Have just got and recently am playing Gaia Gensōki for the Super Famicom, or as Western gamers would revere them by: Illusion of Gaia on the American side and Illusion of Time on the European side. Seriously, couldn't both continents share the same name; why diversify the title? Anyway, this is my first time playing the Japanese version (I already played the American version numerous times, so I'm all good), and oh my God, there are already so many differences that I've noticed between versions, but I'll spotlight them all when I finish playing it. Still fun, though; whether the Western version or this one is better, I'll decide by the time I finish playing.
And with that, my SFC Gaia trilogy is complete! All right!
Where my friends and I usually get stupid:
https://www.twitch.tv/MUDWALLHOLLER - Come by hang and visit our Discord. The link for Discord is on the Twitch page.
@8BitSamurai It's all in the art of talking them down by pointing out minor non relevant flaws and knowing those hidden places to hit up. Afterwards I always have my girlfriend make fun of my negotiation skills though.
Where my friends and I usually get stupid:
https://www.twitch.tv/MUDWALLHOLLER - Come by hang and visit our Discord. The link for Discord is on the Twitch page.
Recent Purchases:
Sonic Advance GBA
Boktai 2 - Solar Boy Django
Megaman Z Collection DS
Metal Gear Solid Gameboy Color
Gameboy Micro Metalic pink, as new with Tomb Raider The Prophecy and Finding Nemo
oh yeah and Super Bust-A-Move on GBA.... gaming screen slightly too small bubbles are tiny! and that is playing on clam shell AGS 101!
Would have done pics but can't figure out how to add....
@WanderFan91: Yeah, Mega Man 2 is my favorite Mega Man followed by Mega Man 3. I have the Mega Man Collection for PS2 and the Wii U VC games (1-4) already but I still have to get the physical releases you know? Nothing beats having the classic originals. I hate how Capcom neutered Final Fight for the U.S. It's not like we weren't beating up girls in Double Dragon back on the NES and I'm sure there was blood to if you got with the knife in that game? At least the ladies showed up for game 3. I know you are big fan of the _Rushing Beat_Series; I have Brawl Brothers which has the code to played the SFC version which is pretty cool since I'm not into collecting SFC games. But hey, each their own, right? I would love to get around to the Gaia series someday. It will be interesting to hear what the differences are.
@KingMike: Totally dude, I sent in my $3.95 and chose the Mega Man "4-color" poster. Looking forward to the Mega Man comic strip as well.
I just finished Gaia Gensōki, and I have come to the conclusion: it is the better version. It's better than the Western version we were given (Illusion of Gaia/Illusion of Time) and the amount of differences I found were absolutely jarring. I thought ActRaiser was more different than the Japanese original (Actraiser), but oh no, I was wrong! Totally wrong! There are so many differences, but I said I would spotlight them all, so I will:
First off, the title sequence is different. We've got Will, Kara, and Hamlet running on a comet (which also happens inside the game's title), and it is a wonderful title sequence. It's much more engaging than just a title and Earth.
During the intro sequence there is a shot of a skeleton, and whilst it was in the lower right corner in the Western version, it was right smack-dab in the middle here.
The school in South Cape has a crucifix as opposed to the Virgin Mary statue in the West (though it itself appears in the chapel found in Euro).
Now here's part of what makes this version better: flowing dialogue, letter by letter. One of my minor gripes in the Western version was that most of the time the dialog box had all the words pop up simultaneously, which would make it easy to miss what they said if you were quick to skip the dialog. Here, it's done better! I'm glad its got letters that pop up one by one all the time (as opposed to just during specific sequences).
During the escape from prison there is a room with a treasure box; in the Western there was a spike ball but in here you're free to take the Red Jewel without trouble!
You are given more time here (forty seconds) to earn one of the Incan statues than you were given in the Western version (much shorter).
The very first boss. In the Western version you had to attack its hands before you got to attack it head on, but in the Japanese original you're free to attack the head so long as it doesn't fire beams at you.
Viper, the second boss. The higher ups at Quintet weren't satisfied with how it came out here, so they redesigned it for the Western version. I'm sorry, but with respect towards Quintet, I actually like Viper's design in the Japanese version. It looks genuine and pure, and it actually animates a little better too.
There is a room in the Underwater Palace of Mu where there is water that is orange while in the Western version its gray. Okay.
The third boss sequence, the vampires. First of all, the male vampire looks significantly different in both versions (his hair and ears are more spiky) and the cape colors are slightly darker. The female vampire looks the same, but when it attacks with magic she'll sometimes expose her bare leg. Second of all, you are given way too much time to fight them here (two-hundred forty seconds) as opposed to the comparatively shorter time you were given for the West. Thirdly, they've got attacks here than they do there (sometimes they'll plant skull-shaped bombs Bomberman-style and other times they might try to impale you with a spike protruding from the ground, and some of the magic is different too).
Some of the names written on the map are spelled differently, or some words will be different (like "Moon Rock" or "Neele's Cottage").
You know how there was one segment during the Pyramid portion where there was a brick-shaped gap in the West? You can actually cross it here thanks to some white bricks filling the gap.
In the Western version if you ate an herb it would only refill 8 HP (4 full dots), but in the Japanese original if you consumed an herb then the whole health would be replenished!
During some of the first parts of the ending sequence the dialog box was solid black in the West, here it's unfilled.
In the credits sequence the names and words are a single color for this version (and it's all black), while the West had some more colorful wording and had some images here and there. Aside from that it's the same sequence.
The word "End" in the post-credits sequence is thinner in the Japanese version than it is in the Western version.
And the main thing that makes the Japanese version different than the Western version is: it's easier. Way easier; those that complained about Illusion of Gaia's "spikes": those were the Western version. Quintet deliberately made this game harder for the Western version. Which further reinforces my stance that it is a much easier game than SoulBlazer/SoulBlader, given that you've gotten much more controls here which gave you an advantage (also you could roam in eight directions too, so that's part of why).
I'm just very upset at this realization because it almost seems as if Quintet didn't have any confidence that Western gamers would appreciate the game for what it was initially in Japan (it's almost as bad as making ActRaiser easier than it was in the Japanese original Actraiser). They turned a 9.5 game into an 8, I can't stand that! It is sill a fun game, my God, and the credits sequence is still emotionally spectacular but I'm just very upset at all the changes that Quintet made for the Western version of Gaia Gensōki (and believe it or not, but the credit sequence actually says "The Illusion of Gaia Team"; meaning that the American title is more accurate than the European one). Oh, and the Western version has got cases of bad translation, but that goes without saying (I could even recognize instances in the dialogue that were different, with or without exclamation or question marks). I'll get over it soon enough though.
In more lighter and happier news, I recently got another SFC cart several hours ago: one of the only times that Nihon Falcom made a game for the Super Famicom (outside of Ys V), Popful Mail (which is actually a port of an NEC PC-8801 title, which Nihon Falcom also made), and it's quite a quirky sidescrolling adventure game. I'm liking it a lot so far.
The PAL version title screen is the same as the original.
The original title screen also appears in the US manual.
Some of the names were changed when Nintendo licensed the game for the west. There does exist a beta English version with the original names and more spelling errors. Will was Tim, Kara was Karen, Seth was Morrison, I forget what Lance and Lily's names were but I think they were different, and Erik might have been spelled Eric. That also features the original title sequence. It's pretty clear Nintendo wanted to attract the Zelda fans when they marketed the game in North America.
If you notice, there is one spot (in the final version), where they left Karen's original name (I think when you get the meat from Edward's basement). However, I recall in the scene after the vampires, I had for years wondered "Who's Morrison?"
Some did a comparison of the actual text and there were some other censorship. I think the "laborers" were "slaves", and I recall they said the "natives" were actually cannibals.
I think they said the post-Viper scene text was changed. I think it was told as a post-narration in the west while in the Japanese it was written in a style as it's actually happening. Or maybe it was reversed, I can't remember.
Yep, that is indeed correct about the "laborers" and "natives", but then it's pretty obvious in a subtle way. And yes, this game definitely has got that Zelda vibe, only it's much more linear. Regardless of each version, still doesn't explain some of the conundrums you'll find on there, like
After Will defeats the first boss and goes down, he'll find himself on a golden ship with people on there. After waking up from a dream on there he'll find everyone dead as SoulBlazer-like skeletons laying about (lazy much, Quintet, or did you not have time to create a new corpse sprite in the year and a half that it took you to make this game? I ask that because the character's sprites have bigger heads and bodies, while the skeletons' head and body is small by comparison) and the ship is all decrepit. Yet despite it having sailed Will's friends managed to get there on the ship afterwards. How did they do that? Lily I get, but everyone else is a human. Also there was only one way to get on that ship, but even then I still question it. Also, if everyone onboard the ship was dead then how did it sail, and was Will imagining the whole thing or did he somehow reach a brief nirvana that made him daydream up such a thing? I would love it if someone on YouTube made a CinemaSins-parody for this game, I think it would be humorous.
I don't know if anyone noticed, but Neil/Neele's cottage is close to the island of the Tower of Babel. The fact that no one noticed this (in game) is baffling, but then Quintet moved away from that shot so fast that I could understand how not many would have kept track of that.
Where my friends and I usually get stupid:
https://www.twitch.tv/MUDWALLHOLLER - Come by hang and visit our Discord. The link for Discord is on the Twitch page.
Rock n' Roll Racing SFC cart for $17. I see the SNES version must've climbed in value recently. It's now $30+ cart-only?
I see Blizzard themselves put the game up for free download but it was only a ROM and emulator (alongside PC Blackthorne and Lost Vikings. I'm presuming this is a temporary deal?). Even then people who tried it said it was edited to only a few tracks and the music replaced (or removed? for licensing reasons). So, it's like a demo version of a 20 year old game. I'll stick with the full version.
Tales of Destiny is pretty good stuff. Not one of my favorites in the series, but highly enjoyable nonetheless. Too bad copies go for so much these days, though.
Does DuckTales: Remastered count? I had it on GBA / SP when I was a kid.
Wi-Fi Game List:
Xenoblade Chronicles X
Splatoon
Super Smash Bros. Wii U & 3DS + All DLC
Mario Kart 8 + All DLC
Mario Golf: World Tour + All DLC
Mario Kart 7
Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon
Pickedup Sega Mega Drive Ultimate collection for the 360 for the throwbacks. Being a Thursday maybe i should give it a spin tonight. Bonanza Bros gets me everytime
..and Plumbings our game.... https://youtu.be/Vxj_ARoHiu4 Black Arrow Game Talk Episode One is now Live
@CanisWolfred: Yeah man, copies of Tales of Destiny is going for crazy cash right now so I thought I better pick it up when I found it for below the current market value.
@Tasuki: Been a lot of the downloaded games popping up here lately.
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