There's a game dev trend going on right now.

The indie game I'm making and three inspirations for it.

Skyrim, and just the Elder Scrolls in general, for its rich lore and open world, with NPCs that feel dynamic and as if they were a part of the world. I actually was inspired by a game I don't remember the name of for those NPCs as well, since they all have names and all have a specific schedule they follow which was similar to that game. I want to say it was Golden Sun but I'm not sure, I just watched a game dev video and the guy was talking about it which sparked the inspiration for me.

I've barely played Dragon Quest, but it works as a good stand-in for the overall style of graphics I've used which hearkens back to SNES/GBA RPGs. Final Fantasy VI would be another good one to put here.

Wind Waker, also for its open world and the feeling of being on an adventure as a younger person. Obviously not so much boat stuff. My music was inspired by a lot of games, including Metroid, Donkey Kong Country, and Wind Waker. This could apply to Ocarina of Time as well, both of which have inspired a lot of my work over the years.

This was sort of hard to come up with, though. I don't think I really took much inspiration directly besides Elder Scrolls and whatever that other game was. It's more of what passively affected me and what I was drawn towards in making my own game. I didn't really think "I want to make a game *like* Skyrim or *like* Dragon Quest" I was more in the mindset of "I want to make a cool game that's all my own." Some inspirations will be pretty obvious, but a lot of it just sort of bled through.