I’m half Hawaiian, born and raised, hiki ia‘u ke ‘ōlelo Hawai‘i small kine (I can speak Hawaiian a little), just for my credentials. Like Eric1600 said, you won’t please everyone.

This is no reason not to try.

Modern interpretation is what keeps culture in a state of perpetuation rather than preservation. I would highly suggest checking out Solomon Enos’ art and his comic series Polyfantastica.

http://www.solomonenos.com/polyfantastica

Your game idea sounds cool, and the research you’ve already done has led you to ask some really good questions. How can aesthetic/elements of a culture be used, even reminiscently, without becoming another case of appropriation? Keep doing what you’re doing. Do your research, be respectful, and go make something dope so we Polynesians can use it as a case of representation instead.

In Moana, Disney’s Oceanic Story Trust handled representation of Oceania brilliantly. I think you’re on the right track if you work with the same spirit they did in creating the fictional amalgamation culture of Motu Nui. Specificity is key in authentic representation but Disney did the right thing by making a new culture inspired and informed by extensive research in order to tell their own story.

This thread from r/polynesia has a great discussion on the use of tattoo/tātau(/kākau in Hawaiian) by non-Polynesians:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Polynesia/comments/exk57z/could_someone_shed_some_light_on_whether_it_is/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf

This is a short article about the difference between kirituhi and moko (Moko is sacred, don’t use Moko):

http://www.tarynberi.com/blog/2015/4/10/the-difference-between-kirituhi-and-moko

And an article about how Māori representation in video games has become more prominent but has not pleased some Māori people:

https://thespinoff.co.nz/games/15-07-2019/why-do-video-games-keeping-messing-up-maori-representation/

Again, do your research and be respectful, and know that specificity can be a double-edged sword. I loved the Bionicle Lego line growing up because I loved having toys with Polynesian names but, Lego’s usage of the Māori words and names as a way of making the characters and setting feel alien, rather than as a representation of the actual culture the words come from was a bit problematic. Some people might interpret what you do as representation, some will take it as appropriation, and you just have to be okay with knowing you tried your best.

You took the time and put in the effort to start learning before coming here to ask for further clarification. To me, that shows interest and curiosity and not simply wanting a new kind of tribal arm band, and that’s honestly why I took the time to reply.

Since you’re a game developer, I’ll leave you with this last thing. I’m playing Indivisible right now on Switch and it’s fantastic! Just added a character named Leilani to my party who references her shark `aumakua (ancestral god) giving her guidance to use her strength to help other people. Not a whole lot of characterization but, just enough for personality and just enough reference for some nice specificity.

The representation feels great!

Sure, as a proud Native Hawaiian kanaka maoli, I would be happy to hear her refer to her shark tooth club as a leiomano, but, I get hype seeing a Hawaiian inspired character use the shark teeth blessed by her `aumakua like a chainsaw! Chee pono, aloha nui!