NeoGAF

Celine · 05:09 PM

On November 27, 1993 Enix published Gaia Gensōki (ガイア幻想紀) in Japan for the Super Famicom.

The game developed by Quintet would later be distributed by Nintendo in America, Europe and Australia either under the name Illusion of Gaia or Illusion of Time.
Being the game pushed by Nintendo in the west it is no surprise that it was quite popular in those regions, even more than the revered Secret of Mana.

This thread is dedicated to Tomoyoshi Miyazaki, he vanished as mysteriously as Quintet did in early 2000.

Developed by

Key members:

Moto Hagio (萩尾望都)
Moto Hagio is a manga artist known as a founding member of the shōjo genre.
She did character design for Illusion of Gaia and as you can see below it is very different (and very shōjo) from the arts american and eurpean players got in their manuals.

Mariko Ōhara (大原まり子)
Mariko Ōhara is a science fiction novelist who was responsible for the story in Illusion of Gaia.

Yasuhiro Kawasaki (川崎康宏)
He is the man behind the excellent original soundtrack in Illusion of Gaia, of which you can listen a few samples below.
His most recent work was the soundtrack of Dokuro for Playstation Vita.

Tomoyoshi Miyazaki (宮崎友好)
For Quintet fans he shouldn't need any description as the man co-founded with Masaya Hashimoto Quintet in the late '80 after they left Nihon Falcom.
He is responsible for the design/scenario of most Quintet games so if you feel strongly nostalgic towards some of their games Miyazaki is probably one of the main responsible for it.

Character design in the various manuals:

Japanese manual

American/European manual

French manual

Music
A few music samples from Illusion of Gaia soundtrack

Returned memory
Title theme
World map
Town theme
Sky garden
Shiwreck theme
Ending theme 1
Ending theme 2
Dark space
Boss battle

Illusion of Gaia World Map

Connection with the other Quintet RPG
Turbo the Dog is everywhere (Soul Blazer, Illusion of Gaia, Robotrek, Terranigma)

Beta title screen

Shipment numbers provided by Quintet

Gaia Gensoki / Illusion of Gaia / Illusion of Time
JP: 200,000
NA: 300,000
EU: 150,000

Advertisement

Japanese TV commercial
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOW3JXXhM1s

US Print Ad

Bonus
Rare Quintet english interview around 1997 when they were , with Game Arts, one of the most prestigious member of GD-Net:

Japanese interview

Some other JIFs:

Clan of the Grey Wolf's review
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJmn1rhPook
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3r59RgF-4g

Other GAF anniversary thread:
Metroid's 25th anniversary
Secret of Mana's 20th anniversary

This thread was powered by

RaikuHebi · 04:12 PM

I recently watched a Youtube video about the history of this game and the others in the series. Looks like phenomenal stuff and is on my "play before I die" list.

Here is the video in question, from ClanOfTheGrayWolf's 16-bit Gems series: (all his videos are highly recommended).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJmn1rhPook

I envy those of you that grew up with the SNES. Best console ever for sure.

sixteen-bit · (11-26-2013, 04:09 PM)

Another Quintet banger.

entrement · (11-26-2013, 04:10 PM)

I adored this game. One of my favs of the 16bit era. Loved the music. Rented it like crazy to beat. Never got all the gems, though.

I wish we got a VC release :(

GulAtiCa · (11-26-2013, 04:11 PM)

I've yet to beat the game. Really need to go back and finish it. Prob need to restart. Soul Blazer is the favorite of the series for me. Always replaying it.

Wish Terranigma was published here, but it wasn't. :( One day I'll have to import the PAL version and PAL SNES to play it right.

Ishida · (11-26-2013, 04:11 PM)

One of my favorite games of all time. A truly magnificent experience.

Zoe · (11-26-2013, 04:13 PM)

I really loved this game. Played it several times.

monlo · (11-26-2013, 04:13 PM)

This game is not that long, too. I'd say it's about 5 hours if you rush through. There is a collectible of red gems (iirc) that you can 100% along the way... which gets you the best ending. You can miss some of the gems and never get a chance to get them again, too, so it's worth replaying for that other ending.

This game was underrated because it competed with Lagoon at the time, which was touted as a poor man's LTTP. I personally loved all three.

Great game, with a few highly memorable scenes. I would personally recommend this to anyone who likes action adventure games like LTTP.

Wyndstryker · (11-26-2013, 04:15 PM)

Awesome game, many memories of it.

Those photos of the staff...it's a portal to a different era.

RemyL · (11-26-2013, 04:18 PM)

Wow, I played that series so much (Terranigma on Emu) and I still play it from time to time. I actually mentioned it in the franchises I'd like to see revived thread.

I remember fondly

ElFly · (11-26-2013, 04:19 PM)

I should replay this and get all the damned gems to open the final store or whatever the guy was hiding.

norfair_zebes · (11-26-2013, 04:20 PM)

Fantastic OP! I really need to replay this gem. Had a blast with it as a child. :)

Vandole · (11-26-2013, 04:22 PM)

I wish I still had the T-shirt that came with the game.

Celine · (11-26-2013, 04:23 PM)

Originally Posted by monlo

This game is not that long, too. I'd say it's about 5 hours if you rush through. There is a collectible of red gems (iirc) that you can 100% along the way... which gets you the best ending. You can miss some of the gems and never get a chance to get them again, too, so it's worth replaying for that other ending.

This game was underrated because it competed with Lagoon at the time, which was touted as a poor man's LTTP. I personally loved all three.

Great game, with a few highly memorable scenes. I would personally recommend this to anyone who likes action adventure games like LTTP.

Really!? I thought it just give you an optional dungeon, with a cool boss for Quintet fans (eh eh).

dead souls · (11-26-2013, 04:24 PM)

I loved this game back in the day.

Uncle Rupee · (11-26-2013, 04:24 PM)

Great job OP

I remember watching my older brother play this one back in the day. I have never played any of the Soul Blazer games, and this is the only one I own (it's in my back log). I still want to track down the others and play them in the proper order.

Man Puncher · (11-26-2013, 04:25 PM)

Hell of a game. Picked it up on a whim back in the day and loved it.

BassForever · (11-26-2013, 04:25 PM)

Originally Posted by monlo

This game is not that long, too. I'd say it's about 5 hours if you rush through. There is a collectible of red gems (iirc) that you can 100% along the way... which gets you the best ending. You can miss some of the gems and never get a chance to get them again, too, so it's worth replaying for that other ending.

This game was underrated because it competed with Lagoon at the time, which was touted as a poor man's LTTP. I personally loved all three.

Great game, with a few highly memorable scenes. I would personally recommend this to anyone who likes action adventure games like LTTP.

Lagoon sucked because your weapon had zero range even if you could swing it rapid fire.

Illusion of Gaia is my favorite game of all time, not the best game I've ever played (that's Chrono Trigger) but still an incredible experience etched into my mind.

Celine · (11-26-2013, 04:26 PM)

Originally Posted by norfair_zebes

Fantastic OP! I really need to replay this gem. Had a blast with it as a child. :)

Originally Posted by Uncle Rupee

Great job OP

I remember watching my older brother play this one back in the day. I have never played any of the Soul Blazer games, and this is the only one I own (it's in my back log). I still want to track down the others and play them in the proper order.

Thank you :-)

Fisico · 04:28 PM

One of the rare game I bothered playing again years after and still manage to finish it every time.
The OST, the plot and the setting were absolutely fantastic.

theechrisfox · (11-26-2013, 04:27 PM)

Excellent game. I play it every couple of years. The wind blowing through Will's hair as shown in that gif really captivated me as a kid. You know you have a great game on your hands when you remember small details like that for your entire life. The raft scene, Great Wall, and boss rush are all very memorable too.

thomaser · (11-26-2013, 04:33 PM)

The Angkor Wat area really fired up my imagination when I first played it. Became obsessed with the real Angkor Wat afterwards.

I loved the game, but really disliked the unmissable gems. Because of that, it's probably third among the three great Quintet titles for me. It's definitely first in atmosphere, though.

keit4 · (11-26-2013, 04:33 PM)

I really enjoyed this game when i played it years ago. Now i feel the need to replay it.

SeanNoonan · (11-26-2013, 04:33 PM)

Illusion of Time is still one of my favourite RPGs. I never did get all of the gems though :(

INDIGO_CYCLOPS · (11-26-2013, 04:33 PM)

Loved this game, still thinking about that t-shirt I got when I bought the game so long ago...Wish I had it still.

D-e-f- · (11-26-2013, 04:34 PM)

I still need to finish this. All I can remember from my aborted playthrough is that I got past the part with the raft.

RobFox64tm · (11-26-2013, 04:36 PM)

An amazing game with an amazing soundtrack. It was also fairly deep, story wise. Maybe even moreso than the Squaresoft stuff that was out at the time.

EasyMode · (11-26-2013, 04:37 PM)

Originally Posted by Man Puncher

Hell of a game. Picked it up on a whim back in the day and loved it.

Same here. I fell in love the ancient settings and the music that captured their mood so well.

Oh, and LOL @ Seth's artwork. I always had a hard time visualizing what he was supposed to look like. When I was a kid I thought his sprite made him look like a rodent.

Deprive · (11-26-2013, 04:37 PM)

In my personal top 5 games. Can't tell you how much I love this game.

Effect · (11-26-2013, 04:39 PM)

This game along with Soul Blazer were in my top 5 most replayed games on the SNES. I loved this game. Speaking of the t-shirt I think I ended up with that as well when I got the game. That or maybe I got it form Nintendo Power. I do remember getting something like this very close to the game but no cue as to what happen to it. Maybe it didn't fit or it got tossed as I got older somehow.

GreatMightySymp · (11-26-2013, 04:43 PM)

Sucks SE never put this or the other two games in the series on VC. I remember playing this game for 7-9 hours straight one time as a kid when I was sick with the flu, really need to replay it again one of these days.

I'd love if someone did a re-translation of the game at some point as it was obvious Enix mistranslated parts of it.

1st Course · (11-26-2013, 04:43 PM)

Amazing op.

I've never played/heard of this game before, but I'm interested now.

Ourobolus · (11-26-2013, 04:45 PM)

Spoiler: Hamlet, nooooooooo! :'(

Riskington · (11-26-2013, 04:46 PM)

Great OP.

Celine · (11-26-2013, 04:50 PM)

Damn, forgot a section:

Advertisement

Japanese TV commercial
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOW3JXXhM1s

US Print Ad

-----------

Originally Posted by 1st Course

Amazing op.

I've never played/heard of this game before, but I'm interested now.

Originally Posted by Riskington

Great OP.

Thank you.

devon the dude · (11-26-2013, 04:52 PM)

Amazing game, easily one of my all time favorites. See those images bring back such great memories

Heysoos · (11-26-2013, 04:59 PM)

Man, I loved this game. The booklet that was included was extremely detailed too. Otherwise I don't think I would have been able to find all the gems and that secret boss.

Maedhros · (11-26-2013, 04:59 PM)

Freaking amazing OP!

Soul Blaze/Illusion of Gaia/Terranigma is what made me like Action J-RPGs much more than turn based ones.

StAidan · (11-26-2013, 05:06 PM)

Nice game. I only played through it once back in the day, but I think I found all the gems. I remember hoping for a more Zelda-like experience when I saw it on the rental shelf, but even though it wasn't, I enjoyed it a lot in its own right.

Really great music, too.

pyrandes · (11-26-2013, 05:07 PM)

Such a great, nostalgia filled OP. I loved this game as a teen alongside the other great Quintet games.

darkjedi187 · (11-26-2013, 05:09 PM)

Such a great game from my childhood.

Seanspeed · (11-26-2013, 05:10 PM)

Never quite understood the love for this. I had fun with it, but its not one of those games from the era that I think back on and get drunk with nostalgia over.

Nice OP, though.

xyla · (11-26-2013, 05:12 PM)

Played the game way back when a friend traded for another SNES game for a few weeks - It was amazing, even if I never managed to play the whole way through the game. It was one of the games that came with an official guide IIRC..

Nohar · (11-26-2013, 05:12 PM)

This game is fantastic. I feel so nostalgic just by listening to its incredible music. Great OP!

Man, I had the French Manual, but it vanished somewhere unknown during my childhood... I really wish I still have it :( I wonder if there exists a .pdf version somewhere available on the internet.

Dark Octave · (11-26-2013, 05:12 PM)

Great game. Great OP.

Ishida · (11-26-2013, 05:13 PM)

The ending to this game is just plain beautiful, always brings down the manly tears.

FlynnCL · (11-26-2013, 05:14 PM)

I just loved the ending to this game. It was so touching.

RetroDLC · (11-26-2013, 05:18 PM)

I'm hoping when the Square Enix crowdfunding thing kicks off it gives us the chance to push for the release of old Enix titles on Wii U and 3DS Virtual Console. I'll probably replace the battery in my old Illusion of Time cart and give it a fresh play when I'm not so busy. Some day I will own Terranigma too.

Jaykay · (11-26-2013, 05:20 PM)

I was so happy the year I got this for my birthday as a kid. It was always just fun to play, and one of my favorites from the SNES years.

Interceptor · (11-26-2013, 05:21 PM)

Loved the game, art and message of the game back in the day but some parts of the actual gameplay and leveldesign gave me strong headaches.