ActRaiser SNES creation

[TartaChocholate]

Been playing Illusion of Gaia, it's quite fun too, though the translation is very bad, which is a shame since the story's interesting when it's not getting in the way.

I might have spoiled myself a little, and I think I was too hasty in posting the Terranigma pages, it seems it's not as standalone as I thought (Spoilers for all three games: They share the same final boss. It's also said Will is stronger than the Soul Blazer, which depending on how one interprets that (it's not clear who is saying it, whether the boss you've just beaten, who only fought an early game Blazer, Gaia, who is probably a reliable source, or the Master, who is definitely reliable) might completely change the latter two games' scaling, or not at all).

Back when I was a little kid Illusion of Gaia always seemed so grandiose, lol, especially with visiting landmarks and ruins of real history and cultures, of course ending with the Tower of Babel, cuz them biblical motifs. And the map theme always stuck with me for some reason.

Spoiler: Regarding final and optional bosses

Wait, wait I do remember Dark Gaia was the final boss in both Terranigma and Illusion of Gaia, but didn't know Deatholl was Dark Gaia.

I think it's Solid Arm the one saying that Will is stronger than Blazer, I mean, the color of the message is the same grayish blue as Solid Arm when he introduces himself and he even begins with "I was defeated again..."

 

[DarkDragonMedeus]

Nice! Also, looking forward to the cast being 4-A minimum Low 2-C possibly.

Also

Spoiler: Actraiser: Renaissance

In the remake of Actraiser, there is a post game after the final boss against Tanzra/Satan. There is a boss named Archangel who is implied to be an alternate universe's version of God, so we may have a multiverse in the canon.

 

[Armorchompy]

Back when I was a little kid Illusion of Gaia always seemed so grandiose, lol, especially with visiting landmarks and ruins of real history and cultures, of course ending with the Tower of Babel, cuz them biblical motifs. And the map theme always stuck with me for some reason.

Oh yeah, that it definitely is, I also really like the slightly surreal slant a lot of the arcs have, sets it apart from other JRPGs of the time I feel.

Spoiler: Regarding final and optional bosses

Wait, wait I do remember Dark Gaia was the final boss in both Terranigma and Illusion of Gaia, but didn't know Deatholl was Dark Gaia.

I think it's Solid Arm the one saying that Will is stronger than Blazer, I mean, the color of the message is the same grayish blue as Solid Arm when he introduces himself and he even begins with "I was defeated again..."

Not Deathtoll, he's its own thing (even though his battle is very similar to IoG DG's), I've seen some people theorize Gaia/DG are the same as the Master/Tanzra, but as cool as that would be, there's not much support for it.

I think that's very possible, but not only does it happen after he's died, the voice is very nice to him, and it teleports him back to continue his mission, which I dunno if Solid Arm would be inclined to do, if he even knows what's going on with Gaia. It seems like very Master-like behavior to me, if that makes sense. Also, it's the same speech color as Gaia, I think.

Nice! Also, looking forward to the cast being 4-A minimum Low 2-C possibly.

It would probably just be a possibly/likely, with a lower end rating for their own feats, it's a bit of a weird 'un.

Also

Spoiler: Actraiser: Renaissance

In the remake of Actraiser, there is a post game after the final boss against Tanzra/Satan. There is a boss named Archangel who is implied to be an alternate universe's version of God, so we may have a multiverse in the canon.

Interesting.

 

[Armorchompy]

Alright, I did beat the game, the story mostly didn't do it for me (I like the concepts but it's really weirdly paced and presented, maybe it's the poor English translation though), but the dungeon design is actually really clever. The three games actually have a really nice balance, Soul Blazer is lacking in ambition, but has a really fun gameplay loop, Gaia's story (IMO) is a bit oddly paced, but the level design is really well executed, and while I think Terranigma has the weakest gameplay experience of the three it's almost unmatched in scope and the story works really well. All three of them are very unique, experimental titles, as was ActRaiser, and honestly they were all pretty advanced for their time on a technical level in their own ways (even the relatively unambitious ActRaiser 2 is one of the nicest looking game on the platform). Pour one out for Quintet, they deserved better than to go out the way they did. I guess there's a chance for remakes, but honestly I think the games hold up really well, if it were up to me I'd just retranslate them and maybe add some minor QoL, the same way the Collection of Mana was handled.

Anyhow, I'll begin work on the verse proper, will keep updating here but once it's done there'll be a separate thread, since now that I made Terranigma profiles, it's going to be a revision of an existing verse. This isn't related, but in the future I do plan to play two more Quintet games at least, Robotrek, a pokemon-esque RPG where you build your party members, and Planet Laika, a really surreal, allegorical game I wouldn't know how to describe, but seems absolutely up my alley.

 

[TartaChocholate]

I agree there, they may not have been perfect games, but they did have a lot of charm and you can appreciate they really tried to go far (well, Soul Blazer played itself safe, but what it did was very well pulled). Illusion of Gaia and Terranigma had this whole epic thing about the world being shaped that truly felt impressive at the time. I also think Terranigma had absolutely beautiful presentation for the SNES era and all of them have pretty nice music.

I agree that maybe the poor translation may have hurt Illusion of Gaia's plot, but no way to tell. Wonder if a fan translation patch was ever made. SNES retranslations are a very popular scene given how bad the translations were in that era.

Yeah, I'm nostalgic and biased, not ashamed =P

I remember Robotrek, yeah, I actually played it back in the day because of how friggin epic the cover art was, making it look an epic and dramatic sci-fi space adventure. Though the game is nothing like it, being more of a cutesy and quirky story.

I legit didn't know about Planet Laika until know, it looks incredibly PS1-ish in the absolute best way possible.

 

[Armorchompy]

I agree there, they may not have been perfect games, but they did have a lot of charm and you can appreciate they really tried to go far (well, Soul Blazer played itself safe, but what it did was very well pulled). Illusion of Gaia and Terranigma had this whole epic thing about the world being shaped that truly felt impressive at the time. I also think Terranigma had absolutely beautiful presentation for the SNES era and all of them have pretty nice music.

Oh absolutely.

I agree that maybe the poor translation may have hurt Illusion of Gaia's plot, but no way to tell. Wonder if a fan translation patch was ever made. SNES retranslations are a very popular scene given how bad the translations were in that era.

No patch, but there is a translation (also a YT playlist) I'm using for indexing purposes.

Yeah, I'm nostalgic and biased, not ashamed =P

Hey, they hold up quite well, I played them all this year so nostalgia here.

I remember Robotrek, yeah, I actually played it back in the day because of how friggin epic the cover art was, making it look an epic and dramatic sci-fi space adventure. Though the game is nothing like it, being more of a cutesy and quirky story.

Yeah, it's called Slapstick in Japan which is a much better title, I guess they thought a comedy game wouldn't sell.

I legit didn't know about Planet Laika until know, it looks incredibly PS1-ish in the absolute best way possible.

Yeah it honestly looks kinda really sick, I'm looking forward to playing it.

 

[TartaChocholate]

Yeah, it's called Slapstick in Japan which is a much better title, I guess they thought a comedy game wouldn't sell.

Now that you mention it, I recall that Earthbound actually got quite a bit of flack back in the 90s among reviewers precisely because of it's rather quirky design and feel and the cartoony aesthetic. You know... perhaps one of its most recongizable and beloved aspects nowadays. >_>;

Yeah it honestly looks kinda really sick, I'm looking forward to playing it.

Looking forward to your thoughts on it. Maybe gonna take a look at it myself, you got me intrigued.

 

[Armorchompy]

Now that you mention it, I recall that Earthbound actually got quite a bit of flack back in the 90s among reviewers precisely because of it's rather quirky design and feel and the cartoony aesthetic. You know... perhaps one of its most recongizable and beloved aspects nowadays. >_>;

I guess riffing on JRPGs probably didn't work too well in the west considering to my understanding they were relatively niche before FF7

Looking forward to your thoughts on it. Maybe gonna take a look at it myself, you got me intrigued.

Will keep ya updated

 

[Armorchompy]

Y'know, I think it'd be a good idea to come to a conclusion either way when it comes to the Blazer - Will scaling, I've realized it would essentially cause some profiles to be "At least 9-A, possibly 4-A/Low 2-C", which is... not good. And while I'd like Low 2-C Ark/Shadow and I don't think it's an outlier or anything, I dunno if I'm fine with ignoring their own games' feats based on a hypothetical, so unless others disagree, I would prefer going with the interpretation that Solid Arm is the one making that statement. Although, I'm not really comfortable with any conclusion here.

EDIT: Ok nvm I think even base Will would be High 6-A since he's said to rival Dark Gaia so like disregard all of the above lmao

Anyhow, if people are curious, here are the sandboxes, obviously there is a lot more to be done, right now I'm almost done with Gaia, haven't touched the other yet (With the obvious exception of Terranigma). Dark Gaia looks like they're gonna become a bit of a haxlord, they've got passive planetary-scale corruption/bio manip and some defensive stuff too.

 

[TartaChocholate]

Yeah, I kinda agree there. The game's own feats shouldn't just be disregarded unless you have some pretty solid evidence of something that should take priority. Like you said, if we knew for certain that it was Gaia saying that Will is more powerful than Blazer then it would work out, but it's vague. I do think it's Solid Arm talking, and his more benevolent tone being just result of resignation at his own defeat. Kinda like "So I lose again. I guess this is it. Well done, kid. Be proud. You have mission, don't you? Go." I think it's better to be conservative here.

Dark Gaia being a Haxlord... me digs that.

EDIT: Derp, just noticed your edited message. My bad.

 

[Armorchompy]

Yeah, I kinda agree there. The game's own feats shouldn't just be disregarded unless you have some pretty solid evidence of something that should take priority. Like you said, if we knew for certain that it was Gaia saying that Will is more powerful than Blazer then it would work out, but it's vague. I do think it's Solid Arm talking, and his more benevolent tone being just result of resignation at his own defeat. Kinda like "So I lose again. I guess this is it. Well done, kid. Be proud. You have mission, don't you? Go." I think it's better to be conservative here.

I get that but IMO it's fine to keep it as a possibly, since the games' own feats won't be discarded that way (and while obviously High 6-A and 4-A/Low 2-C are very distant, they feel closer in scope compared to 9-A and a cosmic tier).

 

[Armorchompy]

@DarkDragonMedeus since you have the game, could I ask if you could provide me with a screenshot of Taia's stats (Like these), if it's not too much of a bother? The longplay I watched for indexing purposes never showed them, and I'd like them for her profile (which I want to make because she's one of the Master's summons, like the other champions)

 

[DarkDragonMedeus]

I might do it later, got some other stuff on my plate + been playing Fire Emblem Engage during my free time. But I can take a picture of Taia's stats when I have time yes.

 

[Armorchompy]

Thanks, appreciate it. There is absolutely no rush of course. How you liking Engage?

 

[DarkDragonMedeus]

 

[DarkDragonMedeus]

As for Engage, the game is fantastic, not quite my favorite in the series or even in my top 5 but it's still an excellent game none of the less.

 

[Armorchompy]

Thank you very much, probably saved me a couple hours of looking lol.

 

[Armorchompy]

https://vsbattles.com/threads/armorchompy-revises-random-old-games-pt-10-actraiser-soulblazer-illusion-of-gaia-terranigma.149215/

@DarkDragonMedeus @Dalesean027 @TartaChocholate