User Reviews (1 - 11 of 23)

Show these reviews first:

Highest Rated
Lowest Rated Newest
Oldest Most Helpful
Least Helpful

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.

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.

Roleplay similar to Final Fantasy but without the frills.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: November 15, 1999
Author: Amazon User

This isnt an easy game but its not complex like some other RP's. The length of play on this game is good and the storyline is ok (I think they could have fleshed out the characters a little) but it has nowhere near the depth as Secret of Mana. The "movies" in between the action sequences are similar to the ones in the Final fantasy snes games and the graphics are better but in my opinion there are too many of them. Overall I like Illusion of Gaia and I still go back to it when im sick of gaining levels in FF or Mana. It really depends on weather you are looking for storyline or heavy action.

More Zelda-esque than Final Fantasy

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: December 06, 1999
Author: Amazon User

Overall, a great game -- memorable enough that here now two years after I last played it I'm buying it as a Christmas gift for a friend who still owns a Super Nintendo. This game is more accesible to players who are not so RPG hardcore. Elements of RPGs are there, but the play is much closer to Zelda games, where you walk around a dungeon and the battles are live action (you encounter your enemy and have to manuvuer to hit them), rather than the RPG menu system. The challenge level is just enough to keep it interesting, and the graphics are superb even for a game so old. I can't imagine regretting buying this title.

A great game with One, and only one, major flaw.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: August 01, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I'm not sure where to begin with this game... Well, first of all, the story is highly original and quite interesting. I like the fact that the game is based on a future Earth, with real places from history as its dungeons. Wonderful idea. The graphics are pretty standard SNES fare, with a slight combination of Zelda and Chrono Trigger. Some of the music is excellent and very moving too. I especially like the little world map tune, the mysterious flute tune that plays at the Inca ruins, and, most of all, that song that plays when you save the game and choose to quit for now (I wish I knew the names of these songs, they're great).

The gameplay is fun, and the places you visit are quite exotic, from the floating city, to the Nazca plain, to the Great Wall of China. This RPG spans the ancient world. Like Zelda, the bosses are huge and challenging, and they require strategy to defeat.

So, why not all 5 stars? Well, there's the story... while most of the story is wonderful, there is just one critical part of it that seems to have been completely uninspired... the Ending. I won't spoil it, but I will say that I found the ending very disappointing and even a little depressing. I found myself saying, "What? That's it?" It seems as if they were in a rush to just finish the game and as a result produced a very shabby end to an otherwise awesome game.

good game

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 1
Date: December 13, 1999
Author: Amazon User

I like this game, I don't think it is as good as the Zelda games, but it was a good substitute after I beat Zelda, and needed more. I like games that make you think, instead of only fighting games. There are alot of puzzles to figure out on this game. I really wish they would make a Legend of Gaia for N64. I would buy it immediately.

This Game was so much fun!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 1
Date: March 20, 2000
Author: Amazon User

This game was so cool; it took alot of patience, but after you try it out, it pays off.Definetly a buyer.

A Must Have for any RPG Enthusiast

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 1
Date: April 02, 2000
Author: Amazon User

A really great game. If you like Zelda and Final Fantasy and Chrono Trigger, get this game! It is like Zelda in how you battle monsters, you gain powers (HP, STR, DEF) as you kill monsters (one area, one ability), and you gain special powers as the story progresses. It has a story in a Chrono Trigger style that you have a bunch of people travelling around (except you only control one of them). Interesting original story. Also a nice message/insight. I recommend this game to any RPG Enthusiast.

Nice classic!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: May 31, 2003
Author: Amazon User

The Illusion of Gaia is my favorite RPG. It has breath-taking 16-bit graphics that satisfy me even though I don't give about graphics. You are a young boy named Will who has lost his father on an exploration journey at the Tower of Babel. He lives with his grandma Lola and grandpa Bill on South Cape where Will managed to escape to after his tragedy. You have certain psychic powers that your friends call a Sixth Sense. You soon set off to find your father as you hear him in a ghostly sound...
The only flaw in this game is its gameplay that once in a while gets a tad on the cluncky side. Like the Legend of Zelda, you fight your enemies on the regular gamescreen rather than a sub-screen. This gives you the advantage of being able to use an enemy to take out another enemy.It also gives you a more interactive way of play since it is not turn-based.The coolest part is Gaia, a strange spirit who lives in a place called Dark Space and allows you to save your progress when entering the portal.This is an over all awsome game and is a definite game to pick up used. Check it out!

Nintendo makes a new classic

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 10 / 10
Date: November 15, 2001
Author: Amazon User

You begin as a boy, in a small town wanting to simply travel the world out of simple curiosity. You then travel the world (eventually finding two other souls to join you), pretty much going to the 7 wonders of the world, and beating monsters, solving puzzles and riddles with new skills you learn in your journey. Its a very good game for your brain. This game also spares you travel time of having to travel from point A to point B, by just having a map displaying where the heroes are going. No travel time is to make up for the fact that it is not always obvious what to do, so it may take you days to figure out simple puzzles. This an incredible game for learning purposes, as well as its fun gameplay much like the Zelda games (weapon, special item, run and map buttons). With that being said, the buttons are configured nothing like Zelda! It has a very disappointing configuration, but that's why it has a mode where you can configure your own buttons!

Review Page: 1 2 3 Next 

Actions