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ILLUSION OF GAIA Company: Enix/Nintendo Released: September 1994 Genre: Action RPG Graphics: 9.0 Control: 8.5 Sound/Music: 8.0 Storyline: 7.5 Review by: Corbie Dillard ©2008 SUPER-NES.COM

After the success of Enix's Soul Blazer action rpg, most knew it was only a matter of time before they released a sequel. Nintendo released Illusion of Gaia as their own, but in truth it was developed by the same Quintet team that was responsible for Soul Blazer. Keeping most of the unique elements found in Soul Blazer, Quintet carefully crafted a sequel that sticks with the tried and true stylings of Soul Blazer, but takes it into a slightly more serious direction with the sequel. Combining loads of action with some interesting puzzles to solve, Illusion of Gaia is everything a fan of Soul Blazer could want and more. Graphically, Illusion of Gaia shares a striking resemblance to Soul Blazer in both look and feel. The graphics are very colorful and vibrant and each different area of the game has its' own distinct look. The bosses in the game are where Illusion of Gaia really shines. In fact this game has some of my favorite rpg bosses ever. Dark Gaia is downright creepy. Everything in this game has a very over-the-top look to it, and you'll also notice a lot of historic artwork in the game as well. If you liked the look of Soul Blazer, you're gonna love this game's visuals. This one looks even better than its' sequel, Terranigma, which is saying something since Terranigma is a great looking rpg. Quintet also managed to through in some of the Super Nintnedo's trademark Mode 7 effects, one in particular bring the overhead map the you'll use everytime you travel to a new area in the game. It looks cool but doesn't serve much purpose. I was one of the ones that actually liked the soundtrack in Soul Blazer, but even I will admit that Illusion of Gaia doesn't quite live up to that of Soul Blazer's soundtrack. It's close, but never quite grabs you the way Soul Blazer's slightly odd melodic tunes did. Make no mistake, it's defiantely a solid effort. Imagine taking the soundtrack from Seiken Densetsu 3 and mixing it together with Soul Blazer's soundtrack and you'll have a pretty good idea of what the tunes in Illusion of Gaia sound like. Lots of flutes, chimes, and snare drum. I especially enjoyed most of the slower tempo songs, especially the ballady-style songs. The tunes kind of grow on you the more you play the game. In Illusion of Gaia you'll have many gameplay options at your disposal. Most of the fighting portion of the game is done in dungeons where you must fight groups of enemies, like you did in Soul Blazer, in order to open up special abilities and new areas to access. If you press the start button while inside a dungeon you can see how many enemies you still have left to defeat. This not only allows your character to level up, but many areas cannot be accessed without deafeating all of the enemies in an area. When you've defeated the last enemy in these areas, you're given a jewel. This jewel can be anything from a gain in defensive or offensive power, to a jewel that opens up a once inaccessible area. Enemies also drop crystals when defeated as they did in Soul Blazer in which if you're able to get 100 of these crystals, you get a free life. Another big part of Illusion of Gaia is the boss fights. Strung throughout the game are quite a few big bosses that are going to really test your reflexes and also the level of your character. This is where leveling up and defeating smaller enemies becomes quite useful. Most bosses do have a set attack and movement pattern if you can just figure the pattern out. There's quite a bit more gameplay in the game, ranging from using the flute and the magical melodies you will learn along the way, to solving tricky puzzle inside of these different dungeons. You'll also have the ability to change into the Dark Knight Freedan. This not only makes your character a lot bigger, Freedan is also quite a bit more powerful in terms of attack power and defense. The only real gripe I had with this game was that there were certain points in the game that were a little frustrating and took away from the flow of the game a little bit, but nothing too serious. Overall it's everything fun about Soul Blazer with a longer quest and more challenge. I loved Soul Blazer and had very high hopes for Illusion of Gaia when I first read about it years ago. It does take a slightly different direction than its' predecessor but it does so in a way that really adds a lot more challenge and length to the quest. While it's a little more serious than Soul Blazer's sometimes silly quest was, I think you'll find it equally entertaining. Loads of variety in the gameplay, a unique and engaging quest, somehow come together to form one of the most enjoyable action-rgp experiences you can find on the Super NES. Just don't think you're going to blow through this one like you did Soul Blazer.