If there’s a downside to this game’s graphics, it’s due to the fact that it is hard to appreciate them in our day and age, since modern machines can produce millions of colors and complex polygons. There’s also a slew of NPC and monster sprites that are well drawn. Not only does this game feature nice touches like each character’s hair and clothing blowing around in the wind, but their move sets are quite fluid and diverse.

The playable characters, particularly Will and Freedan, are beautifully drawn and animated. Part of the magic of the medium is its ability to immerse the player in a different world and, although Illusion of Gaia may lack all the bells and whistles of a modern game, it succeeds in making the player feel as if he or she is truly on an epic journey, thanks to its diverse and creative environments. Every town and city has it’s own unique look (though often small in size) and nearly all of the dungeons are visually unique as well. The creators of IoG put a lot of care into this game’s visuals from character sprites to dungeon tiles, the player is treated to a rich graphical experience that doesn’t push the SNES to its limits, but makes good use of what it does best: 2D sprites and a touch of layering. What kind of monster enslaves garden gnomes!? They even took their pointy hats! While Ohara created a poignant and touching tale, it often appears as if she and the development team had trouble adapting it into a videogame, which may explain why some segments of the story felt arbitrary. Quintet actually hired a notable Japanese sci-fi writer by the name of Mariko Ohara to write the story. The plot holes and tacked on events are the story’s greatest flaw, because they are often silly and detract from the game’s dark narrative. Much of the localization team’s self censorship lends the game a sense of charm, since players who pay attention to context clues and read between the lines can figure out what’s going on pretty easily. Of course IoG was not spared from Nintendo of America’s habit of editing out content they felt was controversial or potentially offensive, resulting in the removal of various pieces of religious paraphernalia and euphemisms like “laborer” being used to describe slaves. There’s even instances where the translator didn’t seem sure who was talking. While Illusion of Gaia’s story stands out, it does have its fair share of plot holes and instances of video game logic, as well as the common translation issues of its day. Even when compared to many of today’s games IoG stands out, because the player is often powerless in the face of the evil deeds he or she witnesses since Will cannot harm people in towns and the element of dark humor so common in games like Fallout is often not present. Of course this is a far cry from the pop-anime inspired RPGs of the mid 90’s that told tales of courage and heroism in the face of some amorphous evil entity. The world of IoG is rife with slavery, greed, hatred, and even references to cannibalism that will make the player wonder if the world is even worth saving. IoG is a coming of age tale, with dark themes interwoven into its story. While Illusion of Gaia suffers from a number of minor problems, it is a worthwhile title, because it’s the sort of game that makes the player stop and think, even if only for a moment and that’s a rare thing indeed. I must stress, that this game is not quite on the same tier as major classics of it’s time and borrows a lot from other action/adventure titles.

In the end I gave this game an A (9.5) somewhat grudgingly, because it’s so unique and manages to come off as a highly polished title despite it’s weaknesses. On the other hand, some parts of the game feel underdeveloped and the dialogue leaves something to be desired at times. On one hand IoG has a lot of variety, great music, cool gameplay mechanics, and a unique story. It took me some time to come to a decision regarding this game’s score. It’s premise is initially hard to accept Will, the main character, hits things with a flute and has psychic powers, but there are at least explanations for his unusual talents and prowess at wielding a woodwind. Illusion of Gaia varies from the other Soul Blazer games in that it lacks equipment and the world revival mechanic (although the concept of rebuilding the world does appear in the game’s plot to an extent).

Illusion of gaia snes classic