I joined the team as Narrative Designer about a year into development and was allowed creative liberties over a majority of the story with some exceptions as it was still at the early stages of development. One of the very first things I did was change the plot from a grandiose story about saving the universe to a more focused story about being able to save the people and places close to and around the player. While saving the universe is not a bad plot, it is incredibly ambitious and causes concern as it doesn’t feel as emotionally grounding, which is supposed to be at the core of how RPG games capture a player’s investment and attention. Another important change done to the story was the core cast of characters themselves. The template that I was given made some characters seem more like caricatures than actual people so I worked with a fellow narrative designer and artist on the team to discuss and implement changes that would make them feel more unique and nuanced than before.