I’m just working in to a brief, rather than a completely original idea (yeah, as if any idea is original).
I’ld say mechanically, I’ld like to make a clone of Deus Ex or SystemShock (I’m counting Systemshock’s spiritual successors as part of SystemShock, so Bioshock, Dead Space and Prey). I’ve already mentioned my ideal level design.
And yes, it’s weird for me to want to make a clone of games I’ve never played (they’re on my to play list, and I technically started the first 5 minutes of SystemShock remake. And I’ve played all the Deus Ex prequels.)
Theming wise, obviously I’ld love to work with the Bionicle IP, but other people’s IP don’t pay the bills.
Edit: I forgot Bioshock had elemental powers, so that’s definitely a source of inspiration for me. It’s just been like a literal decade since I’ve played Bioshock. My dream Bionicle game would have elemental powers similar to Bioshock and Prey (so basically Systemshock).
It may interest you, then, that a big focus with the Myths and Legacy project is filling in gaps like that. They have some pretty cool stories that explore this kind of downtime as well, but also fill in the missing pieces, such as the Toa Inika’s journey through the Cord in 2007.
I’m thinking about some of my favorite moments of “downtime” in Bionicle, no matter how brief they were. The night before the Bohrok attack in Ga-Koro immediately comes to mind, as do all of the small moments where Le-Koro is celebrating.
Visual media seems to have a slightly easier time with these small worldbuilding moments. The exception I’d say are the two Metru Nui movies. I’ve talked about how the later years have a hard time finding moments of peace, but the same applies to Metru Nui as well. The books lead right into one another, almost no stopping at all.
I guess that’s part of why one of my favorite moments to read was when we see each of the Toa Metru exploring the island of Mata Nui for the first time. It’s so calm in comparison to everything else they have to do.
I’m looking into that with my latest story for Yahru as well. I have wanted him to be where the action is but let’s just say that giving him a bit of a lifestyle change in terms of story (as in giving him a little bit of a slice-of-life story) will do wonders for the character. As in giving him more places to develop as an individual, especially among his fellow Matoran.
And I think that, back on G1 Bionicle, while I love the G1’s action and adventure-oriented story since I am an action-adventure type of person, I started to appreciate parts where we got a glimpse of characters beyond a battle and started to see who they are.