Hello again, Survivors!
In last week’s Dev Note, we talked about why and how we’re working to improve and evolve the story of our game.
To sum it up, we shared the direction we’re taking with the narrative to make sure the game’s main theme— “human will”—is clear and present in the gameplay. We're introducing a supernatural disaster in the game’s world, and the story will focus on how human willpower can overcome it.
Last week, we explained our thought process behind the new narrative direction. Today, we want to give you a sneak peek at the actual story we’re developing to bring that vision to life.
Before we dive into the details, we’d like to briefly introduce the "Apocalyptic" setting of the game—the supernatural disaster that’s at the heart of it. We can’t fully explain everything in a short Dev Note, but we hope that when you see these changes, you’ll think, "This is going to make the game so much richer," rather than feeling like it’s a completely different game.
A New Mystery - MEMOLITH
The source of the supernatural in the world of REMORE is a massive monolith that holds human memories. The people of Remore call this mysterious object the Memolith.
These huge, glowing objects, often covered with unknown patterns, are mysterious in origin. No one really knows where they came from or how they were formed. However, those who touch them sometimes experience visions of the memories contained within. The Memolith reacts to the will of the people, enlightening their inner powers. This phenomenon is what gave the Memolith its name.
This effect isn’t limited to just the living. Through the visions shown by the Memolith, it is known that the will or memories of the dead are still present inside, if they were strong enough.
As mentioned earlier, the Memolith responds to a person’s will and helps it manifest. When a person’s positive will is strong, it provides that positive force in the form of light. But if the negative will outweigh the positive, the result can be the complete opposite.
The concept of the Memolith is a clear way of showing human will. It’s also the foundation of the REMORE universe, explaining both the supernatural disaster and how humanity will fight back against it. It forms the core of the REMORE people’s worldview. Now, let’s take a look at how the Memolith changes the way the REMORE world is different from a typical "Medieval" world.
The Formation of REMORE Society Through Memolith
Because of the existence of the Memolith, the people of REMORE were able to form a thriving society under the powerful positive influence of their human will, as long as that will remain uncorrupted. As civilization expanded, more complex and larger cities were formed, and it became clear that the power of the Memolith had limits in how far it could spread for everyone to fully benefit from its blessings.
As a result, the sages of REMORE conducted extensive research and developed a kind of relay system, the "Lightline," to spread the power of Memolith throughout the cities.
The Lightline is a system that can strongly transmit the power of the Memolith to various locations in the city. Each location has a ‘Guiding Pillar’ installed, which acts like a "relay station" receiving power from a power plant in modern terms. Additionally, small pillars have been set up to spread the power of the Memolith to even more places. Each of these pillars contains a piece of the Memolith inside, to help transmit its power.
Through the existence of the Memolith and its efficient use combined with human will, REMORE became an ideal city where anyone, no matter their position, could benefit from the power of the Memolith. Unlike the real-world medieval era, which is often viewed as a time of darkness, REMORE had the power of light, capable of guiding lost children and rescuing those in need, even in the darkest of times.
The presence of the Memolith brought prosperity and abundance to the lives of the people of REMORE. However, they began to blindly trust and depend on this power, forgetting that darkness could eventually seep into it.
Corruption Comes to REMORE...
The people of REMORE didn’t realize that the light of the Memolith, which brought them endless prosperity, wouldn’t always be a constant blessing. Selfishness began to eat away at them, and negativity crept into the Memolith, as they continued to praise their current abundance and followed it blindly. And so, the darkness that slowly seeped in, accumulated and eventually turned into a tragedy…
The Lightline is a system that supports REMORE. Because of this, the people were willing to pay a small cost for its maintenance. However, as their faith became blind, they stopped acknowledging the problems and corruption within the system. Eventually, the system, which was created to help the people of REMORE, turned into a tool of exploitation and oppression.
The people of REMORE gradually began to experience inner darkness and pain, and their troubled minds, corrupted by the darkness, flowed back into the Memolith through the Lightline. And on the day when the darkness finally reached its limit, the First Memolith exploded, spreading its dark influence throughout all of REMORE.
The massive fragments of the Memolith now no longer hold light, but instead bear terrible darkness, lingering within the creatures that suddenly appeared, staining the once shining path of light with darkness. In the end, the disaster that befell REMORE was by the people, arising from their blind faith in the great gift given to them, and their denial of the truth.
Now that the First Memolith, the path of light, and their will have all been lost, is REMORE truly finished? Even so, those who have not lost their will and gathered in hidden places want to rebuild the Memolith and restore the light to reclaim REMORE.
To do so, they must overcome the threat of the dark shroud that thickly blankets the city, gather their strength, and most importantly, figure out how to restore the path of light.
In next week's Dev Note, we will introduce more specific details about the threat of the dark shroud that has descended on REMORE, and how the survivors can struggle to overcome it.
We’ll meet again soon.
Thank you, Survivors.
REMORE