Now that I have my main game mechanic idea settled, I needed to think about how this mechanic could work in my game in terms of what are the functions of this mechanic, how long the mechanic should last for and how it would affect the players game-play experience. First I need to research (in-depth) about games that have a massive focus of time manipulation whether as a game mechanic that is used throughout the game but only throughout specific sections of the game or the core mechanic that is used throughout the entirety of the game and thinking about how those mechanics work for example should it be used to defeat enemies or used to advance from one area to the next and how long the mechanic should last for making sure it doesn't last too quickly or last too long.
One game that uses time manipulation as its core mechanic is Braid which is a 2D platform/puzzle game that allows you to manipulate the flow of time to help the main character traverse around the game's environment the puzzle aspect of the game comes from the problem solving aspect as for example if there is an enemy that is in the players way, then the thoughts that the player usually thinks about when an enemy is in there way (from getting to their main objective) is how can I get past that enemy without taking any damage/ or losing a life etc. Normally, when a player dies from an enemy they would typically be sent straight back to the start of a level (or at the beginning of a checkpoint depending on if there is a checkpoint within the level), however a really helpful mechanic that Braid has is that if you feel like you will die/lose health from an enemy, then you can rewind backwards in time just before you take damage from the enemy so that you can have another chance at defeating the enemy which can then help you advance to the next section of the level.
There are other game mechanics in Braid that are related to the concept of time manipulation (not just rewinding backwards in time), for example, normally if a player is having trouble trying to solve a puzzle, they would receive a hint of information of how to complete the puzzle (if they're stuck on that puzzle) whether it’s received by an NPC or an interactable object presented into the game environment i.e. a written clue on a signpost or a visual clue such as a figure demonstrating how to execute the solution to the puzzle then the player sees and copies the actions of how to complete the puzzle.
There is a mechanic within Braid that makes an identical copy of the character which the player can activate if the player is having trouble with a puzzle and the copy can help the player complete the puzzle by visually demonstrating how the player should complete the puzzle for example, if there is a tricky enemy stopping the player from completing a level or a tricky to reach platform that the player misses to reach to the platform and keeps falling to their doom, then the copy can demonstrate on how to complete the level which can lead to helping the player to complete the puzzle as well, it comes as an idea that the player is seeking the guidance of their future self in a way with the use of time travel and their future self is helping them achieve the goal they want to achieve in their current present self.
One game that has a core mechanic to do with time manipulation but doesn't heavily expand on that mechanic throughout the whole game is the Legend of Zelda; Breath of the wild, it may not entirely focus around time manipulation however, there is one mechanic in that game that has something to do with that concept which is the stasis rune which allows the player to freeze an object completely (for a short period of time) and this allows the player to solve puzzles that reside inside of the glowing structures that are dotted around the entirety of the world of Hyrule known as shrines in fact you first encounter this mechanic whilst discovering one of the first shrines (the Owa Daim shrine to be exact) you discover during the very beginning of your play through of the game and have to solve a puzzle by using the very mechanic you obtained at the beginning of the shrine.
The way you navigate through this shrine is that there is a rotating platform being operated by a rotating gear that is continuously spinning and the player needs to figure out how to reach the other side of the platform, the solution to getting past this obstacle is pretty simple, with the use of the stasis mechanic, the player can direct it at the spinning cog to stop it from rotating thus making the platform stationary, the frozen in time effect should give the player enough time to cross to the other side to the next obstacle they need to cross in order to complete the shrine.
The next obstacle has gigantic boulders rolling towards the edge of the area the player is standing on and falls into the abyss of the shrine after one boulder falls into it, another ball appears, there isn't really an easy way around these obstacles normally, however with the use of the stasis rune, the player can make the boulder stationary and carefully but quickly move past the boulder which can lead them to the final hurdle (obstacle) before completing this shrine, the final obstacle the player has to get through is that there is a boulder blocking the players way, as many attempts the player tries to get past the boulder to the end goal but keeps falling down continuously into the abyss, however there is a solution to this dilemma, not only can the stasis rune stop an object entirely at its place, the player can also use any weapon and hit the object repeatedly whilst in its frozen state before its effect wears off, when the player first strikes the object, a pointing arrow will appear, depending where the arrow is facing, this is the new direction the object will move to, thus if the player keeps striking the object, the speed of the object heading towards that direction will also increase as well, realizing this new knowledge about the stasis rune, the player uses the rune with object in hand and strikes the boulder over and over again until the path is clear and finally completing the shrine.
Stopping objects and striking them to move with intense speed isn't the only thing you can do with the stasis rune, if the player chooses to upgrade the rune (an option which is available to the player once they discover the Hateno Ancient Tech Lab and is given to them via a side quest), then with the new upgrade of Stasis +, it will allow the player to freeze enemies, which can help players deal a lot of damage to the enemy or can merely avoid the enemy entirely if they just want to quickly walk past them, this is also helpful against boss enemies as you can disrupt the moments they chose to attack the player which can help the player deal more damage towards them and giving them time to equip new weapons or heal.
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