Thanks for the welcome! ^_^
On the manner of occult spell cards, I?ve been considering about how they?re going to implement that system into the complete game when it goes live. Currently in the demo, they're used as spell cards by your opponents in story mode, similar to past fighting games. On the player side, traditional spell cards are chosen before the match similar to IaMP while a special occult ability is also available to each character that gets stronger the more occult balls are gathered. Because it?s fun to speculate and just cause I like thinking of cool ideas for abilities whether they?re implemented or not, I?ve been thinking how that system could expand in a more finished version of the title.
Since the details of urban legends can vary depending on the version of the story being told, and because every urban legend has different aspects to it, what if it was possible to select from a few different occult abilities that ownership of legends could convey to the characters? Here are a few examples of what I had in mind:
1. Reimu Hakurei
Legend: The Gap Woman
Description: The woman (or sometimes girl) from the gap is a spirit and urban legend derived from traditional Edo era folklore. She is said to live in the small gaps and cracks between furniture, doors, and drawers. If one day you meet her gaze she will ask you to play hide and seek. The second time you see her eyes in a gap you will be taken to another dimension. (or to Hell)
Reimu?s current ability that she gains from the legend is the ability to slice open gaps with her gohei and launch sotoba markers at her enemies similar to Yukari. Likewise, her last word drags them into the gap with her and binds them while she attacks them. That hide-and-seek element of the story though could be possibly made into an alternate regular ability that Reimu could use. The idea of peering eyes looking through gaps makes me think of another traditional ability of Yukari?s, her Laplace eyes that she summons to fire on her foes when she attacks them. What if Reimu could use an ability similar to this by making use of this aspect of the legend of the gap woman?
Other possible abilities could involve summoning ghastly arms out of the gaps to grab or attack an opponent, or some shadowy, terrifying representation of Yomi, Naraka, or Diyu to emerge.
2. Marisa Kirisame
Legend: The 7 Mysteries of the School
Description: It seems like every school in Japan is secretly the host to a gathering of seven mysterious and supernatural phenomena that pervade its halls and classrooms. A cultural occurrence that started as a way of letting the chill of fear chase away the heat of summer, the seven mysteries vary depending on the school that keeps them, often arising from weird events in the building?s history or just unusual rumors that spread among the students. As for why it was Marisa took interest in this legend, I think that it could be a reference to the idea of learning and its connection to magic. (Despite how much she downplays it, Marisa?s a magician that really does spend a lot of time reading and studying to keep up with Reimu?s natural talent and discover new spell cards to make, so I can imagine her liking a ghost story connected to institutions of knowledge. That and they're really cool and well-known, which I could also see as something that would fit Marisa?s tastes.)
Now that I?ve explained the concept with Reimu, an easy alternate ability for Marisa would be having different sets of the more well-known school mysteries in her arsenal that she could summon, or more powerful singular ones. Some of them could even have special effects, like a frightening mirror that could reflect attacks or even create an evil twin of her opponent that would attack them for a time, or a 13th stair step that could temporarily stop her challenger in place and interrupt them if they moved a certain distance. She could pelt her enemy with pencils and erasers, or use haunted art supplies to draw something scary to assist her. There?s a whole lot of possibility with her?
3. Kasen Ibaraki
Legend: The Monkey?s Paw
Description: This legend, which is often associated with the short story of the same name by English author W. W. Jacobs, is the tale of a severed monkey?s paw that grants its owner three wishes. However, to teach them not to interfere with fate, any wish they make with it will have some horrible drawback to it. The paw will twist the wish in some way into a form that will only cause its finder pain and sorrow. The wish-giving aspect of the paw is where Kasen?s title in the game comes from. Another thing I find interesting is that this is an urban legend that originated in the west, meaning that it?s quite possible that urban legends from around the world might make an appearance in ULiL (which could also be hinted at by the mystery spots being occult locations from around the planet.)
As for alternate abilities for Kasen, I can definitely see this wish-granting power implementable in some way. Perhaps she could make a wish to the monkey?s paw to improve a certain skill of hers or grant her an impressive benefit or buff of some kind in battle, but at the cost of an ability being made temporarily unusable or having to endure a period of reduced attack power/movement speed/guarding efficiency/etc. to make up for it. The paw could also be used for different melee attacks like slapping or slashing the enemy from a distance, or inflict some kind of harmful curse on the opponent. (This curse could possibly also be a detriment to Kasen later, as the opponent could get something that benefits them as well because of the paw?s twisting of the curse. A skillful player would have to be careful when choosing the right time to make a wish.)
Like I said these are all just some thoughts I had. I love urban legends and folklore in general, and it?s always enjoyable to see how they could be used in a gaming setting. Whatever ZUN, Moe, and the great minds at Twilight Frontier think up for it, I?m 100% positive that Urban Legend in Limbo will be a wonderful game and a great entry into the saga of the Touhou Project.
