I think you're going about it the wrong way. I know, your creative vision and all that, but your premise and your goal are misaligned. You want a parody, but to play it straight. That doesn't work. Or at least, requires a great deal of careful balance and skill with a very thin success window and very wide fail rate.
I think it would be better if you go a horror game angle. First: Everyone loves indie horror games, and it would also help to add in the trope of yet another damn RPGmaker horror game. Second, it allows you to 100% play straight things going weird or going wrong. The doppelganger forgetting the last time it saw you it was a redhead. A serial kidnapping of people mentioning certain verboten topics, like the words "Taiwan", "Black", or "Female". The uncanny valley of "We were always called the Strawhat Wizards. Black Wizards are wrong. There are no Black Wizards. There never have been Black Wizards. Are you remembering Ẅ̴̷̨̛̤̗̯̗͎̗̳͍́̄̒̃ͩ̒̀͛͘͜͜͞R̨̢̡̧͎̫͕̫̩͓̲ͥͮ̓̾ͪͦͮ̇̕͢͡͠ͅO͌ͩ̌ͧ̓̌̓ͯ̕͜͞͠͝͏̶͎̝͖̖̫̲̩̱͘N̶̨̨̺̙̼̳̟̯̪͖̄̐͐̍͆̆ͬ̌̀͝͝͠͞G̵̶̛̬̫̮̥͇̲̠̲͋̄̊͂͊ͯ̋̒̀̕͘͘͟information?" kind of vibe.
Otherwise, I think you need to play it less straight and more into the parody angle. You should definitely have some on-disc DLC in that case, and like Dragon Age, make it seem really time-sensitive but then just not able to do it. "My village is burning! Right over there! Help!" ->You can't enter this area without the DLC! Expected Release Date 13/13/2024. -> "You monster! Why won't you help me!? Don't just leave us to die like this!" [Your karma has gone down].
I think you're going about it the wrong way. I know, your creative vision and all that, but your premise and your goal are misaligned. You want a parody, but to play it straight. That doesn't work. Or at least, requires a great deal of careful balance and skill with a very thin success window and very wide fail rate.
I think it would be better if you go a horror game angle. First: Everyone loves indie horror games, and it would also help to add in the trope of yet another damn RPGmaker horror game. Second, it allows you to 100% play straight things going weird or going wrong. The doppelganger forgetting the last time it saw you it was a redhead. A serial kidnapping of people mentioning certain verboten topics, like the words "Taiwan", "Black", or "Female". The uncanny valley of "We were always called the Strawhat Wizards. Black Wizards are wrong. There are no Black Wizards. There never have been Black Wizards. Are you remembering Ẅ̴̷̨̛̤̗̯̗͎̗̳͍́̄̒̃ͩ̒̀͛͘͜͜͞R̨̢̡̧͎̫͕̫̩͓̲ͥͮ̓̾ͪͦͮ̇̕͢͡͠ͅO͌ͩ̌ͧ̓̌̓ͯ̕͜͞͠͝͏̶͎̝͖̖̫̲̩̱͘N̶̨̨̺̙̼̳̟̯̪͖̄̐͐̍͆̆ͬ̌̀͝͝͠͞G̵̶̛̬̫̮̥͇̲̠̲͋̄̊͂͊ͯ̋̒̀̕͘͘͟information?" kind of vibe.
Otherwise, I think you need to play it less straight and more into the parody angle. You should definitely have some on-disc DLC in that case, and like Dragon Age, make it seem really time-sensitive but then just not able to do it. "My village is burning! Right over there! Help!" ->You can't enter this area without the DLC! Expected Release Date 13/13/2024.
I think you're going about it the wrong way. I know, your creative vision and all that, but your premise and your goal are misaligned. You want a parody, but to play it straight. That doesn't work. Or at least, requires a great deal of careful balance and skill with a very thin success window and very wide fail rate.
I think it would be better if you go a horror game angle. First: Everyone loves indie horror games, and it would also help to add in the trope of yet another damn RPGmaker horror game. Second, it allows you to 100% play straight things going weird or going wrong. The doppelganger forgetting the last time it saw you it was a redhead. A serial kidnapping of people mentioning certain verboten topics, like the words "Taiwan", "Black", or "Female". The uncanny valley of "We were always called the Strawhat Wizards. Black Wizards are wrong. There are no Black Wizards. There never have been Black Wizards. Are you remembering **Ẅ̴̷̨̛̤̗̯̗͎̗̳͍́̄̒̃ͩ̒̀͛͘͜͜͞R̨̢̡̧͎̫͕̫̩͓̲ͥͮ̓̾ͪͦͮ̇̕͢͡͠ͅO͌ͩ̌ͧ̓̌̓ͯ̕͜͞͠͝͏̶͎̝͖̖̫̲̩̱͘N̶̨̨̺̙̼̳̟̯̪͖̄̐͐̍͆̆ͬ̌̀͝͝͠͞G̵̶̛̬̫̮̥͇̲̠̲͋̄̊͂͊ͯ̋̒̀̕͘͘͟ **information?" kind of vibe.
Otherwise, I think you need to play it less straight and more into the parody angle. You should definitely have some on-disc DLC in that case, and like Dragon Age, make it seem really time-sensitive but then just not able to do it. "My village is burning! Right over there! Help!" ->You can't enter this area without the DLC! Expected Release Date 13/13/2024.
I think you're going about it the wrong way. I know, your creative vision and all that, but your premise and your goal are misaligned. You want a parody, but to play it straight. That doesn't work. Or at least, requires a great deal of careful balance and skill with a very thin success window and very wide fail rate.
I think it would be better if you go a horror game angle. First: Everyone loves indie horror games, and it would also help to add in the trope of yet another damn RPGmaker horror game. Second, it allows you to 100% play straight things going weird or going wrong. The doppelganger forgetting the last time it saw you it was a redhead. A serial kidnapping of people mentioning certain verboten topics. The uncanny valley of "We were always called the Strawhat Wizards. Black Wizards are wrong. There are no Black Wizards. There never have been Black Wizards. Are you remembering Ẅ̴̷̨̛̤̗̯̗͎̗̳͍́̄̒̃ͩ̒̀͛͘͜͜͞R̨̢̡̧͎̫͕̫̩͓̲ͥͮ̓̾ͪͦͮ̇̕͢͡͠ͅO͌ͩ̌ͧ̓̌̓ͯ̕͜͞͠͝͏̶͎̝͖̖̫̲̩̱͘N̶̨̨̺̙̼̳̟̯̪͖̄̐͐̍͆̆ͬ̌̀͝͝͠͞G̵̶̛̬̫̮̥͇̲̠̲͋̄̊͂͊ͯ̋̒̀̕͘͘͟ information?" kind of vibe.