I just started to play yesterday and yes it's a mishmash of existing things, like all art.
The death thing is the Logan's Run concept (probably has an older reference), the world tree thing is thousands of years old like RoadHazard said.
Honestly, the best writing I've experienced in an RPG, I don't feel like being talked to like a child. Game mechanics are solid so far.
The only criticism I have are the menus, too much unnecessary anims that look good for the first hour but are cumbersome. They are also confusing overall, it`s hard to see what is selected, things are placed all over the screen randomly.