I am currently working on a video game of my own and am working out some things.
STORY AND CHARACTERS
The story revolves around one person's attempt to collect 5 ancient stones that can grant abilities (not sure yet how abilities are determined), so she can rescue her sister, who is being kept for ransom. Along the way, she clashes with the game's main antagonist, who is not related to the sister's kidnappers, but is trying to get the stones to save his dying brother. The ransomer is a desparate man who had lost everything in the past, and is trying to work his way back to his former position whatever it takes, and does not face off with the main character until the end of the game (he will be the main villain if I ever make a sequel, but that's not my focus right now.). Along the way, we learn more about the three characters as well as the history of the lost civilization that made the ancient stones.
The two villains are the way they are because I thought these two concepts would be more complex and interesting than the typical "evil greedy guy who wants money/to take over the world" video game villain. I'm not sure what character arc I should put for the main character, I'm thinking something about growing from something of a wallflower into a stronger and more heroic (or vigilante, whatever) person. What do you think?
GAMEPLAY
The gameplay is a top-down style with an overworld and dungeons, similar to a 2D Zelda game or Secret of Mana. Your actions in sidequests or towards NPCs also affects your ending (similar to Undertale, which I like.) What I'm not sure what to do, is whether the attack system would be like Secret of Mana (with a sword) or like the old arcade game Robotron 2084 (which would involve a range weapon that can be aimed in a different direction than movement.) I'm just not sure how to replicate Robotron's twin-stick setup on a keyboard. What should I do?