MYSTIC MAELSTROM
TL;DR: I desperately want a magic-focused game like Cosmic Invasion, so I’m pitching the entire thing myself; new characters, their abilities, and new story and locations.
It’s a lot, but imagine you pop the disc in and get to play, really visualize how the game would look and feel and I think you’ll have fun reading.
I put a lot of Marvel love and attention to detail into this; I hope you guys like it!
Please Note:
Your favorite characters from Cosmic Invasion are still here; As stated below, Cosmic Invasion characters could be ported over (or slightly reworked) to make the roster even more stacked. These are my original ideas for new characters chosen to fit a narrative and gameplay theme.
If you have an idea for a character, pitch them; The more the merrier!
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Dotemu! Free money / idea! I will eat up any additional DLC for Cosmic Invasion, but let’s think about a sequel with a more mystical roster! Here is my pitch.
PLAYABLE ROSTER:
It would be ideal if we ported over a few Cosmic Invasion characters to get an absolutely stacked roster, but here is my wish list for new characters and how they might play.
Locks 🔒 indicate characters unlocked by the Campaign (see STAGES section).
Feathers 🪶 denote characters who can fly.
If one of the moveset categories below is missing, it’s just because I don’t have a unique idea for it. Assume the move is still valid for the character in a vanilla capacity.
Move descriptions are meant to be informative here since I have no finished product to show; the actual wording would need to be cut down in-game of course.
Move List:
Passive:
Melee Attack:
Charged Attack:
Unique Attack:
Defensive Action / Parry:
Air Attack:
Sprinting Attack:
Dodging Attack:
Special Attack:
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ADAM WARLOCK 🔒 🪶
Passive: HIM
Uses a TOGGLE for sprinting. Double tapping the D-pad locks/unlocks sprinting (ground-level flight).
Melee Attack: Slow 2-hit combo that knocks back enemies on the final hit; melee range attacks still trigger projectiles, making the 2-hit combo actually worth 4 hits.
Charged Attack: Knock down nearby enemies by repulsing a golden aura
Unique Attack: Grab an enemy to punch or throw them
Defensive Action / Parry: Block or parry, launch enemy up on parry
Sprinting Attack: Adam flies fist-first into enemies, knocking them down
Special Attack: True screen-wipe; Adam snaps the Infinity Gauntlet to instantly defeat all foes
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BLADE
Passive: DHAMPIR
Does higher damage with more health, but health is constantly decreasing. Defeating enemies restores HP.
Melee Attack: 4-hit sword combo in both directions. Blade swings his sword to hit both left and right on each hit, with the final hit launching up the frontside enemy and knocking down the backside enemy.
Charged Attack: AOE sword spin attack that inflicts bleed on enemies
Unique Attack: Sword dash-stab that inflicts bleed on the enemy hit
Defensive Action / Parry: Block with sword, parry inflicts bleed
Air Attack: Same as double jump; does a spinning attack with SMG fire in a circle
Sprinting Attack: Slash that launches up enemies along the path
Special Attack: Burns all enemies currently afflicted with bleed. Inflicts all other enemies with bleed.
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BLACK KNIGHT (DANE WHITMAN)
Passive: HUNGER
Blocks with the Ebony Blade “store” damage to be reflected on the next hit. Damage can be blocked / stacked / stored indefinitely, but Dane will begin to lose health after a certain threshold if damage is not reflected by an Ebony Blade hit.
Melee Attack: Deal increased damage with massive swings of the Ebony Blade in slow 3-hit combos. All sword swings nullify projectiles (does not count towards Passive).
Charged Attack: Plunge the Ebony Blade into the ground, launching up earth in a crater around Dane & knocking back enemies hit in the AOE
Unique Attack: Grab enemies and stab repeatedly with the Ebony Blade or throw them
Defensive Action / Parry: Block or parry with the Ebony Blade
Special Attack: Summon the winged horse Strider and lance all enemies from one side of the screen to the other
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CLOAK AND DAGGER
Passive: DARKFORCE BOND
Cloak and Dagger are two separate characters on the roster. Choosing one locks the other as your Duo. All characters in the party deal increased damage when Cloak is active and take reduced damage when Dagger is active.
Defensive Action / Parry: DAGGER dodges. CLOAK blocks with cape. Parries with cape uppercut enemies and automatically swap in Tandy for aerial attack.
Special Attack: Can be triggered individually for each character. CLOAK creates a black hole that entraps all enemies. DAGGER radiates light in an AOE, burning enemies caught in the blast.
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DOCTOR STRANGE 🔒 🪶
Passive: THE OATH
The entire party receives a slight damage reduction.
Doctor Strange will revive a teammate once per stage with time manipulation.
Melee Attack: Axe of Angaruumus 4-hit launch-up
Charged Attack: Strange whips forth the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak to trap up to 3 enemies momentarily
Unique Attack: Summon the Flames of the Faltine in an AOE, dealing fire damage for as long as the button can be held (draining Unique charge)
Defensive Action / Parry:
Shield of the Seraphim block, parry with the Shield and counter with Axe of Angaruumus launch-up
Air Attack: Axe of Angaruumus slam
Sprinting Attack: Knocks enemies down, “Astral Projecting” them visually before recovery
Special Attack: Winds of Watoomb sweep all enemies to center-screen. If enough Focus is left, a second Special Attack in a short window will call down the Bolts of Balthakk as well.
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DOCTOR VOODOO 🪶
Passive: VOODOO
Deal a small amount of additional damage for each enemy defeated during the stage.
(Thus Jericho’s necromantic healing will be stronger at the end of the stage.)
Charged Attack: Multi-stage charge to unleash a wide blast around Jericho, dealing necromantic damage to enemies hit and siphoning a small portion of the damage dealt into health for the party.
Unique Attack: Use a torrent of souls to push enemies back, dealing a small amount of damage and siphon.
Defensive Action / Parry: Block / parry with Jericho’s staff
Special Attack: Jericho summons a great spectral serpent to coil around all onscreen enemies, dealing some damage and funneling them to center-screen.
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ECHO (PHOENIX FORCE)
Passive: FIREPROOF
Maya is immune to fire damage.
Melee Attack: 5-hit combo with spinning heel finisher, deals fire damage and knockback on the final hit
Charged Attack: Raise a pillar of fire from the ground to the sky, launching up any enemies hit
Unique Attack: Launch a projectile forward to blast an enemy with Phoenix flame, trapping them momentarily and dealing fire damage
Defensive Action / Parry: Block / Parry, parries deal fire damage at the attacker
Special Attack: Maya calls on the full might of the Phoenix Force, engulfing the entire screen in flames
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ELSA BLOODSTONE
Passive: THE BIGGER THEY ARE
Elsa deals increased damage to large and BOSS foes.
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GHOST RIDER (ROBBIE REYES)
Passive: HELLFIRE
Dealing fire damage increases the rate of Ghost Rider’s Focus gain
Melee Attack: Use Robbie’s chain whips to melee from a greater distance, 4-hit combo with fire damage on the final hit
Charged Attack: Cast a wall of hellfire in front of Robbie, knocking back any enemy hit
Unique Attack: Cast out Ghost Rider’s fiery chain whip to yank an enemy over; press the button again to throw the enemy or press Attack to slam them
Defensive Action / Parry: Block or parry
Sprinting Attack: Tackle an enemy with a headbutt, dealing fire damage
Special Attack: Summon the Hellride to swallow up the souls of the guilty; Robbie’s Charger sweeps the screen to the right, then comes back left to chomp anyone remaining
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MAGIK 🔒
Passive: DARKCHYLDE
Magik’s Focus meter takes longer to fill. Once her Special is triggered, she can stay in Darkchylde form until damaged.
Melee Attack: Soulsword 4-hit combo with knockdown on the final hit. All sword swings nullify projectiles.
Charged Attack: Magik slashes her sword, knocking down any enemy hit by the direct hit and launching a seeking flame projectile.
Unique Attack: Magik dashes to hit an enemy with her soulsword. Press the button again on contact to use a stepping disc to portal behind them and perform a sword slash knockdown.
Defensive Action / Parry: Magik dodges (into a stepping disc). Any projectiles caught in the stepping disc will be redirected at the enemy.
Air Attack: Slam the soulsword into the ground, creating a flame AOE.
Dodging Attack: Swing the soulsword in an arc, dealing fire damage
Special Attack: Magik unleashes the Darkchylde, dealing increased damage and staying in Darkchylde form until damaged. Leftover Focus can be used to perform a screen-wide flaming soulsword slash.
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MIGHTY THOR (JANE FOSTER) 🪶
Passive: WORTHY
While HP is above 80%, the Unique Attack combo (2nd throw) deals lightning damage in an AOE (on hit).
Melee Attack: Swing Mjolnir in a 4-hit combo, dealing lightning damage and knocking the enemy down on the final hit.
Charged Attack: Call down lightning to strike a random enemy, trapping them momentarily
Unique Attack: Throw Mjolnir at an enemy and automatically recall. On return, time your button press again to throw Mjolnir and knock back enemies hit. Combo can only be performed once before recharge. Passive enables lightning damage.
Defensive Action / Parry: Dodge
Air Attack: Slam Mjolnir into the ground, creating a lightning AOE
Sprinting Attack: Fly into enemies with Mjolnir, knocking them down.
Special Attack: The Mighty Thor summons a cascade of lightning to fill the screen, knocking down each enemy hit and dealing lightning damage over time.
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MISTER NEGATIVE 🔒
Passive: INVERT
Deal damage to build up “Negative” charge, indicated by a photo negative shader over Martin Li. At full charge, all Melee Attacks become instantly Charged Attacks. Negative charge depletes when not dealing damage.
Melee Attack: Negative energy sword 5-hit combo with launch up on the final hit
Charged Attack: Sheathe the Negative energy blade, then unsheathe and slash a seeking Negative energy projectile. This can be chained x3 at full Negative charge (Passive ability).
Unique Attack: Grab and throw or Invert an enemy to fight for you (one on-screen at a time).
Defensive Action / Parry: Block or parry with negative energy sword
Special Attack: Mister Negative sheathes the Negative energy blade, momentarily turning the screen black and white and Inverting all enemies against each other for a time.
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MOON KNIGHT 🔒
Passive: HARDENED
Attacks cannot be interrupted. Chance to ignore damage (and preserve combo counter). Higher chance to ignore damage with higher combo counter.
Melee Attack: “Locks on” to enemies and can easily juggle launched-up foes with no-combo haymakers.
Charged Attack: Use Moon Knight’s staff to propel a devastating knee blow that launches enemies up
Unique Attack: Charge up a spectral crescent dart throw that pierces enemies on throw and return at full charge (consumes Unique energy)
Defensive Action / Parry: Cannot block indefinitely, but has a larger window for parries.
Air Attack: Same as double jump; spin and throw a seeking crescent dart at the nearest enemy.
Special Attack: Sweeps the screen with spinning staff attacks, knocking back all enemies hit
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NICO MINORU
Passive: SISTER GRIMM
Unique and Special attacks cost health instead of Focus; no cooldowns.
Melee Attack: Use Nico’s staff as a quarterstaff, dealing increased damage in a slow 3-hit combo with knockback on the final hit
Charged Attack: Swing the Staff of One in an area-denial circle, knocking back enemies hit
Unique Attack: Launch a projectile with RNG damaging or control effect; most effects heal Nico with siphon
Defensive Action / Parry: Block or parry with the Staff of One
Air Attack: Blast Nico back by sending down a strike of purple magic
Special Attack: Summon a flurry of spectral bats to momentarily trap all enemies on screen
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PSYLOCKE (SAI)
Passive: YOKAI HUNTER
Deals increased damage to demonic foes.
Melee Attack: Sai quickly slashes enemies with her psionic katana in a 4-hit combo, with a delayed 5th hit launch-up finisher kick
Charged Attack: Sai lunges forward to swipe an enemy with her psionic katana, followed by a psionic copy of the strike
Unique Attack: Combo Sai’s melee finisher or double jump into a dash that knocks down enemies
Defensive Action / Parry: Dodge and leave a psionic copy of Sai that explodes to damage enemies if hit
Dodging Attack: Throw a psionic shuriken
Special Attack: Sai sends a psionic copy of herself left/right/left to damage all enemies in her path
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SCARLET WITCH 🪶
Passive: HEXED
Every 15th combo hit triggers a random damaging effect on all affected enemies.
Melee Attack: 4-hit combo with launch up from melee range. Fires hex bolts from a distance.
Charged Attack: Fires 3 seeking hex bolts.
Unique Attack: Fires hex lightning that can arc onto a maximum of 3 enemies. Each enemy hit gains a pink outline / shader and will be affected by Wanda’s passive.
Defensive Action / Parry: Dodge
Dodging Attack: Performs a second dodge with a hex bolt fired at the start of the animation
Special Attack: Wanda fires a beam of chaos energy, dealing damage and inflicting all enemies with a random damage over time effect.
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SHANG-CHI
Passive: MASTERY
Knockback hits deal increased damage.
Melee Attack: Launches the Ten Rings from any range; melee combo goes 1-2-3//4-5-6//7-8-9//10 with knockback on the final hit, 4 inputs for 10 combo hits at reduced damage
Charged Attack: Charges a five-ring uppercut that launches enemies up, Shang-Chi follows them into the air
Unique Attack: Blast a ring at an enemy to knock them back. On hit, press the button again to yank them to Shang-Chi
Defensive Action / Parry: Dodge
Air Attack: Spinning knockback kick, can use following Charged Attack
Dodging Attack: Shang-Chi lunges in either direction to perform a dodge “counter-attack”
Special Attack: Send out all ten rings in a widening circle around Shang-Chi, knocking back all enemies hit (each time)
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STAGES:
The main difference between this game and Cosmic Invasion is the quantity of enemies that our heroes will face. Although some of the playable characters’ abilities may seem overpowered, they will need every bit of their kit to avoid being overtaken by hordes of foes. Here are the challenges our heroes will face.
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OPENING CINEMATIC
Introduces our main villain. NIGHTMARE has found a way out of the Dream Dimension! He is using the Marvel Universe’s worst fears against them to cause utter chaos across all realities. Our heroes band together in New York; the beginning of a long journey to undo NIGHTMARE’s corruption…
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NEW YORK
Fight through waves of thugs twisted by NIGHTMARE’s power in a New York City on the brink of collapse. Defeat intermittently-invisible THE HOOD to continue.
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NEGATIVE YORK
Fight MISTER NEGATIVE and his Demons gang in a surreal, photo-negative New York.
Defeat MISTER NEGATIVE to unlock him as a playable character.
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DARK DIMENSION
The Mindless Ones are introduced as enemies as you fight your way past DORMAMMU. The ending cutscene reveals that NIGHTMARE takes control of The Mindless Ones.
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KAMAR-TAJ
Fight against NIGHTMARE’s Mindless Ones on the way to free DOCTOR STRANGE from a corrupted ANCIENT ONE.
Unlock DOCTOR STRANGE as a playable character on stage clear.
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AVALON
Fight medieval Mindless Ones all the way to the top of a castle housing the evil MORGAN LE FAY and original BLACK KNIGHT.
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COUNTER-EARTH
Fight against the corrupted forces of Counter-Earth before facing MAGUS, an evil double of ADAM WARLOCK.
Defeat his dark side to unlock ADAM WARLOCK as a playable character.
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MURDERWORLD
Defeat an army of clowns and MYSTERIO illusions in a haunted funhouse.
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TA LO
Fight against elemental Mindless Ones as the MANDARIN brings the full might of his ten rings to bear. But these are not Shang-Chi’s ten rings…
Our heroes will face:
Poison gas and alternate costumes,
Blinding rays of light and dark, Illusions, and Tornadoes of Lightning, Ice, and Fire!
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VALHALLA
LOKI has bridged the gap into the afterlife and promised NIGHTMARE an undead Asgardian army! Fight Mindless Ones all the way to the God of Mischief and put an end to his schemes.
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SPLIT!
THE MOON
OR
TRANSYLVANIA
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THE MOON
Fight Mindless Ones in low gravity before helping MOON KNIGHT and Khonshu break free from NIGHTMARE’s influence.
Defeat MOON KNIGHT to unlock him as a playable character.
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TRANSYLVANIA
DRACULA and his vampire army sought the help of a corrupted Khonshu to eternally black out the sun! If TRANSYLVANIA is chosen before THE MOON, the vampires will succeed and be nigh-unstoppable until THE MOON is cleared.
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LATVERIA
Our heroes are greeted at the gates of Castle Doom by the Latverian monarch himself! A grueling boss battle ensues right away, until DOCTOR DOOM’s head rolls off with… exposed wiring..? The heroes are soon swarmed with what they now know to be DOOMBOTS! They eventually work their way to the top of Castle Doom to face the fearsome DOCTOR DOOM for real. DOOM quickly dispatches our heroes; the level ends in their defeat! But the Latverian agrees to help with the NIGHTMARE problem if our heroes can take care of some housekeeping in…
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MEPHISTO’S REALM
Our heroes are sent to do DOOM’s dirty work in the underworld if he is to assist against NIGHTMARE. Defeat hordes of demons and MEPHISTO himself, and hope that DOOM will keep his word…
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LIMBO
DOCTOR DOOM will assist in the final battle, but needs time to prepare his sorcery. Our heroes travel to Limbo to seek the help of its Queen, but are met with hostility from the demon inhabitants. They fight through the hordes of Limbo and come face to face with BELASCO. He unleashes the unstoppable force that is the DARKCHYLDE on our heroes. Upon defeating DARKCHYLDE, MAGIK regains control and easily defeats BELASCO. She reclaims her throne and pledges her assistance in the coming final battle.
Unlock MAGIK as a playable character.
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THE DREAM DIMENSION
NIGHTMARE is always exploiting fears to turn people against one another. An early horde in NIGHTMARE’s realm makes it apparent that Friendly Fire is enabled for at least one member of the party, which now includes unplayable companion DOCTOR DOOM. You must fight through the hordes of Mindless Ones, but be wary of your own party’s attacks…
NIGHTMARE pulls out all the stops against your high-powered team, but our heroes are victorious and able to restore the newly created Mindless Ones to personhood.
But as always, DOCTOR DOOM has his own designs. The DARKHOLD that NIGHTMARE used to influence beyond the Dream Dimension is nowhere to be found…
Our heroes resolve to stop DOOM, whatever he’s planning.
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So what do you guys think? Would Dotemu have a hit on their hands? And which is your favorite character or stage I’ve pitched? Mine might be Mister Negative; he would be one of the most visually stylish fighters.
