Illusion of Gaia is the first game that has ever truly made me feel awash in a sea of myself. At least, myself at age 14. The nature of the game is one which questions veracity, challenging expectations in relation to experience. In every corner, exploration and challenges are available, but only those who toil reap the full reward. The senses are rewarded often, perhaps best described as floating in a sea of unwashed consideration for the self. The self is thus something capable of manifesting a kind of translucent existence throughout.
Thinking on this game, I am reminded how often games refuse to see the forest for the trees. There is a heady, wind-swept feeling to an adventure that is earnest in recognizing that pacing in slow, measured tones asks patience. Forcing patience onto the player is rarely accepted, yet the simple experience of a space to breathe can often allow the player to look around. To take a measured approach, to appreciate what is around them, rather than the immediacy of any individual interaction. Illusion of Gaia is full of such moments.
In a sense, the game is like floating on water. Perhaps there are times when it is raining, or when you are celebrating a friend’s birthday, yet during each of these experiences there are simple joys discovered. To be caught up in the flow of the experience here is to not rush things too much. The world needs to be saved to be sure, but perhaps the world is not the only issue at hand. Not the only place to go, nor the only place to see. Thus, wading through Illusion of Gaia requires some amount of requisite patience, yet rewards the individual willing to take the time to be odd.
When being caught up, oftentimes one must learn to let go, when hearing odd things, one tends to find oneself become strange. A certain will is exercised throughout which asks to experience not so much through what is true, but what is possible. Perhaps not always able to do so, the game is a bit ironic in such a request. Change is an inevitability in any experience, and the act of asking may or may not always be useful. Yet, such simplicities are what it asks of thought, less so than what it asks of interaction with the game.
Illusion of Gaia is about being there and understanding experience from a point of view that is floating somewhere above. The discussions within are based often on what could be, rarely asking what is. In such a manner, Illusion of Gaia challenges traditional thinking without ever placing it within the game space. Today, this is seen as bad game design, and yet it was an extremely successful role-playing design choice during the nineties. Time changes all things.
Recommended: Yes