MV - The Halcyon Project Development Thread

The Halcyon Project is a direct sequel to Geiken, in that it takes place immediately after the Canon Ending. Like its predecessor, it will be story heavy in an open world and will use an Action Battle System for combat. Unlike its predecessor, the story will focus on a smaller cast of characters and a tighter, more personal storyline. This will allow for the player to form cohesive relationships (positive or negative) with the characters surrounding them as well as create more philosophically and morally difficult choices for them to partake in.

The story will run on two tracks. The first track is the story of the Halcyon, a being out of legend that takes the form of a horse and is capable of resolving any conflict between any number of disputing parties by creating an abstract mindscape and traversing through them to find the problems. In the beginning of the game, the player will be presented with the option to pick one of four "Riders", people who represent a specific philosophical viewpoint that the player can choose to apply as their solution to the conflict or reject in favor of their own. The more in sync the Halcyon is with their Rider, the closer they become as companions and the more gameplay benefits will arise. This story will be told in chapters, and will typically be about these character's travels to different villages and areas, solving the local conflicts.

The second track focuses on a woman named Astraea, who is rescued from death via being implanted with cybernetic augments. Astraea's story will mainly revolve around helping a fading technological society find their way back into prosperity, and in doing so the player will have the choice of further giving the character to the machine, or holding her back to retain what is left of her humanity. Additionally, several romance options will be available and will add to the overarching storyline Astraea will be central to. This story will be told in episodes.

Both stories will feature multiple paths and culminate in four different endings. How these two storylines tie together will lead into the event that the entire series is building up to - The Great Unity.

The Halcyon Project takes place in a world known as the Mornaht. It is comprised of three main areas - the Ymerium, the Nimarien, and the Gaium.

The Mydori, the inhabitants of the Ymerium, follow a triumvirate of godlike beings known as the Aspectuals. These three follow the absolute laws of the Mornaht, known as the Fundamentals: Balance, Resipiscence, and Fate. The fourth Fundamental, Duality, is a forbidden Fundamental and its Aspectual is the cause of an event known as the Cataclysm, which the Mydori believe has fully separated them from their "ancestral home".

The Mydori that do not follow the Fundamentals have split off and became known as the Talorn. They live within the Nimarien. The Aspectuals have taught the Mydori that what binds them together are entities known as "Chords", and that by denying the Fundamentals, the Talorns' Chords have been severed.

It is the belief that a being known as the Halcyon will come to the Mydori and interpret the final phrase the Aspectuals said before departing for the Gaium (an ethereal plane that surrounds the Mornaht), "Unity in Death", and bring about an event known as the "Great Unity". According to the Mydori, this event will bring together the two halves of the Duality Fundamental and undo the damage wrought by the Cataclysm and return to the Ancestral Home.

Meanwhile, the Talorn seek to bring about the Great Unity on their own through technological advancement, and do so without aid from the Aspectuals.