Video Game / Bolt from the Blue

You are the collective of the heart. You are love in its truest, most unyielding form.
Bolt from the Blue is an in-development RPG project by solo dev RAKURAIKOU (aka Len). It is meant to be a homage to Bravely Default and the JRPG genre with an emphasis on meaningful worldbuilding.
The story takes place in the High Fantasy world of Luxos, where peace has been disturbed by a series of "calamities"—omens to the resurgence of an ancient darkness.
The story opens with Raiden, a friendly amnesiac who washed up on the shores of Bura Bay and was taken in by the Cielisono Royal Family. By an interesting trick of fate, she serves as attendant to Princess Araceli Almador de Luna. Though destined to face and defeat the aforementioned darkness, Araceli is completely unable to use her aspect—trying to cast a simple spell results in a world of pain. One day, Castle Cieliso is suddenly attacked by a mysterious force, forcing Raiden and Araceli to flee. They meet the ambitious Pyrusian noble Saffron Infiaco, who was planning on visiting the kingdom before it was attacked. The three find their desperate escape aboard the Frostfarer, a skycraft piloted by none other than Cole Fulrisk, a notorious solo pirate.
With Raiden by her side, Araceli is determined to return to Cieliso and take back her kingdom from the unknown assailant. Meanwhile, Saffron strives to investigate the calamities and prove himself a worthy member of his house, and Cole is apparently just here for the ride. On top of everything else, it seems a dangerous group of people are targetting Raiden for a reason they refuse to disclose.
Bolt from the Blue will probably be in development for a very, very long time.
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This game provides examples of:
- Action Initiative: Units in battle act according to a formula based on AGI, with highest generally going first. Some skills will always occur at the start or end of the round, however. Additionally, ENDURE will always occur at the start before any other action.
- After-Combat Recovery: Cael resets to zero after every battle, even if the character ended the last battle with caelism.
- An Aesop: Whatever it is, you don't have to do it alone. You can be loved, you are loved.
- Doomed Hometown: Araceli is forced to flee San Ven with Raiden when it is suddenly attacked by Nox Noctis. As a result, she and Raiden are the only survivors of this tragedy.
- Elemental Powers: Aspects. Each person can only control one.
- Gods Need Prayer Badly: The Champions require offerings of light to persist in the realm and grant miracles.
- Horned Humanoid: Some lumiens have horns.
- Intro-Only Point of View: The game is almost entirely played through Raiden's POV, with a small snippet being through Araceli's perspective. Saffron and Cole only get the player perspective treatment in the very beginning of the game.
- Multiple Endings: Bolt from the Blue features three different possible endings. Which one the player gets is determined by how many LINK States Raiden acquires by certain points of the game.
- Party in My Pocket: When in towns, party members can be found on their own somewhere in the area. In the overworld and areas with monster encounters, however, the rest of the party is not visible anywhere.
- Scars Are Forever: Inverted. All non-fatal wounds eventually heal and fade on their own. There are a few exceptions, however, such as the scrapes on Cole's face and shoulder, as well as the nasty magic scar on her abdomen.
- Turn-Based Combat: Bolt from the Blue's battle system operates on a turn-based format. Each character is guaranteed at least one action per turn, unless their previous action causes their CL to max out, in which case the character cannot act until it has depleted to a certain amount.
- Where It All Began: The final chapter of Bolt from the Blue starts in the ruins of San Ven where the party fled in the beginning of the game.