Terranigma

Some pretty interesting things. I hadn't bothered looking at it before because it looked like a generic coverage site, but since I'm on a sudden binge, I ran it through a translator, and with the help of a good Japanese-English dictionary and kanji recognition, found some pretty interesting info.

Firstly, concerning Corcobad Hill, and what I think is the most interesting find on the page. I can see how the translators just assumed that the "o" sound at the end was just required by transliteration, but the correct rendering of "KOROKUBADO" is "Corcovado". As such, we get Corcovado hill - Morro de Corcovado in Rio de Janeiro, upon which rests a rather familiar-looking statue...

http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corcovado

Yep. The statue that Meilin brought Ark before with her illusion is none other than "O Cristo Redentor" - Christ the Redeemer, one of the "new seven wonders of the world". A rather obscure Easter egg considering that the developers are Japanese and a dozen years early (the new wonders list was compile in '07), isn't it? Makes you wonder how they even heard of the place before the true advent of the Internet. Also a very symbolic reference - the scene is really the first where they present a feeling of suffering for Ark; interesting that it would be before a statue of Christ...

Second most interesting thing is what sounds like a glitch that raises the total number of attainable magirock/Prime Blue to 102 (103 in the Japanese version) - it has something to do with doubling what you get in Mermaid's Tower, but since I don't have a save within hours of that area, I can't check it at the moment.

For all optimists, the Terranigma novelization apparently has Fyda and Royd survive the airplane crash. >.>

They have that Litz is a rather mangle transliteration of Lisbon, though I doubt that somewhat; I wouldn't think Lisbon is that difficult to render...

They also mentioned "birds of paradise" in their description of Sanctuary, but I don't know exactly what to make of that. There's also a mention of Inca, but I don't remember seeing anything about the Incans in Terranigma... <.<

They affirmed my suspicions that Jean is Jean Jacques Rousseau of Social Contract fame, and that Louis is Louis Blanc, a French Socialist with a poverty-riddled background. Also, affirmation that Kumari is an allusion to the Buddhists' Kumari.

Overall, some very interesting stuff in there, and one of the first interesting finds in some time.
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My favorite adage: Hanlon's Razor: Never attribute to malice what can be equally explained by stupidity.

In their version of Quintet's headquarters, there's a quiz that awards a Magirock.
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My favorite adage: Hanlon's Razor: Never attribute to malice what can be equally explained by stupidity.

Well they never outright state that the two die in the game either, just that it's unlikely though not impossible to come out of the crash. I guess it's part of the whole bittersweetness that comes along with the ending of the game.
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The true knight would save the virgin from being sacrificed.
The true adventurer would ensure that she could never be a virgin sacrifice again.

Those are some great new allusions. They really did their homework!

But I didn't think "Christ the Redeemer" was that hard to get. The city in the game is clearly supposed to be Rio, and that statue is an icon of the city.

It's OK. I know Asians are traditionally xenophobic.




(I kid, I kid.)