illusions of Gaia

[fazon]

this is a game i played a lot on the Snes and when my snes broke down due to dog activity i first nearly killed the dog then downloaded a PC emulator and downloaded the game this is a sort of Zelda'ish game but then different i cant rlly explain it its a nice game , any1 else knows it?

[S3M]

Illusion of Gaia or Time as it's known in the UK (never did find out why NOE renamed it) is a classic example of Enix at their best.

The middle chapter in the Soul Blazer Trilogy as well, I liked Terranigma the most due to the puzzle and town growth system. A great series of RPG's and the reward for getting all 50 red jewels was very nice in Illusion of Gaia.

By the way does any one know if Soul Blazer got a UK release?

[mezzanine]

It's been ten years since I played it but I remember the setting and atmosphere being particularly good in IoT (a lot of the places you visit in the game were based on ancient civilizations weren't they?) I'll have to get round to trying the other two in the series sometime.

[vertigo]

S3M: the only two reasons I can think of for renaming the game:
1) No one in the UK knew what Gaia was
2) Gaia sounded a bit like Gay. It is pronounced 'gayer' after all.
Bonus reason) NoE are stupid.

But yes, I loved this game, first saw it in Super Play, lapped up all their coverage, banged on about it to my dad for ages and he actually paid ?35 so that I could have it new for Christmas (unusual for my family to spend that much on a single present unless it was all you were getting, we didn't have much cash in them days) and I didn't stop playing until it was finished.

Let's be nice and spoilerfy for those who haven't played it but would like to.
I loved the bit where

->Open Spoiler<-

they went to Nazca

because I'd love to go there in real life.
Another thing I remember is the

->Open Spoiler<-

double-sided Sky Garden which made your brain have to deal with two maps at once, which was pretty ace now I think about it

.
S3M: Can you spoiler tag it and remind me what it was that happened once you got 50 red gems? I'm pretty sure I did get them coz I played through Gaia twice but I can't remember what you get.
The only thing I didn't like (and it's a very tiny gripe) is that you don't get to hear much of the map music because your movement's on a choice of paths to follow, and if you listen to the map music in SPCAmp it deserved a longer outing
Oh and the Mode7 intro was wicked too, although I always wondered where the ships disappeared to

I might have to play it again coz it is still an excellent example of an ARPG.

I used to play a lot more RPGs in those days than I do now, one of the benefits of being a school-going teenager I guess, you have no real responsibilities between 3 and bed time (usually about midnight if I was playing an RPG) every day

My supposedly complete SNES ROM collection only has a US and JP (SoulBlader) version of Soul Blazer, so I would guess it didn't get a European release. I've never played it though, does it stand up to Gaia and Terranigma, or is it a bit like playing Final Fantasy after you've played Final Fantasy 4?

[Magnakai]

Soul Blazer's interesting. Plot-wise it seemed quite original. I only played it on ROM, unlike IoT and Terranigma, so I never gave it a proper outing.

When you get 50 red gems...

->Open Spoiler<-

you talk to the gem merchant, and he warps you to a haunted house-style level, with a rock-hard boss at the end that you have to fight in Will's original form. I think he's a character/boss from Soul Blazer, but I can't be sure of it. Anyway, you don't get anything else, just that level. After you kill the boss, you warp back to town...

and that's that!

[Wild_Cat]

Soul Blazer did get an EU release -- with fully localized text for the French version. And I seem to recall Terranigma was only released in EU and JP, never in the US.

[Magnakai]

True on both counts.
Terranigma had a few weird releases in Europe. I think it was the German release, or perhaps a Scandinavian release that had a slightly different translation in certain parts from the UK release. There was also an extra Magirock that wasn't in the UK PAL version for some reason.

I'm a big Terranigma dork. I used to hang out at the http://www.fogu.com/terra/ messageboard back when it was active.

[vertigo]

Magnakai I think I remember that. Will have to play it again

Sold my tatty UK Terranigma to Seany, so hopefully it'll get some use.
But am very tempted to play Soul Blazer and Gaia back to back
Must finish Earthbound first.

[S3M]

So did Soul Blazer get a UK release or just French and German?

->Open Spoiler<-

The Mansion boss is indeed from Soul Blazer he's the first boss in the game I believe hence the line he said when you beat him "Blaze was strong but you are stronger".

Soul Blazer does still stand up well, compared to the other two games in fact some element of it are better than the two follow up's. Graphic aren't great but the puzzle element is really good and of all the three games it's the closest in style to Zelda. Well worth a play through, now if I could just get my hands on a copy.

[vertigo]

I reckon I'll have a bash on Soul Blazer after I've finished with Earthbound, which is still my favourite turn-based RPG ever.