Illusion of Gaia Review | My New Favorite RPG?
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- Опубліковано 15 лис 2024
- #IllusionOfGaia #SNES #rpg
Check out my review of Illusion of Gaia on the SNES! This is a game that I played before on Twitch years ago and recently revisited. A much smoother experience this time around which led to much more enjoyment and a... deeper appreciation for this classic RPG.
Thanks so much for all of the support, I truly appreciate it.
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Here is my playlist for all things Illusion of Gaia: • Illusion of Gaia Mega ...
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Illusion of Gaia, known in PAL territories as Illusion of Time, is an action role-playing video game developed by Quintet for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. The game was released in Japan by Enix in 1993, and in North America and PAL territories by Nintendo in 1994 and 1995. Set in a fantasy reimagining of Earth, the game's plot centers on a boy named Will who is chosen to save the world from an impending disaster. During the course of the game, the player guides Will through levels based on ancient ruins of real-world civilizations and Wonders of the World, such as the Great Pyramid and the Great Wall of China.
From Wikipedia.
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Here is my playlist for all things Illusion of Gaia: ua-cam.com/play/PLoiDuuKGlM91mm1Kzgv05Crn73iZ7wOhD.html
I'll never understand how people could call this game overrated or whatever. For me its one of the best games I've ever played. The music is burned into my memory and I love the characters too. Emotion is the key word here, because the game oozes it. Great review bits!
I appreciate the kind words and comment! I don’t get it either, I’ve seen a decent amount of banter on the internet about how this isn’t that good… and I’m not seeing it, it’s great! Like you said a memorable soundtrack, great characters, and pure emotion - I almost lost it during the ending on my last playthrough haha
Same here it's one of my personal favourite RPGs on the SNES. Ok will do another playthrough this weekend 🎉
@@Bitsandglory especially when hamlet dies and talk to u as a ascended soul on babel
This was my favorite snes game... until sometime around 2005 I finally got to play Terranigma. It's the superior game
They probably never played it or it was too hard to figure out 😂. I love this game! Played hours as a kid when I would visit my dad. I wish they would port it on Nintendo online along with Chrono Trigger.
Fun fact: Illusion of Gaia was one of the first Let's Plays I've ever watched on youtube.
Never heard the game before that (and still never played) but the graphics, sounds and gameplay was so charming to me.
I love this game without even playing it!
You really need to get around to playing it! It's better than you remember!
The Quintet trilogy deserves a re-release with updated translations.
I would be in favor!
I hope it would be an inspired retelling though, like Metroid Zero Mission, that is a remake but is way more and has more lure. The trilogy is amazing without a doubt, but some updating will greatly help all 3 if done with care
I was the only one in my school that had played this game. Love watching videos on it.
I also learned late in life (today, I learned today) you can just skip the monsters but still get the full power ups anyway. That alone is gonna make me do another playthrough.
A true classic. And that's interesting! I didn't realize that, could make for a fun replay!
I rented Illusion Of Gaia from Block Buster for my SNES 25 years ago. Love the game!
Awesome! Thanks for sharing & watching. I remember trying this back in the late 90s and didn't click with me. Glad I revisited it many years later. Love it as well!
I miss all of the above... The game, SNES, rentals, and Blockbuster... Ahhh even the smell of a rental store lol
:(
Wow man, for a game to be the most emotionally touching and thought provoking game you've ever played is quite a statement. Now I definitely have to play it
It's just an awesome game through and through. As far as the emotional level with gaming, probably the only other game that sort of "stuck with me" was Silent Hill 2 - in different ways, of course.
As much as I love Soul Blazer, I think this sits firmly atop of that for now. I can't wait for Terranigma some time this year!
@@Bitsandglory if you enjoy this game(like I do), you're definitely in for a treat when you get around to playing Terranigma!💖
@@zparklebugz424 I actually did play it recently on stream and reviewed it! I liked it, but ultimately I preferred and resonated with the themes of IoG a bit more. Still a fun game though.
@@Bitsandglory IOG is definitely my favourite of the "Quintet Trilogy", but Terranigma is still a really good game!💖
@@zparklebugz424 awesome! I feel like us Illusion of Gaia’ers are a bit in the minority haha… but yeah all 3 really are great. I have to try and 100% Terranigma next time I play!
Man, you really nailed it with this video. I remember when I got this game for my birthday when I was I believe 6 or 7. It was by accident too.. I moved a lot as a kid, and there was a couple year stretch where my aunt and grandmother had a falling out, and my grandmother and I went to live with a man she'd met. They eventually put their differences aside thankfully, but during that 2 year stretch, it was mostly just my grandma and I living in this quaint little town in southern Indiana called Freelandville. (she passed recently sad to say) but those couple years with her hold some of my fondest memories. Apologies for going off topic, but right so, I had A Link to the Past before her and I moved and I wanted that game again for my birthday even tho I had beaten it countless times before lol and when I came home from school that day (2nd grade) I was super excited to save Zelda for the umpteenth time, yet there on the kitchen table I seen a sealed copy of some weird game I'd never seen before. Illusion of Gaia... What the heck? She explained to me that they were out of Zeldas everywhere but that she would find me a copy as soon as she could, but that for now she took it upon herself to ask the person at the store as well as do her own research by reading the latest copy of Nintendo Power (guys, this is how amazing this woman was. I'm choking up just typing this out) and she found a game that seemed to play very similarly to Zelda alttp. I thanked her and popped it in. She would watch me play, as well as she would play too. She had her own save files and everything lol. And man... As soon as I heard the music in this game and felt the gameplay I knew that she'd hit a homerun in discovering this hidden gem of a game. I've always been the type to find dark/serious themes in movies/games/art, etc captivating. Halloween was always my favorite holiday. Stuff like that. This game tho. It will forever remain in my top 3 games of all time, and I'd have to say that yes, it is my favorite SNES game. Tho admittedly I haven't played many. That's soon to change tho with my new Smoke colored LE Analogue Pocket (Stay on topic James! 😅)
Anyway, brilliant video. You're right, when I first witnessed the scene where Kara's pet pig Hamlet sacrifices himself by jumping into the fire in order to save Kara and her friends from being cannibalized by the starving tribes people, my 7 year old mind was straight wrecked. Why is it they remake all kinds of crap, yet masterpieces like this RARELY EVER get brought up. Another game I'd love to see remade that never gets talked about is the first Legend of Legaia on the ps1. (The sequel on ps2 was ass, don't play that one lol) but the first was awesome. But was overshadowed by the release of FF7. A game that I've yet to play to this day because of that alone lmao. Ok I'll let yall go, just my two cents. But seriously, how amazing would a modern fully voiced Illusion of Gaia remake be if done right? Crazy to think about. Cheers, everyone.
Thanks for the comment! Always love seeing the personal aspect & memories tied into gaming. I'm glad that it resonates with you & that you enjoyed the review. One of my favorite games of all-time, easily. I would absolutely love for them to do a remake of the Quintet Trilogy, or at the very least maybe a compilation for modern consoles/steam with some extras.
🫂
@@Bitsandglory🥹
This is one of my favorite games on a system absolute filled to the brim with amazing games. Hands down my favorite action RPG on the SNES.
Always love seeing a fellow illusion of Gaia enjoyer. Thanks for watching!
It’s so amazing that they add the level of care towards animals in the game. Most RPGs are completely blinded of Animals welfare and usually make them out to be objects that can regenerate at will. I’ll definitely give this game a try. Thanks a bunch!
No problem! Thanks for watching & if you do play, I hope you enjoy!
I was 14 when I played this I teared up a bit lol
Man, it hit me even harder at 34! Such a great game and story
A great review, my kindred spirit! It's good to hear someone else talk about illusion of Gaia in such a light, because it was a defining game of my childhood. I was 11 when it came out, and my parents got it for me at an electronics store in a deluxe package with a t-shirt for the game! I weathered taunts from the jerks at my school about it, because it was just simply an amazing game that tugged on all of my heartstrings and I would cry throughout the playthrough many times. A masterpiece of game design, Sprite art, sound and level design, and just great overall gameplay experience! I just started a new playthrough two days ago, and between work and writing projects, I have already managed to get to Mu. I also played through the game last year after not playing it for several years, and also introducing the game to my son a few years ago, and he kind of liked it, but it didn't have the same impact on him. He was about the same age as I was when I first played it, but he's from the Minecraft/Fortnite generation, haha!
Thank you! Yeah, this game just continues to age like a fine wine. It got better with each playthrough and I feel like I'll enjoy it even more on my next! I actually REALLY want that shirt from that bundle, haha. Unfortunately between the price tag & smaller sizes, probably not happening for me... but one can dream! I'm glad others out there really "get" Illusion of Gaia for the masterpiece that it is. Often forgotten when talking about the RPG greats!
Can someone tell me... what is the point to the "rest" option when you're in deep space? You just disappear and a song starts playing, and as far as I could tell, there's no way to get out of it afterwards. Anytime I think of this game, that question always pops into my mind
I'm not positive - but isn't it basically like a "I'm done for now" type of option? Some games just infinitely loop on some screen when stuff is chosen, while others might pop back to the title screen?
@@Bitsandglory that sort of makes sense. I say sort of because its just odd to me that you're stuck like that (as far as I can tell). But you're right, it does seem like a quasi 'standby' mode. I've never seen a feature like it in any other game.
Thank you for pointing out exactly the feelings i had while playing this game. When i played it as a child it really had a huge inpact on me and when i finally defeated Dark Gaia and ended the Story, i somehow felt so sad. But i liked the post credit scene, where they all were reunited in school again
Thanks for watching & the comment. Every time I get a comment on this video, makes me want to replay it haha. Maybe the Illusion of Gaia Randomizer will be on the menu soon.
@@Bitsandglory Sounds like a good idea haha just watching your walkthrough of Illusion of Gaia and decided to play the game again now on the upcoming weekend ;)
Awesome! Hope you enjoy your re-playthrough!@@alexschlotterstein118
Shout out to the random Funcoland employee who heard a young me say "I like RPGs" and suggested this to me. What a great game.
A great recommendation indeed! One of the best. Thanks for the comment and for watching
Gamestop should have never gotten rid of retro consoles and games!
I miss Funcoland too!
Agreed. This was a staple of my childhood for how it moved me in my youth
My only regret was not playing it when I was younger. I remember firing it up once and kinda scoffing (I was a turn-based JRPG snob back then lol). Such a great game though. One of the best. Glad you enjoyed & thanks for watching!
Oh yes, spread the love for this gorgeous game! ✊️ I'm always amazed to find others who know of it! Ive has it as my favorite since i first played it as a little kid.
I regret not playing it as a kid! I remember making a conscious decision not to, when I was younger I didn’t care for action RPGs for whatever reason. But man oh man, this is an absolute gem! Thanks for the comment
Played this in my early teens , I'm in my 40's now amazing game like you said it had a lasting effect i completed the game and it felt amazing,
For sure! I think about this one quite often. Looking forward to my next playthrough hopefully sometime soon. Thanks for watching!
@@Bitsandglory also mega man , and the mystical ninja were great games
Has always been one of my favorite games of all time. My mum bought it for me when i was like 9 at a block buster whi was selling it for 5 bucks! I intend to get a hack version for my snes mini coming this week!
Hope you enjoy when you add it to your mini! $5 is a steal during any era for this one. I would love to revisit it again soon. Thanks for watching & the comment.
Really well written review, you convinced me to play it.
Thank you for the kind words! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
I loved this game as a kid!
Thanks for the review and bringing back memories!
Thanks for watching and the comment! What a classic game it is.
It's one of those games that prove that a game doesn't have to be great to be great fun. It has its issues and it isn't a favourite of mine. But it's fun, colourful, has strong moments, funny moments, and some great tracks. It's not Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy VI, or even Terranigma, not even close. But it doesn't have to be. Games on an epic scale require the right mindset to fully enjoy them. Illusion of Gaia is a "casual epic", I'd say. It has always been my "between games" game. When I wanted something with a story and some goosebumps moments but didn't have the time and mental space to appreciate another run of FF6-10.
Just like it doesn't always have to be a favourite or fancy dish of food, or a movie or book that reinvents the genre. It's like a lovingly crafted filler episode that is just so fun and enjoyable to watch that you don't mind that it doesn't put another deep twist to the plot.
Also, there are few tracks in video game history that are as hauntingly beautiful and melancholic and vaguely threatening as "Signs of the Past."
Yeah definitely not on the level of CT or FF6 for sure, but dang is it good and cozy! Thanks for watching!
I'm one of the few that prefers Illusion of Gaia over Terranigma, although Terranigma is still excellent in my opinion.
I still have to get to Terranigma. Like you said, I'm sure it's excellent and that I'll enjoy it... but man, I don't know if it'll top Illusion of Gaia for me either.
I agree. I like IoG better too. It has a wonderful simplicity to it
Woah, I just found out this game existed! I can’t wait to try it!!
I hope you enjoy it as much as I have! One of my favorites for sure
The music is haunting.
I would play this again with a good script. It is hard to go back to early Nintendo censorship.
For sure, on the whole lots of dialogue could be improved across lots of games. But Illusion of Gaia still resonated with me even with its finalized English script. I really friggen love this game. I wish there were better ROM Hacks instead of just a randomizer & the "true" final boss addition (at least that I'm aware of, anyway).
I think this is on the nintendo online service? I'll have to give it a shot one of these days
I’m actually not sure! But if it is, I highly recommend it. Really deep and touching story, fun combat and areas, and just the right amount of puzzles that aren’t too hard to solve!
It should be! So many games not available with Nintendo online. If this and Chrono Trigger were offered, I'd be throwing all my money at Nintendo
I look forward to seeing your Terranigma review. I won't give anything away, but it really deserves its reputation. My wife gave me a repro cart of it for my birthday a couple years ago. Man, it instantly became one of my all-time favorite games. I had never played it before, so no nostalgia glasses involved.
I still think Illusion of Gaia is my personal favorite of the trilogy overall, but I feel Soul Blazer is more replayable, and Terranigma has the best story as well as some of the best music.
I'm excited! I might actually finally play Terranigma after I'm done with my King's Field romp. Kinda wanted to go back to an 8 or 16 bit RPG. But yeah, I agree with you! IoG (without having played Terranigma) is my favorite, but I often find myself wanting to fire up Soul Blazer for a play.
Thanks for watching & the comment!
Great video! Love this game so much. My favorite game on the SNES is the one that everyone hates because of the camera. Brandish, and it's wonderful sequel Brandish 2: The Planet Busters. Dude these two games have some of the greatest music and atmosphere of all time. I love that in the options menu I can customize my buttons and camera to my liking as well. Some of the dungeons are so large that the labyrinth style gameplay can weigh on your mind and I think it's a great thing. It's like drawing a maze when your a kid but it's hundreds of layers deeper than that. I could go on and on about Brandish but if you haven't checked it out I think you'd love it too. The camera never bothered me for some reason but I think it makes some folks disorientated because of how instantly it flips I dunno.
I actually played & covered Brandish last year in February! I liked it, but truthfully it wasn't my favorite game. The one thing I will give it though is that it was incredibly unique! I do still wish to play Brandish 2 at some point in the future
@@Bitsandglory Oh damn! I gotta see your thoughts on it. Gonna go watch it right now. Part 2 is more of the same but with better pixel art and sound design.
Such sweet, pure nostalgia.... AWESOME video on one of the most overly accused of being overrated games....
I think like others have stated below, most of the critics either gave up too early, never got to play it in early years, or just follow the herds of haters....
_"It's not a bad game, it's just that XXXX irks me and XXXXXX is such a better game!"_
Thanks for the kind words and for watching! I agree, this game is way too often undervalued IMO. And I ended up playing Terranigma last year, I can say firmly that Illusion of Gaia is still my favorite of the “trilogy”!
This game was underrated i think i always loved playing this one
I agree. Terranigma gets all the hype usually. While I do think that game was good, I enjoy IoG way more.
Played this game back in the day when it first came out, and it really resonated with me.
Replaying it now for a review, and I still enjoy the themes, but some of the flaws show such as the difficulty moving freely using the D-Pad (especially when running), and also some of the dialogue localisation is a little off. Despite this though, I am enjoying it -- and currently stuck on the Vampire boss. Haha.
Anyway, great review. Appreciate the thought and thoroughness to it. Keep up the great work!
Yeahhh, Terranigma definitely has much more free flow action to it (I’m currently putting together my review for that). But in general, spoiler, I still enjoyed IoG more. Those same localization issues were there, if not worse, in Terranigma as well - though I heard the German translation was great… too bad I don’t speak German! Haha. The vampire bosses surprisingly didn’t give me a tough time on my playthroughs! They were somehow a first try on my first run. I definitely died to the first boss a lot my first go around - as bad as it is to say!
Anyways, thanks for watching and the comment. I appreciate it!
@@Bitsandglory I'm definitely looking forward to revisiting Terranigma as well. It's a childhood fav of mine -- if not my fav JRPG on the SNES.
The Vampire bosses, I didn't realise you could be Freedan for, and I was using Psycho Dash as Will which meant he was always getting hit by the circling fireballs and disintegrating. I'll retackle the battle as Freedan, later.
I agree with everything that has a similar experience with Gaia as a kid
Thanks for watching!
In the earthen womb never fails to make me cry🙃.
Such a touching piece and part of the game, same here.
Really enjoyed the vid, illusion of Gaia was great as a kid, but this review has me thinking it's worth another play thru some more mature lens
Appreciate the watch & comment! I do highly recommend playing it again. I'm sure the mature lens will have things in a different light for you, at least it did for me. I was very happy to replay this "offline" with no distractions this time around.
My favorite game of allll time so many hours i put in on it when i was a kid
Classic game! One of my favorites of all time now after my second playthrough
I'm actually almost finished with my copy of Terranigma. Pretty amazing game. The seller was awful, but the price was incredible.
I remember being a bit let down by Illusion of Time about 16 years ago, but after I finish Terranigma I'll probably give it another chance AFTER I play my newest game - an australian copy of Lufia 2 🙂
As always, a great review put together!
Thank you, sir! I appreciate it. Terranigma and Lufia 2, two titles that I still haven’t gotten around to but I’ve heard nothing but good things about! Hope you enjoy your conclusion of Terranigma and Lufia 2 when you get around to it!
@@Bitsandglory No prob!
Europe never actually got the first Lufia game, so when we finally got the second one, it was just called "Lufia". But if you're gonna play the second one, the australian copy was the last and newest release that fixed many of the bugs and typos that were present in the NTSC release.
@@Cellfix huh, that’s interesting. I did not know that! I will probably end up giving that one a spin then when it’s time!
Serisouly need to get to this soon.
also, comments on the computer were hard to find.
!markhenry
Cool review!
I have mixed feelings with this game. I played it around 1998, when I discovered all those great RPGs on the SNES. That one had some very social topics which were too high for my child mind and compared to the other games I've played. The princess denieing to eat the fish and especially Hamlet sacrificing himself made me wonder about the developers and their goals. 😄 Also the story was a bit weird for me and I think I still won't get my head around it easily. So much happened and every half hour you aren't in a dungeon (which weren't always that satisfying) you get hit with another bummer like slavery, poverty, that strange ship and whale and so on... 😵💫
I should give it another try. It's been at least 22 years... 😅
But I won't forget the game of Russian Roulette with the cup of poison and the letter the man left for his winning opponent. I even wrote a short story based on that for school a few years later.
Yeah, definitely A LOT of topics discussed and carried out in this game haha. I played it first probably around that time as well, but at the time I wasn't much into action RPGs so I didn't think much of it. Having completed the "Trilogy", I still have this as my favorite out of this, Soul Blazer & Terranigma. All really fun though. Might be time for a replay for me as well! Haha.
@@Bitsandglory
I still have to play Soul Blazer but I am quite a huge fan of Terranigma. Secret of Gaia/Time is still worth ones time, don't get me wrong. But for me it didn't really click like other RPGs. Funny enough, today I appreciate thoughtful games, social themes and I praise games that make me think and even cry.
I'll subscribe to your channel. Keep it up! ☺
@@Ronald_Ruck I appreciate it! You should definitely give Soul Blazer a try sometime. Obviously less technically impressive than Illusion of Gaia/Terranigma, but still a pretty fun gameplay loop, sweet OST, and some deep thoughts to be had there too haha.
A must have on your mini Snes🙂
I love this game. So nostalgic!
Same! It’s so good. IMO only gets better with age.
My childhood memory..❤
This was one of the best games of its time 💯
Absolutely! Thank you for watching & the comment
I love this game. That said. Have you played Chrono Trigger?
Of course. Chrono Trigger is great, up there with my favorites as well.
Hope they update this for the switch at some point
I would love a Quintet Trilogy physical release for the Switch! I'd even take digital, haha. Thanks for watching!
Wonderful video! Thank you
I appreciate it, thank you for watching
Illusion of Gaga is great the music is an work of art 🎨. 😀👍🎮
Agreed, love it! One of my favorite soundtracks on the SNES!
@@Bitsandglory cool 😎. 😀👍🎮
Quintet games were amazing.
Absolutely!
This was a great game, mostly due to the soundtrack and the great dungeons. The story and world was a bit of let down
Honestly I love the story & characters in this game, all the sub plots really resonated with me personally. Been talking about this a lot on stream & on my Terranigma review since I just finished that up the other day. I understand people enjoying Terranigma's story more, but I preferred the more personal/smaller scale stuff compared to the broader scale reach of Terranigma. But yeah, the general linearity of Illusion of Gaia is a bit of a let down - apparently the Illusion of Gaia randomizer opens things up a bit. That being said, completely agree about the OST & dungeons!
Don't worry. I will search you out. No matter how long it takes.
Hundreds of years... Thousand of years... I will come to you. So take
care... Close your eyes...
The translations were mid, but they went hard in some of the improv. T_T
That part gets me every time
This was the very first game I ever play and I got pretty far for a 4 year old 😅
Lmao, honestly very impressive! I had a similar story with the 7th Saga. I must have rented it when I was like 6 or 7 or something, didn’t get very far 🤣
@@Bitsandglory 😂😂 idk if ur into emulation but you gotta love it 🥰
Love this game, I really feel old when I see a review of this game.
Haha, I actually avoided it as a kid because I used to only like turn based RPGs. What a mistake that was. Classic!