There are 3 games I'm drawing from when designing this game.
Cat Quest,
Bastion, and
Mini Gore 2.
I love Cat Quest's simplicity. Its not feature rich but it works and I don't feel its missing anything. It feels tight and well made. I've played it through twice and leveled my character up over 100 both times which means I kept playing well after the story line was over. I like how the enemies tell you how and where they will attack with UI, and you learn to dive roll away. I also loved how you find weapons again and it levels them up. Made for a limited number of treasures but you were happy to find any one. I played Cat Quest on the Switch.
Bastion is an inspiration to many developers, so it may come as no surprise it is to me as well. Its the only game I bought twice. I've replayed Bastion a few times on PC and also on iOS. Theres a lot to love about it. Every feature they added they made sure you learned and got the most out of. I loved the 2 equipped weapons. I'm currently straight up copying their control scheme with the xbox controller. Currently copying the healing mechanic where health potions abound in the world, and you really just need to manage them, and ideally get more currency when you're full. I love their variety of enemy types. Love the variance of weapons, and how well they each work. I'm doing things a little differently so far as I'm locking the player to 1 melee and 1 projectile weapon.
Lastly Mini Gore 2, which is a rather old game, but I love everything Mountain Sheep does. I think Timo Vihola is the artist who designed the characters. Anyway its always inspired me for art direction. I love the simple beveled cube shape language, I felt they they didn't stick to it as much for their enemies, but still it really worked well for their game. It really just a base in the back of my mind that I just always loved the mix of cartoony style and simplistic design.
