So, there is this fun little addition that Camelot made to the Shining series. When the game starts up, at about the point where you are selecting a save slot, they present the story of the game as being told or read to you. You see a character (usually with a book) and when you select your save slot they “read to you” the game that you play.

I have always thought this was a really fun addition to these games; it makes the fantasy setting seem all the more, well, fantasy.

I keep thinking that I would love to add this same element into my games. But I wonder if people might see it as me stealing this from the Shining series. As far as I know, nobody has done this other than the Shining games.
I don't think it would garner any legal trouble; I doubt that it is an element that has been trademarked (and they haven't even used it in their last three new games, since 2007) and it's too broad to be copyrighted. But I worry about negative backlash that would come from the public. Would people see it as an homage or a pastiche, or would they see this as me stealing or ripping-off? Would there be outcry? Do you think people would be put-off?

It is worth noting that I am not thinking of doing this just for one title; I'd like to build several games within the world that I am creating, and if I use this element, I'd like to use it for all of them.

Examples from the Shining series:

Ahh, a moderator moved this to the “business and law” forum; I wasn't asking about the legality of it, I wanted to hear about public opinion. Do you think people would react poorly, like I was doing a cheap rip-off? Not Sega or Camelot, but consumers and reviewers and people on social media.

Do you think the average person might see this as rubbing too close to Shining Force that it would reflect poorly on me and my work?