It might be interesting to have getting "BAD END"s be related to unraveling the protagonist's mysterious past.
This is really sketchy, but imagine the backstory is expressed as a literal puzzle, and each time you hit a Bad End the other player who did you in has to give your one of their puzzle pieces. Then they frame you back to your last "save point" - which is probably the last time you either worked out a puzzle piece on your own or got one from a Bad End.
That also serves to attach particular elements of the protagonist's mystery to particular bits of setting/adversity/etc., which seems very in-genre. You have to beat boss X in order to uncover the truth about mystery/trauma/what-have-you Y.
I really, really like the idea of puzzle pieces. Probably because I just played Braid, which despite having neither zombies or shotguns is a clear (and brilliant) entry into this genre.
Maybe there's some way that you, yourself have to put the puzzle together. Like each piece just gives you snatches and disconnected images.
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This is really sketchy, but imagine the backstory is expressed as a literal puzzle, and each time you hit a Bad End the other player who did you in has to give your one of their puzzle pieces. Then they frame you back to your last "save point" - which is probably the last time you either worked out a puzzle piece on your own or got one from a Bad End.
That also serves to attach particular elements of the protagonist's mystery to particular bits of setting/adversity/etc., which seems very in-genre. You have to beat boss X in order to uncover the truth about mystery/trauma/what-have-you Y.
no subject
Maybe there's some way that you, yourself have to put the puzzle together. Like each piece just gives you snatches and disconnected images.
yrs--
--Ben