game (or each chapter in the one game scenario) they have to swear an Oath but depending on the decisions you take they might not swear it, so the only way to see the true ending is if you manage to make all of them advance on their Radiancy.

The combat system could be either real time or turn-based but I think turn-based would work best since otherwise you'd have to ask the players to master ten different playstyles potentially. This way, having multiple characters at a time is easier. So, the battles would occur in a grid with free movement to allow each order to shine. You would have Windrunners and Skybreakers flying over the terrain, Edgedancers attacking several units a turn by dancing among them, Elsecallers throwing sticks on fire, Lightweavers placing decoys or confusing enemy units, Stonewards creating pools for the enemies to fall on or using plushies as throwable weapons, etc. Of course normal battles would be pretty simple as you wouldn't want to waste Stormlight in lower enemies but this would allow for some pretty impressive boss battles I think.

 

This is all I can think about right off the bat.

[Pathfinder]

17 hours ago, Use the Falchion said:

Great choices for Dalinar and the Windrunners. Maybe early Dalinar would have been a an Oni Savage/Cheiftan, and later Dalinar would have been a Great Knight (or sword using General)? It could be like 3H where Windrunners start as soldiers and then can turn into Pegasus Knights. Navani would totally be a mechanist! Why didn't we think of it sooner!

Good point. three houses also opens up being able to use weapons that do not match the class. So you could get a holy knight for edgedancers giving them the large movement, healing magic, and sword or lance. 

17 hours ago, Use the Falchion said:

Most of the other characters fall into specific tropes rather than what their order would best be suited as (i.e. Shallan being the red-head mage like Ewan, Tormod, Ricken and Miriel (and if official artwork hair color is anything to go by, Laurent), Hayato, and even Annette (to a degree) have been).

Ah I gotcha. I was going off of purely mechanics, but appearance and story wise makes sense too. 

17 hours ago, Use the Falchion said:

Lift might turn into a troubadour, but the first time we see her, she's literally a thief. And both Awakening and Fates have promotions for thieves that can use staves. Give her Pass for large movement. 

Good point. 

17 hours ago, Use the Falchion said:

The rest of your choices I 100% agree with. 

Thanks!

[Lunu’anaki]

I've always thought a Warbreaker prequel game where you play as Vasher with Nightblood would be a cool action RPG in a style similar to Witcher 3.

 

On 2/1/2018 at 1:23 PM, TheVillageIdiot said:

 

Stormlight Archive: Real Time Strategy (RTS), (Starcraft, The original Warcraft, most of the Command and Conquer games.) 

 

Stormlight as an RTS is such a good idea!

On 10/31/2019 at 1:29 PM, Use the Falchion said:

I always thought Stormlight would work better as a story-driven RPG. Like the old Bioware ones. You'd take control of a character in one of the previous desolations, and the choices you make would affect what order you end up joining. For bonus points, the final map of the game would be the scene right before the Prelude in WoK. The game would end on a happy note, with the Heralds announcing that the Desolations were finally over. Then you read the Prelude and realize, that the entire ending was a lie.

That is brilliance on a whole new level!! You need to pitch this to Brandon as soon as possible. You might end up with a key role in the development process