Illusion of Gaia review

 Illusion of Gaia is many things. The short version is that it's a blend of a puzzle game and an RPG, where you run through various landmarks of the world in search of six macguffins. The long version is....well, let's just say this is a game with layers upon layers.

But I didn't write this to describe the game, but rather to deliver my judgement on it. So, let me get this out of the way: it is, in simple terms, a Good Game, with certain really big caveats. Chief among them is the inconsistent quality of dungeons, where some dungeons are decently imaginative while others rely on moon logic or excessive backtracking, and make you want to tear your hair out. There is exactly one Great level in this game, the Sky Gardens, while Mu and Mt. Temple are aggravatingly padded out dungeons, not helped in the slightest by their selection of enemies. 

So what makes it Good, then? Well, the game does try its hand at a rather intriguing premise. It genuinely captures the spirit of adventuring across a world filled with secrets and legends of long gone civilizations, legends that hold true within the game's universe, of course. While the game's narrative efforts are held back by the rather spotty translation, and while the story is flawed at multiple levels, it has a way with giving vibes that make it come off as sincere, heartfelt and charming.

Gameplay wise, the game provides a decent set of tools for both mass murder and puzzle solving. In fact, many of the tools are built for both purposes, and fulfil them adequately. At its best, the game features creative usage of them to get past obstacles or navigate spaces in interesting ways. It must be noted, however, that some of them, particularly the protagonist boy's powers, tend to suffer from standard SNES jank, in that they're a bit too stiff to be reliably performed in situations where they would theoretically be useful, and thus end up being used as keys more than actual combat moves.

Speaking of combat, Illusion has real time grid based combat, and it's...well, it's fine. There are some monsters that are built to be really obnoxious, and sometimes the game has the protagonist feel really underpowered, especially in its last few dungeons. There are two other characters the protagonist can transform into who are built better for combat, and their presence does alleviate some of its problems. Unfortunately, they aren't reliably available, being accessible only at certain save points, and a lot of the puzzle solving moves are given solely to the protagonist, which often forces a switch back to him. I get the idea, and it's conceptually cool, but it didn't pan out all too well.

All of this leads to my biggest complaint - the game designs scenarios where you are expected to fight foes way out of your league. This isn't impossible, of course, and the aforementioned characters do even out the odds, but it largely doesn't feel good, which is kind of a big issue, considering how much combat this game makes you participate in. I feel like the game definitely indulged a bit too much in its combat scenarios, and paring some of them down for a bigger focus on the puzzles would have made for a far better game.

As it stands, Illusion of Gaia feels like a frustratingly imperfect game, one that came so close and yet fell so far. It has enough charm to endear, yet not enough to paper over all of its shortcomings. Try it if you like puzzle RPGs, but be prepared for some seriously rough edges, and don't be afraid to consult a guide if you get stuck - odds are, you're missing clues due to either bad translation, or straight up moon logic.