Illusion of Time: darkness and light

After 1992’s excellent Soul Blazer, Quintet followed up with a spiritual successor a year later. Illusion of Time, known as Illusion of Gaia in North America and Gaia Gensouki in Japan, was not a direct sequel to Soul Blazer, but rather a game that tackled similar themes, albeit from a different perspective.

This time around, you haven’t been directly tasked by a God-equivalent to save the world from a great evil. Nope, this time around we have a good old-fashioned hero’s journey, with our teenaged hero starting from the obligatory humble beginnings and culminating in punching out a comet that is also evil.

We also have one of the absolute worst English localisations I think I’ve ever seen in a game, but don’t let that put you off playing Illusion of Time. The story at least makes enough sense to follow, and the actual game side of things is rather wonderful. So let’s take a closer look at all this after the jump.

Illusion of Time (and yes, I’m going to keep using the European name because 1) I’m from the UK and 2) it’s the version I played) casts you in the role of a boy named Will. Our hero has developed some unusual powers ever since he went along with his father on a doomed expedition to investigate the mysterious Tower of Babel — an expedition from which Will returned, but his father did not.

As we join the story, Will has mostly come to terms with the loss of his father — his mother passed away in his early youth — and is living with his grandparents in the sleepy little town of South Cape. He attends a nice little school run by a priest and has a group of friends he likes to hang out with in their not-so-secret lair: a small cave by the sea.

It’s clear that something is up, though. Ever since Will returned from the Tower of Babel with a strange flute he found, he has been able to telekinetically manipulate certain objects — a power that his friends find understandably fascinating.

One day, a girl comes to South Cape and has a fateful encounter with Will. It turns out (when she is dragged back home by the castle guards) that she is the Princess Kara, daughter of King Edward, and before long it appears that King Edward himself takes an interest in Will and a crystal ring that he supposedly brought back from the doomed expedition.

Will answers the King’s invitation, but having no idea what this “crystal ring” is, he ends up getting thrown in the castle dungeon for his apparent insolence. Before long, Kara and her pet pig, Hamlet, are rescuing him, and together the pair of them flee the castle. After hearing the voice of his dead father from his flute, Will learns that he must track down a series of six mystical statues by visiting various ruins around the world, and what he must do from there will gradually become clear.

What then follows is a globetrotting quest that spans the strange alternate Earth on which Illusion of Time unfolds — one in which landmarks like Incan ruins, the Great Wall of China, the Nazca lines and Angkor Wat are all scattered around seemingly haphazardly. (There is a narrative justification for this, if you were wondering.) All this culminates with Will awakening to his full powers, dispatching the evil that lurks in a comet that is fast approaching the planet, and ensuring that humanity’s evolution continues on the path it is supposed to continue along — without anyone being further tempted to play God along the way.

If some of this sounds a bit vague, it’s because Illusion of Time’s plot is, at least in English, a bit of a mess. There are a number of situations in the game where characters will just suddenly declare that the party is heading somewhere else, having given absolutely no indication that they even knew about their next destination’s existence prior to this point.

In the Japanese original, it is much clearer that they are following a pattern of destinations in accordance with a constellation of stars that the aforementioned Evil Comet has appeared among, but in English, this constellation is brought up maybe a couple of times in the early hours of the narrative and then all but forgotten about. Likewise, there are a number of sequences where you end up delving into a dungeon to find a doohickey with no real explanation of why you want or need said doohickey; the most egregious of these is probably a sequence where you find yourself in a weird plant shrine atop a mountain, searching for a fairy teapot that reveals the truth or something.

It doesn’t really matter too much, though. Ultimately the narrative, such as it is, mostly functions as an excuse to send you to a number of different areas and dungeons inspired by real-world cultures, periods of history and mythology, giving plenty of variety to your journey if nothing else.

This isn’t to say there are no good moments at all in Illusion of Time’s plot — quite the contrary, in fact, as we’ll come onto in a bit — but rather the entire localisation job is just sloppy. Characters will shift tenses in the middle of a sentence, a paragraph that starts with Will reflecting on something in his internal monologue will switch perspective to an omniscient third-person narrator partway through and, at times, it feels like the localisers weren’t actually sure which character was supposed to be saying what to whom, as the pronouns used are all over the place.

It’s a bit of a surprise, honestly, considering that Soul Blazer’s localisation had such warmth and charm about it — and the chap who was responsible for Soul Blazer’s English script also worked on Illusion of Time, alongside two others — but it thankfully isn’t unreadable. It’s just a little… garbled at times, is probably the best way to put it. The general gist of what is happening is there, but it could have done with multiple more editing passes, and perhaps just… reading the whole thing through in context to make sure it actually made sense.

Being a mid-’90s Super NES game, Illusion of Time‘s English script was, of course, somewhat sanitised from the Japanese original at the behest of Nintendo of America. As per usual for the period, all mentions of gods and religions have been replaced with talk of “spirits”, and other controversial themes such as slavery and cannibalism have been edited, too. Much like in Soul Blazer, though, these edits are so transparent that they may as well just not have bothered; any time you encounter a “labourer” in the game, for example, they are inevitably clad in rags, chained up and imprisoned, making it abundantly clear what is actually meant. There is even an entire sequence where you rescue a bunch of them!

If the mention of slavery and cannibalism had you raising your eyebrows, you’re right to be intrigued — Illusion of Time is surprisingly dark for a 16-bit game, even in its heavily edited form.

Not all of Will’s companions make it to the end of the game, with one in particular meeting a particularly unceremonious end that is never really adequately explained unless you delve a bit into the Japanese lore. Elsewhere, Will has the opportunity to turn in a runaway slave in exchange for a reward, and there are no real negative consequences for doing this — just as there are none for the fatal outcome of him beating an alcoholic at a game of “Russian Glass” by psychically knowing which one of the glasses had poison in it.

The most surprising, though, comes in a scene where a character that you would not expect to have any importance to the narrative whatsoever makes a spectacularly heroic self-sacrifice in the name of saving multiple people. This is not the sort of thing I am accustomed to seeing in games of the era — although, of course, there are notable other examples, such as… well, most of Final Fantasy VI. And a fair bit of IV. And Chrono Trigger. And… you know what, maybe it’s not all that surprising. It’s just that colourful 16-bit pixel art with dumpy little sprites sets certain expectations of tone, although one might argue this just makes it all the more effective when it plays particularly surprising narrative cards.

Ultimately Illusion of Time’s storyline and its delivery should probably not be considered on a par with the true greats of the 16-bit era, but it’s clear that there was some ambition there. Themes of the darkness in the heart of humanity and the concepts of rebirth and resurrection return from Soul Blazer, and are especially apparent in the eventual ending. The game also isn’t afraid to have several moments of quiet contemplation where very little happens for what feels like several minutes at a time. There was obvious artistic intent here; the English version just doesn’t quite stick the landing thanks to the numerous textual issues. They got pretty close, though.

One especially interesting thing about Illusion of Time is its overall structure. Although typically referred to as an “action RPG”, a term which tends to carry with it a certain assumption that there will be at least a bit of freedom, the game is resolutely linear, offering very few opportunities to return to previous areas. This means, among other things, if you miss any of the 50 hidden “Red Jewels” throughout the game on your first chance to get them, you will not be able to see the game’s secret dungeon and hidden superboss. That doesn’t mean there’s no reason to collect them anyway, however, as you can still get a number of useful power-ups at various milestones — and collecting all of them provides the incentive for a future replay. Cheap? Perhaps, but not altogether unusual for a game of the era.

More than anything, Illusion of Time actually reminds me of much later linear cinematic games that take you from scene to scene without really stopping for a break in between. This is not a game that is interested in letting you hang around to smell the roses, but rather one that is constantly pushing you forwards, eager to deliver the next narrative beat and urge you on towards the finale. Even the game’s town sequences whizz past fairly quickly — since the game has no currency or equipment systems, you won’t be doing any shopping, so town visits are primarily for delivering the narrative via NPC interactions and short cutscenes.

The way the progression mechanics are implemented supports this, too. Unlike Soul Blazer’s relatively traditional experience-and-levels system — albeit with a finite number of enemies in most locations in the game — Illusion of Time makes use of a system where the first time you clear out a room of enemies, you will be awarded a gem that upgrades Will’s maximum hit points, strength or defensive capabilities. Enemies stay dead after you’ve defeated them, too, meaning there’s a finite number of enemies to defeat and thus a finite number of upgrades that Will can acquire over the course of his journey.

This progression system keeps the action flowing along, but also rewards those who are thorough. It is not necessary to clear every room of every enemy before you move on, but like in Soul Blazer, there are some enemies that cause changes to the map when they are defeated, such as opening doorways, removing blockages and revealing staircases. Since clearing out rooms is is the one and only way you will progress Will’s abilities, it is worth doing — and a helpful “radar” system allows you to check how many enemies and treasure chests remain in each room and their rough position in relation to where Will is standing. In many dungeons, particularly later in the game, it is as much of a puzzle to reach the last few enemies in each room as it is to make forward progress.

Fighting in Illusion of Time has some refinements over Soul Blazer. From the outset, Will is capable of a fencing-style strike with his flute, as well as a jumping, lunging attack that deals a little more damage — plus he can also move diagonally, unlike Soul Blazer’s hero. Enemies now suffer knockback when hit, giving a much better sense of impact when a strike connects. Later in the game, Will gets some extra abilities to add to his arsenal; most of these are primarily intended for negotiating obstacles, but they also have combat functionality, too. For example, a sliding tackle is primarily used to get through low passageways, but can also be used to deal heavy damage to enemies in a line, or deliver multiple hits if timed and positioned correctly.

One notable addition to Will’s arsenal is the ability to block. Often a bit of a throwaway inclusion in many action RPGs, the block function is genuinely useful in Illusion of Time, because it can completely prevent damage from certain attacks, particularly projectiles. Fighting some enemies is best achieved by blocking their assault, then striking during a suitable opening. It’s not exactly a Dark Souls level of finesse, but it is more than simple hack-and-slash.

An interesting twist that is introduced relatively early in the game is Will’s ability to transform into other characters. For the vast majority of the game, he only has the option to turn into a Dark Knight called Freedan, who has higher attack power and a longer reach than Will, but lacks some of Will’s mobility. Freedan also unlocks some of his own unique abilities as the game progresses, too, such as the option to charge up and fire a dark magic blast, allowing him to hit enemies and switches from afar.

For the game’s last main dungeon ahead of the finale sequence, Will also gains the ability to turn into “the ultimate warrior”, known as Shadow. Shadow has a long reach and even greater attack power than Freedan, but again lacks Will’s unique mobility skills. He does have one of his own, though; the ability to turn into a liquid form and seep down through the floor to reach otherwise inaccessible lower areas. Not only that, but unlike Will and Freedan’s directional blocks, Shadow is able to perform an omnidirectional block with his aura, which comes in very handy during the final boss encounter in particular.

Honestly, the character-switching aspect of Illusion of Time feels a little bit underbaked. There are only a couple of instances where Freedan is outright necessary to use, and that is entirely down to his slightly greater reach than Will rather than any particularly unique abilities. After being introduced very late into the game’s complete runtime, Shadow is then arguably overused somewhat, although there is a certain amount of narrative justification for this, particularly in the finale sequence.

More often than not, you’ll find that you’ve switched to Freedan or Shadow and it’s actually Will you need to switch back to in order to negotiate a particular obstacle, since it’s only Will who gets the ability to overcome most of the non-standard terrain features you’ll encounter throughout the game.

These are, at least, fun. Early in the game, you’ll be introduced to Will’s ability to sprint down a hill so fast that he can launch himself off a jump ramp and fly an inhuman distance to a far-off platform. Later, you gain the ability for Will to spin himself up like a whirlwind and then twang himself off in any direction, allowing him to shoot up slippery slopes and, again, launch himself off jump ramps to clear otherwise impassable chasms. Plus the aforementioned ability to slide under low ceilings, while infrequently used, is always satisfying and enjoyable.

As you would hope for a game that is primarily about negotiating perilous dungeons, Illusion of Time’s dungeon design is excellent. Each dungeon has a very distinct feel from the last; this is brought about partly by each being based on a different area of the world, historical period and/or mythology, and partly through each having a markedly different structure and mechanical focus. There are no dungeons that feel like they’re a straight, linear path to the finish with no deviation; while the game isn’t super-big on exploring, it does generally provide rewards for indulging your curiosity and checking out some alternate routes — and the game’s deliberate lack of a conventional map function necessitates that you learn your way around properly.

Actual “puzzles” in the traditional sense are relatively thin on the ground, with most of the mental challenge in the game being about determining how to get around each of the areas, reach all the enemies and acquire all the treasures. Some good examples of this come in the form of the “Sky Garden” dungeon, which is a double-sided dungeon you can jump onto the back side of by leaping off certain platforms, and the “Pyramid” dungeon towards the end of the game, which is one of the few sequences where you will need to pick the right character to get through each section.

There are a couple of exceptions to this, with probably the most notable being a moment where you will be completely bewildered as to what you should be doing next until you open your inventory, discover an item that wasn’t there before and use it to move things along. This only happens once in the whole game; for the most part, your next steps are very well signposted. If anything, I’d say at times the game is a little too eager to move you along, as there are several sequences where speaking to one specific character will automatically move you to the next scene — a bit of a pain if you hadn’t finished exploring the one you’re currently on!

It’s unlikely you’ll get “stuck” in Illusion of Time, in other words, and that’s mostly a good thing. This isn’t to say the game is easy, however; it actually has a very well-crafted difficulty curve that gradually escalates the challenge with each new area you enter, culminating in some genuinely tricky but always fair challenges by the finale sequence.

As with Soul Blazer, some of the more difficult parts of Illusion of Time come in the form of the boss fights. These are, much like the dungeons, varied and imaginative — though some are much more straightforward than others. The one thing that they all have in common is that they are about pattern recognition more than anything; you will need to carefully observe how the boss behaves, then look for suitable openings to attack while defending against (or avoiding) their various attacks. There’s also a boss rush during the finale sequence, during which you will fight slightly souped-up versions of all the prior bosses from throughout the game ahead of the actual final encounter — but you get to do so as Shadow, which means you are somewhat souped-up also.

The game does feature a baffling “lives” mechanic, whereby defeating enemies makes them drop little crystals, and when you get a hundred of them you will get an extra “life”, which basically means if you die you will restart at the beginning of the room you’re in rather than the beginning of the dungeon you’re on — but if you have any skill whatsoever, you’ll likely find this doesn’t become an issue until the finale sequence boss rush anyway, by which point the checkpoints are so generous you can outright run out of lives completely and not lose any progress. (In fact, given that respawning with a new life gives you about half of your maximum health, while respawning with no lives remaining puts you back at full health, it’s actually advantageous to have no lives left by the end of the game, particularly since there are no Game Overs.)

Presentation-wise, Illusion of Time is absolutely gorgeous, sporting that distinctive late-era Super NES look that could quite feasibly be mistaken for a 2D PlayStation or Saturn game, with tons of detail in the backgrounds. The game even goes so far as to have parallax backgrounds that accurately reflect the things you’re “above” rather than using generic backdrops; a really nice touch that is often omitted in 2D works.

Of particular note is the level of detail on Will’s sprite; not only is he very well animated for all his regular actions, the game bothers to incorporate little details like his hair and clothes blowing in the wind in exterior areas (and, in one particular dungeon, to use as a signal a hidden passage is nearby).

Another particularly cool feature is that in many towns, you can actually see NPCs through the windows of houses, and when you enter that house they will be where you saw them. It’s a little touch, but one that a lot of games presented in this way don’t bother with — plus it’s used for a few fun visual gags here and there.

The music is memorable, catchy and, at appropriate times, atmospheric. There’s a particularly good “creepy” theme that is always used at the absolute perfect time in the narrative — i.e. when things are getting especially dark — and elsewhere, the score complements the on-screen action well. It might have been nice to hear a few extra tracks in total, as several are reused multiple times, but it’s not a big deal.

Sound effects, meanwhile, are mostly reused from Soul Blazer and Actraiser before it — but again, that’s no bad thing, as it provides a nice sense of coherence between these loosely associated games, and makes them audibly recognisable as being related to one another.

On the whole, then, Illusion of Time is an excellent addition to the SNES’ amazing library of role-playing games. While its “RPG” elements may be pretty lightweight in favour of emphasising the unfolding story — and said story is extremely clumsily told in English — the overall experience of this game is highly enjoyable. It’s a superb follow-up to Soul Blazer, and a ton of fun for those who enjoy a bit of solid dungeon-delving.

Now, Terranigma awaits, and I’m expecting great things!

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More about Illusion of Time

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Want more Pete? Check my personal blog I’m Not Doctor Who, and my YouTube channel ThisIsPete. If you enjoy what you read here, please consider buying me a coffee.

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