My ultimate goal in creating this game was to combine the beloved mechanics of an RPG with the tools, items, and dungeon structures of Zelda. Also one of the core concepts of my game was do more with less.

RPG Mechanics
I stuck with the basic stats of Attack, Defense, Magic Attack, Magic Defense, Speed, and Luck. All six of these apply to battle, with Luck having some effects outside of battle. Then there is the traditional HP, MP, XP system. The last mechanics from the players side was the power pacing. Designing the XP Leveling, Stat Leveling, Magic Power Leveling, and Sword Tech leveling was the most complex part of the system. I was able to maintain balance between all characters, classes, and battle strategies.

Gameworld Enemies vs. Random Battles
With the gameworld enemy mechanics I didn't want random battles while in the gameworld (Final Fantasy), I wanted the player to see the actual enemies walking around (Chrono Trigger, Super Mario RPG). This meant designing the movement mechanics of the enemies, as well as some gameworld AI. The result is enemies that patrol with active hearing and vision, with varying levels of randomness of their patrolling patterns.

Enemy Level, Power/Strength, and Stats
Next was to design the enemy battle stats, similar to the player stats, but taking into consideration player and enemy party sizes, current player levels, regional variations, mini-bosses and bosses, and more. The spreadsheets and formulas to create balanced enemies became far more complex than for the players. One key to proper balance was designing a "recruiting" system. In short, when a player returns to an area with "easier" enemies, a particular enemy race is designated to "recruit" upgraded variations of the area's enemies, providing a balanced challenge for the player.

Other RPG Mechanics
Other traditional RPG mechanics included designing and item system, again needing balance of what benefit the item provided, a balanced weapon system, and a status effect system. I also created an item combing system, mostly based off of Resident Evil (read "Herbs and V-JOLT"). Then, a few more smaller RPG mechanics like side quests, player stat tracking, collectable notes and books, and maps were also added, including the ability to add stamps to region maps! The side quest system also required a complex code and design system that merged with the dialog system. There is also traditional battle prep mechanics like arranging gear, buffing, and selecting battle line/row.

Weapon Enhancement (Firanite)
With the weapon system, I 100% was going to design a weapon enhancement system based on the "main" for elements (also used in the magic system), vaguely similar to Materia. The final result was the Firanite system, which allows changing of Firanite (stones) between all gear, greatly changing different players and classes battle stats, which in turn adds a variety of new battle strategies. One example is a mage can NOT cast "Fire Level 6" without at least six Fire Firanite equipped. Another example is if a Knight has an Earth and a Wind Firanite equipped on their sword, when the execute the basic physical attack, bonus Earth and Wind damage will be added to the attack, especially great if the enemy is weak to either!

Gold and Treasure Pacing
Another very complex system to design was the gold pacing. This included found gold, enemy spoils/drops, and item costs. This also affected what items should be in what treasure chests, as well as what items should be in enemy spoils/drops. The final outline of gold pacing with levels and chapters, as well as item and weapon shop prices, proved to be very complex, but absolutely necessary for proper balance.

Zelda - Puzzles
Finally it was then time to add the Zelda-like mechanics. And firstly, that meant puzzles! I wanted everything from basic gameworld puzzles, like moveable crates and bridges, to advanced puzzles that require collected and upgraded tools, like a lantern or power glove (or hookshot!) Unlike the RPG mechanics which were 90% designed in spreadsheets, these gameworld mechanics were planned in spreadsheets, but 90% designed in code.

Zelda - Dungeons
I wanted a "proper" Zelda-like "room-based" dungeon system. It needed a room-to-room movement feel, with unique room shapes, locked doors and keys, built in puzzles like blocks and switches (Zelda), cranks and crests (Resident Evil), and puzzles requiring the user collected tools. And of course, dungeon maps, one for each floor, the player can find.

Battle System - Turn Gauge
This was probably the most complex system to design. I wanted the traditional RPG style battle system, with a slightly different "turn timer". The result was creating a turn gauge with each battle member's icon, including special head markings for enemies, that would allow the player to make many different decisions. This turn gauge proved to really generate the desire for effective battle strategy, and the graphic design of it ended up with a wonderful somewhat Mortal Kombat / Street Fighter feel.

Battle System - Commands
I needed the tradition Attack, Defend (yes, I made it useful), and Run, but I also wanted something a little extra. So I borrowed from the greatest RPG of all time, and added a Sword Tech system (Blitz's) where players on there turn could risk entering a correct button combination in return for a much more powerful attack. I also added other class specific abilities like Guardian, Steal, and Vanish. There is also a critical main battle mechanic that will be revealed in the third prologue!

Battle System - Enemy AI
This was also a very complex system, but the main concepts were targeting players based on HP and XP, and healing other enemies based on class, HP, and certain abilities. There is also enemy defend and run AI, that is based on many variables including player HP, enemy class, and enemy HP. The final addition was the enemies ability to use items to heal, and also removing that item from it's own spoils/drop.

Conclusion
There were many more game mechanics needed to build the entire game, but these were the largest and most complex.