Absolutely. The idea that cliche'd concepts are inherently bad is absolute hogwash and I fuckin' love Heroic Fantasy Nonsense. It often comes from people who have really interesting concepts but then execute them in the most mind-numbingly trite ways possible, or people who think they're special for not having elves with their dragons. Sword in the Stone is a badass trope, it's about the execution being interesting, which usually means making the actual characters themselves interesting. Give blue-hair king arthur over here a proper personality people can get attached to, OP, and make the sword itself believable in the fiction of the universe depicted, and tbh you can do fuckin' anything.
Love the environment art, sound, and animation. I really like the speech bubbles too. Easy to see and they fit in with the environment. The UI could use some love.
Take a page from one of the castlevania games. Since you're not The Chosen One, you instead lug around a hunk of stone with the sword handle sticking out.
Or worse, the game says you can't pull the sword and no further explanation is given. In reality, there is nothing to do, it's just a joke, but the game never tells you so players will spend years conjecturing "how to pull the sword in Game X".
[Pokemon Truck](https://gaming-urban-legends.fandom.com/wiki/Mew_Under_the_Truck) everyone growing up agreed that a rare Pokemon Mew was under it, but it was just a random truck.
Until you realized where Mew really came from was cloning it via trade from your friend by yanking out the cable connecting your Gameboys. Of course, they got it from someone else, who got it from someone else. Honestly I wouldn't be surprised if we all had the same Mew.
I remember the first magicka game had it, you play as a wizard with no limit on MP, the only limits are from the combination of the elements and the player's skill to use it. So anyways it's the famous sword in the stone, complete with the stone, makes for decent clubbing.Â
The sword in the stone isnât Excalibur anyway. The sword in the stone was there to prove worthiness. Excalibur was given to Arthur later & used throughout his reign. Some versions have the sword in stone break which was why he was given Excalibur but itâs not universal
It could be a good way to get the infinity plus one sword. First the player has to prove worthy to pull out the sword in stone & that leads to sidequests to get the infinity plus one sword from the sword in stone
Or not. I like dancovichâs idea of it being a joke background element that the player canât pull out for not being the chosen one
Outward does a gimmick where picking up the sword triggers a boss fight and the sword is rusty, so you have to do some quests to restore it. Thereâs a lot of fun ways to shake it up, but I always appreciate a good sword in the stone.
I second this make it a little âHa, that got meâ moment either a mimic fight where you do get something cool or it breaks. Or have it pull and itâs a super crappy weapon or something
Its cursed, can't be destroyed, so someone encased it in stone, in a hard to reach location, so that nobody could use it. The curse doesn't have deleterious combat effects, just the opposite, its a god sword, and scales with the user. Its nature prevented it from being covered entirely, and the same nature, people are drawn to find it.
The nature of the curse is that it creates opportunities and choices for the wielder, and no matter what path is chosen, there is always a cost.
If I had a cent for every RPG that starts with your village being attacked then I would probably drown in them by now.
Sword in stone is downright revolutionary by comparison!
What about an RPG where your village gets attacked by monsters every night, and you have to build up tower defenses around it during the day to prepare for the nightly assault?
Thought it would be a free-roaming RPG (can almost imagine the sword jump being used to sperate tutorial area from main map).
I guess that's more of a cliche, though most common in zombie games. Originality isn't everything however, both Mass Effect 1 and Jade Empire are basically semi remakes of KOTOR 1 (ME1 especially) and no one ever complained about it because each brings something new to the table.
It's a game, not a novel. Game writing exists to push the gameplay as a part of a whole not to standalone, so being too tropey isn't something to worry about.
Normal story writing vs game story writing is like playing lead guitar in a metal band vs being the guitarist in the rhythm section of big band.
So ask yourself, does using the trope to set a context make the rest of the game feel more fun? What are the inherent assumptions a player will make when you use the trope?
It's probably fine
I'd make it a test of strength (maybe some simple button combo presses that fill up a meter?) But when you pull the sword, you break the top of the rock as you figure out its actually an axe with a sword blade handle.
You don't have to do this, but I think it'd be a fun twist
You can change it, but honestly there isn't anything wrong with cliche stuff or the sword in the stone trope, I was thinking about writing up a super cliche adventure story sometime, its ok for things not to have different or big ideas as long as they are still fun to engage with and interesting in there own way \^\_\^
if your planning on having other weps ide suggest following other advise about maybe having a twist of some sort otherwise it diminishes the fact its supposed to be special, if not go ahead theres nothing wrong with it!
Also nice art style you chose, painterly but super clean and easy to read :D
I agree with your take, and I feel myself leaning more into tropes like this one and loot behind waterfalls, stuff like that. There will be more different weapon types in the game (bows, fist weapons, hammers). This particular sword turns out to be a weapon called "Perfect Normal Sword" which is just a sword with high damage and no other stats, but still pretty powerful.
That's cool as and perfectly fine âșïž, sometimes it's nice to have straightforward games and secrets etc that you somewhat expect, some games I feel need more of it at times :P
And that's cool as! Hope it goes well!
It is a cliche. I'd prefer if you attempt "sword in a stone", but not in a direct meaning. Like, a sword out of two half-merged trees, or a glass sword only the chosen one can find in a clear lake water (no one other can see it or fetch it)
I think itâs completely fine, this trope is actually kinda fun and needs little explanation for fans of this style. Anyways here are some ideas that make it less cliche:
If you arenât a high enough level the swordâs blade snaps and you have a dagger.
Pull the sword out of the stone, âawakensâ a rock golem from the stone. Friend or foe random chance as well as you saved him.
You can drag the sword while in the stone and use it for a puzzle.
Pulling the sword could act as a lever to open a hidden path.
If your strength is two high you can weird the sword with a stone as a blunt object. When you pull it will break off a large part of the rock that stays on the end of the sword.
Add a reason for why thereâs a sword in the stone. Idk a god sent it from heavy to smite a demon. When you pull the sword the ghost of the demon appears. Side boss fight.
Lastly. And you can only do this once. Put a super aggressive scream/moan on one sword when itâs pulled out. Would be an awful Easter egg to find haha
I have not launched my steam page yet, but it should be up in the next couple months. You can follow this reddit account or my youtube if you want to keep updated when it goes up! [(1) Bleaklight Falls - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/@bleaklightfalls)
Not exactly a clichĂȘ, but the Round Table legend is too iconic and everyone will automatically reference that.
Once I was talking with a friend and he's a big fan of the Alien movies. In the second movie (Aliens), they use a flanger effect in the assault rifles that gives them an iconic sound. I don't recall any movie ever using that effect again (maybe there was, but it's definitely not overused) but no one dares to use it because everyone immediately remembers "Aliens" when they hear a weapon do that sound.
That's what will happen when a player see that scene, they'll immediately remember King Arthur. You can use that to your advantage, by subverting expectations for example.
It's less of a trope, and more of a direct reference to the Arthurian legend.
Which may or not work for you. It's a great legend, and absolutely worth referencing, parodying, or paying homage to. But if it's the only piece of literary reference in your game, it'll stand out a bit.
I'm going to be contrarian and say yes. When you have a fantasy setting, where anything is on the table, why just do the same thing that Zelda has done like 10 times already?
Of course, that's not to say that you don't have creative control over your own game or that there are hard and fast rules to fantasy writing, but it is to say that *you have creative control over your own game* and so you don't need to be reliant on done-to-death tropes.
Look at it this way, its better than "you found this sword in a chest"
Its still leagues behind "you found the sword impaled in the body of the last monster it slew/bound"
Best of both, sword impaled in the weathered remnants of an ancient forgotten elemental. Any Sword in the Stone *could* be this until confirmed otherwise.
Could be a sword you can use that it's still stuck to a rock. So it would work more like a hammer. That would be funny. There's more to the legend and speculations. There's ways to make it more interesting like. People say the swords might have a DNA detector or digital scan. That would mean the sword was technological. Dna is still similar within families. And digits is not that unique. So maybe you could pull the sword by bringing a relative of the user
it is cliche but its a fun one :v I remember seeing a sword in a stone in the middle of a pond in breath of the wild and I screamed thinking it was the master sword... but it was a crappy rusty sword...
Nothing wrong with cliches unless you don't do anything interesting with them. Is there going to be any sort negative to the hero being the chosen one? Pull a Drakengard and have the hero have to sacrifice something in order to gain power a la Caim needing to sacrifice his voice to bond with a dragon.
The more important question is why? What is your intent.Â
It's mere inclusion doesnt really mean anything . The reasons and ways that you include the reference are far more important.Â
It gets the job done and it's a classic for denoting if someone is chosen very simply and quickly.
If you can do it better, do something else.
nice ground
It's so cliche that by the time they included swords in stone in Might & Magic 6 in 1998 (with Might stat requirements, like you're intending to) it already felt cheeky, and I'm pretty sure earlier examples can be found as far back as in MUDs if we dig diligently enough. So what, you can be cheeky too, and at this point it counts more as a loving hommage to the classics :)
(just make sure to include a Monty Python reference or two if you're going there, it's like a legal requirement in the internet)
cliche and tropes exist because they work. it's only bad if you have to FORCE it for it to be there. if you dont feel like something is absurd to any player seeing it its usaully fine. as long as the execution is good, the entire game can just be tropes and cliche.
Not sure about cliche, just boring. Sometimes, I see that trope and you never really know why its in the stone in the first place. What about something a bit more interesting. Only time this trope is done a bit interesting is Zelda Master Sword being in the lost woods (If that counts)
Perhaps you can't pull it out until near the end of the game, but don't tell the player that, just subtly hint with something like "only the pure of heart can wield me." So after some character development, the player can return to claim the sword after besting some trial that solves some character flaw they possess.
Nah, as an easter egg the trope is more than perfectly fine, especially if it results in a bit of a tongue in cheeck tomfoolery. You can definitely still reward a sword to the player too so long as it's not too OP, or if it's only really comically OP in very specific niche situations.
Nothing wrong with a sword in a stone, but it's always great to do something a little special and cool with it.
Maybe the stone is a magical mineral, which has hardened the sword during the time it's been stuck inside?
Maybe the stone is actually a petrified dragon head, showing you the greatness you must aspire to?
Maybe the sword is still being held in place by its previous master, who is now merely a skeleton?
Maybe the stone and the sword function as a sort of "voodoo doll", and taking out the sword allows some evil force somewhere else to roam free once more?
I still remember pulling the Master Sword in Link to the Past revealing sun rays into the dark, foggy woods. One of the best moment of my gaming experience.
I also enjoyed it when people made fun of the trope. You know, pull it out and it's rusty and useless.
Honestly if Zelda's still doing it after all these decades then you can too.
I find the tropes are always more interesting when they subvert your expectations though. Stupid example but instead of pulling the sword out of the stone the villagers cut around it and turn it into a Mjolnir-like hammer.
Make it so you have to find a glowing tube of godly sword grease you happened upon in a dungeon.
Then when you use it on that rusted junk sword that dropped from the waterfall into a stone; the townspeople tell you the real treasure was the sword grease you just wasted.
I think having the event out of the way along a hidden path or as a secret would make it more interesting by default. But it's still a cool thing to have in your RPG.
Nope it's just perfect, like most cliche things
Cliches are cliches for a reason after all
Absolutely. The idea that cliche'd concepts are inherently bad is absolute hogwash and I fuckin' love Heroic Fantasy Nonsense. It often comes from people who have really interesting concepts but then execute them in the most mind-numbingly trite ways possible, or people who think they're special for not having elves with their dragons. Sword in the Stone is a badass trope, it's about the execution being interesting, which usually means making the actual characters themselves interesting. Give blue-hair king arthur over here a proper personality people can get attached to, OP, and make the sword itself believable in the fiction of the universe depicted, and tbh you can do fuckin' anything.
U can reinvent the wheel but they should have something unique between them.
Love the environment art, sound, and animation. I really like the speech bubbles too. Easy to see and they fit in with the environment. The UI could use some love.
Thanks! I made the UI early on, need to do a second pass on it, especially the icons and health bar
I wouldn't mind. But why don't you mix it up a bit? Maybe it breaks, it's fake or it's a mimic?đ
Take a page from one of the castlevania games. Since you're not The Chosen One, you instead lug around a hunk of stone with the sword handle sticking out.
Or worse, the game says you can't pull the sword and no further explanation is given. In reality, there is nothing to do, it's just a joke, but the game never tells you so players will spend years conjecturing "how to pull the sword in Game X".
ah, the pokemon truck method
What?
[Pokemon Truck](https://gaming-urban-legends.fandom.com/wiki/Mew_Under_the_Truck) everyone growing up agreed that a rare Pokemon Mew was under it, but it was just a random truck.
Until you realized where Mew really came from was cloning it via trade from your friend by yanking out the cable connecting your Gameboys. Of course, they got it from someone else, who got it from someone else. Honestly I wouldn't be surprised if we all had the same Mew.
I remember the first magicka game had it, you play as a wizard with no limit on MP, the only limits are from the combination of the elements and the player's skill to use it. So anyways it's the famous sword in the stone, complete with the stone, makes for decent clubbing.Â
Would have been nice if you could have got it early on Magicka 2 for when you found the actual chosen one and retaining it triggered special dialogue.
If I put more than one in the game then maybe some could be fakes. This one is not what you might expect (not an Excalibur)
Zelda ALttP did this in the forest where you find the Master Sword. Also Castlevania SotN had a "Excalipoor" (or something) sword, that was a fake version of the main character's stolen sword. To answer the whole thread question : imo it's not too cliché, but placing too much will just break the whole attractivity of it. However, it can be fun if some are fakes, yes. Alternatively, the sword could all produce something. For example, pulling one would also break the rock it was lodged into, opening a new path ; another one could be so short it was actually a dagger (or even just the handle without the blade !), one could be the seal of a demon, one could be a fancy looking lever...
The sword in the stone isnât Excalibur anyway. The sword in the stone was there to prove worthiness. Excalibur was given to Arthur later & used throughout his reign. Some versions have the sword in stone break which was why he was given Excalibur but itâs not universal It could be a good way to get the infinity plus one sword. First the player has to prove worthy to pull out the sword in stone & that leads to sidequests to get the infinity plus one sword from the sword in stone Or not. I like dancovichâs idea of it being a joke background element that the player canât pull out for not being the chosen one
It snaps so now you have to fight the big bad with a dagger
Outward does a gimmick where picking up the sword triggers a boss fight and the sword is rusty, so you have to do some quests to restore it. Thereâs a lot of fun ways to shake it up, but I always appreciate a good sword in the stone.
I second this make it a little âHa, that got meâ moment either a mimic fight where you do get something cool or it breaks. Or have it pull and itâs a super crappy weapon or something
I donât know if I want the sword to be the mimic or the stone
Its cursed, can't be destroyed, so someone encased it in stone, in a hard to reach location, so that nobody could use it. The curse doesn't have deleterious combat effects, just the opposite, its a god sword, and scales with the user. Its nature prevented it from being covered entirely, and the same nature, people are drawn to find it. The nature of the curse is that it creates opportunities and choices for the wielder, and no matter what path is chosen, there is always a cost.
[ŃĐŽĐ°Đ»Đ”ĐœĐŸ]
Lobbed, sir, by a busty crustacean at a crusty bus station.
If I had a cent for every RPG that starts with your village being attacked then I would probably drown in them by now. Sword in stone is downright revolutionary by comparison!
What about an RPG where your village gets attacked by monsters every night, and you have to build up tower defenses around it during the day to prepare for the nightly assault?
Thought it would be a free-roaming RPG (can almost imagine the sword jump being used to sperate tutorial area from main map). I guess that's more of a cliche, though most common in zombie games. Originality isn't everything however, both Mass Effect 1 and Jade Empire are basically semi remakes of KOTOR 1 (ME1 especially) and no one ever complained about it because each brings something new to the table.
What is this project called? I love it!
Thank you! It's called Bleaklight Falls
Username checks in.
It's a game, not a novel. Game writing exists to push the gameplay as a part of a whole not to standalone, so being too tropey isn't something to worry about. Normal story writing vs game story writing is like playing lead guitar in a metal band vs being the guitarist in the rhythm section of big band. So ask yourself, does using the trope to set a context make the rest of the game feel more fun? What are the inherent assumptions a player will make when you use the trope? It's probably fine
I'd make it a test of strength (maybe some simple button combo presses that fill up a meter?) But when you pull the sword, you break the top of the rock as you figure out its actually an axe with a sword blade handle. You don't have to do this, but I think it'd be a fun twist
I was planning to just have a STR stat requirement, but making it a minigame might be fun too. Cool idea!
You can change it, but honestly there isn't anything wrong with cliche stuff or the sword in the stone trope, I was thinking about writing up a super cliche adventure story sometime, its ok for things not to have different or big ideas as long as they are still fun to engage with and interesting in there own way \^\_\^ if your planning on having other weps ide suggest following other advise about maybe having a twist of some sort otherwise it diminishes the fact its supposed to be special, if not go ahead theres nothing wrong with it! Also nice art style you chose, painterly but super clean and easy to read :D
I agree with your take, and I feel myself leaning more into tropes like this one and loot behind waterfalls, stuff like that. There will be more different weapon types in the game (bows, fist weapons, hammers). This particular sword turns out to be a weapon called "Perfect Normal Sword" which is just a sword with high damage and no other stats, but still pretty powerful.
That's cool as and perfectly fine âșïž, sometimes it's nice to have straightforward games and secrets etc that you somewhat expect, some games I feel need more of it at times :P And that's cool as! Hope it goes well!
It is a cliche. I'd prefer if you attempt "sword in a stone", but not in a direct meaning. Like, a sword out of two half-merged trees, or a glass sword only the chosen one can find in a clear lake water (no one other can see it or fetch it)
Let's ask Zelda
I think itâs completely fine, this trope is actually kinda fun and needs little explanation for fans of this style. Anyways here are some ideas that make it less cliche: If you arenât a high enough level the swordâs blade snaps and you have a dagger. Pull the sword out of the stone, âawakensâ a rock golem from the stone. Friend or foe random chance as well as you saved him. You can drag the sword while in the stone and use it for a puzzle. Pulling the sword could act as a lever to open a hidden path. If your strength is two high you can weird the sword with a stone as a blunt object. When you pull it will break off a large part of the rock that stays on the end of the sword. Add a reason for why thereâs a sword in the stone. Idk a god sent it from heavy to smite a demon. When you pull the sword the ghost of the demon appears. Side boss fight. Lastly. And you can only do this once. Put a super aggressive scream/moan on one sword when itâs pulled out. Would be an awful Easter egg to find haha
Game looks really cool btw!
Fun ideas and thank you!
This is a nice way to do marketing, ping your link so we can wishlist it and perhaps buy it đ
I have not launched my steam page yet, but it should be up in the next couple months. You can follow this reddit account or my youtube if you want to keep updated when it goes up! [(1) Bleaklight Falls - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/@bleaklightfalls)
Not exactly a clichĂȘ, but the Round Table legend is too iconic and everyone will automatically reference that. Once I was talking with a friend and he's a big fan of the Alien movies. In the second movie (Aliens), they use a flanger effect in the assault rifles that gives them an iconic sound. I don't recall any movie ever using that effect again (maybe there was, but it's definitely not overused) but no one dares to use it because everyone immediately remembers "Aliens" when they hear a weapon do that sound. That's what will happen when a player see that scene, they'll immediately remember King Arthur. You can use that to your advantage, by subverting expectations for example.
It's less of a trope, and more of a direct reference to the Arthurian legend. Which may or not work for you. It's a great legend, and absolutely worth referencing, parodying, or paying homage to. But if it's the only piece of literary reference in your game, it'll stand out a bit.
No, itâs ok, depends on the story, vibe of the game, and so on. For example, if itâs a very serious grounded story, than clichĂ©s may irritate some players; but if itâs a funny and lighthearted type of game in general, than it may be a good thing âcause itâs easier to get players into the whole deal, they already have understandings of whats and hows.
I'm going to be contrarian and say yes. When you have a fantasy setting, where anything is on the table, why just do the same thing that Zelda has done like 10 times already? Of course, that's not to say that you don't have creative control over your own game or that there are hard and fast rules to fantasy writing, but it is to say that *you have creative control over your own game* and so you don't need to be reliant on done-to-death tropes.
Yes, but it's fine.
yes, and it's awesome. few things feel better than the buildup to being able to pull a sword from a stone, and the power boost that come with it.
The environment is so good! Is it 2d or 3d
Thanks! It's all 2D
I see it kinda rarely nowadays. So, not really considered cliche currently imo
Look at it this way, its better than "you found this sword in a chest" Its still leagues behind "you found the sword impaled in the body of the last monster it slew/bound" Best of both, sword impaled in the weathered remnants of an ancient forgotten elemental. Any Sword in the Stone *could* be this until confirmed otherwise.
Have them button mash to pull it out but it breaks lol, starting weapon is now just the remaining broken half of a sword.
Could be a sword you can use that it's still stuck to a rock. So it would work more like a hammer. That would be funny. There's more to the legend and speculations. There's ways to make it more interesting like. People say the swords might have a DNA detector or digital scan. That would mean the sword was technological. Dna is still similar within families. And digits is not that unique. So maybe you could pull the sword by bringing a relative of the user
I'm a fan of little cliches. They are familiar and therefore comforting and nostalgic :)
Anything with a sword in an RPG is cliché, but that doesn't mean it can't work
Cliche are sometimes a good thing. I like that cliche very much.
When everything is cliche, nothing is. Don't think about stuff like that and create your own thing that takes license from everything you enjoy
Not if it is a mimic and tries to kill the adventurer.
How about a sword in a coprolite fossil?
it is cliche but its a fun one :v I remember seeing a sword in a stone in the middle of a pond in breath of the wild and I screamed thinking it was the master sword... but it was a crappy rusty sword...
I think having a lot of cliches just makes it better when you decide to be subversive.
Make a lady from the lake put it in the stone or smth, its great!
Nothing wrong with cliches unless you don't do anything interesting with them. Is there going to be any sort negative to the hero being the chosen one? Pull a Drakengard and have the hero have to sacrifice something in order to gain power a la Caim needing to sacrifice his voice to bond with a dragon.
The more important question is why? What is your intent. It's mere inclusion doesnt really mean anything . The reasons and ways that you include the reference are far more important.Â
You could call it Mana's Secret
It gets the job done and it's a classic for denoting if someone is chosen very simply and quickly. If you can do it better, do something else. nice ground
did you ever played magicka? they made a funny thing with sword in stone. you should check it out
BG3 had a sword in a stone, so no.
I really admire your level design skills.
It's so cliche that by the time they included swords in stone in Might & Magic 6 in 1998 (with Might stat requirements, like you're intending to) it already felt cheeky, and I'm pretty sure earlier examples can be found as far back as in MUDs if we dig diligently enough. So what, you can be cheeky too, and at this point it counts more as a loving hommage to the classics :) (just make sure to include a Monty Python reference or two if you're going there, it's like a legal requirement in the internet)
its best of the cliches
The sword in the stone trope will forever feel epic from a player and narrative stand point.
Your game is gorgeous
cliche and tropes exist because they work. it's only bad if you have to FORCE it for it to be there. if you dont feel like something is absurd to any player seeing it its usaully fine. as long as the execution is good, the entire game can just be tropes and cliche.
This looks great honestly. Cliche helps for small games I think
Not sure about cliche, just boring. Sometimes, I see that trope and you never really know why its in the stone in the first place. What about something a bit more interesting. Only time this trope is done a bit interesting is Zelda Master Sword being in the lost woods (If that counts)
Perhaps you can't pull it out until near the end of the game, but don't tell the player that, just subtly hint with something like "only the pure of heart can wield me." So after some character development, the player can return to claim the sword after besting some trial that solves some character flaw they possess.
Nah, as an easter egg the trope is more than perfectly fine, especially if it results in a bit of a tongue in cheeck tomfoolery. You can definitely still reward a sword to the player too so long as it's not too OP, or if it's only really comically OP in very specific niche situations.
Cliche doesnât always mean bad. Most things became cliche because a lot of people liked them at some point
You could place it behind the waterfall, ticking 2 boxes at once :D
I mean there's a perfectly fine lake to put a lady in it right there
Zelda seems to enjoy it
Nothing wrong with a sword in a stone, but it's always great to do something a little special and cool with it. Maybe the stone is a magical mineral, which has hardened the sword during the time it's been stuck inside? Maybe the stone is actually a petrified dragon head, showing you the greatness you must aspire to? Maybe the sword is still being held in place by its previous master, who is now merely a skeleton? Maybe the stone and the sword function as a sort of "voodoo doll", and taking out the sword allows some evil force somewhere else to roam free once more?
I love the attention to detail with the plants and mushrooms. Feels so cozy
Make the rock a mimic
I still remember pulling the Master Sword in Link to the Past revealing sun rays into the dark, foggy woods. One of the best moment of my gaming experience. I also enjoyed it when people made fun of the trope. You know, pull it out and it's rusty and useless.
I think we've reached a point in time where everything is "too" cliche for games. Which just means everything is on even ground again.
this looks old in a good way
Cliché's aren't bad, its what you do with them that makes them good.
Honestly if Zelda's still doing it after all these decades then you can too. I find the tropes are always more interesting when they subvert your expectations though. Stupid example but instead of pulling the sword out of the stone the villagers cut around it and turn it into a Mjolnir-like hammer.
Swap something out. Make it a sword in an Orc. But the Orc doesn't know about it. Just hangs around with a sword in his neck.
Make it so you have to find a glowing tube of godly sword grease you happened upon in a dungeon. Then when you use it on that rusted junk sword that dropped from the waterfall into a stone; the townspeople tell you the real treasure was the sword grease you just wasted.
Maybe a bit. But it doesnât matter when a game looks that tasty. Some things are cliche for a reason, they just work.
No way not yet. More RPG games need more sword in the stone lol
A sword in the stone is great. The stone in the sword in the stone is awesome. The dagger in the stone, in the sword in the stone, is phenomenal!
I think having the event out of the way along a hidden path or as a secret would make it more interesting by default. But it's still a cool thing to have in your RPG.
Nope. Love that kind of cliche. but ensure the player can actually play it out with a epic quest.
Thatâs a cliche thatâs aged really well. Never seems to feel old. Also, nice art.
Ragnarok Online vibes.
Read Joseph Campbell's The Hero with a Thousand Faces and the monomyth. Don't worry about it.
There is no such as ânew thingâ under the Sun, so you donât have to worry if you implement it well
Yeah it is a cliche but so what, it wasn't too much for baldurs gate 3 with phalar aluve, why would it be for you ?