Illusion of Gaia: Difference between revisions

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An [[Action Adventure]] game with [[RPG Elements]] for the [[Super Nintendo]], developed by Quintet. Enix (now [[Square Enix]]) published the game in Japan, and Nintendo published it worldwide, with release dates of November, 1993 (Japan); September, 1994 (North America). It was released in Europe in April, 1995 [[Market-Based Title|under the title]] ''[[Market-Based Title|Illusion of Time]]''. The game revolves around the adventures of Will, a boy with [[Psychic Powers]] who winds up having to [[Save the World]] from an ancient evil that wiped out the legendary civilizations of the past. The game never met the levels of success that ''[[Secret of Mana]]'' or ''[[~~Chrono Trigger (Video Game)|~~Chrono Trigger]]'' did, probably because it is short, but it is still well-remembered by many.

An [[Action Adventure]] game with [[RPG Elements]] for the [[Super Nintendo]], developed by Quintet. Enix (now [[Square Enix]]) published the game in Japan, and Nintendo published it worldwide, with release dates of November, 1993 (Japan); September, 1994 (North America). It was released in Europe in April, 1995 [[Market-Based Title|under the title]] ''[[Market-Based Title|Illusion of Time]]''. The game revolves around the adventures of Will, a boy with [[Psychic Powers]] who winds up having to [[Save the World]] from an ancient evil that wiped out the legendary civilizations of the past. The game never met the levels of success that ''[[Secret of Mana]]'' or ''[[Chrono Trigger]]'' did, probably because it is short, but it is still well-remembered by many.

''Illusion of Gaia'' describes its setting as the "age of exploration". In practice, it's that special blend of [[Medieval European Fantasy]] and [[Victorian Britain]] that [[Eastern RPG|Eastern RPGs]] are fond of mixing up, with an extra dash of the Victorian plus an emphasis on [[Landmark of Lore|Landmarks of Lore]] and explorers. The father of our [[Kid Hero]], Will, is one such explorer. Father and son went on an expedition to [[~~The Tower|~~the Tower]] [[Tower of Babel|of Babel]], but a ''completely mysterious something'' went wrong and only Will made it back home. How, he doesn't know, but it did awaken his psychic potential, whatever it was.

''Illusion of Gaia'' describes its setting as the "age of exploration". In practice, it's that special blend of [[Medieval European Fantasy]] and [[Victorian Britain]] that [[Eastern RPG|Eastern RPGs]] are fond of mixing up, with an extra dash of the Victorian plus an emphasis on [[Landmark of Lore|Landmarks of Lore]] and explorers. The father of our [[Kid Hero]], Will, is one such explorer. Father and son went on an expedition to [[the Tower]] [[Tower of Babel|of Babel]], but a ''completely mysterious something'' went wrong and only Will made it back home. How, he doesn't know, but it did awaken his psychic potential, whatever it was.

Aside from the ESP, Will is an [[Ordinary High School Student|ordinary schoolboy]]. At least, he is until the day he meets two people - Gaia, the [[Captain Planet and ~~The~~ Planeteers|spirit of the earth...]] er, [[Mother Nature|"source of all life"]], and Kara, a [[Rebellious Princess|runaway princess]]. Before long, Will is on the run from Kara's sovereign parents and trying to stop a [[Comet of Doom|doomsday comet]] under Gaia's direction, all while trying to reunite with his missing father. Will's [[The Hero's Journey|journey]] takes him through an assortment of (16-bit renditions of) real-world sites, such as [[Mayincatec|Macchu Picchu]], the [[Ancient Astronauts|Nazca lines]], [[Temple of Doom|Angkor Wat]], the [[Far East|Great Wall of China]], and [[Pyramid Power|Egyptian pyramids]].

Aside from the ESP, Will is an [[Ordinary High School Student|ordinary schoolboy]]. At least, he is until the day he meets two people - Gaia, the [[Captain Planet and the Planeteers|spirit of the earth...]] er, [[Mother Nature|"source of all life"]], and Kara, a [[Rebellious Princess|runaway princess]]. Before long, Will is on the run from Kara's sovereign parents and trying to stop a [[Comet of Doom|doomsday comet]] under Gaia's direction, all while trying to reunite with his missing father. Will's [[The Hero's Journey|journey]] takes him through an assortment of (16-bit renditions of) real-world sites, such as [[Mayincatec|Macchu Picchu]], the [[Ancient Astronauts|Nazca lines]], [[Temple of Doom|Angkor Wat]], the [[Far East|Great Wall of China]], and [[Pyramid Power|Egyptian pyramids]].

Is the [[Spiritual Successor]] to ''[[Soul Blazer]]''. Considered part of a trilogy which also includes ''[[Terranigma]]''.

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* [[Eleventh-Hour Superpower]]: The Firebird ability from Will's {{spoiler|Fusion Dance}}, as well as the ability to travel into space to stop the comet.

** [[Eleventh-Hour Ranger|Tenth Hour Ranger]]: Shadow himself.

* [[The End of the World As We Know It]]: The [[Comet of Doom]] that drives the plot is responsible for the fall of many of the civilizations whose ruins Will explores. Will has to prevent it from happening again.

* [[The End of the World as We Know It]]: The [[Comet of Doom]] that drives the plot is responsible for the fall of many of the civilizations whose ruins Will explores. Will has to prevent it from happening again.

* [[Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep"]] / [[The Nameless]]: Your opponent in the drinking game is simply called "The Opponent".

* [[Everything's Even Worse ~~With~~ Sharks]]: There is a tense moment with a school of sharks during the shipwreck, but it turns out that [[I'm Not Hungry|they're not hungry]].

* [[Everything's Even Worse with Sharks]]: There is a tense moment with a school of sharks during the shipwreck, but it turns out that [[I'm Not Hungry|they're not hungry]].

* [[Evil Counterpart]]: Dark Gaia to Gaia.

* [[Family-Unfriendly Death]]: {{spoiler|Hamlet}}, then later {{spoiler|Jackal}}, both of which get ''burned alive''. The latter's is particularly gruesome.

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* [[Lost Forever]]: The game's [[Follow the Plotted Line|highly structured plot]] results in several points where the characters take one-way trans-ocean trips, making backtracking to collect items you might have missed (mostly those Red Jewels) impossible. The last of these occurs around the midpoint of the game, so after that you can actually skip something and go back for it.

* [[The Maze]]: Mountain Temple. The manual even suggests drawing a map as you explore the area.

* [[Message in A Bottle]]: Will and Kara find one...while adrift at sea themselves. You eventually get a chance to help the people who wrote the note when you storm the Diamond Mine and set them free. In return, they give you a healing song (for Lance's memories).

* [[Message in a Bottle]]: Will and Kara find one...while adrift at sea themselves. You eventually get a chance to help the people who wrote the note when you storm the Diamond Mine and set them free. In return, they give you a healing song (for Lance's memories).

* [[Mysterious Mercenary Pursuer]]: The Jackal chases Will throughout the game, {{spoiler|but only shows up once near the end}}.

* [[One of These Doors Is Not Like the Other]]: In some areas, there appears to be no door at all, but paying careful attention to {{spoiler|the wind, or else the sound made by striking}} reveals the secret.

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* [[Plot Coupon]]: The mystic statues.

* [[Princesses Prefer Pink]]: Kara.

* [[Put On a Bus]]: Seth, who disappears abruptly when a giant sea creature attacks the Ghost Ship. He does reappear briefly later on, but in dialogue only, {{spoiler|as he transformed into the same creature that sank the ship}}. Eventually, {{spoiler|all the characters leave the party forever, and only Will and Kara see the quest through to its end}}.

* [[Put on a Bus]]: Seth, who disappears abruptly when a giant sea creature attacks the Ghost Ship. He does reappear briefly later on, but in dialogue only, {{spoiler|as he transformed into the same creature that sank the ship}}. Eventually, {{spoiler|all the characters leave the party forever, and only Will and Kara see the quest through to its end}}.

* [[Psychic Powers]]: Will's friends make a big deal out of his telekinetic powers early on. He also has some sort of ill-defined, seldom used predictive power {{spoiler|that serves as a red flag in the Russian Glass game, and makes whatever wire you pick to disarm a bomb automatically correct}}.

* [[Rainbow Speak]]: Every named character speaks in a text color different from the default blue-white text, as do a few nameless, but prominent, characters.

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* [[Shout-Out]]: Several to Enix's other SNES games.

** The dog that rescues you is named [[Soul Blazer|Turbo]].

** The Skeleton head enemy from [[~~Actraiser~~]] is in Angel Village.

** The Skeleton head enemy from [[Act Raiser]] is in Angel Village.

** The Moon Tribe looks like a spirit enemy from [[Soul Blazer]].

** Just watch a [[Let's Play]] of ''[[~~Actraiser~~]]'' and count the number of enemies, themes, and other such goodies that were later used in ''Illusion of Gaia''. For example, a statue that is somehow connected to a [[Crystal Dragon Jesus]] and its form being used to get through a level. Heck, even many of the sound effects are re-used between this game, ''[[~~Actraiser~~]]'', ''[[Soul Blazer]]'', and ''[[Terranigma]].''

** Just watch a [[Let's Play]] of ''[[Act Raiser]]'' and count the number of enemies, themes, and other such goodies that were later used in ''Illusion of Gaia''. For example, a statue that is somehow connected to a [[Crystal Dragon Jesus]] and its form being used to get through a level. Heck, even many of the sound effects are re-used between this game, ''[[Act Raiser]]'', ''[[Soul Blazer]]'', and ''[[Terranigma]].''

* [[Show, Don't Tell]]: During the raft sequence; {{spoiler|rather than show us exactly why [[Romantic Plot Tumor|Will suddenly falls in love with Kara]], what he sees in her, etc., we're simply told that he "realized he had feelings for [her]". That's pretty much all we have to go on their romance.}}

** Gaia even ''lampshades'' that despite how close they became over the course of their adventure, neither of them found anything interesting about each other at first, and they shouldn't be so obsessive about it. {{spoiler|They find each other on the restored Earth, and though they are presumably happy together, it's doubtful they'll ever realize the relevance of it.}}

* [[Space Elevator]]: The [[Tower of Babel]]. [[Wild Mass Guessing|Possibly.]]

* [[Spell My Name ~~With~~ an "S"]]: Angkor Wat is spelled 'Ankor Wat' in the game.

* [[Spell My Name with an "S"]]: Angkor Wat is spelled 'Ankor Wat' in the game.

* [[Spin to Deflect Stuff]]: Will's flute can block incoming attacks by spinning it. But then again, he does have telekinesis.

* [[Spiritual Successor]]: To ''Soul Blazer'' (to the point where a leaked early translation was titled ''Soul Blazer: Illusion of Gaia''). And ''[[Terranigma]]'' is one to this.

* [[Swiss Army Hero]]: Will has three forms he can change between.

* [[Sword Beam]]: Your [[Eleventh-Hour Superpower]] is functionally this. Sort of like in [[~~Actraiser~~|another Quintet game]], and even more like the [[Soul Blazer|Phoenix magic.]]

* [[Sword Beam]]: Your [[Eleventh-Hour Superpower]] is functionally this. Sort of like in [[Act Raiser|another Quintet game]], and even more like the [[Soul Blazer|Phoenix magic.]]

* [[Taken for Granite]]: An effect of exposure to the comet encountered in the Natives' Village (and referenced in Mu).

* [[Team Pet]]: Hamlet, Kara's preternaturally smart pet pig.