Retro Views: Illusion of Gaia

Sometimes I feel like I'm not doing a good job of reviewing something unless I have some sort of epiphany, something that hasn't been said before about a game. It's a selfish and unwarranted way to go about things (as if I'm the first person to note Frogger's ecocritical aspects or whatever), but I can't deny that I want to be original.

However, I just can't do it for Illusion of Gaia. There's nothing to say except that it's an action RPG of the highest caliber, that it takes significant risks with its storytelling methods and every single aspect of it is incredibly solid. There's not much more to it than that, unfortunately for me (the critic, not the player).

It's incredibly easy to describe Illusion of Gaia in terms of its influences, which it proudly wears on its sleeves: it's a bold mix of the Legend of Zelda and RPG conventions, making it feel like Enix's answer to Secret of Mana. Its generic conventions aren't really the interesting part of Illusion of Gaia – they merely engender incredibly satisfying and sturdy gameplay of the sword swinging, item using, running around and exploring and solving puzzles variety. Instead, Illusion of Gaia reminded me just a bit of Beyond Good and Evil: what that game did for turning 3D Zelda conventions on their head, Illusion of Gaia does for 2D Zelda, and it made me love this game almost as much as my favourite Zelda games.

Illusion of Gaia has perhaps the most well-written storyline of any of Enix's classic games, despite its conventional base. The player character is Will, a telepathic, amnesiac youth who has to save the world. It's a classic setup for an RPG, but Illusion of Gaia isn't really focused on that as a means of forwarding its plot. Indeed, this is one of the most character-driven RPGs I've ever played, as Will and his many compatriots are given lives of their own, rather than being shoehorned into stereotypical containers as a means of forwarding a not-too-interesting plot.

There's a rather magical scene early on in the game that summarizes Illusion of Gaia's approach perfectly. After conquering a puzzle-filled dungeon and defeating a towering demon boss, the game pulls back from the bombast for an unexpectedly lyrical interlude where the player is in complete control at all times. Will and the princess Kara end up on a raft together, stranded at sea for over fifteen days. At first, Kara is snobby and unforgiving, unwilling even to eat the fish that Will catches to sustain them on their long journey. But as time passes, Kara begins to let down what was clearly a facade, and the two organically grow closer and even in love. It's something that's so unforced, so devoid of melodramatic fireworks, that it works on a completely subtle and lovely level.

Essentially, what Illusion of Gaia proves is that generic conventions nor clear and obvious influences need be a barrier to trying out new ideas, or to pushing the boundaries of what video games can do. Yes, this is an action RPG, but it shouldn't be defined only as such; that would mean ignoring the crazy things the game does with its setting (a mixture of fantasy elements and ancient civilizations), the unpredictable turns the plot makes, and mostly, the fantastic dialog and characters. If using the action RPG template means being able to graft incredibly solid and fun gameplay on top of that, then I'm all for it.

Indeed, the 2D action of Illusion of Gaia is just that, solid. If I'm not talking too much about it, it's because it does all the talking for itself, feeling instantly familiar and gratifying all the same. There are some fun ideas with the enemy designs, and occasionally the bosses, in all their towering glory, resemble some mad drawings from a metal kid's notebook, but overall, the gameplay does exactly what it needs to, which is engendering the storyline. What Illusion of Gaia proves to me is that having a solid foundation upon which to try new ideas is a pretty good plan of attack for video game developers. So often gameplay simply doesn't work, and it's not a necessity that video games push all elements forward at once – we can build in increments. Which is exactly what Illusion of Gaia does, and it makes for a superlative 2D experience that's just as awesome now as it must have been when it came out (though I guess if there was one criticism to be made, it's that the colour palette of the game is a little dull, an area in which Secret of Mana comes out on top if only because I'm naturally drawn to those deep, bright colours), which I guess means we're moving video games forward much, much more incrementally than we could be if this game still feels this fresh, almost twenty years after its release.

Keep those requests coming! Thanks again to Peter for this one.