Illusion of Gaia: This Took Me Thirty Years

What are people, really? A collection of passions and pursuits, wrapped in so much earthen clay. Will a dream persist without this guise, our bloody vessel? We bend our flesh to the will of the explorer, the artisan, the inventor, or merchant; not ours alone, even the bondage of others, as we race to elevate ourselves...what higher power would look down and smile? If said god forced us to change, could we hope to understand their motivations? Surely we won't endure, only Love will last.

To some extent, Illusion of Gaia is a game about all of these things and more...maybe. The localization means I can't say for sure, but here's what I do know: this is a game about a self-immolating pig. It took me thirty years to finish. I had such promise once.

​

In 1990, Japanese developer Quintet struck gold with ActRaiser for the SNES. Weird, heavily edited for America, multi-genre gold. They mixed city-builder peanut butter with side-scrolling action chocolate and made a home console classic. That was shortly followed up with Soul Blazer, an action RPG (which full disclosure, I haven't played). I've always put it off, intending to finish another Quintet game instead: Illusion of Gaia.

A shame then, that it took going back decades later to actually do it. Embarrassing, really. In my defense, I didn't have a computer or any resource to reference when I got stuck at...well, I'm getting there. Anyways, the game reached America in '94, and found it's way into my grubby little hands a year later. The title font was ornate and eye-catching, and the name itself was just the right kind of portentous sounding nonsense to grab a nerd's attention. Vague but profound sounding, like nearly every episode title of the original Star Trek series.

Pretty good, but where's Spock's Brain?
​

Quintet had been founded in 1989, and went on a run of quirky SNES games published mostly by Enix. Several members had been the lead creatives on the first Ys, which is to say that these people had always been interested in role-playing games where you hit things. Menu-based combat? That's the other guy's problem.

Wait for the ATB gauge to fill...? Pound sand, tinhorn! I work for Mel Brooks Tomoyoshi Miyazaki!
​

Illusion of Gaia, then, is an action RPG that, like ActRaiser before it, draws heavily from an array of real-world mythologies and history. It is, in a way, a game set on our Earth, roughly 16th century, with an emphasis on exploring the Wonders of the World; sites like the Pyramids of Giza and the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, along with ActRaiser/Quintet's signature bent towards the religious, visiting Angkor Wat and the Tower of Babel. You travel the world by a combination of automated map sequences on foot, on camel/kangaroo hybrids, and occasionally by parachuting from a plane like you're about to liberate France.

See, we're infiltrating a Sea Palace to reach the sunken continent of Mu and fight vampires. *Huffs more paint*
​

The above plane shot shows off one of the many Mode 7 sequences, and Illusion *was* a looker for the time. The player character and enemies are detailed and vividly animated, with particular use of wind blowing through the protagonists hair and clothing throughout the game. On that note, manga artists contributing to video games has always been common in Japan, and Illusion is no exception. In this case, the character designs were created by Moto Hagio, the acclaimed shōjo pioneer.

A fascinating choice for character designer then, but equally so was the scenario writer, Mariko Ohara. A science-fiction author, Ohara was a recent winner of the Seiun Award (the Japanese equivalent of the Hugo) when she started work on Illusion of Gaia. That's a "Good Get" for a video game, and an award-winning author and the "God of Shojo Manga", herself a prolific sci-fi writer, should make for a fascinating creative team. Ohara grew up writing Kirk/Spock slash fics, and was going to write a scenario for characters by one of the foremost shounen-ai artists! I had planned to read Hybrid Child, Ohara's Seiun winner and most recent work before Illusion of Gaia, to perhaps get a better context and see what got the team at Quintet interested in working with her in the first place. I'm still excited to read it, once I track down a copy, but I'm going ahead with a review because...

...well, I should clarify something: After beating the game, I researched some about Quintet, looked up old magazines, what have you. That being said, I'm going to focus on the version I own, the American commercial release. Not to jump ahead, but the biggest problem with Illusion of Gaia is that the translation is...it's bad enough that I can't tell where weird choices end and localization begins. I can only venture guesses as to what the story even is. Mariko Ohara might have turned out a barn-burner of a narrative for Illusion of Gaia, but it sure wasn't what I played.

Here's my best attempt at a brief synopsis. Will, a young man with cool psychic powers and even cooler hair, is the only person to return home after a doomed expedition with his father to the Tower of Babel. He lives a normal teenage life with his aunt and uncle until the local king makes a request: Will must deliver his father's Crystal Ring to the castle. Will's cheapskate dad didn't leave him any jewelry, so it's off to the dungeon for defying the king. This being an SNES RPG, a princess with pluck, Kara, takes a shine to poor Protagonist-kun and springs him from the hoosgow. They embark on an adventure together with her pet pig and tragic hero, Hamlet.

Will is swiftly guided to a magic village where his friends and family fled from the king, and informed by a bunch of ghosts that he needs to, like, save the world. Sure thing, no problem. There's a comet, see? When it passes Earth, people get weird, life changes, and civilizations generally end. Explorers the world over have been trying to find the various Mystic Statues left behind by the ancients of the world, believing they can avert disaster. All have died on the quest, their wills unfulfilled. Will is special though, hence the telekinesis and hair, and gets help from Gaia (the Earth, we assume) in the form of Dark Power, including the ability to change form into Freedan, the Dark Knight.

Big sword, bigger hair, throws fireballs; great listener, extremely funny. Calls to check you "got home okay".​

By the end, there's an implication that celestial powers are forcibly evolving the Earth and it's inhabitants, altering the natural progression of time and creating an alternate Earth. It's actually a little bit Chrono Trigger, if you squint? Which isn't surprising, it was the 90's! The Human Genome project was underway, cloning efforts were getting headlines, and rapid advancements in computer technology were making sci-fi stories about digital realities seem all the more possible each year. Star Trek was back on TV and bigger than ever, and The X-Files was a smash hit show where every conspiracy theory you've ever heard was real, and *THEY* didn't want you to know about it! All of that is to say, people were extremely open to things like Alien Ancestors and Chariot of the Gods-style narratives. Illusion of Gaia is absolutely a product of its time, and other far more popular games ran with that kind of storytelling, like Final Fantasy 7 and Xenogears. (Both of those cribbed more heavily from pop culture and anime, whereas Gaia is very much an older "pulp" fiction tale with a then-modern twist. I mean, the Continent of Mu? Very archaic reference, even then.)

"Bio-technology?" I don't know, man, I just hold A and then press the shoulder buttons. I'm not into labels.
​

So that's me, jawing on about the story or lack thereof. It's an action game, how does it actually play? You know what, Pushy Internal Voice, it's awfully fun! Your base character can double tap a direction to run, like dashing in Street Fighter, and there's a sense of speed that's complimented by the snappy controls. You attack quickly, with generous i-frames (for the kids who played outside: invincibility frames) that makes approaching enemies less of a gamble than it was in ActRaiser. You also have a little bit of variety, the base attack with a direction input offers a lunge that satisfyingly combos, often passing right through projectiles. The game gives you ample opportunity to run around, incorporating Sonic-esque hills and ramps into the dungeon puzzles. There's even a Sonic Spin Dash (but much sillier looking) in the latter half of the game, for inclines where you can't build up speed manually.

You hit these ramps at escape velocity, the background scrolling at high speed as you rocket forward
​

The character progression is a bit unusual, with upgrades to Health, Defense, and Attack Power doled out for clearing an area of enemies. Just about everything in the game stays dead, no respawns. When you've whacked everything in a room, the game pauses to reward you. It's almost never required to actually slay everything, and several of the later areas become large enough, with hidden enemies, that seeking them out to buff your stats gets a lot more challenging. You need it though, your Attack in particular. The game uses progression to scale the difficulty; you're meant only to keep pace, not over-level and wallop monsters with your girthy stat sheet.

Most major areas, with one incredibly boring exception, end in a boss fight. These are where the ActRaiser legacy shines through the most; in a lot of games, there's a shining weak point with a set number of hits, and have an untouchable recovery animation after being hit in the face. ActRaiser and this game generally don't give the enemies any invincibility, you're free to attack repeatedly. Illusion of Gaia does try to mix it up, with some bosses having limited windows to be struck, and honestly, those are the most boring fights. The final boss in particular is a let-down, forcing you to spam an invincible transformation to dodge fireballs, then fire back when they're vulnerable. You don't even have to move, I think it's actually less optimal to do so.

I have no idea why the Mushroom Forest doesn't have a boss, it's as large as most other dungeons.
​

Outside of combat, you occasionally navigate towns and story sequences. This is where Illusion is at it's most quirky, and poorly translated. Several scenes in the game require to hit a dialogue trigger or two, and then simply...wait. Often you need to speak to everyone around before someone advances the conversation. I have to imagine if this game were made on the Playstation it would have been rife with pre-rendered cutscenes. Illusion has a different vibe than a lot of its contemporaries in that sense, forcing you to slow down. WIth the localization, this is often to the game's extreme detriment, as the broken English and misattributed speakers (at one point a guy responds to himself, like he forgot to log into his sock-puppet account) don't exactly shine when you have no choice but to focus on them.

There is a collectible sidequest, with 50 hidden Red Jewels stashed in dungeons and kitchen cabinets throughout the world. A weird pervert in disguise named Jeweler Gem will take them off your hands and give you a few small upgrades, with a hidden minor dungeon at the end if you can find them all. (The big reward is a boss from Soul Blazer, I think?) This is a sidequest in the vein of the Hidden Boxes of Super Mario RPG, and I don't mean that as a compliment. If you aren't using a guide, it's very easy to overlook the Jewels, and advancing the story makes most of them missable. In a few cases, talking to the wrong person might send you to a new area, never to return, and you'll have to restart the game to scrounge for the precious stones.

Handing out "boosts" to kids pawning their parents jewelry, he's basically your weed guy.
​

I've danced around it, but you may be asking: "Thirty years to beat this? Were you in a coma? Was it weird, not waking up in the Willennium we all expected?" Judging Hypothetical Reader, I *was* in a coma, and it *was* weird.

Okay, no. I wish, it's so much dumber than that.

My first playthrough, as an idiot child, I just got stuck missing a ledge I was meant to jump off to solve a puzzle. I hid the fact that I needed glasses from parents till I was maybe 13 or so, these things happened. Every subsequent playthrough, years apart, I got to this floating raft community called Watermia.

Watermia, where my dreams went to die. Lovely place, though.
​

After watching a romantic confession gone wrong, several of Will's friends run off. A few characters comment that they're missing, but no matter where you look, they're gone. I would search the whole town, chat up every identical villager, click on every possible sprite like I'm looking for secrets in a Doom level. No dice. I can't go to the next area, and nothing happens.

I'd get manic, then angry, bored, and finally, depressed: just like watching a Baz Luhrmann movie. The game would be put away, and I'd come back years later wanting to start fresh, playing through and assuming that Younger Me was an idiot, Current Me would apply their incredible brain and crush the problem.

Yes, eventually I could have looked up the answer, but now it was a question of, oh god, intelligence. I know kids can beat this game, why couldn't I?

Was I doomed to never see the Author's Barely Concealed Fetish?
​

Finally, feeling confident in 2006, I....what, 2025? That can't be right. Whatever the present date is, I finally reached that same scene, and this time, checked my inventory to see if I had any leftover Red Jewels.

What.
​

Lance politely explains in his correspondence that he left a letter in Will's luggage, so he couldn't miss it. This was a rare occasion when I had the house to myself, and felt very comfortable SCREAMING AT THE TOP OF MY GODDAMN LUNGS. That's it?! I just had to check my stuff? I, I-the room is spinning, I smell toast. Thirty years! *collapses*
That's it, no great difficulty spike, not even really a translation issue, just a game developer assuming "Well any fool would check their items eventually", having never met this fool in particular. I beat the game that same day, mere hours later. A few more dungeons, a lot of weird exposition at the end, a finale boss rush just like ActRaiser, no sweat. I don't even think this game would be that memorable to me if I'd just found this stupid letter, it would just be another thing I played as a kid.

Should You play Illusion of Gaia? The visuals are solid, but the sound is such a step down from ActRaiser I hadn't thought to bring it up. Just a few pastoral sounding themes, and the same few pieces repeated for almost every town and dungeon. Most of the sound effects seem to be from ActRaiser as well, which provides a meaty *thwunk* to each attack, but there's nothing new to praise. There is a retranslation patch being worked on, which might communicate the story better. If you like other Quintet games, it's probably a no-brainer to give this a go. It's not particularly difficult, save for a tricky boss fight with a couple vampires halfway through the game. (Leverage your invincible slide attack, just saying.) If you're emulating and fond of uncapping the frame-rate/"fast-forwarding", you could knock this out in a day.

None of that sounds like glowing praise, I'll admit. The other Quintet titles like Terranigma, Soul Blazer, and of course ActRaiser are brought up more often today, Illusion seems to have aged the worst of the lot. The dungeons are a fun mix of combat and puzzles, and the control design feels excellent for an action RPG of the time; mistakes will feel like your own fault, not the game.

Yes, if you enjoy SNES adventures like A Link to the Past, give this a try. Just don't spend three decades figuring it out, please.

 

[Stookymalarkey]

I guess the Red Jewels were such a pain to find that the English manual had a walkthrough on where to find them. Still, I remember enjoying the game as a kid, flaws and all. It's funny that games like Chrono Trigger is remembered so fondly to this day while games like this ended up more of a afterthought for your average internet denizen.

 

[Inkingsama]

This game is so weird man. The story goes everywhere, i played it years ago but i remember that the protagonists and his friends just go on a journey and shit just happens to them. You spend the whole game hearing about an assasin chasing you and when he finally appears

Spoiler

you just play a song in your flute and the guy gets burned alive

Good game but the translation really makes it seem like a fever dream.

 

[Hikari.EXE]

The toast thing... I saw someone else make a joke about it, does people who go trought a stroke smell toast before they fall?

 

[DunkeyKong]

Dang that's a great story and a great determination to finish it, but yeah it's all over the place.

Anyway, great review once again!

 

[χKai]

Can't believe it took you 30 years to write one review.

 

[Strategist]

If it makes you feel better, I couldn't beat this game either. I rented like 4 times and always got stuck in some weird platform jumping puzzle or was missing some NPC I needed to talk to. I might have to slay my own 30 year old dragon and finish this game. I did finish ActRaiser and SoulBlazer and they were a lot more straightforward.

 

[ATenderLad]

@Inkingsama I loved that bit you mentioned in spoilers, I took pictures but decided it's best enjoyed fresh by anyone playing the game.

The toast thing... I saw someone else make a joke about it, does people who go trought a stroke smell toast before they fall?

It's basically just a joke, your sense of smell can be changed by a stroke, during and after, but it's not the same for everyone.

Can't believe it took you 30 years to write one review.

My editor only just got back to me, I moved and forgot to leave a forwarding address.

If it makes you feel better, I couldn't beat this game either. I rented like 4 times and always got stuck in some weird platform jumping puzzle or was missing some NPC I needed to talk to. I might have to slay my own 30 year old dragon and finish this game. I did finish ActRaiser and SoulBlazer and they were a lot more straightforward.

It's pretty distinct from most of the Squaresoft games of the time, if that recent translation patch is any good it might be the perfect time to give it a spin.

 

[Waffles]

You, my friend, are a great writer.

Now let's see what kind of techniques I can extract from this ;D

Seriously, this is awesome!

 

[Strategist]

Your comments about Illusion of Gaia's story brought some latent thoughts to mind about the Japanese approach to storytelling. I feel like a lot of times its more about a vibe or emotion they are trying to instill in the player more than the actual events in the story connecting perfectly together. Or it could just be lousy storytelling.

 

[ATenderLad]

You, my friend, are a great writer.

Now let's see what kind of techniques I can extract from this ;D

Seriously, this is awesome!

That means a *lot* to me, I love reading your articles! Thank you!

Your comments about Illusion of Gaia's story brought some latent thoughts to mind about the Japanese approach to storytelling. I feel like a lot of times its more about a vibe or emotion they are trying to instill in the player more than the actual events in the story connecting perfectly together. Or it could just be lousy storytelling.

It definitely could be, although (small tangent) that brings to mind watching the movie Your Name (2016) with my best friend for the first time. The trailer was amazing, and had us both excited for a thrilling romance...which it is, but not the way we were expecting. The lead characters falling for one another is implied, but ultimately the story is about a kind of nostalgia; not for a person, but a place and a feeling, I think. (There's apparently a Japanese term for that but I can't recall it just now.) The characters are connected by that nostalgia...annnnd that's probably all I can say without spoiling the movie. Basically, I agree!

(Apologies for being vague, I think it's a great movie and it's hard to describe without spoiling a lot of the second half.)

 

[Strategist]

It definitely could be, although (small tangent) that brings to mind watching the movie Your Name (2016) with my best friend for the first time. The trailer was amazing, and had us both excited for a thrilling romance...which it is, but not the way we were expecting. The lead characters falling for one another is implied, but ultimately the story is about a kind of nostalgia; not for a person, but a place and a feeling, I think. (There's apparently a Japanese term for that but I can't recall it just now.) The characters are connected by that nostalgia...annnnd that's probably all I can say without spoiling the movie. Basically, I agree!

Is it 'Mono no aware'? I've heard of that term related to nostalgia.

 

[ATenderLad]

Is it 'Mono no aware'? I've heard of that term related to nostalgia.

I think it was "natsukashii", a Japanese friend once explained it as "like nostalgia, but with the understanding you can't get it back".

 

[Azuris]

Your comments about Illusion of Gaia's story brought some latent thoughts to mind about the Japanese approach to storytelling. I feel like a lot of times its more about a vibe or emotion they are trying to instill in the player more than the actual events in the story connecting perfectly together. Or it could just be lousy storytelling.

You are correct, the Japanese had a good Feeling about how to set a Mood via Graphics and Music, but not only them, some western Studios had also good Musicians.

Take the Music of Starcraft, it is so different and fascinating, it can take you into Trance.
Starcraft 2 was than full of "Epic" Music, somehow it is so much more expansive to make it, it has not the same Impact (at least my Brain can't remember a single Tune).

It is nearly a lost Art to capture the Mood and transmit Feelings to People via Music.

 

[Yousef]

Excellently written piece. Cool to see more reviews on the platform. If I wasn’t stacked with work I’d give a longer reply but I love this haha.

 

[Strategist]

@ATenderLad Whoa, I just noticed you gave the game a 4 in sound. I have to respectfully disagree. This game has beautiful tunes. Gotta put a sampling here to support my argument.

 

[ATenderLad]

Whoa, I just noticed you gave the game a 4 in sound. I have to respectfully disagree. This game has beautiful tunes. Gotta put a sampling here to support my argument.

Honestly, I like all of those themes, gives the game a kind of moody sound, more pastoral than bombastic. That being said, I'm probably feeling too harsh having just finished the game and hearing them on repeat the whole time. The cities in particular all share a theme, and several dungeons overlap. Listening to them again just now in isolation, I'd probably give it a six based on how relaxed the Map theme always makes me feel.

 

[MemeAlert]

What are people, really?

A miserable pile of secrets thats what.

 

[ATenderLad]

A miserable pile of secrets thats what.

I can't tell you how many times I said that aloud to myself editing this.