@@isaac3000 I beg to differ. I played it for the first time a year or so ago as an adult with no nostalgia for it, and it was a great playthrough! One of the better SNES games I've played recently, and holds up well next to the other titles on the system. To each their own though, this old action RPG style isn't for everyone.
Same here! I randomly remembered this game from my childhood and was surprised to see a recent(ish) video about it just now. I was actually gifted this game for Xmas one year by a friend of my dad’s who was an official licensed Nintendo repair man at the time. I also got Super Metroid, Donkey Kong Country 1&2 and like 6 other SNES games of varying quality… all at once! Apparently the reason I hit the Super Nintendo jackpot that year was because those games were brought to him to repair for various issues but they never came back for them after he fixed them.
Just a few corrections: the Dark Knight is named Freedan, not Freegan. The energy attack gets an upgrade if you collect 30 red jewels, or get thw Dark Potion the city of Euro. And Will does not combine with Kara to form Shadow. He learns it at a certain point in the game. And he learns Firebird in the last dungeon. Not until the very end before the last battle as they need the power of both the Warrior of the Light and the Warrior of the Dark does Will and Kara join up in the form of Shadow.
Yeah, I was starting to wonder if they changed his name in a rerelease or something. Was this the Mandella effect, because I had to google that it was still Freedan.
Will gains the ability to turn into shadow in the dark space in the pyramid where Gaia also gives you shadow's aura. Also, Eric tries rescuing the slaves in Freejia, not Mu.
@@Hob1013 Either that, or there was a significant gap between play time and script writing that these errors slipped in. Either way, was pretty jarring.
Wow... never thought I'd see this game on this channel. Gaia was such a great adventure, I really enjoyed that it took place in real world locations. The music also gave the game a rustic and mysterious feel.
I still go back every couple years to play illusion of gaia again. It's definitely not as good as my nastolgia goggles made it out to be but I still enjoy the heck out of it every time. The original game had a guide included in the instruction manual for how to find all of the red gems. Was a really nice treat for anybody that played Soul Blazer (another of my favorites). I still have my original Illusion of Gaia OST CD as well.
In my origin universe his name was Fredan?!!!! Man this is a blast from the past. Enix was the best back in the day! This and the 7th saga were my first SNES RPGs. Then Square came into its own with FF6 and Chrono Trigger!
Aye, back when I was young it was one of the games I'd play through from beginning to end and then almost immediately start playing over again. It wasn't the BEST action RPG on the SNES (Terranigma was better, for one), but it was a classic.
I never owned Soul Blazer, but I knew a guy who let me borrow it for a bit. Not long enough to beat it though, and it wasn't til I became an adult that I learned those two games were connected, or even that they were made by the same people.
Is it just me or is the intro audio completely blown out and sounds terrible. i had to take a double look, thought maybe this video was 10 years old. Nope produced in 2023 and still sounds terrible.
I played Illusion of Gaia before Final Fantasy VI as a kid. Although I like the later more, I consider the former a masterpiece: it knows what it wants to be, and it does it without reserve. PS: Jirard's experience is the reason why I usually don't complete games in my first run. Except for rare cases, I always use my own wits in my first attempt, and then I complete it or replay it completely with a guide.
There's so many things that threw me off in this video. The game is Illusion of Gaia. Not Illusions of Gaia. The Dark Knight is Freedan, not Freegan. And Solid Arm is the first boss in SOULBLAZER, not the antagonist in SOULBLAZE. Lmao normally I would look past this stuff, but it was so frequent. It made the video feel very rushed.
@@fatenabu1 yea i will never forget the first time i played it. The game is already translated for PAL regions.. we should start a petition to Nintendo to release the game for SNES online! They just released a shit pool game but wont release one of the best game of all time?!? Makes no sense
Damn Jirard, it’s pretty insane you’re almost done with New Game+. It seems like just yesterday, you’ve completed Mega Man X again. All you have left are the Final Fantasy VII games, Shovel Knight, and Mother 3. You’re almost there! You got this!
Illusion of Gaia remains a memorable game for me as it was one of my earliest experiences with the concept of melancholy in fiction. The way the story progresses through the game carries very palpable undertones of sadness and change that you as a player are powerless to stop. It's sweet and beautiful in a way my young self wasn't wholly aware narratives could do, and while I didn't get a chance to play its fellows Soul Blazer and Terranigma until much later, they carry similar themes that make the whole series uniquely engrossing to me. I'm still hoping for a Trilogy release of those games again. Probably won't ever happen but they deserve a chance to shine again.
I didn't know Jerd played that, though it does strike me as something he'd play. As someone who dabbles in his channel, I might have to watch that. Surely he didn't possibly grab all the Jewels.... surely.
Illusion of Gaia is incredibly nostalgic for me! My brothers and I had it as kids.. I always wondered why it didn’t get the recognition I feel is deserves. It may not quite be up there with games like A Link To The Past, Secret of Mana, Chrono Trigger, or Earthbound.. but it’s definitely a great game! That music in the first village evokes so much childhood memories and nostalgia! It’s nothing INCREDIBLE or ground breaking, but the way it brings me right back and awakens feelings and long forgotten memories, gives the music so much more value. Man, I miss being a kid in the 90s. Thanks for covering this one Jirard! You’re the man!
I was not ready for this video. I grew up playing this (as well as goof troop that Jirard mentioned) on my dads snes as I grew up. The ost is embedded into my mind, and almost kind of creeped me out in some parts. Such a gem of a game for me, I really wish square would port this but because of the lost(?) rights, I don’t see that happening.
I never knew about this game growing up, in fact it wasn't until ProJared's series that I first saw it. Glad to see more about, there are a lot of moments I forgot about.
Is the audio and gameplay off for anyone else or is it just me? There was an ad in the beginning from Jirard that has seemed to knock all the timing off.
3:50 Illusion of Gaia (as well as Soulblazer and Terranigma) was developed by Quartet, not Enix. Enix was the publisher - which is why I doubt we'll ever see an official release of Terranigma here in the US. Quartet has been a defunct company for decades
For the 30th anniversary, if I were Square Enix, I'd give players ability to go back and collect any item or red gem in "special Edition" ILLUSION OF GAIA, with obviously other additional content.
You really should try and complete the sucessor to Illusion of Gaia: Terranigma! It never got a release in the US, but it is by far one of the best SNES games ever made und I'm pretty sure that you would have a great time with it!
Fun Fact: In germany this game was called: "Illusion of Time" an english title, no german translation... and for a long time I thought it was its real name.
Solid Arm isn't the antagonist of Soul Blazer. It's just the first boss. BTW, Highly, highly recommend completing Soul Blazer. IMO, it's the best of the trilogy.
Hmm, you seemed to be misremembering a lot of details about this one. You don't need to get all the gems to see the true ending, just to access the bonus dungeon (also Solid Arm isn't the main antagonist of Soul Blazer, he was just the first dungeon boss). You don't get Dark Friar for 30 red jewels either, Gaia gives it to you quite early in the game (because you need it to solve puzzles by killing distant enemies), the 30 jewel reward is the upgrade that lets you detonate the projectile into a swirling blossom of fireballs (there's also a potion upgrade you can get in Euro that does a similar thing- one upgrade explodes on impact, the other is triggered). Eric tries to rescue slaves in Freejia, not Mu- he gets kidnapped by the vampires in Mu. And the game is called "Illusion of Gaia", not "Illusions", and the Dark Knight is "Freedan", not "Freegan". Also, I think you MAJORLY underrate the soundtrack. It's one of the best on the SNES- every unique dungeon theme (as well as the generic one for that matter) is memorable, as are the opening theme, the music during the ending (both the final farewell where Will promises to Kara that he will find her again and the ending credits music), and the Dark Gaia battle theme ("Clash of Darkness and Light") is not merely a "bop", it's one of the greatest final boss themes of the generation. If I had a major complaint about the game (apart from the _seriously_ botched English script) it'd be the sound effects actually- there are a couple of unique ones, but they reuse the same small handful of effects over and over again for so many different purposes that it gets almost laughable. Seriously, I think the entire game has barely more than a dozen differents sound effects in total.
Jirard, I'm new to your channel (thanks to FPS!) I was wondering if you've ever played *The Magic of Scheherazade* on the NES? One of the best memories from my childhood. Hard to get ahold of these days, unfortunately not available on anything modern besides modded mini or emulation.
Ever since Jirard unleashed his original IoG video, I always couldn't help but wonder if he was going to play Terranigma, which is among my top favourite childhood games of all time alongside IoG. (Called Illusion of Time where I live.) Also Quintet is the developer. Enix was a publisher and pretty much never developed games themselves.
Aw, come on Jirard, really? 'Illusions' of Gaia? Friggan instead of Freedan? You're usually better about details than that. Also, Soldi Arm wasn't the antagonist of Soul Blazer at all. He's just the first boss. Dude is the equivalent of the Asylum Demon.
"The antagonist of SoulBlazer" Just the first boss. If you've never played SoulBlazer, I'd really recommend it - it's an incredibly fun game with a 10/10 soundtrack.
Great review Jirard - I played this growing up when it was new and as someone that also loved the Indiana Jones movies, I loved the fantasy setting crossed with real-world locale based dungeons. That pushed an average game with fun combat up a notch. But alas I missed a few red jewels so I understand how much that sucks! An enix trilogy collection with this, Soul Blazer and Terranigma officially released outside PAL would be hype for me!
Whoever wrote the script for this review wasn’t paying attention. It’s Freedan, not Friggan. And Soul Blazer, not Soul Blaze. Also Illusion of Gaia, not Illusions of Gaia.
I loved playing and conquering this game. Sadly, as someone who started playing RPGs later in life, I may never do it again because there are so many other games to play. But this game is arguably my favorite thus far. It's in the top three RPGs for me.
This video should have come out this Saturday (4/22/23) as it is Earth day. Oh well opportunity lost, but I enjoyed the video nonetheless. I will miss new game plus, but I like thought that he completed new game plus. Would love to see other projects that have a completed feel when they are finished.
This is my absolute favorite game. Glad you covered it. But, you got some stuff wrong. His name is Freedan, not Freegan. Shadow is not a fusion of Kara and Will, Shadow is the ultimate warrior made of the comets light. They only later fuse to gain access to the firebird. Solid Arm is not the antagonist of Soul Blazer, just the first boss. Deathtoll is the antagonist.
Just wanted to point out that Illusion of Gaia along with Soul Blazer and Terranigma were actually developed by a group called Quintet. They were published by Enix.
For the same reason he called Freedan “Freegan” the entire video, and referred to Soul Blazer as “Soul Blaze” Because we all make mistakes but the content remains entertaining.
Okay, I have to pick a nit, because it happens relatively often. Please Jirard, learn the characters' names, especially of you're gonna repeat them multiple times. It's Freedan, not Freegan.
5:50 why did you phrase it "True ending" there? I got excited thinking there was a secret ending I didn't know about only to look it up and see there is only one ending.
I remember buying Illusion of Gaia at a flea market because of just pure curiosity when I was a kid. Loved the game, would love to see the trilogy have a remaster on the Switch, similar to how Act Raiser had one. Lots of old classics needs to be known, but eternal gems like this one needs to be cherished, polished and shown to the world.
Oh yes, Illusion Of Gaia. Played this when I was a kid. Unfortunately had very little help with it, in the form of guides, but I pushed on through somehow. Then when I got older, due to how much of a maze the game was, I figure I needed to map it out. And now, I need to seriously update those maps, one day lol.
I think it just stood out more in Europe because we didn't get very many RPGs on the SNES. In the US, it was drowned out by the Final Fantasies and Chrono Triggers and Earthbounds, while we had to make do with what we got. I've always been more surprised that Terranigma never released in the US.
I learned of this game because my favourite manga creator and the mother of Shoujo Manga Moto Hagio designed the characters for the game. I really like when game companies hire manga artists to design things for the game, like Takehiko Inoue's great style in Lost Odyssey, and the most famous example being Dragon Quest with Akira Toriyama of Dragon Ball fame. I think more games should do this to get more distinct styles to stand out, likewise with western developers hiring comicbook artists.
