This is the Story doccument/lore submission from LetMeDoStuff. Contains spoilers and potential backstory information.
The game will be set within a fictional rendition of a dieselpunk-esc Victorian timeline, specifically within the fictional nation of the Kingdom of Greater Britannia. In this world, the Industrial Revolution skyrocketed past expectations. Now, Britannia lives in an era of industrialization on an international scale, having filled up almost every city and plot of urbanized land with factories upon factories. The backdrop to the major industrial consensus includes a fictional war that is intentionally kept vague and abstract from the start, with optional collectibles that could give information on the battle between Greater Britannia and 'The Empire', located in central/western Europia. Because of this explicable war, the mysterious royalties of Greater Britannia force an industrialized doctrine upon the masses, which evidently creates the monotonous lifestyle for the protagonist and other characters alike. Because of this, Britannia loses a small segment of its land, which is deemed to be the "Free-plains", an area on the Isles of Britannia that are yet to be industrialized.
Britannia is under the rulership of "The King", a name that is also as abstract as to build upon the protagonist's lowliness and unimportance right at the beginning. Many cities, like Londonia, Bristolite, Burming, Portsnorth and Folksouth, are all richly flourishing with tightly compact districts of factories after factories. The citizens live a life of waking up, working, and eating, then repeating the process through countless times until their lives are over. A few gain promotions into the more sophisticated industrialized roles, but no one truly gains any self-value above what they do. The fuel of the economy is driven by the war, and the constant "threat" of an invasion that is always propagated by the Royalists of Britannia. The few who spoke up against the industrial world were imprisoned and made an example of, further removing the chances of anyone going against the system.
These cities are kept under a close eye, mostly artificial eyes. To compensate for the manpower needed to power the industrialized Britannia, the security forces were mostly replaced with artificial prototypes of androids powered by steam, diesel, and other toxic fumes. They keep a close eye on the situation and are under direct orders of the Royalty, the Ministry of Protection, the Security Chiefs of Londonia, (etc.) Each of these mechanical beings are made to simply ensure that until their true masters say so, no one abandons their duty or steps out of line.
One difference that sets Londonia and other major industrial cities apart is the fact that they are built upon layers. Londonia, in particular, contains multiple surface levels to their industrialized lands; the lower the levels get, the more smog, dirt, grime and famine occurs. Those who live at the top layers aren't exactly the rich few, but they certainly are slightly more lucky with having the ability to see the dim sunlight through the smogged clouds.
The 'Protagonist', placeholder name being Charles Alexander ('Free Hero' in Traditional English meaning), finally having the incentive to escape the industrial world and to pursue the Freeplains. Without anyone to guide his way nor anyone to trust at the start, he would have to flee into the depths of the industry to escape, all whilst being pursued by the Security forces. Having to solve puzzles and strange combinations to unlock secretive routes, practice abilities of sneaking or combat, or simply evading confrontation altogether, the Protagonist will have to use the "player's cunning" to approach the situations.
Below the lower levels of the industrial lands, the protagonist will encounter the manifestations of the industrial side-effects. Monsters and strange oozes in the lowest levels that reek of coal-burnt masses, violent feral creatures and other rodents that are keen on hunting would eventually join as an obstacle against the protagonist's journey, which can open some specific levels that require using either the security or feral creatures against one another to create a window of opportunity to escape (creating more levels of freedom in linear, and giving a bigger sense of accomplishment to the world). These are also to make the protagonist feel a part of the world, rather than "THE WORLD" as they are deemed an ordinary labourer from the start of the game. Along the way, through collectables, the protagonist can find secret documents, news headlines and perhaps tapes (if we plan on using voices) to help give more details to what happened in the world around them, as well as revealing some secrets that are optional to gain. (Can also give a sense of replayability or give reason to exploring certain levels). Bosses in the game could be a mixture of Security or Monster-based forces, differing in styles of pressuring the player. Some may require confrontation, some may require puzzles to outsmart; some may use subordinates and minions to occupy you whilst others may simply be about escaping.