"The final epic installment in a little-known unique action-RPG trilogy. You must revive the world, advance the human race,and confront your own nature"

Background:

Like the other games in this quirky and often overlooked trilogy, Soul Blazer and Illusion of Gaia, you'll either "get it" or you won't. The story begins when you accidentally freeze the members of your village somehow, forcing to revive individual people by fighting in dungeons, and then events lead you to travel to the surface of the world to resurrect all life there. The plot is complicated even by RPG standards and the events of the game can stretch the boundaries of believability at times. The game does have its own logic to explain things, but possibly due to the translation or the subject matter itself it is very easy to get confused. You'll likely either enjoy the game as an interesting experience which forced you to think creatively, or come away having no clue what it was all about.

The game is divided into four chapters, the first dealing with the resurrection of the underworld which your character calls home, and the second dealing with the revival of the earth and all the life within it. The third chapter is about the revival of genius and has you travel the world advancing the human race, "evolving" towns and trying to create and improve civilization. The final chapter is about the revival of the hero, and where the plot comes to a close.

A good portion of the game will be spent simply fighting monsters. For the first two chapters, you'll complete the tasks almost exclusively by fighting some boss, clearing out some area or solving a few simple puzzles along the way. The world will also gradually change as you complete your tasks, either with characters coming back to life, continents being raised, or the earth being populated by life, all illustrated by beautiful cinematics. The third chapter is where the human race makes its entrance and things really start to get interesting. Like most RPGs, you'll spend some time conversing with people, gathering information, and participating in character related subplots. But the most interesting interaction comes between the towns. By taking the right items from one town and giving it to people in another, you can establish trade between the two cities. As towns have more exports and imports thanks to your help, they'll grow and add buildings and characters. Your quests will send you all over the world interacting with characters you've met before. The most impressive part of the gameplay is evolving the cities, seeing the depth of the world, and the extent to which your actions can change the world around you.

In addition to the sometimes confusing nature of its plot and complicated gameplay, Terranigma's leveling system is somewhat flawed. Some portions of the game have few or no places to kill monsters and level up before you fight the next boss, and being on too low of a level will make some monsters or bosses impossible to kill. By building one level in some cases, you can go from dealing 1 point of damage to an opponent, to dealing 30 or more points per hit. Playing through the game normally, killing all the monsters you meet but not backtracking to kill them again, you'll be forced to power level on multiple occasions simply to be able to do any damage on some opponents.

Terranigma is a unique experience among RPGs. Like the other games in the series, your character is almost like an avatar for some deity, and time seems to carry no meaning for you as you watch the earth grow. The game starts off with literally a blank slate covering the earth, as you revive continents and fill in the desolate areas with life and later prosperity. The game has a few jokes, sidequests, and secrets to keep people busy, and while the plot doesn't preach any philosophical morals to you directly, it will probably make you think about things differently.

Review:

Story: 8/10 Having a narrator or providing some thoughts about the events would have been helpful, you mostly just advance from one area to the next as you see fit and come up with your own reasons for doing things. That said, the beginning and the very end of the game do contain enough plot points to keep people busy, and the middle of the game has plenty of characters to interact with and discover their own views on life. A lot of the sidequests and tasks you do seem largely unrelated, but they're enjoyable enough for their own sakes, and the locales are packed with enough characters to keep an RPG junkie happy.

Gameplay: 10/10 The fighting system is a large improvement on both of the previous games in the trilogy. Soul Blazer was basic hack and slash with a few spells, Illusion of Gaia had your characters using more advanced moves and controller combinations, while Terranigma has a large variety of attacks which you can use to protect yourself, and deal or avoid damage. The disadvantage to this is that you'll never learn any new moves, unlike the previous games, the only additional attacks you get are by special items which allow you to cast minor spells. There are a few minigames to keep people entertained which give out minor prizes, there are gemstones hidden all over the world, and there are a few hidden locations you can visit for similar prizes. Unlike Illusion of Gaia, there's no grand secret or hidden dungeon to uncover, just a lot of little things to explore and advance. As previously mentioned the most entertaining part of the gameplay occurs on a large scale-trading items and artifacts between cities and causing them to advance. While the game's pacing is rather uneven between fighting, questing, and exploring, you'll probably be entertained throughout.

Replay Value: 9/10 One trip through the game by itself will take up a large amount of time if you choose to do everything, and it would still be difficult to track down every item or character simply playing through the game once. The rewards for your efforts are sometimes advanced weapons or armor, but most of the fun to be had is in experiencing the world you help create, and seeing all there is to see.

Music: 7/10 Suitable background music, varied enough to keep you from getting a headache, but nothing you'll walk away whistling. Since you spend a long time in some locations, particularly the underworld, it may start to drag on you after a while. Like a lot of things about this particular trilogy, you'll either think it's too weird to handle at times or you'll end up enjoying it.

Graphics: 8/10 Primitive by today's standards of course, but the sprites are all crisp and the cinematics provide a refreshing change. The colors are fresher and more varied than the previous games in the trilogy, and navigating the world is a breeze. The game uses a typical RPG overhead view, and manages to look better than most.

Overall: 9/10 Terranigma is another undiscovered gem that never made it to the U.S., but still sold in Europe. Some players will probably feel like they could make up their own plot that would make more sense, but most gamers with enough patience will probably enjoy it for what it is. You will see a lot of places, travel all over the world, and interact with all kinds of civilizations. The tie-ins to the previous games in the series are weak, simply featuring the dog "Turbo" from before, both Gaias, and a light and a dark side to everything. The town at the end of Illusion of Gaia shows up on the map, but the game exists largely independently of its predecessors. That said, if you haven't taken a look at any of these games yet, you should. They feature action-oriented gameplay, puzzle-solving, and storylines that cross all boundaries.

Final Recommendation: Buy or track down if you enjoy RPGs, particularly of the action variety. If you haven't played any of the games in the series yet, start with this or Illusion of Gaia to get a feel for the style of gameplay, storyline, and puzzles. You'll probably be glad you did.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 12/16/04