Steampunk Shinobi

Steampunk Shinobi (SPS) was a dark roguelike 3D action RPG in early development which followed a lineage of shinobi in their battle to end the eternal war plaguing their land. Gameplay was divided into a hub map – the HQ – and missions. In the Shinobi HQ, players first chose an heir from three randomly generated Shinobi. Like Rogue Legacy, each heir had random conditions (like “Colorblind” or “Sociopath”) that would affect play. After selecting an heir, players could spend resources to improve the Shinobi’s HQ, a permanent progression unlocking new stealth & movement abilities, classes, and gameplay modifiers. In addition to changing their loadout and practicing moves, players could also read a newspaper detailing world changes that happened between runs. Looted equipment could be banked at HQ, but equipment only increased in power if worn into the field, where it could be lost. Leaving the HQ started the next run.

Each run, or mission, saw the player sneak and fight their way past enemies and avoid/exploit traps with the goal of crossing the world map and killing the enemy leader. Expanding on the ninja theme, AI jump meshes ensured enemies jumped onto trains and buildings, stealing scrolls unlocked new combat skills, and equipment could be looted from enemies and treasure chests. While regions on the world map were fixed, region maps were procedurally generated from map modules. Once generated, these regions changed state between runs; for example, if the player saves a town, then it would grow into a city next run, but if the player failed, the town would fall into ruin and become a bandit camp instead. Regions were also affected by the frontlines shifting back and forth between runs. These changes affected region appearance and enemy, trap, and shop spawn frequencies. Unfortunately, the game was pitched during a year of reduced investment and layoffs, and despite a warm reception of the prototype, the game was ultimately cancelled.