[Yuterald]

I just finished Terranigma for my first time. Quite an experience, I must say! Absolutely an SNES classic, no doubt about it. I was actually stumped during the final battle too. I wasn't sure what you were supposed to do. I couldn't figure out how to damage him for awhile! I finally noticed if you back away from the boss towards the bottom of the platform he comes closer and you are able to damage him. I was THIS close to checking a guide because I literally tried everything I could think of. I even equipped Elle's cloak during his beam attack that halves your HP thinking it would deflect damage back, lol! I would have been MEGA pissed if I had to resort to a guide too because I didn't need to use one the entire time. A LOT of the procedural events in that game required you to talk to every NPC in various villages/cities. If you weren't taking down notes (or mental notes, at least) I could see people getting extremely lost, especially at the end where you need to collect the 5 stones. Seriously, equipping a flower and talking to a penguin to proceed in the game? There was ONE NPC that hinted at this in an old town. You then had to find an old stopover bird point that took you to Greenland. Pretty fucking obscure, even if it is an old game!

I'm not sure if it was the English script or what, but I honestly had trouble following the story in Terranigma. The ending was really nice and there seemed to be a lot of touching moments throughout the game, but I was a bit confused as to what was going on half the time. Did anyone else feel that (or remember?) the game being kind of all over the place? I mean, I get that it was about reincarnation/evolution, etc. but once it started talking about the two copies of each person (including Ark), the virus strain stuff, and the original Crysta events, I kind of lost track of what was happening. I don't know, maybe I wasn't paying attention enough during some dialogue.

Regardless, I loved the idea of the game a lot. The sidequests/town building shit was so fucking cool and memorable. I will definitely play this game again one day and go for a perfect save because I definitely missed my chance to obtain all of the Magicrocks and one of those special weapons. Now, back to Soul Blazer!

[RyType]

Absolutely loved the quintet trilogy but this is the first time I've even heard of granstream saga.... is it any good?

[SkyMasterson]

This thread inspired me to start replaying Soul Blazer last night and I've just beaten it. It's been at least 15 yeas since I played it last but I still remembered it surprisingly well. Combat isn't particularly fun, but the game still manages to be quite enjoyable and it feels nicely balanced and well paced. I was a bit surprised by how short it was; I remembered it as rather massive, but it moved at a good pace and didn't overstay its welcome. I'm thinking of moving on to the other two games as well, though they don't hold quite the same nostalgic value for me

How many hours did it take for you to beat it?

[Celine]

Got at the sixth area today in Magridd Castle.

In the "town" section of the mountain of souls there are these strange gnomes that live just in a span of a year but fully.
Two of these creatures still young (a male and a female) are in front of each other.
If you speak to the male he tells you something like "We used to be very happy just by gazing each other."
If you then speak to the female she tells you some like "We used to be very happy just by gazing each other. I think it's better if I find someone else."

Took me by surprise reading this little scene, about a sorrowful phase in a relationship that many surely experienced, in a SNES game.

After that area I obtained blades that could defeat enemy with "invincible" armors and spirits.
Felt good backtracking to spank their asses.
Got two out of three items needed to get the ultimate spell Phoenix.
Hope the last one is in Magridd.

I love how Quintet experimentated with graphics in this game.
The big ice spike in the cave that are put in the foreground in the icy cave, the impressionist water in the town model section that looked like a Actraiser map redrawn.

By the way I laughed aloud when a door told me "MY BODY IS LOCKED".
Even doors learnt Reggie meme it seems.

I'm not sure if it was the English script or what, but I honestly had trouble following the story in Terranigma. The ending was really nice and there seemed to be a lot of touching moments throughout the game, but I was a bit confused as to what was going on half the time. Did anyone else feel that (or remember?) the game being kind of all over the place? I mean, I get that it was about reincarnation/evolution, etc. but once it started talking about the two copies of each person (including Ark), the virus strain stuff, and the original Crysta events, I kind of lost track of what was happening. I don't know, maybe I wasn't paying attention enough during some dialogue.

Not "kind of all over the place" at all IMO.

Dark Gaia cloned the hero of light that previously defeated him and to let him grow he cloned the entire town he lived in.
His purpose was to revive the earth so he could then conquer it through Beruga.
Beruga in fact had invented a virus that could transform living being in zombie that is dead living creature thus letting the cycle of destruction and rebirth to freeze.
So Dark Gaia already planned from the start to unleash Ark for his purpose and then dispose him at the right time.
However in a twist, Ark somehow could skip the loop of fate (creation and destruction).
He resurrected in place and began a journey that led him to met his light counterpart.
Merging with him Ark became an entity that unified the dark and light side, something that neither Dark Gaia or Light Gaia could be.
He met the elder(Dark Gaia) and destroyed him.
However in doing it, he eliminated the source vital for the existence of (underworld) Crysta and its living beings (Ark included).
So despite being a deity he was destined to lose everything most dear to him.
The spirits moved by his sorrowful fate and being grateful to him, let Ark to live one more day in the peaceful Crysta with his friends unaware of their doomed destines.

Ark unfulfilled love with (underground) Elle was put in the hands of fate because if they are bound by fate to meet again, maybe reincarnated, they could then fully live their love.

The ending is open to interpretation.


Mmmh strangely reminescent of Killer7, now that I think of it.


I love you Elle.

How many hours did it take for you to beat it?

I'm almost at the last section and took me 9-10 hours (first play too).
Game isn't overly long and for the best.
it could have been really repetitive if not.

Absolutely loved the quintet trilogy but this is the first time I've even heard of granstream saga.... is it any good?

It's an early attempt to a fully polygonal action rpg.
If you can stomach the blockiness and clunkiness I say go for it.
At worst you heard some beautiful musics (Terranigma composers worked on it).
Also Miyazaki (the main driving force behind the trilogy) did the scenario.

Be aware however that Quintet outside of the those two I stated above wasn't much involved with it.

[nan0]

This thread inspired me to start replaying Soul Blazer last night and I've just beaten it.

Reminds me of finally finishing Terranigma. I really like the game and the music, but I always felt that its "What the fuck am I supposed to do now"-game. Anyone feels the same? I had numerous times where I had to look up whats up next. The beginning and middle part is kinda linear, but I found the directions usually very vague (unless the german translation is totally screwed up?) and impossible to get back into if you pause for a few weeks. Same as Chrono Trigger for me btw.

[Aeana]

It's an early attempt to a fully polygonal action rpg. If you can stomach the blockiness and clunkiness I say go for it. At worst you heard some beautiful musics (Terranigma composers worked on it). Also Miyazaki (the main driving force behind the trilogy) did the scenario. Be aware however that Quintet outside of the those two I stated above wasn't much involved with it.

Well, aside from the fact that the director and lead designer of the game was Koji Yokota, from Quintet.

[ShutEye]

I had no idea Illusions of Gaia was linked to the other games.

IoG was great back in the day. I think that was maybe the second last game I bought for SNES. Fantastic atmosphere.

[beril]

Started up Terranigma a bit. Gameplay is awesome but I'm not sure it was really the best idea to start the game off with 5 boring looking towers with dreary music. I know it gets a lot better, but I think I'll take a break for a while.

[Natetan]

i just finished most of illusion of gaia. it really is disappointing that getting all 50 red jewels does essentially nothing.

[Celine]

Completed Soul Blazer yesterday.
The love story was introduced a bit late but I liked it.

Hashimoto surely was a competent programmer.
In the last duel against Deathtoll (a big sprite although not much animated) he programmed the background with a parallax effect that use 11 layers with very sporadic slowdown (this on the "weak" SNES CPU).

I'm a bit disappointed that despite all being quite interesting, the bosses are quite easy.
For instance the first form of Deathtoll could be disposed in less than 10 seconds.

What I really love about Miyazaki scenario is how he touches "existentialist" (happiness, sorrow, loneliness) arguments in games mostly geared toward kids.
For example the game openly mock the RPG mechanics by stating that a man that kills another human is called assassin but a man that exterminate hundreds of lives is called an hero (hence the creation part in his games to balance the destruction brought by the hero).
The World of Evil is created by humans dark sides like greed.
Ironically you must use/waste money (gems) if you want to defeat Deathtoll.
I'm glad that he wrote the twist where it was really the Queen greed to fault for the devil pact, highlighting how women are the source of all troubles ( :-) ).

Overall a good game, worth to be considered a gem in the SNES library.
I still think that Terranigma is a better game.

My favorite music in the game, is the final tune:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71W1GciuLpE

Now I'm tackling Illusion of Gaia.
Just arrive at Freeja city.
Will wrote my initial impression later.

EDIT:

Well, aside from the fact that the director and lead designer of the game was Koji Yokota, from Quintet.

Indeed, Koji Yokota founded Shade (developer of The Granstream Saga).
However he was always a graphic designer in Quintet games, never directed or wrote anything before GS.

[Jigsaw]

i just finished most of illusion of gaia. it really is disappointing that getting all 50 red jewels does essentially nothing.

you get an entire bonus dungeon,that's better than an ultima weapon that makes the boss gauntlet even easier :P

[Yuterald]

I just finished Soul Blazer this morning for my first time. As of now, I have officially completed all three of the Quintet titles! Feels good! I managed to find everything in Soul Blazer on my own other than two items where you had to PUSH objects. When the fuck did you ever have to push something in this game! I was going NUTS over how to access the kids secret passage in the first town. I couldn't take it anymore and looked up where the fucking Pass was and lo and behold, you had to push a flower put. Of course, the other item I couldn't find on my own was from pushing a drawer in the lab house. WHATEVER, dudes!

Anyway, I really, really ended up enjoying Soul Blazer. It was just so easy and fun to play. I couldn't stop destroying those monster generators and unlocking new areas in the town hubs. Everything just felt paced so well. I also love all the equipment in the game too. Backtracking with the ghost and hard armor weapons was fun and I dug the fact that each armor piece carried a unique attribute. It's the simple stuff that really clicks with me. I love old, 1990's game ideas, hah!

I was level 24 when I beat the game, but the final boss was actually really hard for me. I refused to use the Magic Bell the first time because it would have felt like cheating. I had to switch between my double damage & half damage bracelet in order to beat him. Those tracking lasers were so obnoxious and if you got caught in the blue flames, forget about it. Oh, and the ending was nice too. Man, these guys sure were obsessed with reincarnation! Turbo the goat, lol!

I think I'm going to start replaying Illusion of Gaia now. I never did collect all the Red Gems back in the day so that will be a new goal of mine, to 100% the game. It's been SO long since I've played IoG. I wonder if it will still be my favorite of the three. Right now, I still feel way too nostalgic to put Soul Blazer or Terranigma over it, but we'll see!

[beril]

Hashimoto surely was a competent programmer. In the last duel against Deathtoll (a big sprite although not much animated) he programmed the background with a parallax effect that use 11 layers with very sporadic slowdown (this on the "weak" SNES CPU).

That's just some H-blank trickery and not really CPU intensive at all. It's a nice scene but a fairly normal effect in SNES games. The clouds never overlap so they're actually in the same layer, and its horizontal scroll register is changed as the screen is updating.

Still awesome for one guy to code the whole game though, presumably all in assemble as well.

[Celine]

Best Terranigma cosplay ever

That's just some H-blank trickery and not really CPU intensive at all. It's a nice scene but a fairly normal effect in SNES games. The clouds never overlap so they're actually in the same layer, and its horizontal scroll register is changed as the screen is updating. Still awesome for one guy to code the whole game though, presumably all in assemble as well.

Yes, it's a trick (line scrolling) and not real "layers".
However I've counted 11 rows.
Can't recall a SNES game that used that many rows.

[beril]

Best Terranigma cosplay ever Yes, it's a trick (line scrolling) and not real "layers". However I've counted 11 rows. Can't recall a SNES game that used that many rows.

Plenty of games use different values for every horizontal line though.
For example heat wave effects in various games, the curved road in OutRun, the semi 3d ground in street fighter 2, and even in Soul Blazer you also have the wavy background in the World of Evil

And of course every "mode 7" game. What mode 7 actually does is just rotation and scaling but the perspective effect that it's normaly associated with is done with assigning different scaling values at H-blank

Not sure how it worked on SNES but on GBA you could sync a DMA to hblank, so it's not CPU intensive at all

[Celine]

Beat the final boss yesterday.

Compared to SB, IoG had much better graphics and music (although the credit track is a letdown).

IoG is surely more story driven but somehow I enjoyed more the NPC script for SB.
The twist at the end somewhat failed to impress me although I liked the connection with our world and how Miyazaki once again proposed the themes Quintet is famous for.

I prefer the action parts in IoG compared to SB and the character swap albeit underused is cool (Freedan is a destroyer compared to Will).
Also I've found the bosses to be better in this pseudo sequel.

Overall between SB and IoG I would give the edge on the former but just slightly.
It's quite apparent how Quintet summarized SB and IoG essence into Terranigma.

Now I'll go through the bonus dungeon.
Terranigma awaits me after all this years again.

BTW fucking love the references with SB like the gag with a man and a woman that deny what they were doing after surprising them kissing or the cameo from the child that die from starvation on the boss boat in SB (dream sequence).

[beril]

Picked up Terranigma again last night after taking a break to play some other classic action RPGs. Just beat the last tower and reached the overworld but I look forward to plunging deeper into the game, and I'll post some impressions once I get further. I've only played through it once before and that was probably around 12 years ago

[Instro]

I've been replaying Terranigma because of this thread.

[Natetan]

Anyway, I really, really ended up enjoying Soul Blazer. It was just so easy and fun to play. I couldn't stop destroying those monster generators and unlocking new areas in the town hubs. Everything just felt paced so well. I also love all the equipment in the game too. Backtracking with the ghost and hard armor weapons was fun and I dug the fact that each armor piece carried a unique attribute. It's the simple stuff that really clicks with me. I love old, 1990's game ideas, hah!

For me, this is what was really missing from terranigma, and dragged the game play down. It's just a regular action game now really. None of the terranigma armor or weapons really stand out like the ones in soul blazer did where each one has a pretty unique and useful feature. Felt so anticlimatic to run around killing everything like i was playing a quintet game, and then nothing happening. It's funny because you revive people, etc just like a quintet game, it's just not implemented the same way as in soul blazer. I really liked story/plot element rewards for defeating all the enemies in an area.

Also i think Ark's character animation is jerky, and item get music is laaame.

[ArachosiA 78]

I loved Soul Blazer, but never played those other two. I guess I should check them out.

[ctrayne]

.

[Night_Trekker]

Absolutely loved the quintet trilogy but this is the first time I've even heard of granstream saga.... is it any good?

There's very little "RPG" to be found (you don't even buy things), but it's fun. I like it a lot, and I'd call it solidly above average.

[Celine]

Beat the bonus dungeon in IoG yesterday.
Very easy if you ask me.
Whoever told me to save herbs for it was wrong IMO.
Herbs aren't really needed in this game if you collect all the upgrades (maybe for the first boss but you could dodge most attacks,the vampires and the last "boss rush" in the tower of Babel.

Started Terranigma.
I resurrected the overworld and ...
fell asleep while listening to Crysta music (can't remember if I have saved :-\)

Picked up Terranigma again last night after taking a break to play some other classic action RPGs. Just beat the last tower and reached the overworld but I look forward to plunging deeper into the game, and I'll post some impressions once I get further. I've only played through it once before and that was probably around 12 years ago

Don't forget to resurrect Polyneese and Mu :-)

Pretty cool games with quite advanced storytelling for the era, especially Illusion and Terranigma. Blew my mind back then. Regarding Granstream Saga, didn't some ex-Falcom employees work on it too? Hence the red-haired hero? I swear I heard this somewhere.

Most of the Granstream Saga crew was from Sony development background from what I remember however the two Quintet founders Miyazaki (that worked on TGS scenario) and Hashimoto previously worked on Ys1&2 (and 3 partially).

[eldoon]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ka-SoDOhW-4
one day i hope

[BoatAck]

I have a North American SNES and I just acquired a UK PAL copy of Terranigma. What options do I have for getting it to run on my system?

[Red Arremer]

Just a few months ago, I bought a boxed Terranigma to complement my boxed Illusion of Gaia (tho it's the German versions, so Illusion of Time, herpderp). The pride of my collection, and the only games I re-bought, just so I could have the boxes and manuals. :)

I have a North American SNES and I just acquired a UK PAL copy of Terranigma. What options do I have for getting it to run on my system?

I'm fairly certain there's converter cartridges. There is a NTSC to PAL one, so I would think there'd be one the other way around.

[Celine]

I have a North American SNES and I just acquired a UK PAL copy of Terranigma. What options do I have for getting it to run on my system?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYCfeSvEAHQ

From the comments:

For anyone planning to buy a Pro Action Replay MK2 to use with Terranigma, make sure you get one with a compatible BIOS version. It must be a later BIOS such as 2.P or 2.T (ask the seller to check the title screen) If you get one with a lower BIOS, like 1.0 or 1.1, the game won't save!

[beril]

Don't forget to resurrect Polyneese and Mu :-)

Damnit I knew I had missed something; I ressurected Polyneese and figured there had to be a few more places like it but didn't find anything and was a bit too tired to look for very long

[Red Arremer]

Damnit I knew I had missed something; I ressurected Polyneese and figured there had to be a few more places like it but didn't find anything and was a bit too tired to look for very long

Mu's actually a bit more hidden (and rightfully so, as it actually contains one of the best weapons, whereas Polynesia is just there for the lulz).

[Bennettt2]

Not "kind of all over the place" at all IMO. Dark Gaia cloned the hero of light that previously defeated him and to let him grow he cloned the entire town he lived in. His purpose was to revive the earth so he could then conquer it through Beruga. Beruga in fact had invented a virus that could transform living being in zombie that is dead living creature thus letting the cycle of destruction and rebirth to freeze. So Dark Gaia already planned from the start to unleash Ark for his purpose and then dispose him at the right time. However in a twist, Ark somehow could skip the loop of fate (creation and destruction). He resurrected in place and began a journey that led him to met his light counterpart. Merging with him Ark became an entity that unified the dark and light side, something that neither Dark Gaia or Light Gaia could be. He met the elder(Dark Gaia) and destroyed him. However in doing it, he eliminated the source vital for the existence of (underworld) Crysta and its living beings (Ark included). So despite being a deity he was destined to lose everything most dear to him. The spirits moved by his sorrowful fate and being grateful to him, let Ark to live one more day in the peaceful Crysta with his friends unaware of their doomed destines. Ark unfulfilled love with (underground) Elle was put in the hands of fate because if they are bound by fate to meet again, maybe reincarnated, they could then fully live their love. The ending is open to interpretation.

thank you for this. I haven't seen anyone explain the highlights of Terranigma's story so economically. It brought back all the memories and made me listen to a string of youtube vids on the game.

This is certainly how you do ambiguity in storytelling.

[SkyMasterson]

Just got the "US version" of Terranigma last week and I am so stoked to play through it!

Nintendo(and Square Enix) are missing out by not releasing these on VC.

[Celine]

Kamui Fujiwara was the character designer for Terranigma.
He drew several mangas such as Dragon Quest Emblem of Roto among the others that actually was published here (Italy) in 1998 (one of my first series I collected back in those days).

In Japan he published an art book with his design concepts for Emblem of Roto which is of special interest for Quintet fans because there are a few pages dedicated to Terranigma character concepts.

As you can see from the below samples Ark went through a few design before his final form:

[Muramasa]

I think everyone who loves jrpg should play once in his life Terranigma. I just love this games absurdly hard. I think it is even a better experience than the american favorite Chrono Trigger.

[ULTROS!]

I just got into the series. This series is godly. Illusion of Gaia holds a special place in my heart and Terranigma is a piece of heaven (literally). Soul Blazer was addicting and quirky. I just completed Soul Blazer last week and now doing Terranigma. I finished Illusion of Gaia a long time ago.

How would you guys rank the games?

[beril]

I should try to finish my replay of Terranigma soon. Played up to the great lakes and then got distracted.

But I have to admit I was enjoying Sould Blazer a bit more. Terranigma makes some nice improvements to the combat (which was frankly quite tedious in the previous games) and the graphics are great. But Sould Blazer just had so great pacing and a more streamlined and memorable concept. I also find that the environments are a lot more repetetive in Terranigma, even though they're prettier. A lot of the dungeon music is pretty dull. Also the ressurection scenes really haven't aged well.

Still a really good game, but not quite the masterpiece I remembered it to be. It' has all the bells and whistles you'd expect from a late SNES game but that isn't enough to impress any more and judged on it other merits it doesn't really hold up to the top games on the platform. I'll try to finnish it soon and see if my opinion changes, but right now my ranking would be
Sould Blazer ≈ Terranigma >>>>>> Illusion of Gaia

[Night_Trekker]

How would you guys rank the games?

1) Terranigma
2) Soul Blazer
3) Illusion of Gaia

But I wouldn't suggest placing too much stock in that opinion... I've always had some problem with IoG that most gamers don't seem to share.

[Natetan]

How would you guys rank the games?

1) Soul Blazer
( 2) actraiser )
2) Illusion of Gaia
3) Terranigma

[Ledsen]

I just got into the series. This series is godly. Illusion of Gaia holds a special place in my heart and Terranigma is a piece of heaven (literally). Soul Blazer was addicting and quirky. I just completed Soul Blazer last week and now doing Terranigma. I finished Illusion of Gaia a long time ago. How would you guys rank the games?

Terranigma>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>rest

[Sword Familiar]

1) Terranigma
2) Soul Blazer
3) Illusion of Gaia/Time

However, I think Terranigma is a bit overrated. It's a good game, but not in any way a fantastic one.

[InfiniDragon]

Already posted it earlier but here we go once more:

1. Illusion of Gaia
2. Soul Blazer
3. Terranigma

[RyougaSaotome]

Oh god how have I never played this game?

For some reason I always thought Terranigma was something completely different so I had no interest in playing. Then I actually sit down and take the time to look at it-AGGHHHHH.

Must. Play.

[Muramasa]

However, I think Terranigma is a bit overrated. It's a good game, but not in any way a fantastic one.

I hardly dissagree. But everyone has their opinions. I can see some minor flaws. But for its time it is a truly great experience. (even first time play@ps2 era) The battle system has not aged that well. But in comparison for example to the dull seiken densetsu 2/3 system still working.

[tanasten]

Oh! The Quintet era... Sniff!

I just loved all of these and ActRaiser, some of my favorite games :)

1) Soul Blazer.
2) Ilusion of Gaia. (Only game I played through the japanese, usa and euro version xD)
3) Terranigma.

If I had to add Actraiser, it would fit on first place :)

[Dark Schala]

I just got into the series. This series is godly. Illusion of Gaia holds a special place in my heart and Terranigma is a piece of heaven (literally). Soul Blazer was addicting and quirky. I just completed Soul Blazer last week and now doing Terranigma. I finished Illusion of Gaia a long time ago. How would you guys rank the games?

Terranigma >> Illusion of Gaia ≈ Soul Blazer.

With that said, I rank these games very highly, so the ranking itself is a little irrelevant.

[Ledsen]

Already posted it earlier but here we go once more: 1. Illusion of Gaia 2. Soul Blazer 3. Terranigma

Oh! The Quintet era... Sniff! I just loved all of these and ActRaiser, some of my favorite games :) 1) Soul Blazer. 2) Ilusion of Gaia. (Only game I played through the japanese, usa and euro version xD) 3) Terranigma. If I had to add Actraiser, it would fit on first place :)

1) Soul Blazer ( 2) actraiser ) 2) Illusion of Gaia 3) Terranigma

Can't believe you guys put Terranigma below the others... IMO one of the best SNES games ever made. Did you play it much later, or was it something else about it?

[lunchwithyuzo]

Going off old memories here (except AR which I replayed on VC a couple years back) but:

1) Illusion of Gaia
2) Soul Blazer
3) Actraiser

Sadly I've never played through Terranigma, just fiddled with on emulators like 10 years back. I would ritually sacrifice infants to get the rest of the SNES Quintet games on VC.

[Natetan]

Can't believe you guys put Terranigma below the others... IMO one of the best SNES games ever made. Did you play it much later, or was it something else about it?

I think this sums it up pretty well, Honestly I think alot of the attraction of terrnigma is that it wasn't released in the us and therefore part of gamer 'cred' to like it. Like disliking smb2 because it's not a 'real' Mario game etc.

But I have to admit I was enjoying Sould Blazer a bit more. Terranigma makes some nice improvements to the combat (which was frankly quite tedious in the previous games) and the graphics are great. But Sould Blazer just had so great pacing and a more streamlined and memorable concept. I also find that the environments are a lot more repetetive in Terranigma, even though they're prettier. A lot of the dungeon music is pretty dull. Also the ressurection scenes really haven't aged well.

[Ledsen]

I think this sums it up pretty well, Honestly I think alot of the attraction of terrnigma is that it wasn't released in the us and therefore part of gamer 'cred' to like it. Like disliking smb2 because it's not a 'real' Mario game etc.

I'm European, so for me it has nothing to do with that. I played it shortly after release and have since replayed it numerous time. My brother played it 10-15 times :) It blew me away because it was a superb game, and I knew nothing about its release troubles. I find it to have an amazingly touching story, and probably the best ending in gaming (even looking at that illustration a GAF:er made of it makes me tear up). The "resurrect the world" concept is very original, and combined with the city development sidequests the gameplay the most interesting I've seen in an action RPG. The soundtrack is also one of my favorites. In summary, I love everything about the game, and to me it's still unsurpassed in the genre.

[Natetan]

I'm European, so for me it has nothing to do with that. I played it shortly after release and have since replayed it numerous time. My brother played it 10-15 times :) It blew me away because it was a superb game, and I knew nothing about its release troubles. I find it to have an amazingly touching story, and probably the best ending in gaming (even looking at that illustration a GAF:er made of it makes me tear up). The "resurrect the world" concept is very original, and combined with the city development sidequests the gameplay the most interesting I've seen in an action RPG. The soundtrack is also one of my favorites. In summary, I love everything about the game, and to me it's still unsurpassed in the genre.

yeah, that image that sovanjedi or whatever made is really amazing and really considered the medium it was viewed in.

I think the concept is really amazing. I love those type of quintet god games, so it should have been an ace in the hole. I was suprised it didn't resonate with me as I expected.

[Reknoc]

I just got into the series. This series is godly. Illusion of Gaia holds a special place in my heart and Terranigma is a piece of heaven (literally). Soul Blazer was addicting and quirky. I just completed Soul Blazer last week and now doing Terranigma. I finished Illusion of Gaia a long time ago. How would you guys rank the games?

1) Terranigma
2) Soul Blazer
3) Illusion of Time/Gaia

Illusion didn't click with me at all. The biggest reason I loved Terranigma, and later Soul Blazer, is because the world changes as you progress. I have a massive hard on for that sort of thing (thanks to Terranigma). Part of why I like Skies of Arcadia and Assassins Creed 2 so much.