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/vr/ - Retro Games

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2189610 No.2189610 [Reply] [Original]

Is there any game similar to Terranigma in its story ? That is, a twisted and desperate adventure with a lone protagonist.

Ever since the beginning I've really been feeling the loneliness of the character ( and it really starts going that way once he loses his ability to speak to animals and plants ) and the scenario turned out to be really nice, with strange events such as the old man asking him to give up, when you still don't know who he is, and his fate only becoming darker.

This game almost made me shade tears and Ark's story was really depressive. The only similar thing I ever got to play was Silent Hill 2 and it's… not really the same ( still, I think of it as a better game, but not by much ), there isn't a single bit of joy in this one : what I really liked wasn't the despair in Terranigma, but how beautiful even that is shown, and how it feels " poetic " even though he's fucking going to disappear.

I'd be interested by anything similar be it a game or not. The only non-game content I know which is similar is an unknown as fuck manga called Spiral.

>> No.2189614

Illusion of Gaia, Soulblazer. Are the pseudo-prequels to Terranigma.

>> No.2189616

>>2189614
I've tried those long ago ( never gotten really far ) but they didn't seem to have any special story, do they ?

They're still in my list of games to play, though.

>> No.2189625

>>2189616
Gaia starts bubbly but gets really depressing really quickly.

>> No.2189698

Here are some that you could possibly like, based around lone protagonists struggling through dark and twisted worlds:

>Blood Omen
>Soul Reaver
>Planescape: Torment
>Vampire: the Masquerade - Bloodlines
>Deus Ex
>Gothic
>System Shock
>Vagrant Story
>The Longest Journey
>Abe's Exoddus
>Abe's Oddysee
>Thief
>Thief 2: The Metal Age

Out of those, I recommend checking out Blood Omen and Abe's Oddysee first. They both take place in especially shitty worlds.

>> No.2189725

>>2189698
Thanks for the list, tried a few of them already, will try the others.

>Deus Ex
>System Shock
>Gothic
Really good games but loneliness isn't really a concern and while the world is still dark and twisted the main character isn't really important.

Maybe it's only me but I felt like watching through Ark's eyes in Terranigma and lots of thing felt sad, as he's just a martyr.

>> No.2189732
File: 3.00 MB, 375x166, 1420591721989.gif [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
2189732

>>2189610

> That is, a twisted and desperate adventure with a lone protagonist.

Does the character go through moral degradation or just fights to stay true to himself in a really bad world?

>> No.2189740

Read the mangas Buddha, and Phoenix, by Osamu Tezuka.

as for games, what you're looking for would be

>obviously the related games, SoulBlazer, Illusiong of Gaia, and Granstream Saga
>Live-a-Live
>Demon's Souls/Dark Souls
>Shadow Tower and Shadow Tower Abyss
>King's Field, Eternal Ring, and Evergrace are pretty much lonely-game too
>Another World
>Shin Megami Tensei series(especially the 3rd game, Nocturne)
>Metroid series
>Yume Nikki
>Shadow of the Colossus
>Alundra
>Vagrant Story

>> No.2189745

>>2189740
>non retro titles

CHEATER CHEATER PUMPKIN EATER

>> No.2189748

>>2189725
Legend of Mana is good too

You should read the manga "BLAME!"

it is one of the most amazing lonely protagonist manga I've seen

>> No.2189751 [DELETED] 

>>2189732

It's not really like that : the character is manipulated through the whole adventure and doesn't really know anything until really late in the game, but hints are everywhere, and when you learn the truth you get to remember those and finally understand them.

A really good example is how the guy who asked him to save the world at the beginning tells him to give up when he dies, which is unexpected and makes no sense until you discover he wanted him to die because he isn't needed anymore.

Also he gets to discover he's just a clone and not a real human, and he'll disappear once he kills his maker - the same guy who told him to save the world, and who you believe to be a good guy the whole adventure.

It's the same way James Sunderland is always hinted of his sin in Silent Hill 2 but only realizes he killed his wife at the end of the game, and then later kills himself or closes himself on his desillusion ( or just goes back to normal life ) depending on the ending ).

>> No.2189759

>>2189751
woah nigga back that shit right the fuck up we use spoiler tags here for a reason

>> No.2189765

>>2189732

It's not really like that : the character is manipulated through the whole adventure and doesn't really know anything until really late in the game, but hints are everywhere, and when you learn the truth you get to remember those and finally understand them.

A really good example is how the guy who asked him to save the world at the beginning tells him to give up when he dies, which is unexpected and makes no sense until you discover he wanted him to die because he isn't needed anymore.

Also he gets to discover he's just a clone and not a real human, and he'll disappear once he kills his maker - the same guy who told him to save the world, and who you believe to be a good guy the whole adventure.

It's the same way James Sunderland is always hinted of his sin in Silent Hill 2 but only realizes he killed his wife at the end of the game, and then later kills himself or closes himself on his desillusion depending on the ending.

>> No.2189772

>>2189759
Not him but this is Terranigma we're talking about, not many have played it.

On the note of "things you need to know," you're going to want this patch because the only way you're ever going to play it in English is in PAL format:
http://www.romhacking.net/hacks/541/

>> No.2189792

>>2189765
He even loses his ability to speak to animals and plants, which were the closest to him, and while you still get to meet them you see him not understanding anything anymore, and still, he gets try to communicate with old friends or other animals which offer him some services.

As far as I remember he only speaks of loneliness with a goat asking if he fears the dark, he says " Not really, I'm used to traveling alone. " but when the goat starts speaking of how humans fear loneliness, he doesn't give his opinion anymore.

There are also choices to engage into relationships, but they never lead anywhere and he's always hesitant

>>2189759
Sorry man, that's done.

>>2189740
Will keep those in mind. Again a few I already played :

>Dark souls
The world does give nice feeling but then again as almost every RPG the main character seems inexistant.

>SMT
Played those on NES. The "fade" graphics do give that lonely feeling. Didn't get to play the newer ones though.

>> No.2189804

>>2189748
Will not that game.

I haven't really gotten to read BLAME! but I'll try again. Kind of feels like Freesia but it's a bit hard to start, I think.

>> No.2189813

>>2189765
>>2189792

Now that I think about it the worst thing might be how the protagonist's just wondering why he does all the shit and how meaningless it feels instead of saving the world for the sake of being a hero.

They even explain why he felt like he had to do it at the beginning of the game.

>> No.2189821

>>2189792
well in dark souls I'm pretty sure its implied that the main character is some sort of immortal wraith from the game demon's souls, who chose to become master of the soul beast tree monster thing and that tree monster becomes the basis for the new world that's created

he doesn't really have a personality, he's just some sort of eternally trapped god repeatedly travelling through a world of people and monsters that he created himself to relive his original journey

so even though he's just a blank slate made up by the player, he's got that angle of being forced to wander endlessly through a prison of his own making

>> No.2189824

>>2189821
Oh what the fuck. I thought just everyone was some immortal god in that game.

>> No.2189826

>>2189610
I get the loneliness feels from Metroid. It's just Samus on an alien world, with no backup and a bunch of things trying to kill her. Not /vr/, but Metroid Prime was particularly good at it. Any of the games should work though.

>> No.2189828

>>2189813
at least he gets to die beside his waifu and their souls and their love lives on through their light-world counterparts

>> No.2189838

>>2189826
Thanks for the advice.

>>2189828
As a bird, though, and we're not sure whether his Elle will live again.

I also believe he's only a spectator to the last scene with someone knocking on the door, as he's a bird, but I can't guess who is the unseen guy. I've read some theories about how it might be the light counterpart, since he's seen in the autel's dream drinking the poison gobelet with Elle, but again there's no proof and no real reasons he'd do that.

When I first saw that scene, I thought there were gonna ruin the game with an happy ending and Ark coming back. I'd still be fine with that but the actual ending is better.

>> No.2189859

>>2189792
Also there's something else that appealed me. At one point you don't know what the hero wants to do and why, and while it can kind of be guessed you're unsure where it's going.

Ark chooses to destroy Dark Gaia instead of living in peace on the surface. Again he just avoids relationships with others and goes to his death.

No one even waits for him anymore as Elle is dead, and he could have guessed the elder is not an ally.

>> No.2189860

>>2189838
The characters in Illusion of Gaia and Terranigma are reincarnations of the protagonist and his lover in Soul Blazer. That first guy is originally an avatar of god, which is the light/darkness or creation/destruction duality that the games are based on. He chooses to enter the human cycle of reincarnation and become a mortal, but he's still basically Jesus. When Ark finally sleeps and turns into a bird, Dark-Ark and Dark-Elle definitely die, but Ark's Light half/ego/whatever carries their spirits as they return to the living world, and he's the one knocking at Elle's door after everything is over. It implies that no matter what, he always returns to her side, because that's the choice he made when he still had the power to choose anything.

>> No.2189862

>>2189859
dude both versions of Elle wait for him at the end do you even remember the ending

thats the only reason he does anything, to return to his life with her

>> No.2189870

>>2189859
Ark knows better and any peaceful life he could have attained would be a falsehood because he knows about the evil that's in his world. I'd say this is the hero's calling if anything because he is aware of an evil that only he has the power to defeat

>> No.2189876

>>2189860
But the reincarnations can't be the copies, so the protagonist gets absolutely nothing in the end.

I didn't know about all this, it makes me want to finish Soul Blazer even more now.

>>2189862
I think the Dark Elle he sees is an illusion as the real one died earlier. It's just a reconstructed version of Crysta.

He'd clearly given up before even meeting them and seems to accept to disappear. Overall the reborn Ark is really dark and faithless.

>>2189870
I think he said something about finishing what the mistake he started. I don't think he did it as a hero's duty but only to end what had started, that's how I felt the game at that point at least.

Ark never feels the same as a hero, he always gives that martyr vibe instead.

>> No.2189883

Why the fuck Ark doesn't keep living fused with the Golden Child after defeating Gaia ? Would his body still have disappeared ? I thought he became a human at his rebirth since he gets a new body

>> No.2189889

>>2189883
Wait a second.

Since he suddently grows bigger, does that mean the body is made of crystal blue ?

Implying it isn't and it's a real body, doesn't that mean Light Ark keeps it like a jerk and goes back leaving Dark Ark in the underworld ?

>> No.2189896

>>2189870
Ark knows that his life and the place he grew up, the world where he was created was only a reflection of the real world that was supposed to exist. It wouldn't continue to have meaning if the real world was erased, so he had to put the force of chaos and destruction to rest for the cycle to continue the way it's meant to.

The only actual evil in the game however is the result of the mistakes made by humanity

>> No.2189904

>>2189896
That's Mother 3 not Terranigma

>> No.2189908

>>2189876
they're not copies. they're reflections. memories. even when the physical, positive aspect was destroyed and everything fell to ruin, they were reborn from the memory of their existence, and when the light returned the shadow receded in response. everything in the games world is made up of both halves, neither one is false, both are part of the other.

The "copies" become the real versions again when the real ones are reborn.

>> No.2189913

>>2189904
actually it's real life too

>> No.2189916

>>2189913
Shigesato Itoi even said " the very lives you are living now are Mother 4 "

>> No.2189945

>>2189916
also mother 4 fangame release when
>inb4 june

>> No.2189956

>>2189945
never I hope

I have no faith in my generation's ability to "get it"

>> No.2189958

>>2189956
seeing how it's gotten delayed after a 'definitive' release announcement, I'm likening the effort the devs put into it to Black Mesa. I know BM has the hours over M4, but Mother games aren't hard to design on a superifical level.

>> No.2190270

>>2189610
I can't not see Lina Inverse in this picture.

>> No.2190726

>>2189956
It looks decent but I doubt the story and universe will beat the previous games, except Mother 1 maybe.

>> No.2190731

>>2189610

Thanks for all the spoilers, you tremendous faggot.

>> No.2190740

Anyone knows what the crystal spear actually is ?

Also what's up with the boxes, is Gaia the one freezing everyone, or is the "light box is in the underworld's and vice versa" theory true ?

It seems rather fucked up and I'd rather think of the spear as something similar to the Guardian. The box does look like it has a lot of meanings and power but it isn't shown.

Yomi tells of a future contained in the box, but they are not even needed except to the player as a menu, only the final weapon can be considered important, and the Yomi keeping an eye over Ark which only makes me think even more that Gaia is the one freezing everyone.

>> No.2191068

>>2189860
What about Act Raiser ?

>> No.2191074

>>2191068
Some consider the Actraiser games to be a prequel of Quintet's trilogy and Grandstream Saga to be an epilogue of sorts.

>> No.2191581

>>2191074
I don't really understand why, after all these RPGs, Quintet chose to make a racing game and then ended.

>> No.2191654
File: 129 KB, 470x420, Quintet.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
2191654

>>2189860
ITT people who don't know what "thematic sequel" means.

Read Quintet interviews. They've always wanted to make a game like Terranigma. That's why all their games that aren't Robotrek are thematically similar and focus on creation. Their themes are progressing toward Terranigma.

The "they're chronologically linked" theory makes no sense at all. Magridd's kingdom, Gaia's comet, Deathtoll, the hollow earth, these are all things that are incompatible between games. Lisa, Kara and Elle's roles are very much different. Blazer is an angel while Ark is basically the devil's proxy. Etc etc. You can't really fit them together without some pretty lame mental gymnastics that fall flat in the face of what the game designers said.

>>2191074
Granstream Saga's story and design isn't even by Quintet itself. Yokota talks about this in Szczepaniak's interview book. He also regards Actraiser 1 and 2 as part of the "creation" series btw.

>>2191581
>Quintet chose to make a racing game and then ended
Quintet also made Planet Laika (a really bizarre game where multiple personalities for the main character allow for multiple game modes) and Solo Crisis (strategy RPG based around terrain manipulation). IIRC they also made Brightis (and RPG) and some Godzilla game for the Dreamcast.

The reason for this was that during the SNES era they had a partnership with Enix, which gave them priority when releasing titles but confined them to RPGs once Soul Blazer stuck. During the PSX era they broke their partnership and instead went with Sega and Sony, and tried to branch out to other genres. Problem was that the oversaturated market + the experimental nature of their games didn't mean a lot of sales for them and they went bankrupt.

The more you know.

>> No.2191658

>>2191654
they're not chronologically linked, they're linked through reincarnation like Tezuka's Star System, you retard

>> No.2191664

>>2191658
I do agree. They can be seen as a single world, though it might have multiple fate and multiverse shit.

>> No.2191672

>>2191658
>through reincarnation like Tezuka's Star System
Do you even know what the Star System is? Tezuka had character designs and used them as "actors" (hence the "star" in the name). There's nothing about reincarnation in this system.

And clearly the Star System has nothing to do with Quintet because Blazer, Will/Tim and Ark are most certainly not the same "actors". Hell, none of the games even have the same artists.

If you want to fan wank about how Raiser/God somehow ends up "reincarnating" as a fake devil copy the more power to you. Just know that it doesn't make much sense and it isn't what the devs were aiming for. I know a life of video games have conditioned us to think every "series" must be in a chronological sequence but these are just stand alone titles with thematic links.

>> No.2191740

>>2191672
god and the devil are two halves of the same divinity in this series you massive autist. both versions of ark are proxies of different aspects of the same divinity. neither one of them is a fake, they are both the same guy.

Tezuka's Star System is based under the framework of the same characters appearing within the stories as actors, but within those stories those same looking characters have the same -karma- and are reincarnations of the same individual across different eras and parallel universes and kalpas

do you even know what a kalpa is you fucking mongrel

>> No.2191765

>>2191740
>god and the devil are two halves of the same divinity in this series you massive autist
1. God and the devil are not two halves of the same divinity in neither of the ActRaisers, nor in Soul Blazer or Illusion of Gaia,
2. This isn't a "series". Fans call it a series because they feel similar. They're not officially a series. Referencing minor elements doesn't make it a series, otherwise Robotrek would be part of it too. They're just very similar thematically because they share a common writer.

Here's what Kouji Yokota had to say about it being a series:
>Yes, I think there was a common custom or thread shared among the games, in terms of scenario writing, such as like the delivery of the dialogue, and so on. So in that effect I think there was some resemblance. Starting with ActRaiser, and followed by Soul Blazer
a n d Illusion of Gaia, the games are definitely
connected, in Miyazaki-san’s mind, at least. Whereas Terranigma and Granstream Saga are somewhat different.

> but within those stories those same looking characters have the same -karma- and are reincarnations of the same individual across different eras and parallel universes and kalpas
[citation needed]

>do you even know what a kalpa is
Yes, I do. And I also know that the cycles that could be interpreted as kalpas are vastly different between Illusion of Gaia and Terranigma. In Gaia, every 800 years the comet approaches and you play through the fourth cycle. In Terranigma, you're never really told what cycle it is, and there's no comet at all.

Not to mention the idea of kalpas is completely absent in both ActRaisers and in Soul Blazer.

>> No.2191776

>>2191765
anon I think college has completely ruined you for conversation and independent thought

you are rigid as fuck and it's really depressing

>> No.2191797

>>2191776
If you're >>2191740, you're the one who's giving me a college vibe. You're applying a bunch of concepts to things that don't really need them and trying to sound academic (kalpas, really?) when there's no need too. It's all very critical theory. Sometimes a blue courtain is a blue courtain.

If you think I'm rigid because I'm all for interpreting the games for what they actually have instead of for what you think they should have that's fine. Like I said before more power to you if you want to make up stuff and apply it to them. The games, in particular Terranigma, are already deep enough. No need to drag made up reincarnation links between other games or fancy terms if there's no need too.

Want to talk about Terranigma's story, there's a bunch to talk about. How it relates to Buddhism and Judaism, to Inca mythology, hell we can talk about Astarica for days. But I really don't see the point in making up plot points that don't need to exist between games.

And there's no need to act as if these made up plot points are fact. Because, you know, they're not.

>> No.2191837

>>2191797
I don't see what is out of place about deconstructing the symbolism and concepts in a game that is based on world religions from the perspective of religious study

>> No.2191862

>>2191837
What you're saying is absolutely fine. I said so myself in the post you're quoting, only in much less fancy terms.

What I think is out of place is trying to shoehorn all games into a single cosmology just because they're by the same author. Each story has different concepts and symbols. Trying to fit them all into a single narrative just because you THINK they should be related is senseless. You're stripping each work of their own unique world. I don't think pointing out how unique each game is isn't "rigid". It's a disservice to the games to warp existing elements and ignore others just to make them fit into a vision that simply isn't there.

To analyze a story you can a) work with what's right there in each story and applying the concepts that need to be applied or b) apply an outside, foreign vision and shoehorn it into the text. That's what I think is out of place (and it's all too common in academia, but that's a topic for another time).

>> No.2191913

>>2191862
I think you're really overreacting to the fact that I phrase my opinions as facts.

Why do you have to be such a beta, passive-aggressive conversationalist?

>> No.2191924

>>2191913
I think there's only one person here costantly insulting others for voicing opinions while not addressing or presenting any arguments to defend their own.

>> No.2191932

>>2191924
nigga do you even know where you are

this is 4chan I ain't gonna sit here putting time and effort into bullshitting brain theories about videogames

you want to have well composed intelligent and respectful discourse go back to your new games journalism clique board where you belong

don't put me down just because you can't read the fucking mood

>> No.2191947

>>2191932
>nigga do you even know where you are
Get out.

>> No.2192079

>>2191740
>those same looking characters have the same -karma- and are reincarnations of the same individual across different eras and parallel universes and kalpas
Yes, that's why Rock Holmes went from kid detective hero to the man who caused the nuclear holocaust that destroyed all life on Earth.
Or the relentless detective that raped an invisible girl that he had just met for absolutely no reason.
Tezuka tends to use his stars for similar roles but there's not any sort of karma in between his works.

>> No.2192124

>>2189614
Soul Blazer has a stronger overall concept. The towns get restored bit by bit as you complete dungeons, so if you get worn out, you can always head back to see what stuff you unlocked.

I wouldn't say Soul blazer has a better story than Terranigma, but it was kind of hard for me to take Terranigma seriously the way it halfheartedly tries to root itself in the real world.

>> No.2192125

>>2191947
yea you don't know where you are

>> No.2192286

Is there any bad guy similar to the Elder[/spoil] ?

That guy was freaking amazing.

[spoil] During almost the whole game I was waiting for Ark's return to meet the Elder and not Elle. This man is the fucking best ally Ark has, and the only one who knows his shit and could have helped him. His apparition in chapter 3's beginning only strengthen that feeling of him being a nice guy.

And still, after hearing he's sided with Dark Gaia, I didn't expect him to be Dark Gaia himself : when you meet him, he doesn't hurt you and speaks normally. This is in my opinion what makes him such a nice boss : he isn't acting like a tard " muahahah I am the devil I will kill you ". Instead, I'd say he's regretting how he has to kill Ark, but still has to do it.

That last discussion of theirs was a really nice moment in my opinion. They say about nothing and seem to regret what will happen, but still they don't seem as if they feel enemy.

>> No.2192295

>>2192286
What the fuck, how did I mess the spoilers like that.

Even when the Elder carries Ark to the Gaia Stone, I didn't think they were going to fight. It's so calm I simply thought he was about to tell him the truth or something.

What's more, he just fights him in a material form : he most likely could have destroyed Ark's body instantly. It's as if Ark had given him back love.

Does he even show any hate himself ? Unless you think of Astarica's god as Dark Gaia, he never does anything bad by himself and isn't show to really be horrible. He only starts being hateful in the final fight.

But damn, that last part with him was nice. It isn't that usual scene of a final battle, but more a forced one : Ark has to finish his job, and Dark Gaia himself finds it regrettable.

>> No.2192298

>>2192079
I'm not sure you understand karma then because all the characters are actually the same one soul reincarnated an infinite number of times, everything is nothing, nothing is everything, oh the mind rending horror and beauty of it all

but within that there are loops of individual identity and their slow transition into others

>> No.2192306

>>2192295
Dark Gaia and Gaia are the same god. Of course God doesn't want to kill his son, but he absolutely needs his son to kill him.

>> No.2192308

>>2192306
That's the kind of amazing enemy I'd want to fight again. I really like that bastard, even after all he did.

>> No.2192346

>>2192298
Good job saying absolutely nothing of worth in regards to the works of Osamu Tezuka and his Star System.

>> No.2193180

>>2189740
I've been reading Phoenix today and I have to say it's really good, but I didn't understand how it had anything to do with Terranigma.

Then I reached the second part.

>> No.2193301

>>2193180
at least some good came of all this

the 4th volume is the best (but perhaps not my favorite)