From reading these comments and thinking about it a bit, I suppose I'm seeing a MARDEK remake as a bridge between my old work and my new ideas. Something that incorporates aspects of both, to introduce some of the concepts (sentiments, runes, Alora Fane, etc) without going full-on like Taming Dreams did. Belief is very much in the 'new ideas' category, but I'd like for it to tie into this new (probably renamed?) MARDEK remake, since I feel that'd give way more motivation to look into it.
Originally I planned to make Belief a standalone game with Lileah as the protagonist, then if it did well, I'd make a series of three more that followed Blight, Lacuna, and Flaymh. I didn't really have many ideas for Blight's three chapters though, beyond the protagonist designs, and what I did have was so heavily based on MARDEK's planned and existing story that I could just slot the MARDEK Remake in place of that.
So Belief could just be a single game, starring Lileah, which would be released as a prequel to the MARDEK Remake. If Belief's mechanics were popular and more appealing than the MARDEK Remake's, I could always incorporate them more into later chapters. I could release the first MARDEK Remake Chapter, then Belief, then more of MARDEK, maybe? I'll have to think about it, see how it goes.
I'm not entirely sure what people who want a completely faithful 'remake' want, but I suppose it's no different to people wanting the remakes of Link's Awakening or Spyro or whatever to be essentially the same as what they remember, except for graphics. It's interesting what people are receptive to changes with, and what they'd prefer to be the same.
Originally I planned to make Belief a standalone game with Lileah as the protagonist, then if it did well, I'd make a series of three more that followed Blight, Lacuna, and Flaymh. I didn't really have many ideas for Blight's three chapters though, beyond the protagonist designs, and what I did have was so heavily based on MARDEK's planned and existing story that I could just slot the MARDEK Remake in place of that.
So Belief could just be a single game, starring Lileah, which would be released as a prequel to the MARDEK Remake. If Belief's mechanics were popular and more appealing than the MARDEK Remake's, I could always incorporate them more into later chapters. I could release the first MARDEK Remake Chapter, then Belief, then more of MARDEK, maybe? I'll have to think about it, see how it goes.
I'm not entirely sure what people who want a completely faithful 'remake' want, but I suppose it's no different to people wanting the remakes of Link's Awakening or Spyro or whatever to be essentially the same as what they remember, except for graphics. It's interesting what people are receptive to changes with, and what they'd prefer to be the same.