Anima Mundi - An Overview

The designer (Josh Basi) pitch - "Traverse across a diverse spiritual world full of wonder and mystery, solve puzzles and reclaim balance by repelling evil spirits in this 3D Open-world RPG. Discover yourself by overcoming obstacles and using your inner abilities granted to you by Spiritual Wardens. Tread lightly, there are many beings who find mortals who meddle with the spirits troublesome".

Anima Mundi is an adventure RPG that features exploration and puzzle-solving, driven by a spirited narrative, with some elements of combat and interactive dialogue.

The theme - based in a spiritual world made up of six distinct regions, the player takes the role of a Shaman who is on a journey enlightenment and self-discovery.

Shaman definition - a person regarded as having access to, and influence in, the world of good and evil spirits, especially among some peoples of northern Asia and North America. Typically such people enter a trance state during a ritual, and practise divination and healing).

In each of the six regions in the game, there will be spiritual creatures to confer with and puzzles to solve that will acquire souls that are used to charge the Shaman's staff and activate different abilities. One ability is taken from each region and acquired by conferring with the spiritual warden of that region. The player cannot speak to the spiritual guardian until they have collected enough souls specific to the region.The player cannot pass onto other regions until this part of the game is completed in the previous ones.

Completion - obtain the six abilities from the spiritual guardians in order to restore balance in the game world.

Features

Souls - collected and charges the abilities respective to their region e.g Earth souls charge rock building ability. Obtained from puzzle-solving.

Elemental abilities - After interaction with spiritual guardian, the player will receive a relic which visualises one of the elemental abilities and will be stored in the inventory for the player to refer to. Charging a particular ability costs one soul.

Crafting to upgrade abilities - This is not clear at all, is it relevant?

Backtracking is required to collect more souls/resources in order to charge the staff (abilities).

Environments, progression and abilities

The six regions have stark differences in their design that are representative of a particular earthly element. The environments will be built so that the player will have to make use of the acquired abilities in order to traverse it and complete the game objectives.

To traverse through each region, the player will require an ability that was acquired in the previous region. For example the air region requires the ability to create boulders which is acquired and charged using souls from the earth region.

The six regions are as follows:

The Earth Region - Ruled by the deer spirit and inhabits bears, horses and cats. The whole region is connected to one massive tree. The earth beneath the Shaman's feet pulsates with energy that flows throughout the region and breathes life into the surrounding organisms. Visual design: green, overwhelming beauty, energy, spirituality, an insight into the themes of the game. The ability gained from this region is known as "Boulder throw".

The Air Region - Requires "Boulder throw" ability gained in the earth region in order to solve puzzles and reach the guardian spirit. It is ruled by the dragon spirit and is inhabited by owls, eagles and butterflies. The visual design is made up of floating islands that will challenge the player to use the earth ability. The ability acquired after meeting the spirit dragon is known as "Gust" and allows the player to blow a gust of wind.

The Fire Region - Puzzles in this region are more difficult and will require the use of both the air and earth abilities. It is rules by the Phoenix spirit and inhabits jaguars, spiders and racoons. The spirits are aggressive towards the mortal shaman. The Phoenix spirit will gift the player the "Lava stream" ability. Visual design includes darkness, smoke and flames.

The Water Region - An island only accessible after acquiring the lava stream ability. It is an island ruled by the serpent spirit and inhabited by turtles, dolphins and frogs. The spirit guardian will gift the player the water propulsion ability which allows the Shaman to create an upwards burst of water that has different affects in the different regions,

The Ice Region - The most dangerous region. Some abilities are rendered useless by the temperature - water ability freezes. It's ruled by the wold spirit and inhabited by polar bears, foxes and penguins. The stormy atmosphere will block the players vision. In this region, the player will receive the Frost Fortification ability used to defend against lightning and to freeze water.

The Thunder Region - The final region requires all previous 5 abilities to complete. It is ruled by the wolf spirit guardian and is inhabited by pandas, snakes and bats. Cloudy and thunderous skies. The ability gained from the wolf spirit allows the Shaman to create a powerful strike of lightning using the staff. It can shatter obstacles.