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Soul Blazer II: A Game for the Ages

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: August 26, 2008
Author: Amazon User

First, let me explain my title and give some information, since most people don't seem to know this. This game is part II in a trilogy, the first part being Soul Blazer, the third being Terranigma. This game was released in Japan as Soul Blazer II.

When you first begin, you are a boy named Will in a small town called South Cape. You have a special flute, which belonged to your father, and telekinetic powers which you channel through the flute. After some talking to villagers and playing with friends, you head out on an adventure to find your father, who died on an adventure a while back. You were with him, and your memory of how you got back to your grandparents in Cape Town is gone.

I won't spoil the story, but let it suffice to say that the gameplay is wonderful; the levels are all novel and well thought-out, the monsters in each dungeon are a new and exciting challenge, and character control is fluid and non-repetitive as you change your ability set (not spoiling any more than that) often enough that it never gets boring. If you enjoyed Link to the Past, you're almost certain to enjoy Gaia. If you liked Soul Blazer, well, you probably bought Gaia the moment you heard it was a sequel, and you're just reading this for amusement, but you'll love it, too.

Buy Illusion of Gaia. Even at brand new collector's price, it's worth every penny.

Pitiful shortcomings in what could have been groundbreaking

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 2 / 5
Date: November 25, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Illusion of Gaia made the list of top 100 games in Nintendo Power's Volume 100, and understandably so. Definitely a decent game, Illusion of Gaia has much to offer, including some very nice environments with crisp graphics, better than the likes of Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. It can be very fun to play, and it is even somewhat educational since many of its dungeons are based on real places. To speak more about the graphics, the monster design is nearly flawless. Every dungeon has different monsters with different looks and attacks, and even the residents of each town look completely distinct from those of the previous town or the next town, something that not even the SNES Final Fantasy games managed to do. These details all add up to a visually pleasing game. The necessity to kill all the enemies in each area in order to upgrade is also a positive element of the game because it gives a sense of accomplishment in each room. Though in spite of these positive elements, Illusion of Gaia should not be called a Zelda killer. It is also very different from Zelda in certain ways and therefore can not be compared in all aspects to Zelda.

Although there is a myriad of items in Illusion of Gaia, their usage demonstrates one of the principle differences between Zelda and Illusion of Gaia. Most of the items in Illusion of Gaia are keys, puzzle pieces, or other objects that get used once in a specific location and then leave your inventory. It is not difficult to find where to use acquired items, but a few of them can be difficult to find since they are not all found in treasure chests. Players should not expect all the different weapons and devices such as those seen in Zelda a Link to the Past. Will, the game's protagonist, uses a flute for a weapon. Zelda purists may mock this, but Will's flute is by no means the only weapon in the game. Will learns interesting techniques and also has the ability to morph into different entities during the quest who also acquire their own techniques. Illusion of Gaia may not have quite as many puzzles as a Link to the Past, but it certainly has its decent fill, and the whole style of the puzzles is different. Perhaps the puzzles at the end of the Angel Village come to mind as the most different from anything seen in Zelda. Nonetheless, the mainstream of the game remains arguably more in fighting than thinking. Some of the dungeons could have used more puzzles and items, but most are not so lacking that they create any feelings that something is missing.

The main problem with Illusion of Gaia is that it rapidly starts to fall apart in the middle, both in terms of story and game progression. I pinpoint this turn of events around the Great Wall of China, but by no means say that the story is perfect up to then because it is not. The difference is that earlier in the game enough goes on to overshadow inconsistencies and holes. Later in the game, in addition to the story deteriorating, the blandness of the world layout becomes much more noticeable as well, making the travel less interesting. Aside from the Tower of Babel's circular island in the center of the world, Illusion of Gaia's world map consists mainly of three continents. Two of them basically fill the southeast and southwest corners of the world, and one long continent north of the Tower of Babel island stretches horizontally across the whole map. The game starts on one of the bottom continents and gradually progresses to the long northern continent, where the Great Wall of China comes early. Travel at this point just becomes a bland pattern of the group arriving at a town, Will leaving to go to a dungeon alone, Will returning to the town, and then the group going on to the next town. It is more varied earlier in the game during which there is usually another thing to do or a person to visit between a town and big dungeon, and these events add flow to the story. Later in the game some of the group's members start to leave and there is nothing to break up the dull pattern. Some of the reasons for going to the later dungeons are also extremely vague and not well supported in the overall story. Example, why exactly does Will go to Mt. Temple and Angkor Wat? There is no dialogue or story saying that anything specifically needs to be done in these places. In the other dungeons the story makes it clear if you have to go to a specific dungeon and why, but with later dungeons like Mt. Temple and Angkor Wat, all that happens is that someone will point out or draw a picture of something on Will's map. What is even more puzzling about these two dungeons is why the game makes you walk all the way back out of them after getting the item at the end. There was absolutely no reason for this to have happened. It did not happen with any of the other dungeons, and it should not have happened with these two. The least they could have done was at the end of Angkor Wat transport you back to the entrance after the white light faded. It would have made perfect sense, and I can even picture the text box "When the light was gone I found myself at the temple entrance ..." Whatever... but another thing to rip regarding these dungeons and this general point in the game is that given the time it supposedly takes for Will to travel to some of these later dungeons, none of the companions ever ask Will where he went or why he left them in the town without saying anything. Example, as soon as Will arrives at Angkor Wat, a text box says that it took him three days to get there from the Native's Village. After Will returns to the Native's Village neither Kara nor Erik asks him where he's been for the last week (which is how long we can assume it took for him to get to the temple, explore it, and return) or why he left them in the Native's Village. This is either a rushed part of the game or lack of thinking on the part of the writers. Yes the earlier stages of the story have similar issues that are not quite addressed, but again; earlier in the game enough happens to make the players forget or pardon these instances. Since not much interesting occurs later in the game, the holes in the plot really wear on.

The vagueness surrounding later dungeons is far from the only weakness in the story (specific story spoilers ahead until last paragraph, only warning). Many fundamental questions are never answered or explained. Will had lost his father a year prior to the current events and starts the game living with his grandparents. He, his father, and apparently many others had gone on an expedition to the Tower of Babel and somehow only Will made it back, of course not remembering what happened or how he made it back. At no point is it ever explained what exactly happened or how Will made it back to South Cape. Will's father at the end tells him about a "strange room in the tower where time passes so quickly that people evolve quickly." Is this supposed to mean that Will's father went into this room, aged so fast and died instantly? How exactly did Will get his telekinetic power?? Will's father tells him that he and Kara are evolved humans. What exactly is that supposed to mean? How and why are they evolved? Are they evolved and no one else? Is it because Will is a descendent of Dark Knights? How exactly are they different from other humans if they are evolved? Will's mother also appears in a dream and as a ghost, but it is never explained how she died!! Was she also on the expedition to the Tower of Babel?? It remains a mystery. If these fundamental questions had been satisfactorily explained, some of the other problems might have been more pardonable. If the writers had any idea how to make a decent story, they would have answered these questions and devoted more of the story to the ancients as well.

If I were to ever reward a game for worst ending ever Illusion of Gaia is undoubtedly the recipient. I absolutely hate the ending to this game. What started with seemingly endless potential finished going virtually nowhere. Basically you beat the comet and oh all of the sudden the world changes to present day Earth. What?? And it finishes in a SCHOOL?? With Will and friends wearing sweatshirts and school backpacks???!!! Are you kidding me??! This ending makes NO SENSE WHATSOEVER, and is totally PATHETIC!! Here's a SMALL list of all the things the ending did not answer or settle:

1) Did time just fast forward or something? It takes a long time for continents to shift and for buildings to get built. They DON'T JUST APPEAR DURING AN ENDING OF A SUPER NINTENDO GAME!!
2) Do any of the characters remember the journey? Are they reincarnated? Are they the same people as they were before?
3) Did non-humans go extinct? What happened to the Angel Village people? I also didn't see Lilly in the school shot. Did Itory Village people just die out?
4) Kara never made up with her parents. For all we know the teapot on Mt. Temple might have shown them to be spirits too.
5) Did Lance's parents ever get reunited?
6) Did the labor trade ever get stopped? How did Neil do as company president?
7) Just what exact age was the time during the game supposed to be? The new world with gray buildings and presumably technology is deemed by Will to be strange in the premonition, but Neil can build an airplane during the game??
8) What ended up happening to Bill and Lola? Did they die? Did they just forget about Will?
9) Does Will keep his telekinetic powers?

I cringe when I think of what Illusion of Gaia could have been, and wish I could tell the writers what morons they were when they wrote the story to this game. It is still a solid game, but if the world design and story had been better, the game would have reached unimaginable heights. You don't just leave things unsettled, change the world, and think everyone's going to be happy. For a game of this genre that is not Zelda and is not plagued with Illusion of Gaia's problems, play Crystalis.

Play it again and again

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: July 22, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Memories relived by all in my family! My five yr old enjoys it as well. It arrived quickly and in great condition. Takes us back it time every time we turn it on.

A Classic RPG

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: February 26, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I'm a huge fan of RPGs, and paid attention to newer ones, until I saw the SNES laying in a cabinet. I decided to try it out; it looked like it hadn't been used for several years. Looking through the games, I noticed this one had a cool title, so I tried it. Soon, I was addicted to the game (in a good way).

This is a classic RPG, and one of the best to have been made. If you haven't played this game, you need to try it. Sure, the graphics might not be up-to-date with other games around its time, but ignoring that it's wonderful. The health system and fight system is similair to Zelda's, but has its own uniqueness.

If I could give it an award, it would HAVE to be the music. It has a beautiful soundtrack, and I'm hoping to find it available on CD. The music itself has its own world.

If you need a game to play, play this one. Illusion of Gaia is one of the quiet unknown games, it's a game essential for any RPG gamer.

A classic rpg that is pure pleasure.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 5
Date: January 26, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I had so much fun playing this game. I played this game not to long after I had played Secret of Evermore. I was so glad to have found yet another super fun rpg.
I remember liking the story line; finding out what happened to the lost expedition and saving the world from the comet. The game has different and distinct looks in the world from all types of towns and villages, to a castle, along with different terrains. I liked gathering the information to advance in the game it wasn't so hard that you would get frustrated too much, like in Chrono Trigger I had to make lots of notes. Taking a breath and thinking about something would get you past the issue. For that matter, I do not remember the puzzles being too hard or leveling up being difficult. I do not remember much backtracking like in some games. If you have ever played Secret of Evermore, Final Fantasy III or Secret of Mana this game is along those lines. I don't think it is as large as the previously name games, but it is long enough to put a smile on your face. I don't remember the exact hours I played this game, but I know it was over 40. I am glad I found and played this game.

Decent action

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 2 / 5
Date: January 25, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I realize this game was released in 1994, which happens to be the year I was most interested in video games, and specifically, Super NES games. I was addicted to the Super NES and probably played the darn thing every single day for the entire year. I knew at the time that games like Zelda: Link to the Past were considered classics, and most people had that game and enjoyed it (though I can remember a few people who said they hated it, which is their opinion and they're entitled to it). Back then I also knew that Zelda was not only an improvement over the original Legend of Zelda on the NES, but also an influence on many, many RPGs that the Super NES would soon have plenty of (and eventually be looked upon as the ultimate video game system when it came to RPGs).

Unfortunately, I never gave much notice to many of the RPGs back then, and instead I focused on Mario, Metroid and the Donkey Kong Country series. For the most part, you can say I was more interested in platform games. Back then I figured "I have Zelda, I don't need anymore similar type games". Well, I admit I was wrong when I thought Zelda was the only good RPG on the Super NES, but in some cases, such as with Illusion of Gaia, I see that some games were *clearly* inferior to Zelda (despite the fact that popular gaming magazines back in 1994 praised Illusion of Gaia for being just as good as Zelda). Now, I've only just experienced Illusion of Gaia for the first time a week ago, which would be in the middle of January 2006. I missed out on this game in 1994. It was probably best to leave it that way.

Right off the bat I'm bothered by the life bar for your main character. You have a series of blue dots that serve as your life, and these dots are basically the same thing as your heart life bar from the Zelda series, and your main character goes around smacking enemies with his sword, just like Link. Okay, it's not a sword, it's a flute. Same thing, really. But the game as a whole does leave you wondering if the game company (Enix) was trying to fool gamers into thinking this was something new and refreshing. Years later, you can tell Illusion of Gaia is NOT so fresh, and in fact, it has a strong, dated feeling attached to it, I think. People knew Zelda was the better game back then, and they still do to this day. You can't fool gamers. Some of the animation in Illusion of Gaia isn't quite up to the standard of other games at the time. For instance, the way your main character Will runs around flapping his arms, and the way he slides into enemies. It looks clunky and uninspiring. The graphics in Illusion of Gaia, while colorful, detailed, and big, doesn't really have that extra something that makes Zelda: Link to the Past look so appealing. It doesn't have that certain spark; or polished graphics. Enix probably thought they created something special with this game, but it hasn't really held up over the years (except with a few hardcore gamers).

To switch gears and say something positive about the game, I think people are crazy to say the music in this game is bad. Sure, it's not music you can instantly sing and dance to, but it's music that will grow on you the more you hear it. It's really good music. Just because you can't sing along to music doesn't mean it's not good. This game is a great example of that. The music is great, in every area. To compare the music in this game to that in Actraiser. I'd say the tunes in Illusion of Gaia overall cannot touch the high points in Actraiser, but they sure beat the low points, easily. I remember one level theme in Actraiser had me pulling my hair out. Nothing like that in Illusion of Gaia.

Maybe there's something wrong with my copy, but I've been having strange things happen. For example, I reached the end of the game with 18 blue dots (let me mention again that these blue dots represent your life bar). Okay, I shut the game off, go to sleep for 8 hours, wake up, play the game... and now I have 20 blue dots. How did THAT happen? Imagine if you were playing Zelda and you didn't collect all your heart containers, and then you wake up to find all the heart pieces right there on your file the next day! That's what it's like in Illusion of Gaia. Also, sometimes save points suddenly appear out of nowhere, and you clearly remember the last time you ran by that area a save point wasn't there. So save points can appear and disappear. Weird. I also got stuck in one area of the game because an item that was supposed to be given to me by one of the characters WASN'T given to me, leaving me to forever wander around doing nothing. I had no choice but to start over completely. I have no idea what's going on here. I've never experienced anything like this in ANY video game, and I've played my share of games! I can only assume either my copy has a defect, or Enix is just a cheap game company (and Actraiser is pretty good, so it must be the former).

I have to take a point off for the constant frustration found in most of the dungeons. You know how in a Zelda game when you walk into a dungeon and each of the rooms are filled with interesting and creative ideas, making it really fun to play the game over and over (and equally as important, making each room DISTINCT, so you know where you are?) It's not quite like that here. The design of the dungeons in Illusion of Gaia is, for the most part, bland and confusing. You just run around slashing enemies, and there's not much in the way of interesting strategies to make it enjoyable for you to progress to the next room. This is where you really have to admire the people who work on Zelda games. They know how to make dungeon mazes interesting. Zelda: Link to the Past featured ice, desert and water dungeons. The people who did this game just made it sort of fun, but nothing truly memorable. And the strategies to progress to the next room in Illusion of Gaia usually require something small and uninteresting (and sometimes obvious) making it feel more like a chore to do it. And why does the very last dungeon maze in the game have only a few enemies? We're talking about a BIG area to walk through, encountering the same couple enemies over and over. Those laser eyeballs are EVERYWHERE and they're SO out of place for a final level in a game, and they're so easy to destroy. Zelda: Link to the Past features WAY more enemies. Compare the final level in this game to World 8 in Link to the Past. Zelda destroys it.

I hate how sometimes in the game you have to backtrack to clear a dungeon, which means going to the end of the dungeon to grab an important item, and then go back to the very beginning to complete it. Many times, this is easier said than done. Take that super-irritating vine level for example. The entire world is covered in vines that serve as a path you walk on, and each vine looks *exactly* the same, so it's possible you can wander around for hours just trying to find your way out of there. I can't tell you how many times I pressed pause to reach for my magic mirror, only to come to the realization that this isn't Zelda, and so I have nothing to bring me back immediately to the entrance of the dungeon. But... running around slashing skeleton heads, bats, and other strange-looking creatures is usually a lot of fun (despite the strange animation from Will) but is all this WORTH the frustration you most likely will encounter from the dungeon mazes? Only when in the right mood. At the end of other dungeons you fight huge bosses. There's a total of six of them, and I think this is the games very best feature because these bosses are really fun, and you have to try and discover the best way to defeat them. I don't think they're difficult to defeat, except for the very last boss. That one is HARD!

Another bad thing about the game is the incredible amount of text you have to skim through. The storyline is okay, but sometimes you don't feel like reading it which means you have to sit through a TON of text before the enemy-slashing section of the game comes in. To start off the game, you have to sit through, even if you skim over it as quickly as possible, 10 MINUTES of text. 10 minutes of your characters talking to each other, and it's not even very interesting. They say things to each other that typical children would say. Eventually you will come across a love story between the children! But hey, I'm no expert on RPGs, so you may very well find the dialogue to be the games strong point. Given a choice between this and Zelda, make the right choice and go with Zelda. It's slightly more expensive to buy, but definitely more worth it. However, Illusion of Gaia is a pretty nice game on its own. I know it sounds like I'm bashing the game, but I don't mean to. Just don't go in expecting a classic.

Illusion of Gaia

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: September 07, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I remember I had this game for years before I could actually play it...The first time I got past the first "boss," the game was sold to someone, and I couldn't finish it. I got this game from a game crazy just about a year ago. I definately love those kind of games that you can just play for hours, and not worry about anything else. This game is one of those games...When I finished it, it was after an eight hour time period, and that was just for that one day. People that go on diets don't know how easy it is. Playing this game, I did nothing but play for hours at a time...I didn't eat for almost the entire time. I enjoyed almost all of the zelda games that I have played in the past, and yet this one seemed to be more fun for me. I think this game was a little bit more challenging...It has a fresh plot and storyline, whereas Zelda is almost always the same. The music is great, and was stuck in my head for days after finishing the game. Will, the person that you control for most of the game, has terrific abilities, and learns new ones throughout the game. This is most likely one of my favorite NES games that I have played yet!

gooses review

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: July 07, 2005
Author: Amazon User

This was definately my favorite super nintendo game. I only had about 2 dozen games for this system but I havent played it in several years and I haven't forgoten how much I liked it. This game looks a lot richer than most games for the snes and has a crisp sound as well. Playing this game for me was like reading a good book. I really didn't like the game until I had beat the first continent. You cant judge it by its cover either. I was looking for a game that was similar to this but there really arent any. The people who made this are the same people making final fantasy games today for the company square enix. The game I believe is closest to this would have to be the first final fantasy just with more elements from final fantasy adventure which has been remade as the sword of mana. If your collecting games for the snes this would make a good museume type trophy.

Downright awesome ass game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 2
Date: July 15, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Gaie is one of the greatest RPG games i have ever played. You start as a young boy named Will and you set out on a journey to find your father. You soon aquire 2 more companions: a knight and a firey spirit dude. I would definently reccomend this game to any RPG and adventure game fan because this game has a deep storyline, cool bosses, challenging puzzles (especially the last one), fun side quests, and the gameplay is just fun. The only downside to this game is the last boss. She is a giant amazonian chick who is very, very, very hard. But after a couple hundred tries I eventually beat her

One of the most beautiful stories ever told in a game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: May 09, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I'm not exactly emotional, but the story of this game is sooo powerful that I cried twice.

The reason the story is so powerful is because you get to know the characters and bond with them. The adventure spans the world. Because of this game, I would LOVE to go visit Angkor Wat (which is currently in Cambodia).

The game itself is thrilling and challenging.

I think this is one of the most underrated games of all time, and if you like adventure games at all, definitely buy this, and cry along with me.

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