Gaia trilogy, or series?

[Yet One More Idiot]

I was just re-reading the articles on Wikipedia about Soulblazer, IoG, Terranigma, and the other games made by Quintet.

Now, it's pretty much universally accepted that Soulblazer, Illusion of Time and Terranigma constitute a trilogy, with similar themes and similar (or the same) in-game elements and even sort-of similar gameplay mechanics. But, what about the other similarly themed games from Quintet, namely:

Actraiser,
Actraiser 2,
and The Granstream Saga?

Now, they also have gameplay centred around restoring the world to its' former condition; can they be considered to be a further two prequels (Actraisers 1 and 2) and a sequel (GS), which would turn the Gaia trilogy into the Gaia series?

(Gaia hexilogy sounds really silly, no? )

[inferiare]

Actraiser 1 and 2 could probably be prequels, sure. I've not played them (I know, shame on me ) but I have played a bit of Granstream Saga, and besides there being no links to the other games that I've even remotely seen (besides "restoring the world", but their reasoning is a bit different, if I remember right, so I'm meaning little things like Turbo the dog ), I would think that the SB trilogy is still just a trilogy. Quintet and Enix were in on the Actraiser games, and that might have been their "Lets dabble in this action RPG genre and see what comes of it?" moment. EVO sort of has that line too, though, but I failed at that game so I can't say much on that.

[Freedan]

Spiritual prequels, maybe, but not enough to make it a series.

The TE trilogy makes references to the other games, making their connections obvious. The Actraiser games, aside from the restoration theme, don't seem to have any other link.

[tay120n64]

ActRaiser was made by some of the same people, but its not considered to be related.

Granstream Saga, though made by remnants of Quintet, sadly has no relation to the trilogy, despite the project director referring to it as Terrangma's "spiritual sequel".

However, that doesn't stop Wikipedia, 1up.com, and the like from considering it the fourth entry.

[inferiare]

tay120n64 wrote:

ActRaiser was made by some of the same people, but its not considered to be related. Granstream Saga, though made by remnants of Quintet, sadly has no relation to the trilogy, despite the project director referring to it as Terrangma's "spiritual sequel". However, that doesn't stop Wikipedia, 1up.com, and the like from considering it the fourth entry.

Which makes me headwall. "Spiritual sequel" =/= part of the trilogy or a sequel of any kind.

[thefencemaster]

I've always looked at it like this: The three games are barely connected as it is, so trying to fit any other games with the trilogy just doesn't work. I have a hard time looking at the three games as a trilogy personally. The games are very similar but they don't really have any major connections. Then again that would just be my opinions on the matter.

[Jason Tandro]

This reminds me of an argument I had with my friend Brendan. He was discussing the difference between a "trilogy" and a "movie in three parts". He said Star Wars was a trilogy, and LotR was a "movie in three parts". He wasn't sure where to place Godfather.

I told him that he was stupid, as a trilogy is defined as:

–noun, plural -gies. 1. a series or group of three plays, novels, operas, etc., that, although individually complete, are closely related in theme, sequence, or the like.
2. (in ancient Greek drama) a series of three complete and usually related tragedies performed at the festival of Dionysus and forming a tetralogy with the satyr play.
3. a group of three related things.

Ergo a trilogy is just another way of saying a "movie in three parts". Oh sure, if anybody else had made this argument I would have given it some merit, but I don't really like this person.

Now, back on topic, I hesitate to call the SoulBlazer Trilogy a trilogy in the way that the Star Wars or LotR movies were, but in the definition we've agreed upon, sure. Ergo, if these Actraiser games are in fact related, then we must expand our meaning to make it a series. (In the same way we grudgingly did when the first three Star Wars episodes came out..)

[tay120n64]

Well, yeah, but these three (sometimes four) games are considered a series by gamers as a whole.

Even though some people call Soul Blazer a "pseudo-sequel" of ActRaiser, I don't think anyone considers them related beyond having some of the same production team.

[SoulBlazerFan]

I have a question that's been plaguing me for some time. Shoot me in the head if it's already been asked, but I'll plod along anyway.

We know for a fact the IoG follows SB. This is because of the inclusion of Solid Arm, even has a super secret boss. He even makes mention of "The Blazer," which solidly links these games. The Gaia is a link between IoG and TN, and possibily even SB, as isn't the "Master" technically a Gaia?

Now, the question isn't debating the above. That's undeniable proof of the connections. However...

Turbo the dog is what bugs me. There's a Turbo in every game- another undeniable fact, but the issue here is; Is the Dog's name the same universal name in not only all English versions of all three games, but also the original Japanese version?

Is it possible that the names were changed in America by some translator, and the name Turbo just happened to be chosen all three times?

Just an idea... lemme know what you think, and if anyone knows if the dogs names change between versions.

[Jason Tandro]

SoulBlazerFan wrote:

Turbo the dog is what bugs me. There's a Turbo in every game- another undeniable fact, but the issue here is; Is the Dog's name the same universal name in not only all English versions of all three games, but also the original Japanese version? Is it possible that the names were changed in America by some translator, and the name Turbo just happened to be chosen all three times? Just an idea... lemme know what you think, and if anyone knows if the dogs names change between versions.

This was actually brought up in my thread in the Soul Blazer forum about trying to connect the three games by means of the name Elle. I forget our consensus though (if we reached one).

[SoulBlazerFan]

We should really find out about that. That could, in theory, either solidify or weaken the connections between the games. Not to knock the original English versions (Or any), but I feel the Japanee versions would be more connected to the original mythology, and thus, be more reliable as a source of connection between the games.

Also, since we have gamers that have probably played other versions of the game in different languages, I'd love to see if the name Turbo, or some other name, are universally similar.

[inferiare]

Welp, means I'll have to find a rom for the Japanese version of Soul Blazer and find out. I know I have a Japanese rom for Terranigma, and I might have one for IoG... but it's been a while, and I don't remember how long I'd have to play to get to Turbo in IoG. Someone refresh me and I'll do that in a while, sometime after school.

[thefencemaster]

rainichan wrote:

Welp, means I'll have to find a rom for the Japanese version of Soul Blazer and find out. I know I have a Japanese rom for Terranigma, and I might have one for IoG... but it's been a while, and I don't remember how long I'd have to play to get to Turbo in IoG. Someone refresh me and I'll do that in a while, sometime after school.

Turbo in IoG is right after the whole raft scene. You'd only have to play through the first two dungeons. If you were to just run through it, you could be there within a half hour.

[inferiare]

Thaaaat's right, thanks! I'll do that soon, then.

[tay120n64]

Doesn't Miss Prime Blue have the Japanese cartridges?

Or am I mistaken?