Illusion of Gaia/Time; one of the most underappreciated role playing games for the SNES console and any rpg period.
Quick Intro:
We are quickly introduced to Will, a small boy who lives in the small town of South Cape with his grandparents Lola and Bill. Will is unique from his schoolmates as he has a sixth sense with the ability to move objects by using the aid of his spinning his trusty flute and using his mental powers; Telekinesis if you will. Will is always tormented by the thoughts of what happened to his parents, and his only reminder of them is his flute that he carries with him everywhere at all times. Everyday was repetitive for a long time until his grandparents received a letter from King Edward requesting a ring that neither Will nor his grandparents owned. Once Will reached the castle and met King Edward to explain he did not own such a ring, the King banished him to jail. In the middle of the night, Will was woken up by a spirit…his father’s spirit. And that’s when Will’s story and destiny took a dramatic change for the better and worse.
Game Play:
Illusion of Gaia’s game play is identical to the original, Soul Blazer. It is a multi-side-scrolling adventure role playing game. It is not a turn based fighting RPG like most Final Fantasy RPGs, instead it’s more comparable to the early Zelda games, where the enemies can be seen and fought if the player decides to or not. The levelling up system is a little different from traditional RPGs; in this game, enemies have the “treasures” that allow Will’s health, defence, and power to increase. There are no experience points in this game what so ever! If a player decides not to kill enemies and just try to fly through the various stages, they will be in HUGE trouble in later levels as the enemies and bosses become incredibly tough!
Various Features:
Like every RPG, Will has a “bag” in which he can hold various items like Jewels, herbs, and key items that may be used to trigger an event in the story.
The save point however, is in an orb which expands to a doorway to “space”. In this “space” we are introduced to Gaia, the “Mother of Earth”. She is the save point and the person who gives Will other special power to help him throughout his vast and hard journey. Another key feature in this “space” port, is that when Will advances throughout the story, Gaia lets him change into two other formidable warriors: the first one is a knight called Freedan who wields a huge sword, and the second is another warrior named Shadow, a floating warrior with super human strength and the capability of liquefying and solidifying itself.
Soundtrack:
The soundtracks in Illusion of Gaia are characterized into moods.
If Will is in a safe place or a town, the music will be calm and relaxed; while a conversation is going on between characters, depending its gravity the music will accommodate the mood; in battle the music is faster paced, and finally when Will is fighting a boss, the music will be very fast paced.
For a game of its time, the music of Illusion of Gaia is considered by many fans to be one of the best soundtracks for its genre. Atmosphere:
The graphics of Illusion of Gaia where extremely detailed in comparison of other famous RPGs including the Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past and Final Fantasy 3. The characters had a full range of motion, and even their hair moved if a certain area was windy. A lot of real life locations were used as an influence to create some of the stages, like for example the Great Wall of China, and the Inca Ruins. All these levels had great graphical detail to make them match as close to possible to the original structure or place. The great graphic load of the game was said to be the reason the game was considered to be short for a role playing game.
Final Words:
The Illusion of Gaia (or Illusion of Time in Europe) is one of the greatest role playing games that has ever been created. The story development and the character creation draw a player into the game. A player will start developing a sort of relation to the characters understanding their dilemmas and struggles. The fun factor and replay-ability of this game is very high (in my opinion) even for a short, about 22-30 hours, game. Its short story is redeemed by its creativity and open to interpretation ending. Illusion of Gaia is a must play and finish game for any role playing game aficionado
LeonidaSparta