getting the idea together

Since we were given the brief for this years project i have been just trying to get the ideas for my game concrete before the hand in of the learning agreement next week so i know what im goin to be working on over the next months. I have been working out the basic gameplay elements, what research i must do, storyline, characters, and the world of the game.

I have been researching the work of Lorne Lanning, the creator of the Oddworld games, and his thoughts on the game industry and what makes a great game. I want to design a very stylised heavily character driven game and story, and as all Oddworld games are very character based i thought i i could draw alot of knowledge from Lanning's views on game, story and character design.
I was looking at the difference between the games Metal Gear Solid and Splinter Cell. They both come from the same genre, they both have similar main characters, but the reason i beleive Metal Gear is a better game is because it has a fuller story but more importantly has great character development. Splinter Cell's hero has little to no personality, which makes the game much less interesting. This is why i feel that a game with great characters can increase the players connection to the story.
This is something that i wish to bring to my idea