Together RPG - Illusion of Gaia - 12/01-2/01

[CFFJR]

I finally started this up tonight.

I have cleared out the Incan Ruins and decided to stop at the boss there. I've fought him a couple of times, but I'm being a miser about my herbs and I want to beat him without having to use one. I'll return to it tomorrow.

I'm enjoying it so far. The combat is pretty fun, and its satisfying to clear out each room of enemies. That's something I would do anyway, but the way the leveling works makes doing it somehow feel a bit more rewarding.

I also enjoy the hulking form of Freedan. He's cool.

[BoneSnapDeez]

Haven't had much time to play lately.

Just beat the dreaded vampire boss. Lucked out big time as all the vampire sprites overlapped each other in a corner of the room. Just straight pummeled their asses. Haven't used any herbs yet.

Hope to be done by January.

[Exhuminator]

By the end of the game you guys are going to be waddling around with bulging pockets full of herbs you never got to use.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/M ... esomeToUse

[pierrot]

When I played through Gaia, I think I only used two or three herbs, and at least half of those were to clear out inventory space.

It's nice to see that other people were disappointed by this game. I played through the Japanese version, and it's unlikely that the localization is to blame: The original script is just terrible. I especially hated the ending. I was probably most bothered by the mode 7 in the game though: just plodding and useless. During the instances where it was necessary to travel between towns, I felt like tearing my hair out. Even the battle system has some pretty egregious design failures. I really hated that game--.

Soul Blader was pretty great, though (great flow to the gameplay). That might have added to the disappointment. Then, playing Tenchi Souzou/Terranigma was a real treat: Probably the best thing on the SNES, and one of the better games of the generation. Has an unbelievably good OST, too.

[flash1987]

Can anyone explain why we can transform into Freedan? Who the heck is he and why? Seems like a bizarre design choice.
I've not got any further really, I turn on play for 5 and something annoys me about the design and I quit. This is the first of these Together Retros I've played but I'm not going to finish this, its just not a fun game.

[MrPopo]

Can anyone explain why we can transform into Freedan? Who the heck is he and why? Seems like a bizarre design choice.
I've not got any further really, I turn on play for 5 and something annoys me about the design and I quit. This is the first of these Together Retros I've played but I'm not going to finish this, its just not a fun game.

I think, and I could be wrong, that it gets explained near the end of the game. But it's entirely possible I'm wrong, since the story was somehow less fulfilling than Doom's.

[SNESdrunk]

Have to say I'm a bit surprised by the reaction to the game, I knew it'd get some hate but not this much

It's not just that the story sucks and makes no sense, it's the unskippable cut scenes you have to sit through that are like... what in the blue hell is this??

I still like the combat and map design better than most however

[BoneSnapDeez]

I was waiting for our man pierrot to pop in.

I don't think the game is bad. There are just several grating flaws. The core mechanics are definitely "solid" though.

It's a "second tier" SNES action-RPG at best. It can't hold a candle to A Link to the Past or Secret of Mana or even Secret of Evermore. I'd rank it somewhere alongside Lagoon.

[MrPopo]

I was waiting for our man pierrot to pop in.

I don't think the game is bad. There are just several grating flaws. The core mechanics are definitely "solid" though.

It's a "second tier" SNES action-RPG at best. It can't hold a candle to A Link to the Past or Secret of Mana or even Secret of Evermore. I'd rank it somewhere alongside Lagoon.

On the action RPG spectrum it beats out LttP because LttP isn't an RPG, so it gets an automatic zero.

[Exhuminator]

Every time I read this thread, I can't stop shaking my head at people disappointed in this game's story, and thus letting that one aspect ruin the rest of an otherwise great action-RPG. The excellent graphics, nice OST, fun battling, sharp controls, and clever little puzzles outweighed the mediocre plot for me. And even then, this game had a better plot than plenty of other 16-bit action-RPGs of its era.