The Storyline, and it's Critics

[StepSoftlyGhost]

There are times when i think that i am the only person that actually really enjoyed, and got heavily engaged in, the storyline of IoG. I was reading reviews for the game earlier today on many different sites, and the main consensus was always that the graphics were great for the time, the music is lovely, and the animation, dungeons, sprites all looked great. But the one recurring factor that seemed to keep it from getting much more than 80-85% scores was the storyline.

Although i understand that characters are introduced and then never heard from again, i personally don't see it as a major fault and can almost add more to the mystery and sadness inherent in the storyline. One thing i do agree with though, and remember getting frustrated about when i was younger, was the fate that met the people on the Inca Gold Ship. What happened to them? Apart from this, i don't really see major faults in the story. Sure there are little chunks that could have been better explained, but find me an RPG that doesn't have this, and you can colour me amazed!

Do the IoG fans on this site enjoy or resent the storyline? Is it the gameplay only that draws you back and keeps topping up the replay value, or does the story play a part in it too?

[inferiare]

Like the other games in the trilogy (though I'm stuck in Soul Blazer, argh) I love the storylines in all three games. They're engaging and I think I could probably blame the low grade in storyline score in a possible shoddy translation for its time. Bet you anything if we got a full out real translation, the score would go up. Games in that era had an interesting time with translations, that's for sure.

[Freedan]

and remember getting frustrated about when i was younger, was the fate that met the people on the Inca Gold Ship. What happened to them?

As far as I remember, they died before their voyage. Seems they never found what they were looking for, and their king never returned to them (one character... Kara, I believe... says they died while waiting for him).

I'm also pretty sure one of the characters also calls it a 'ghost ship'. So my best guess would be that Will found the ship still docked, and set sail himself (the Incans being illusions... they were long dead when he found the ship). If I were to guess, I'd say maybe they were killed by the 'invaders' they mention that were driving them from their homes while they were waiting for their king that never came.

Anyway, I quite liked the story of IoG. I've said it a few times before, but I was always interested in how it discussed things as touchy as slavery in a mature light. The romance subplots felt a little unnecessary, but they mostly stayed out of the way.

And I love the music. There are the obvious pieces (Pyramid, Sky Garden, Angkor Wat), but I love that haunting piece that plays in sad or desolate areas (if memory serves, it even plays on the gold ship when you first find it). Appropriately atmospheric... it gives off that feeling that you're exploring somewhere where something isn't right.

[tay120n64]

For me, the story was excellent. It's always what kept me coming back when I was younger.

That having been said, it really wasn't presented very well. Most likely, it could have been due to shoddy translation practices in the '90s, but it really didn't expound on alot of the ideas it presented. Plus, the character development was very, very poor. I didn't notice it when I was little, but when I went back and played it later on, I was left wondering exactly at what point did Will and Kara fall for each other? It's like the whole thing was just meant to be assumed that it happened in between story events.

That's fine for a child. When I was a kid, I'd spend so much time on a game, that I'd grow attached to the characters whether or not they developed, but now that I'm an adult, it bugs me.

The story was there, and it was good, but it could have been better.

[psychokind]

I think the storyline was awesome in IoG. can't think of another reason to play the game, graphics, gameplay and audio didn't convince me totally

[Miss Prime Blue]

IOG and terranigma have been some of the best RPG games i've ever played. The storylines too, have always stuck with me through the years.

[StepSoftlyGhost]

I am ashamed to say that i haven't played Terranigma all the way through (yet). I have, however, kind of spoiled the story for myself by reading the synopsis in various places on the net. I must say it seems alot more intriguing than IoG, but because of nostalgic value and the fact that i prefer the graphics, i think i'll always prefer IoG.

I'm about to give Terranigma a go actually. Can i expect to waste alot of hours?

[inferiare]

I am ashamed to say that i haven't played Terranigma all the way through (yet). I have, however, kind of spoiled the story for myself by reading the synopsis in various places on the net. I must say it seems alot more intriguing than IoG, but because of nostalgic value and the fact that i prefer the graphics, i think i'll always prefer IoG.

I'm about to give Terranigma a go actually. Can i expect to waste alot of hours?

You definitely can expect to waste a bunch of hours on that game. Terranigma was the first one out of the series that I finished, though I played IoG long before. I might have to see if I can play some IoG later, as well.

[Yet One More Idiot]

I do like the IoG storyline, but what I feel is that too much emphasis was placed on developing the plot (not necessarily a bad thing in and of itself), but this at the expense of developing the characters and their relationships largely off-screen, while they're travelling from settlement to settlement.

I do think that Terranigma had a much better balance between the plot growth and the characters' own growth. Soulblazer, on the other hand, pulled a massive WTF with the relationship between Blazer and Lisa coming almost out of nowhere (not that I'm against them as a couple, I like them together, but it was poorly executed in practice).

[Mantaray]

I loved and played that game religiously, being my naiive little self. In fact, I never really noticed the lack of character development until I began reading some reviews. But after that I still didn't care.

The only thing that bothered me was all the really hard stuff like Castoth and the Diamond Mine and how I never get all the depth of it until later. Plus, I always thought the first dungeon could have had a little more to it.

The relationship between Will and Kara, I didn't like but I understood. They were both stuck togther on a raft for a full month. It was bound to happen.
Lilly was cool until she hooked up with Lance... bleck. They should have just left Lance behind and taken Lilly with them x(

I'm ranting.

[Jason Tandro]

I enjoyed the story, but the problem is some of the elements used in it aren't terribly original and it can't hold a candle to Terranigma. Frankly one of the biggest problems with IoG was that raft scene. The scene itself was okay, but they basically used it to speed up the romantic element between Will and Kara.

I swear that when a comprehensive study of video game storylines is conducted "Will slowly began to develop feelings for Kara" will go down in history as the worst piece of narrative ever included in a game.

Other than that and some other notable issues, the basic storyline of IoG was good and enjoyable.

[Cygnus]

I don't know how can people say the story wasn't good. For me, there are so many events and places which give me memories... The mysterious Moon Tribe, the Incan Gold Ship, the slaves from the mines, the scene in the Nazca desert, the obscure Mu palace, the angels of the subsoil who couldn't feel, and the crazy painter, the deadly gambling in Watermia, the starving indigenous people, the scene with the Jackal in the Pyramid... No original elements, you say?

[Yet One More Idiot]

I don't know how can people say the story wasn't good. For me, there are so many events and places which give me memories... The mysterious Moon Tribe, the Incan Gold Ship, the slaves from the mines, the scene in the Nazca desert, the obscure Mu palace, the angels of the subsoil who couldn't feel, and the crazy painter, the deadly gambling in Watermia, the starving indigenous people, the scene with the Jackal in the Pyramid... No original elements, you say?

Yeah, but Cygnus....there were great events, great places. Great MOMENTS of plot.

But the plot as a whole was a little bit underdeveloped. There should have been more plot on the journeys between the locations. After all, journeying from just each town to the next one could take that group of friends a month, maybe more; there would naturally be quite a bit of character development happening; of bonding with each other and forming friendships, going on during those journeys, that could have served as some excellent character development for all the members of Will's group. But all this was bypassed with just a graphic of the group simply trudging across a world map instead.

But to each their own.

[Jason Tandro]

I don't know how can people say the story wasn't good. For me, there are so many events and places which give me memories... The mysterious Moon Tribe, the Incan Gold Ship, the slaves from the mines, the scene in the Nazca desert, the obscure Mu palace, the angels of the subsoil who couldn't feel, and the crazy painter, the deadly gambling in Watermia, the starving indigenous people, the scene with the Jackal in the Pyramid... No original elements, you say?

Cygnus what you fail to grasp is that the majority of these elements have been used in other games and are based on real life.

Mysterious Moon Tribe

When was the last time there was ever a mysterious enigmatic race of ancient people?

the Incan Gold Ship, the slaves from the mines, the scene in the Nazca desert,

All based on real life, not that there is anything wrong with that, but it's not really original.

the obscure Mu palace

Based on mythology and there are probably at least 10 other games that use Mu as a location including Terranigma.

the angels of the subsoil who couldn't feel

An "enlightened race" that lacks basic human elements... ever read Ayn Rand?

and the crazy painter

A mad artist? This character has been used COUNTLESS times before. There was even a crazy painter in FF6.

the deadly gambling in Watermia

Gambling for your life? Gasp! I've never heard of that before.

the starving indigenous people,

Cannibals are a rare element in games but they do appear. Still it is a point for your argument that I'll cede.

the scene with the Jackal in the Pyramid

A bounty hunter who gets killed. All I have to say is Han shot first.


I was not saying that the IoG story was bad. I was just saying that it re-used a lot of elements of old games. Now to be fair, it is increasingly hard to find an original game nowadays, but Illusion of Gaia did reuse an awful lot.

Ironically the most unique thing about it was setting a fantasy RPG in our own world, Earth. Which hadn't been really explored at the time this came out.

[Hydra.7]

When it comes to originality, we need to fire these old farts who've been makng games since video games were invented (YES I'M TALKING TO YOU MIYAMOTO) and get some fresh minds! Or fire some and hire some.


As for Illusion of Gaia. I think the major flaw was bad translaton. Also characters falling for one another like flies (eww). Problem is if they were to add more scenes with the characters interacting, it wouldn't be much of a game.... for some reason this game would have been better as a Manga or Anime series... not to metion it's a very short game.