The cornerstone of Seal of Evil is a consistent theme of five traditional natural elements: Metal, Wood, Water, Fire and Earth. This is used to create a fairly complex rock-paper-scissors balance relationship that runs through almost every aspect of Seal of Evil: Metal promotes Water, Water promotes Wood, Wood promotes Fire, Fire promotes Earth and Earth promotes Metal; Metal restricts Wood, Wood restricts Earth and so on.

This system forms the major character attributes and drives the secondary derived attributes - Metal affects Attack and Wood affects HP and health recovery, for example. It's also used to create bonuses and immunities in attack and defence, skills, weapons and armour. For instance, the skill Inferno receives a bonus if a fire-weapon is equipped while Poison Wave is wood-based. All up, it's an appealing theme and adds strategic depth to item and skill choices in combat. It also forms the basis of the "Making Things" item creation feature, which I'll touch on later.​