I'm still awaiting feedback from my testers on the "final" version of Ascension, but in the meantime, I've had an opportunity to take a little break from developing. Even so, I've already started turning my mind back towards my Dragonfaith project, and resumed working on it with a renewed vigor. However, I've decided to kind of start back from sort-of-scratch, and rebuild the project up from the beginning, while scaling back a few things. I just feel like maybe there's too much complexity right in the beginning of the game, and it's gotten to a level where it can intimidate me way too early in the development process.
Some of the things I'm working on changing is tightening up some of the maps, to get rid of empty space, in an effort to maintain focus; rethinking the approach in dialogue; and opting for more player freedom rather than a rigidly plot-driven vehicle. I've also decided that maybe controlling a party of three characters right at the start of the game is maybe too much too soon - starting with a single character and then building up later on will make it easier both for the player to adapt to the combat in the game, as well as for me to start configuring the battle specs early on. (This approach was partly inspired by the simplicity of the first Dragon Quest/Warrior game, with which the front-view RPG Maker combat system resembles more closely than the side-view Final Fantasy system).
As much as I'd love to make a complex and character-driven story like Final Fantasys IV-VI, the fact is, RPGs are tough to design, and this is my very first one. So I don't want to burden myself with too many expectations right from the start. One of the tips I'd read in a guide on creating your first RPG is not to start with your dream project - to save it for when you actually know what you're doing. I didn't agree with it then, and I still don't agree with it completely, as I think the motivation to bring your dream project to life could be just the thing you need to actually push yourself through to the end instead of giving up halfway through (which is where I'd wager 95% of projects wind up - I've never wanted to be that guy). But there is some wisdom in that view, and certainly I've looked at my Ascension project partly as an opportunity to gain more experience before tackling Dragonfaith again.
Of course, Ascension wasn't just a detour - it was yet another dream project that I'd been wanting to bring to life, and I am immensely satisfied with what I've managed to come up with. Turning back towards Dragonfaith now, I think it's more important that I can piece this together into an actual, complete game that acts as a vehicle to tell the story I want to tell, than to get too bogged down with making comparisons to professional games I couldn't hope to equal (even if I did have the talent/experience, those games still require collaboration with many people to create). In the long-run, if this becomes something I enjoy and have the talent to do, I don't expect there will be any shortage of creative ideas bubbling around in my head, and it's not like primitive games haven't ever been redone to fulfill their true potential with later experience/technology (see: Metal Gear Solid).
