This is Finger Gun Games introducing you to our next project, which we’re planning for Steam! SUPLEX SAGA is a marriage between Final Fantasy, Paper Mario, and professional wrestling. A true scandalous wedding angle that’s not at all out of place in the world of sports entertainment. Our game takes all the out-of-this-world characters, all the wrestling fueds, and the brutality of the matches, and brings them all together to book one hell of a tropey RPG. Suplex Saga is being developed in Unity. The game is scheduled for Steam (Windows & PC), PS4, and Nintendo Switch!
Sign up for our newsletter so you can remain updated on the progress of Suplex Saga on the page sidebar. While you’re at it, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Youtube at the following links, as well!
@FingerGunGames | Finger Gun Games Facebook Page | Youtube Channel
News Links
Siliconera
RPGamer
Overview
The player takes the role of Ace Evander, a rising babyface star in the world of indie wrestling. Following in the footsteps of the famous Evanders team of his mother and father, Ace strives to carve a path for himself by rising to the top and bringing the old family name back to the forefront. Unfortunately, a heated war erupts between Ace’s home promotion and the UWC (The Universal Wrestling Corporation), the top wrestling organization in the country. In an “invasion” angle for the ages, Ace’s home promotion is destroyed by the evil UWC. Fueled with revenge and conviction, Ace goes after the UWC, making an assault on their territories with the help of the fellow wrestling superstars that he meets along the way. The game will be filled with surprising stories, captivating characters that range from baby faces to heels that may or may not want to piledrive you through a table, and an epic quest that won’t involve any searching for ancient crystals (unless said crystals are embedded in a championship belt).
Build your stable and get back at the corporation that wants to bury you! In this game, kayfabe is all true, blurring of the line between the outlandishness of a televised wrestling show and reality. In this world, wrestling is actually real, and the everything revolves around it. It is so indoctrinated into the life of the people in this world that even doctors do as much work in the ring as they do on an operating table, like the famous “Chiropractor Steve,” who can fix a bad back with a Torture Rack hold. And even the most heated of wars and rivalries can be resolved by pinning their opponent to the floor for 3 seconds.
The Cast
The following are just a sample of the plethora of colorful characters and strange gimmicks that fill out the roster of Suplex Saga. There will be even more superstars throughout this wrestling adventure, and this is no way the final party roster.
Ace Evander
The star of the show. The rising golden boy in this new age of wrestling. He’s a very good wrestler, known for his high workrate, and he knows he’s damn good, an attitude that may or may not hurt him in his career. Following in his parents footsteps, he strives to put his family name back into the hall of legends as he battles through various indie promotions, mainly the MLW (Major League Wrestling). He has had nothing but hate for the UWC since he was a child and avoided selling out to the corporation at all costs. That is until one day, they forced themselves into his life, destroying what he had built. With a vendetta in his hands, he seeks to confront the corporation he evaded for so long to defend the honor of the Evanders.
Hardcore Harley
Harley wrestles at MLW with Ace and is perhaps the only one that can tolerate his ego. Harley used to be a stage hand that helped with setting up the ring, but through her love of handling steel chairs, wooden tables, and tall ladders, she decided to transform that into her wrestling persona, Hardcore Harley, the hard-hitting, weapon-wielding femme fatale. She is the voice of reason to Ace’s sometimes troublesome ideas, but she can be quite the troublemaker, too, if foreign objects are involved. While Ace likes to keep things clean, Harley gets dirty.
Cress Crisp
No, no, no, Ace is not the star of the game, at least that’s what Cress would tell you. It’s all about Cress. With the power of joy and his outspoken personality, Cress gets the crowd pumped with his awesome saxophone, not unlike a certain Final Fantasy class featuring musical instruments. With his mad melodies, Cress can empower people with strength by turning their smiles upside down or making a foe absolutely livid by subjecting them to never-ending musical taunts. And he does all this while rocking a sick pompadour.
El Gato
Not much is known about this masked wrestler, other than his love for cat-like moves and his determination to being the best in lucha libre. He’s determined to show that wrestling is not about the cute kitty mask you wear on the outside, but the burning heart of passion on the inside. He speaks little, but every word he says tends to always hold importance. Meow.
Prodigy Prime
As a major title holder in the UWC, Prodigy is the messenger and the destroyer who pushed Ace to come after him. He considers himself the elite of the wrestling world and wants to keep it that way. Can Ace get his revenge against Prime, or will Prime make Ace realize that his place is below his feet? A feud for the ages.
Gameplay
The flavor of SUPLEX SAGA is meant to be similar to the RPGs of old, such as Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy, and most resembling Paper Mario/Super Mario RPG. You’ll guide Ace around in an overhead, angled bird’s eye view of the action. It sort of feels like Streets of Rage and other 2D brawlers in that way, but is meant to definitely follow the Chrono Trigger style of movement.
You can travel around towns, go into shops, and talk with NPCs like a good ol’ fashioned RPG. Yes, there is even an overworld. There will be secrets to find and side quests to go on to fully explore the world of SUPLEX SAGA and its various characters. Just like in Paper Mario, the environment will be interactive with each character having a different ability to use, such as Harley being able to use her weapon specialty to move common obstacles out of the way or Cress using his music skills to captivate people. But you can’t have a game about wrestling without…
WRESTLING!
In SUPLEX SAGA, fighting takes place in turn-based fashion. But don’t be fooled by the notion that all you will be doing is pressing Attack and just watching as the player hits someone resulting in a random damage formula. This game is meant to embody everything that is wrestling. Though inspiration is taken from Final Fantasy, the game’s more action-based segments take more from the Paper Mario series. Every action the player takes will require some action-based input from the player, whether to make it succeed or to make it do more damage. From timed button presses to joystick whipactions, to even combo-like actions similar to Street Fighter, this battle system is all about keeping in the tradition of a standard wrestling brawler, with an emphasis on more tactics. And just like in Paper Mario, the player can tag in allies to make use of their unique capabilities. The player can do various environmental based actions, too, such as climbing the turnbuckle to perform an aerial attack or grabbing weapons (if you see a fire extinguisher while fighting in a hallway, grab it and go to work on any poor sap that gets in your way). And yes, ladders and tables will be present. As well as cars.
Much like in Paper Mario: Thousand Year Door, the player will have interactions with the crowd to help give them boosts and aids. As a sports entertainer in the squared circle, it’s your job to build heat with the crowd, getting them to chant for the face or boo the heel. The more they are entertained, the more bonuses the player will receive, whether it’s a damage boost, an item, or something similar. To entertain them, the player will have to succeed at their action commands and pull off awesome moves. Yes, even this RPG will encourage you to not use the same actions again and again. And there will be plenty to do: diving moves, submissions, aerial maneuvers, weapon attacks, taunting, summoning the supernatural…yes, SUPLEX SAGA even has summoning. I mean, what’s a wrestling match without some outside interference?
Ace, the main character, will be customizable similar to how badges worked in Paper Mario, allowing you to tailor him to whatever playstyle you wish. His partners will be customizable, as well, granting a system where you can freely exchange skill points throughout play to give some partners more power than others based on when you want. This way you can create a party tailored to various strengths. However, the player will still be making permanent decisions on character growth, so care will have to be taken in how the characters’ stats and abilities are managed. There is more to the system, including customization of your character’s move arsenal, the HEAT meter, and finishing moves. All of this will be detailed as the project goes on.
Commentators
There’s going to be a persistent team of commentators basically calling the entire game. They act like your typical wrestling table of commentators. They are the narrators. They chime in most of the time during story transitions to give a brief quip on what is happening and the events that have happened so far. A similar feature can be seen in Paper Mario during the intermissions between chapters. The commentators also serve a gameplay role. In combat, they do a good job selling the action onscreen or are quick to comment on what is occurring. They help set the mood and the excitement. Outside of combat, while running around in the field or in a town, they come up now and again to introduce a new area or to give some commentary on some event that is taking place. They even advertise the various in-game shops or some fictional products that exists in the world. What’s wrestling without sponsors, after all? The commentators are only physically in the same location as the players are during boss battle or event battles. Sometimes, guest speakers will join them.
Music
The music of the game will be a mix of the upbeat tunes of your typical wrestling promotion, featuring rock n’ roll, hip hop, and pop; and includes a lot of classical genres that were in your age old RPG, too: orchestra, piano, and soft dramatic tones. Of course, if there’s one thing that defines a character in wrestling, it’s a person’s entrance theme. They will be in mass throughout the entire game.