Game
Rock Beyond Time
2 years ago

Let's get some questions out of the way.


Question 1: What even IS Rock Beyond Time?

Um... it's an action-RPG in the style of games like Secret of Mana, Illusion of Gaia, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, and other SNES classics.

Question 2: What does that title even mean?

As far as I'm concerned, it's a catchy title with the words "Rock" and "Time" in them. I threw in "Beyond" due to certain events that happen within the game.

Question 3: So, why is it music-themed if it's not a rhythm game?

A better question: Why aren't Castlevania titles exclusively survival horror games? Because "Horror" is a theme, not a game-defining genre. Similarly, just because Rock music is a theme of the game doesn't mean it has to have rhythm-game elements.

Question 4: Inspirations?

Here's a list of some of them:

  • Illusion of Gaia

  • Terranigma

  • Secret of Mana

  • Secret of Evermore

  • The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

  • Final Fantasy X

  • Chrono Trigger

  • Rock & Rule

  • Macross: Do You Remember Love?

  • Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind

...yeah, a lot of cult classics and other things.

Question 5: Why's it subtitled Project Dragolanx?

Well, there were two action-RPG-type games I made before this: The Other Phalanx (available in the NukeOTron Sucks Collection) and Dragonian: The Imbalance of Sierr. I wanted to combine elements of both. This led to the Altearth build. (I still have a copy of this build, by the way.) However, I realized that the Altearth idea was a bit too ambitious, considering it was meant to be my own take on a Soul Blazer/Terranigma-type plot with traveling around the real world to famous landmarks which were gates to Altearth, the other world of fairies, aliens, and other cryptids. Oh, and saving souls to rebuild Altearth.

So, I scaled it back, ended up with the design of Myles Taylor, and just straight-up tried to make another attempt at a Dragonian sequel. Originally, he was Myles Thayer (named after Rick Thayer from Dragonian), but Taylor was a typo that stuck, and rolled off the tongue better. Also, Susan Abernathy (named after Violet Abernathy, from a script idea for a Dragonian sequel that went nowhere) was loosely based on Nausicaa, and just had the Let's Rock shirt put on her, and messier hair.

Question 6: Will there be a sequel?

...I don't know. How can I follow this up? Sure, I've got story ideas, but nothing video-game-worthy, as far as I know. Again, I'd love to see Myles Taylor in a fighting game, but I don't make fighting games.

Question 7: Was this Q and A even necessary?

No. No, it wasn't.

7


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