Soul Blazer series (for Don Wang or anyone else)

[KluYa]

I know very little about these games other than they have Zelda-esque gameplay, but I'm interested in giving them a playthrough. I picked up Soul Blazer used and haven't popped it in yet, and I'll probably grab Illusion of Gaia tomorrow after work in case someone else takes it before long. What order do the games go in the series? How connected are the games storywise if at all? I think I'd like to play them in order. Is it true Terranigma never came out over here? Is it true IoG is the worst game in the series? Should I just skip it maybe.

[Eric]

Illusion of Gaia the worst game in the series? O_o

Not even close, I loved that game.

When you compare it to say Terranigma obviously it's no where near as flash, but Terranigma came out after it. =o

Illidan of Gaia was an awesome game, oddly enough it had many memorable characters and a pretty dark plot for it's time. It is extremely early SNES-gen, so the gameplay is a bit dated, but the game itself was extremely fun imo(Though the pyramid at the end will definitely make you scratch your head a few times).

[Andrew, Killer Bee]

The order goes:

Soul Blazer → Illusion of Gaia → Terranigma

Illusion of Gaia is the worst of the series, but it's still pretty good.

Terranigma was never released in the States. I could never get into it. Soul Blazer is one of my favourite RPGs ever, though.

[Don]

The only one I liked out of those 3 was Terranigma. The other two never attracted me for whatever reason. I don't think they're really tied to each other but there's some similar naming conventions for the characters/enemies.

[KluYa]

Thanks for the replies. I'll give the first two a play and maybe share my impressions and then decide on Terranigma afterward.

Has anyone played Lagoon? That one I've actually played, and enjoyed in spite of it's simplicity. It's sort of an overhead version of Ys, and I bought Soul Blazer under the assumption that this game was similar.

[Don]

I played Lagoon. I liked the music, and even though there's nothing special about the game it seems to play pretty well nonetheless.

[Andrew, Killer Bee]

Illidan of Gaia was an awesome game...

Haha, I just noticed this. Too much Warcraft for you dude!

[Julius Seeker]

Illusion of Gaia the worst game in the series? O_o

Not even close, I loved that game.

When you compare it to say Terranigma obviously it's no where near as flash, but Terranigma came out after it. =o

Illidan of Gaia was an awesome game, oddly enough it had many memorable characters and a pretty dark plot for it's time. It is extremely early SNES-gen, so the gameplay is a bit dated, but the game itself was extremely fun imo(Though the pyramid at the end will definitely make you scratch your head a few times).

Eric! Put down WoW!!! It's done something evil to you!

There is one other game called ActRaiser, it was a launch SNES title, and is also very good; it is the father of the trilogy. I agree with Eric, these games are all fantastic I would not want to pass on any of them, and I also REALLY like ActRaiser, but it is certainly a niche title, not for the vast majority of people even in its time; but I adored it. At the time of Illusion of Gaia, it was my favourite game on SNES and it stayed that way until FF4 and DKC were released, if that is any indication.

Terranigma was a post-N64 title, it also happens to be arguably the best game on the system. Just a fore-warning though, a lot of people get stuck before Bloody Mary, while there is plot and such before Bloody Mary, it doesn't really get into the thick of it until after you defeat her. After Bloody Mary opens up one of the most interesting gameplay and plotline experiences existing in any game. Terranigma is also a game you play twice, after the second time you play it the game will be your favourite SNES game.

Terranigma was not released in North America, but you can import it from Europe.

[SineSwiper]

I played Actraiser on DreamSNES. Awesome game. Too bad the 2nd one didn't hold up as well.

[Zeus]

Kluya, you've actually found these games used? I'm impressed...

Sine, I picked F-Zero and Actraiser on a whim for my SNES back in the day. Actraiser was an awesome game and a great launch title. They decided for the second to just do the action parts which was ridiculous IMO. The best parts of the game were he Simcity parts.

[Don]

Bloody Mary seems to be exist to force you to actually use the magic system (which doesn't work on any other boss in the game). There's not much story going on before there are, well, people...

Terranigma's the one game that handled non linearity well.

[Julius Seeker]

To summarize Terranigma (and without really spoiling anything, as this is really something basic you figure out at the beginning, or just by reading the instruction booklet):

You essentially start out at the resurrection of the continents, and then you work through evolution, early human history, medieval history, and so on. There is a lot more to do in this game than other SNES role playing and adventure games. To compare it to efforts such as Zelda: Link to the Past, or Secret of Mana, would be similar to comparing a film like Lord of the Rings to Willow; Terranigma is the same genre, but on a TOTALLY different level. There is much more to Terranigma than Zelda.

[Don]

I like how in Terranigma everything has a purpose and make sense. I think they put more thoughts into say a relatively unimportant NPC who has 3 line of text like Chika than most game puts into their supporting character. In most RPGs you go out and help people on the promise of getting great stuff back. In Terranigma you get literally nothing back, but the game is rich enough that makes doing these sidequests worthwhile even if they in no ways help you beat the game.

I think the game took about 30 hours to beat, and when you consider the amount of fighting drastically goes down with the advent of the human age, that's a lot of time just exploring the world. One of the accessory you need to continue progressing the game is never mentioned anywhere. You're simply expected to find it while you explore, and in any other game this would be a ploy to sell a hint book, but in Terranigma I think you can say the game maker genuinely believed you'd have found what you need to continue even if no one tells you where it is (or if they did, it's quite vague).

Indeed, if you look at the last puzzle before the final dungeon, if you missed one of the clues, you're never supposed to know where you're supposed to go find the items, and yet you can find them because it should've occurred to you while roaming that some places are *special*. You're not even told where to use the items but again there's one place that stands more than others. I think I spent quite a few hours trying to figure it all out, and when you finally figured it out, everything finally makes sense. The second time you play it, only then do you realize that the game told you where to go all along if you watched all the clues.

[Eric]

Illidan of Gaia was an awesome game...

Haha, I just noticed this. Too much Warcraft for you dude!

But but but. lol.

Too much Black Temple.

[KluYa]

There is one other game called ActRaiser, it was a launch SNES title, and is also very good; it is the father of the trilogy. I agree with Eric, these games are all fantastic I would not want to pass on any of them, and I also REALLY like ActRaiser, but it is certainly a niche title, not for the vast majority of people even in its time; but I adored it. At the time of Illusion of Gaia, it was my favourite game on SNES and it stayed that way until FF4 and DKC were released, if that is any indication.

What?!? This series is related to the Actraiser games?? Holy crap. Can you elaborate a little on what you mean by father of the trilogy. Are the events of Actraiser 1 and 2 part of the backstory? Do the connections run deeper than that?

It's really too bad Actraiser 1 wasn't better received. Seems Enix was hoping to make a franchise out of it based on the release of Actraiser 2 (sans sim mode in what I assume was an attempt to improve the game's popularity) and then turning it into the Soul Blazer series when AR2 was not even lukewarm. That's my theory, anyway.

FF4 was my favourite game until the release of Link to the Past, at which point it was pretty much a tie. These are some old ass games I just bought if the second of the trilogy preceded the release of FF4.

Kluya, you've actually found these games used? I'm impressed...

There are extra copies of both games where I picked them up. I bought IoG just in case it was the last copy there, and they promptly replaced it in the display with another under the shelf. =p

[Julius Seeker]

What?!? This series is related to the Actraiser games?? Holy crap. Can you elaborate a little on what you mean by father of the trilogy. Are the events of Actraiser 1 and 2 part of the backstory? Do the connections run deeper than that?

Just similar themes and such; you will notice a lot of things within Actraiser (like souls and sound effects for example), though not as many similarities as the trilogy has from game to game. None of the games are actually directly related; it is sort of like Final Fantasy in that way.

[Zeus]

Kluya, you've actually found these games used? I'm impressed...

There are extra copies of both games where I picked them up. I bought IoG just in case it was the last copy there, and they promptly replaced it in the display with another under the shelf. =p

Hold on a sec. These guys have multiple copies of SNES RPGs? I'm assuming this place is in Brampton. I work in Mississauga, do you mind if I get the name off of ya in case I wanna check it out? There are a few odds and ends of older games I'd like to fill in my collection.

I assume they're priced a bit high, near or above Ebay prices. Yes? If they have complete stuff, I"ll pay for it.

See that, Tess. I AM willing to pay for some stuff :-)

[KluYa]

Oh, it's just the place in Shopper's World mall, the former Aardvark Interactive. It's not the greatest store - their stuff is almost always cart only (except the Super Metroid I just snagged) and the pricing is redonkulous. It'll probably go under soon going up against the Game Stop moving into Shopper's World and the EB already there.

There's a cute girl working there I like, so if you ever stop by, make sure you vouche for my romantic charm and my mammoth schlong.

Where do you work in Missi? Other than Microplay in SQ1 I'm not often checking out game stores down there. My friend is a hardcore RPG collecter and has pretty much all of them for SNES and PS1, and he was mentioning a shop near Winston Churchill and Dundas that apparently has helped him out a fair bit. I haven't actually bothered to go check it out myself yet.

Anyway... I still haven't popped in Soul Blazer yet. I've been having too much fun with Super Metroid hehe man I don't think I've played this since it's release in '94.

[Zeus]

I work at Erin Mills and 401, right off the highway at Siemens. Winston Churchill ain't too far from me, actually.

Where is the Shopper's World mall? I live in Kitchener so I don't know the Saug very well. Just street names, Square One is the only real landmark I can find in the city.

There's a shop in my city that gets some decent stuff. If there's anything you're looking for, let me know.

Also, there's a place out in London in case you ever go out there called Playmania. I know the owner there as I bought a SHITLOAD of stuff from him. He was my main source to taking my collection from a bunch of games to a real collection when he used to come to my university weekly. He gets EVERYTHING but is also a little pricy unless you trade.

[KluYa]

I know that area very well... the RPG collector buddy I mentioned lives at Erin Mills and 401, and I'm always playing poker in Streetsville. I was there last night getting gas at the Petro-Can at Battleford. I also know Kitchener very well I'm there a lot doing work errands along Victoria St. or hanging out downtown along King. I actually just got back from K-town this afternoon. Haven't been in any game stores out there in a long time though. I haven't been into much for gaming for awhile now which is part of why I don't really come to the message boards here. I'm in London a lot too and I do know of Playmania.

Shopper's World mall is at Hurontario and Steeles and it's a bit of a shithole. It has literally the only arcade in the city though which is where I hang out a lot playing Third Strike or ITG or whatever. I don't know if I would recommend coming up here just to check it out but if you were nearby for another reason then by all means.

[Zeus]

I'll have to check it out sometime. I like arcades, I miss them. Unfortunately, so many of them are garbage. But I still like to check them out.

Well, if you do want to go to any places out here, let me know. I can take ya or let you know which ones are good. There's only a few left now but we still can get some pretty decent stuff.

I've only recently gotten back into gaming on a regular basis. I don't do nearly as much as I used to but games are as much a part of my entertainment rotation as anything else. Games are really getting better.