Now that my game has achieved the minimum required amount of votes, it's time for me to discuss what went on in developing it.

Of course, before the jam started, I already had the "explorer sisters" concept in mind. And the character inspirations for the "sisters" Zinnia and Azalea came from four sets of twin sisters I know and like: Fuwawa and Mococo Abyssgard from hololive English Advent, Kei and Chihiro Shindou from ef: a fairy tale of the two., Ram and Rom from the Neptunia series, and Asa and Yoru Kazato from If My Heart Had Wings. These pairs of polar opposite twin sisters have their own sets of appealing qualities that I applied to Zinnia and Azalea.

Regarding the naming conventions, in terms of places and dramatis personae, I draw names from various sources, making sure they are appropriate to the setting. Since Baihaerun, the world where the entire Lily Adventuresses! series takes place in, is a typical Western fantasy setting with strong influences of Filipino mythology and culture, and also draws from many other different cultures, I implement names when I feel like it, with rhyme and reason put into it, of course.

Now onto Episode 3 itself. Since "depths" was chosen as LD57's theme, I set out to draw inspiration from Mega Man Legends, since both games deal with exploring ruins full of lost technology -- for instance, the refractive crystal Zinnia and Azalea find near the end of the prologue is a reference to the refractors from MML. The game also has strong elements of mystery that unfold upon exploration of more ruins, and this kind of storytelling is what I'll implement in the full game.

Of course, being a trademark of mine, I never fail to inject a reference or two to other media. For instance, the prologue's title, "This Ain't Made in the Abyss", is an overt reference to the manga and anime Made in Abyss. And did you know that in the entire Lily Adventuresses! series, I implemented messages you can read when you inspect already-opened chests? Yeah, they're a huge shout-out to the Trails in the Sky trilogy.

So there. Look forward to the entire Lily Adventuresses! series. Episode 1, She Who Lost Everything but Her Name is already out, Episode 2, Rise of the Arcritters, is around 75-80% complete, and expect Episode 3, The Explorer Sisters and the Deepest Depths, to be out before 2025 ends.

Episode 1: https://dagitabsoft.itch.io/lily-adventuresses-episode-1-she-who-lost-everything-but-her-name (FULL)

Episode 2: https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/56/lily-adventuresses-episode-2-rise-of-the-arcritters-prologue (LD56; PROLOGUE)

Episode 3: https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/57/lily-adventuresses-episode-3-the-explorer-sisters-and-the-deepest-depths-pr (LD57; PROLOGUE)

Have a blessed Good Friday.