VORTEX

 

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VORTEX is an upcoming fighting game/RPG/umbrella game hybrid being developed by Pyro Enterprises alongside its subsidiary company, LapisFire. Not much is known about it at the moment.

Gameplay

VORTEX is a "competitive RPG", designed around player-vs-player combat with RPG gameplay and elements of the umbrella and fighting genre. Each player picks three characters from the roster to form a team, then goes head to head against another player over the internet or through local play.

Each playable character is unique, having a full set of skills exclusive to them. In addition, each character has three "Skills", passive effects with possibly tide-turning abilities. Only one of the three Skills can be equipped per character, so some strategy is required to figure out your ideal team.

Leveling Up

True to the RPG genre, VORTEX contains a leveling system. However, due to the competitive nature of the game, levels are not actually saved to the character. Instead, a mechanic known as the Gain System is used. All characters begin a match at LV 1, and at the end of every turn, everyone alive earns a Token, which raises them to the next LV. When a character increases their LV, their stats increase; the amount by which a stat increases is referred to as their stat Gain. In addition, reaching a certain LV unlocks new parts of a character's moveset.

Equipment/Customization

Various pick-ups known as Equipment can be discovered by playing various solo modes such as Dungeon Crawl and The Coliseum. Much like Super Smash Bros. 4, characters can be equipped with certain pieces of equipment that match their character (for instance, Phosphora is incapable of equipping Armor defensive equipment as she lack armor normally, but can equip Scarf defensive equipment), though it acts similarly to Xenoblade Chronicles or other RPGs, with specific slots for offensive, defensive, and accessory equipment.

Other forms of customization include Skills (which are only chosen before entering a mode or a battle in Vs. Mode), Trio Pieces (the effect of the character's attack in a Trio Attack), and Souls. Souls are spirits of other playable characters, which enable a character to use low-level abilities of another character.

Modes

Battle

The primary mode of the game, Battle is a player-on-player mode. Each player secretly selects three team members as well as one skill each, then duke it out in an arena based on one of the represented series. While characters are stationary like in a normal turn-based RPG, some environmental effects may occur depending on the arena and what the circumstances are.

Dungeon Crawl

Dungeon Crawl is the main 1-player mode, akin to the Classic mode of the Smash Bros. series. Players pick a three-person team, load them with equipment, and send them into a 5-layer 3D top-down dungeon, which is randomly generated.

Each floor is themed after a different franchise, and has enemies from each series on it. Unlike Battle mode, characters retain all gathered LV Tokens between battles, letting characters become far stronger than normal. At the end of the final floor, the party has to deal with a boss fight from the series that the final floor represents. If the boss is beaten, then the mode is cleared and the player is awarded with ALTs of the characters in the party.

Enemies and bosses drop equipment that can be applied to characters in the customization menu, and it can also be found in hidden chests around the dungeon.

Event

Event mode lists a series of "events", which are scenarios from represented franchises. These pit predetermined characters against predetermined opponents or bosses, often with predetermined skills or other methods of altering the game for added challenge. The player must ensure that the event goes the same as the actual scenario, and follow the event's rules as opposed to simply beating the enemy normally.

Quest

Quest mode is the final main mode, acting as the game's Subspace Emissary-style story mode. It is played similarly to Dungeon Crawl, but is far, far longer, and characters, skills, and equipment can be swapped from a constantly increasing list of unlocked content. In addition, the dungeons are not randomized and are permanently stable, and saving is allowed so that the player may take breaks.

Quest mode is the primary place to unlock new content, including equipment, arenas, and even fighters. It is also the only mode to contain a large amount of original content.

Characters

Default

Skill 1	Skill 2	Skill 3
Phosphora Kid Icarus: Uprising	Phosphora is essentially personified lightning. She's there one moment, gone the next, and when she strikes, serious damage is bound to occur. Then again, she's really not one to use her full potential, typically flirting or otherwise slacking off instead of really giving it her all. Will her adventures in the Vortex change her? Who knows. Phosphora is the game's embodiment of speed. She has one of the highest starting SPD stats alongside the third-highest SPD Gain, meaning she'll go before just about anything. While she can do a fair amount of damage on her own, and will typically attack before defenses are raised due to her speed, she lacks durability and needs to be paired with a good healer or someone to draw the aggro. Her moveset is full of electrical attacks, some melee and some ranged.
Lightning Rod Phosphora automatically absorbs all electrical attacks used by the opponent's party and uses them to boost her offensive stats.	Static Field An aura of electricity surrounds Phosphora at all times, inflicting Paralyze or Numbness on any direct attackers.	Electrical Fire Phosphora's electrical attacks gain the added ability to inflict Blaze on the target.
Porky EarthBound	At first glance, Porky seems like a bratty, snot-nosed little pig of a child. Behind that repulsive exterior, however, lies the mind of an evil genius who has conquered time itself and may have possibly taken command of the most fearsome creature in existence: Giygas. Porky now ventures to the deepest reaches of the Vortex, in search of... something. Utilizing technology from the Absolutely Safe Capsule, Porky has become a tank character, with high DEF and RES starting stats and Gains alongside low equivalents for SPD. In terms of moveset, Porky is annoying as could possibly be programmed, being tough to kill alongside throwing out tons of status effects and hazards.
In Hiding When low on HP, Porky will hide behind the ally with the most HP, having them take the hit instead. This fails if Porky is the last one alive.	Porky Pox Status effects inflicted by Porky takes 1.6 times as long to cure naturally. Does not affect curing abilities or items.	Heavily Armed Reduces Porky's DEF and RES Gains, but increases his POW and MAG Gains, making him eventually become more offensive.
Ringabel Bravely Default	Ringabel, putting it bluntly, is a bit of a womanizer. On top of that, the semi-amnesiac isn't overly smart, tact, or helpful in the slightest. Somehow, though, he just has that charismatic charm to him that makes him endearing. At any rate, Ringabel's quest in the Vortex has him in search of his friend Edea, rumored to be lost inside the depths of the wormhole. Ringabel's stats are hard to pin down. His entire gimmick is swapping between five classes- Freelancer, Monk, Black Mage, White Mage, and Dark Knight- to change his stats and movesets around. While his actual stats are dependent on his job, however, Ringabel's Gains specialize in DEF and SPD. No matter the class, Ringabel is also capable of using the Bravely Second move, which stuns him and a chosen enemy for a few turns.
Default Increases Ringabel's DEF and RES while guarding and also allows him to store an extra turn, which he can spend later for a double attack.	Gloom Boosts the power of all Darkness-based attacks on Ringabel's team, whether they are from basic attacks, special moves, or otherwise.	Quick Switch Ringabel does not use up his turn when switching jobs and can follow up immediately with another attack or ability.
Frisk Undertale	A small child of ambiguous gender and age formerly stuck underground with a civilization of monsters. However, thanks to an experiment gone wrong with a strange invention in the back room of Papyrus and Sans's house, Frisk now finds themselves in the Vortex. Now, they just do what they do best- try to make their way home. Frisk is a character who lacks an HP Gain entirely (though their max HP has been upped to 200 for balance reasons), so they must use their high DEF and RES Gains to make up for it. In terms of moveset, Frisk is built around ACT Commands- context-sensitive abilities with various effects that can lead to an opponent no longer wanting to fight. In this case, Frisk can SPARE them to remove them from the battle non-violently.
DETERMINATION When Frisk dies, they have a 45% chance to be resurrected at the turn's end with 1 HP. DETERMINATION only takes effect the same turn Frisk has died.	Blue Soul Frisk's team gains a strange blue aura, permanently keeping them under Hi-Gravity status. This cannot be removed naturally but goes away when Frisk is killed the first time.	Pacifist Frisk loses any and all offensive capabilities (save a few specific ACT commands), but gains a massive boost in DEF, RES, SPD, LCK, and SKL.
The Batter OFF	Straightforward, blunt, and overly violent, the Batter doesn't seem like the typical hero. His backstory is mysterious; all that's known about him is that he seems to be on a "sacred mission" of some kind, wandering the world in order to purify it. Purification seems to be his end goal in the Vortex as well... Can he succeed? The Batter is an all-around character to begin with, but with a low DEF and RES Gain and a high POW Gain, he quickly evolves into a glass cannon. His moveset is equally odd; while he possesses multiple healing moves, elemental bat swings, and powerful "homerun" attacks, his basic moveset is quite small. This is because the rest of his moveset is determined by his chosen skill, which equips him with one of his three Add-Ons.
Add-On Alpha Equips the Batter with Alpha, giving him single-target focused attacks and status-inflicting moves.	Add-On Omega Equips the Batter with Omega, giving him status condition-curing moves and attacks with specialized effects.	Add-On Epsilon Equips the Batter with Epsilon, giving him stat-boosting abilities and attacks that hit the entire enemy party.
Botley JumpStart Adventures	A timid, slightly neurotic robot developed by genius inventor Professor Sparks, Botley is the star of a surprisingly awesome educational game and has adventured across time itself, battling against the professor's psychotic daughter Polly. Equipped with a miniature time machine, Botley seems to have only wandered into the Vortex while trying to stop another one of Polly's insane time-twisting schemes. Formerly lacking any offensive capabilities, Botley now comes equipped with a portable time machine developed by Professor Sparks. His moveset relies on this device, giving him the power to create time-related buffs and debuffs such as Stop, Slow, and Quick, alongside offensive moves like Time Rift. Stat-wise, Botley begins a speedier, less dense tank, but uses his Gains to eventually become an all-around fighter.
Recall Botley has a chance to be recalled from battle for 2 turns if on low HP. When he returns, a small amount of HP and MP will be restored.	TransQuizzer Botley and his team become immune to mental-based status effects such as Madness, Confused, or Hypnotised.	Set In Stone Prevents the opponent's team from resetting or reversing past turns. Does not affect Botley or his team.
Anna Fire Emblem	This girl is one of the few that have ventured across dimensions before, though she's only done so to peddle wares from other dimensions to make a quick buck. As such, while the Guard have kept watch on her, she's not deemed a major threat and has been allowed to continue her ventures. Now, she's after a major prise- the core of the Vortex. Anna may be considered a trickster in her playable debut, but she's a merchant first and foremost. She retains her Trickster stats, focusing on evasion and luck over strength and defense. Her moveset is dedicated to healing, buffing, and debuffing, and she does so with items from the universes of every playable character. She also takes cues from the Final Fantasy Merchant class, using money (in this case, Credits) to power some abilities.
Speculate When utilizing a money-based attack, Anna has a 50% chance to deal double damage and a 50% chance to deal none.	Movement +1 Adds the Movement +1 move to Anna's moveset, which allows her to make two more moves and use them on the same turn. Can only be used 3 times a match.	Double Up Consumes two items of the same type at once (Potions, Super Potions, Ethers, etc.) to double the effect. Does not trigger when only 1 of an item is left.
Meloetta Pokémon Black and White	A musical Pokémon native to the Unova region. What it's doing deep within the interdimensional wormhole that is the Vortex is unclear, but it doesn't seem to have an end goal and is just prancing through the dangerous zone. It does, however, seem to be a prime target for various hunters... Meloetta is a character who is capable of taking on one of two stances. Typically, she stays in her Aria Forme, a defensive stance that loads her up with strong magical attacks. However, by using her Relic Song move, she can switch over to Pirouette Form. Pirouette form trades the defense for speed, and replaces the other form's magical attacks with physical ones. Watch out, though... Using Relic Song uses a turn on its own.
Serene Grace Meloetta has two times the normal chance of inflicting status conditions with moves that can do so.	White Herb Utilizing Relic Song to switch between stances does not cost a turn, letting Meloetta switch and move again on the same turn.	Soundproof Meloetta and her team are immune to the effects of any song or sound-based attack or ability.
Tetra The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker	An incarnation of Princess Zelda of Hyrule, this time in the form of a rather spunky pirate captain. Reincarnation is already a major topic of discussion among the Guard, but Tetra's difference from every other Zelda incarnation is staggering to them. At any rate, Tetra seems to have only entered the Vortex for personal gain... or so she says. Tetra is a powerful and agile character who can dodge a large amount of hits to make up for her rather frail defensive stats. Her IQ Gain is surprisingly high, letting her use her special abilities for almost nothing... Maybe it's the Triforce of Wisdom at work. At any rate, while her sword skills are admirable, her most powerful attacks come from her flintlock pistol, which can even blow an opponent out of the fight entirely.
Warrior Pistol Boosts the power and special effect infliction rate of all of Tetra's pistol-based moves by 60%.	Phantom Tetra has a 10% chance to counter an incoming attack by summoning a Phantom, which attacks with a Darkness-elemental sword swing.	Heart Container If Tetra is Overhealed, the excess healing is stored within a Heart Container item, which she can use to access that healing without using a turn.
Isaac The Binding of Isaac	Isaac is a child with a genuinely sucky life. His own mother has tried to kill him multiple times, he's been harassed by hundreds of monsters who may or may not be his siblings, and is possibly the Antichrist of his universe. Now, the horrors of the Vortex are piled on top of it all. At least his mother hasn't followed him in... Right? Isaac is simultaneously the most standard and most random character in VORTEX. AT the start of a match, his stats are slightly low but spread out evenly, he lacks any special moves, and all of his Gains start off even. However, Isaac gains a new "item" every time he gains a LV; these items (divided into Normal, Devil, and Angel groups) can either edit his Gains, grant him minor passive skills, or grant him new special moves. The best part? The items he gets are randomized every battle.
The D6 Grants Isaac the one-use Reroll ability, which changes his current batch of items into a completely randomized one.	Devil Deal Doubles chance of getting Devil items and negates chance of getting Angel items.	Blessings Doubles chance of getting Angel items and negates chance of getting Devil items.