Illusion of Gaia - Review

[Brasel]

I really love Illusion of Gaia, don't get me wrong, the story just kind of sucks.

[CJC]

Good review. Yeah, the story was really quite scattershot and the "Mystic Statues" felt altogether tacked on to the game. There is also key information about the main character that you do not learn unless you gain access to the secret dungeon. Considering how many one-visit areas the game has, this is a huge con (although I suppose it encourages replay).

I don't think Shadow got enough play (and it bothered me that he didn't have any 'Cosmic' powers to parallel Freedan's and Will's powers), but such reeks of a rush to meet a deadline; can't really hold it against the studio.

I wonder if IoG will get a Virtual Console treatment. Isn't its production company out of business?

[Brasel]

I don't think Quintet has done anything in a really long time. I'm fairly certain they went on to make the Grandstream Saga on the PSX after Terranigma on the SNES. I'm not sure what happened to them after that.

I agree that Shadow should have gotten more play. Another dungeon or two could have really helped.

[TheDarkOne]

I remember playing Illusion Of Gaia ages ago. I never did collect all 50 red jewels, but a friend of mine did so I did get to see the bonus dungeon. I am given to understand this is actually the second in a trilogy of games, but I know little of the other games in the series, which I believe were only released in Japan. Some say it was meant as a sequel to Soul Blazer, but I disagree.

[Saffith]

It's not a sequel, exactly, but sort of a spiritual successor. There was an early translation leaked, however, in which the title was Soul Blazer: Illusion of GAIA.

[Brasel]

Yes. It was a spiritual successor to Soul Blazer. The boss at the end of the bonus dungeon in Illusion of Gaia was actually the first boss you encounter in Soul Blazer. When you fight him in IoG, he makes a reference to Soul Blazer. The three games are very loosely tied together, so you don't actually get a whole lot out of playing them together, other than a few easter eggs.

[Zim]

My favorite part of IoG, which I thought was hilariously unfair the first time, the only time, I played through it,
was the part with the dice gambling.
It is a part with life or death risk involved virtual gambling with dice.
Win and move on with storyline, lose and it is game over, restart or continue from last save.

I don't know about other people but I like my games to be possible to win, first try, with enough skill, smarts, and sometimes patience even.
As long as the player knows when to run from tough baddies and come back later, don't challenge new board or areas until the previous one is fully mastered, etc.

In other words I'm saying the save feature should be used for mostly that time in a person's life when they must power down their console and do other things,
then load the file and resume,
MAYBE used for restarting from a checkpoint, but that's almost cheating.
Making a save point right before a mortal gamble like that makes its safe point almost essential usage,
as it is a few hours into the game.

Not that it was really terrible to see, but still a funny thing in a game otherwise easy enough to win without ever being too save for fear of losing to enemies or other things.

[Brasel]

It's actually drinking shots, with a poison shot as the one that will kill you, not dice. Also, I'm pretty sure the game heavily hints at you to save the game before you meet up with the guy to play the life gambling game.

[TheDarkOne]

Yes. It was a spiritual successor to Soul Blazer. The boss at the end of the bonus dungeon in Illusion of Gaia was actually the first boss you encounter in Soul Blazer. When you fight him in IoG, he makes a reference to Soul Blazer. The three games are very loosely tied together, so you don't actually get a whole lot out of playing them together, other than a few easter eggs.

Okay, now that makes a little more sense. I suppose I'd know that if I had actually played Soul Blazer all the way through, but I found it to get tedious after a while.

[erm2003]

It's actually drinking shots, with a poison shot as the one that will kill you, not dice. Also, I'm pretty sure the game heavily hints at you to save the game before you meet up with the guy to play the life gambling game.

Not only that but it really only effects your first time playing the game. Once you know which glass to avoid I believe it's the same every time.