Game Pitch - POWERS THAT BE

"Powers That Be" is a 2D action-adventure RPG with a heavy emphasis on combat and platforming.  The player will use a standard weapon in combat in conjunction with a multitude of unique and interesting secondary weapons (called badge powers), any three of which can be equipped at once.

Badge Powers come in two forms: Attack Powers (which act as secondary weapons or spells) and State Powers (which temporarily enforce certain status effects and replaces the primary weapon with a unique one). Badge Powers are upgraded with a multiple-choice upgrade tree, forcing the player to choose at each juncture how they wish to upgrade each Badge Power.  Primary weapons are upgraded linearly.

Attack Powers use energy when cast, and energy can be replenished by successfully attacking enemies with the primary weapon, or by collecting energy boxes.  State Powers run on a timer, cannot be turned off once activated, and need to be recharged fully before being used again (State Powers are recharged just like Attack Powers).

Examples of Attack Powers include:
- Trikick: a basic midair three-kick combo.  It can be upgraded to include a fourth kick, which, depending on the upgrade, will either send the opponent flying backward or spike him downward, causing extra damage.
- Grenadier: in its basic form, a simple hand grenade.  It can either be upgraded into a powerful but slow grenade launcher, or the hand grenade can be given a wider blast radius.
- Angry Boyds: After a Dual Boss with John and Jimmy Boyd, this badge power can summon their spirits to attack alongside the player.  The Boyds' AI can either be upgraded to be stronger or faster.


Examples of State Powers include:
- Mob Mentality: buffs Attack and nerfs Defence, and replaces the primary weapon with dual-wielding torch and pitchfork.  The pitchfork is used as a light attack and the torch is used for a strong attack, and to set enemies ablaze.
- Stone Wall: turns the player into a slow-moving MK Walker.  The player will immediately block any damage to its front and counter physical attacks with a deadly counterattack.  However, the player cannot turn around while using Stone Wall and is twice as vulnerable to damage from the back.
- Hyper Barrier: 30 orbs surround the player and can either be fired as offensive projectiles (using 1 energy) or will automatically block one incoming attack (also using 1 energy).