Terranigma, ActRaiser, Illusion of Gaia & Soul Blazer | Complete Quintet Retrospective
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- Опубликовано: 4 авг 2024
- ActRaiser, Soul Blazer, Illusion of Gaia, Robotrek and Terranigma-Quintet created some of the most inspired RPGs to ever grace the Super Nintendo. These cult classics are often compared to Squaresoft and Nintendo classics like Final Fantasy, Secret of Mana, The Legend of Zelda, and other JRPG classics, but never got the recognition of those more popular titles.
In this comprehensive documentary, we also delve into their later games, such as The Granstream Saga, as well as their obscure Japanese releases, like Brightis, Planet Laika, and Solo Crisis.
Quintet was formed by Masaya Hashimoto and Tomoyoshi Miyazaki, Nihon Falcom veterans behind the Ys series. They often collaborated with composer legend Yuzo Koshiro, the man behind Streets of Rage's addictive soundtrack.
Over the past year, I fell in love with the story and games of Quintet. I hope that after watching this video, you will too.
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#ActRaiser #IllusionOfGaia #Terranigma
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TABLE OF CONTENT
0:00 Introduction
2:15 Humble Beginnings & Nihon Falcom
6:09 Ys I & II
8:00 Ys III & Departure from Falcom
9:01 ActRaiser
16:55 Soul Blazer
26:38 ActRaiser 2
31:54 Illusion of Gaia
41:46 Robotrek
50:59 Terranigma
1:10:27 The Rising Tide of Irrelevance
1:11:49 The Granstream Saga
1:19:49 Solo Crisis
1:21:23 Code R
1:22:30 Brightis
1:25:04 Planet Laika
1:28:26 End of an Era
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CREDITS
First editing draft and visual graphics work by Lewis Hudson:
www.lewishudson.com/
/ lhudson
Voiceover editing by Erik Peabody:
www.vikingguitar.com/
Thumbnail artwork illustrated by Ransom:
/ ransomlives
www.artstation.com/ransom/
Japanese quote voiceover by Theo Akimaru:
www.theovoice.com/
Robert Jerauld voiceover by Liam Jeffries:
www.fiverr.com/liamjefferies
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SPECIAL THANKS to these amazing resources:
shmuplations.com/quintet/
www.terraearth.com/
www.thesupersnes.tv/compendium/
www.mobygames.com
www.gaming.moe
talking-time.net/index.php?th...
Full list of additional footage or documentation sources available here:
docs.google.com/document/d/1X...
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MUSIC CREDITS
OverClocked ReMix: Terranigma "Beginning of the Journey" by Fredrik Häthén feat. various artists
ocremix.org/remix/OCR04011
Music licensed through Epidemic Sound:
www.epidemicsound.com/track/S...
www.epidemicsound.com/track/A...
www.epidemicsound.com/track/o...
www.epidemicsound.com/track/s...
www.epidemicsound.com/track/z...
www.epidemicsound.com/track/Q...
www.epidemicsound.com/track/m...
Unused music from Sorcerian by Yuzo Koshiro
• Sorcerian - Early Beta...
OverClocked ReMix: Secret of Evermore "Everstreams Through Evermore" by Brink-of-Time
ocremix.org/remix/OCR04296
OverClocked ReMix: ActRaiser "Thy Followers"
ocremix.org/remix/OCR00745
OverClocked ReMix: Soul Blazer "Tears for a Moonlit Knight" by Israfel
ocremix.org/remix/OCR00587
OverClocked ReMix: Soul Blazer "I'm the Soul Blazer" by HoboKa, Smooth4Lyfe, BrothaDom
ocremix.org/remix/OCR03890
OverClocked ReMix: ActRaiser "Fill More Funk" by djpretzel
ocremix.org/remix/OCR00541
Illusion Of Gaia & Soul Blazer remixes by Plasma3Music Remixes
• Illusion Of Gaia / Tim...
• Soul Blazer Ost Remix ...
OverClocked ReMix: Illusion of Gaia "Will Is the Lord" by Scaredsim
ocremix.org/remix/OCR01708
Illusion of Gaia arranged tracks by SourJovis
• Illusion of Gaia - Sig...
OverClocked ReMix: Terranigma "An American Expanse"
ocremix.org/remix/OCR04013
Paths Less Travelled: Terranigma - OverClocked Remix album
terranigma.ocremix.org/
ocremix.org/album/94/paths-le...
Jean Of mArc feat. Gamer of the Winds - Blue Magic (Prime Blue)
Supercoolmike, Chimpazilla, Jorito - Her Resolve (Prayer)
David Kiraeth - Soothing Rhythm (Liotto)
Clément Panchout - Everlasting Campfire (Evergreen)
HeavyViper feat. Gamer of the Winds - Wade into the Changing Tide (Ship)
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Игры
*Note:* _This is a re-upload of the video, which corrects pervasive render errors due to my inexperience with my new video editing software._ This was a labor of love, and took hundreds of hours to document the fantastic story behind Quintet!
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To be honest, the errors went by fast enough that not many noticed.
@@tipulsar85 I never received a complaint about them, and I missed them on my first spot check on various parts of the video, but once I heard them I couldn't even stomach watching the rest of the video. And this was after nearly a week of review and corrections, just one last-minute mistake messed up everything. Lesson learned.
Excellent work. Again.
It's all good. I remember enjoying Illusion of Gaia and ActRaiser 1+2 but I still kick myself for not getting SoulBlazer or playing Terranigma.I never knew how Enix was founded because I always thought it was a founded company. Great video and thanks for the hidden tips in ActRaiser. I never knew actions made more worshippers and earthquakes made better infrastructure.
@@lonewolffang Yeah I didn't realize how that worked until I replayed it again. Its overall effect on the game is fairly minor, but it's cool to see one side of the game talk to the other in that fashion!
Quintet is the definitive "gone too soon" dev. Not only was it founded by the original Ys team, another legendary series in and of itself, but they released some of the most memorable and underrated titles of the SNES.
I really hope some dedicated fans tackle the project of translating the missing Quintet games because they do breathe passion and originality despite generally being B or C grade games budget wise.
Thank you again for this retrospective into one of my favorite devs!
Thank you for watching, and remembering this special studio!
Terranigma was one of my favorite games as a kid. It really deserves to be rediscovered. Fun game with a cool development mechanic and surprisingly emotional ending. There was only one annoying boss fight where you had to hit a certain level to do good damage, but amazing experience
I know the boss fight you're talking about, and I think I showed it on screen when I was discussing difficulty spikes. She's super annoying, and can kind of soft-lock you if you're not careful, due to the level threshold system. And she's the only time you really need to use magic during a boss.
I plan to replay it. Luckily for me I forgot a lot of it including the ending so I can rediscover it. Although I remember clearly Bloody Mary, the wolf scene, and that goat scene where the female goat proposes that you eat her dead husband to survive. Amazing game.
@@Indigo_GamingI guess you mean Bloody Mary? I loved that whole castle, but I was a kid when I played it and that was my first impression of Spain, and it stuck with me that Spain is a place of horror lol.
when you talk about "Bloody Marry", its funny that the most Gamer of Terranigma, forgott at this point, you do have Magic. Mostly because at the most Bossfghts, magic has no effect. At "Bloody Marry", Magic HAS an effekt. so even if you not doing a BIG grindphase before fighting her, you can here use the "Atom Ring" and kill her easy and fast.
You don't need magic for this Boss fight nor do you need to grind to a certain level.
The problem lies in the weapon that you obtain in the castle of Toronia. The Ice pick. As not many people knew back then, including myself, the weapons in Terranigma happen to have an elemental effect. In this case, you guessed it, ice which Bloody Mary has a resistance to.
If you switch to the weapon you obtained least before the Ice pick you do remarkable damage in comparison to before.
Give it a try and slap yourself in the face like I did when I first heard about this. :D
Some of the gameplay concepts and design here are WILD.
If they came out and advertised these games today, the internet would be on fire.
I do feel like a lot of the 1990s games had incredible ambition, but couldn't always stick the landing. I think the indie space today is carrying that spirit for the most part, but a lot of games nowadays are simply "[Game You Like] but _____".
The beloved and forgotten rpg trilogy, wish they got more love
It seems that they got a lot more recognition years after they died than during their height of success. I don't think they (as a studio) were a household name back then, only their games were known.
@@Indigo_Gaming A lot of things aren't appreciated during the time they come out unfortunately, but they gain a ton of recognition and love later down the line when people reevaluate their perspective. It's especially true with movies. John Carpenter's the thing is one of my favorite movies of all time and it's generally considered one of the best horror movies, but most people hated it when it came out. Especially the critics, you would think it was one of the worst movies ever.
@@temper1337 Great to see you mention The Thing. It was hated when it first came out but later on gained a great following. I'm glad John Carpenter experienced this late success because he deserves to be recognized.
@@hieioni3354 The practical effects made the movie age like wine too. They look extremely well done even by modern standards and look genuinely terrifying. I think critics played a huge role in the movie not being as liked since people seemed to trust them more back then. These days you can have critics hate a movie while the audience all loves it and vice versa. I rarely ever listen to what critics have to say.
@@temper1337 Rob Bottin was so talented to do all the practical effects for the movie. The defibrillator scene is legendary and iconic! And yeah, I think you're right, people listened to critics more back then. However, The Thing was released almost at the same time as E.T. and people preferred the friendly alien version to the horrifying one. The Thing stood no chance against E.T.
P.S. Yes, I don't listen to what critics have to say nowadays either! They always hate hate hate for no reason at all.
Terranigma... such a wonderful game. The music, the visuals, the cutscenes... the ending. Beautiful. It was the first videogame I saw it as art. And Illusion of Time as it was named in Europe, was also magic. :_)
Both are amazing experiences, and I still listen to their soundtracks even today.
Will happily comment again, this video does such a great job of encapsulating the legacy that Quintent left. Fantastic job 👍
Thanks, Dave!
Indie, thanks for always taking great care and research when it comes to your documentaries.
I am so glad I got to play Terranigma last year. It sucks the US never got a proper release of the game. Videos like this has really sparked a desire to go through and play old SNES games I never got to play, or never got to finish, as a kid.
I'm glad my work is inspiring others in some small way to revisit these games. Not all have aged perfectly, but there's still some greats in here.
Well, I guess I get to watch someone cover one of my favourite series. Again.
It was a very tough decision, and I know this is probably a terrible decision in light of "the algorithm", but I was very disappointed in the audio track of the previous video, and wanted to make this the best video it could be.
@@Indigo_Gaming Considering how I'd like the offerings from Quintet to be venerated, this decision has my full support and understanding :)
Every time you upload, my gaming backlog increases in volume. Although this is a re upload, I know it will be something I re-watch again in the future. It was not a wasted effort for you to correct any editing mistakes since your videos generally age like fine wine.👍
Thank you! I know this re-upload may prematurely squelch the reach of the video, but I'd rather have fewer views than have something that I worked on for so long botched at the last second by a render error.
Commenting here since I did on the other vid as well. Thank you for doing this. Illusion of Gaia was an incredibly formative part of my childhood.
I just finished playing Terranigma and I'm in tears like a child. An incredible game, light years ahead.
When I think about how many games from that era have become cult classics without having a tenth of the brilliance and vision of this title, I go crazy.
Do yourself a favor and play Terranigma. An exciting experience with a strongly human soul awaits you. Upbeat, bright, and not afraid to be bittersweet at the same time.
Awesome. That's an amazing experience to complete something for the first time. This was really a time of pure artistic visions, a rarer thing nowadays with big-budget titles.
@@Indigo_Gaming indeed it was! Thank you for this great video about Quintet. I am also very curious about where Tomoyoshi Miyazaki is now, but I hope he's OK and living the best life he can.
31:10
Act Raiser 2 definitely sticks out from its peers. It has a unique feel and mechanics.
Like with Zelda 2, people didn't judge the game for its own merits, but rather, just didn't like the changes based on their expectations of what a particular franchise should be.
The dev at the end is right - the game has a lot of depth. Making that transition from cumbersome oaf to a god of death is extremely gratifying.
I'm especially impressed with the movement system, which is cumbersome but very effective once you figure it out.
I always look forward to your releases. Great work as always!
I won't repeat my previous comment, but it's always good to see a new video from you.
Hell yeah, very much looking forward to watching this. I rarely replay games, but I've beaten Soul Blazer several times. There was something so unique about these Quintet games that hasn't been duplicated since.
I agree. I'm coming to the realization now in life that I find flawed but intriguing works way more enjoyable than "perfect" run-of-the-mill titles.
Looking forward to watching this when I get the time.
I appreciate you stopping by! I hope you enjoy it.
Well done video (again) Indigo!
Thank you for honoring quintet
This documentary was incredibly well done, great job!
This was a real treat to watch. Thank you for making this!
Thanks for watching! Put a ton of work into this project.
I was impressed by how much research and work went into creating this documentary.
Well done on this documentary, so well put together.
Rewatching this video along with some of your other work recently. You make me want to become a better writer & editor, and it's a crying shame that this video hasn't got the attention it deserves. RUclips be a cruel mistress. Respect for dusting yourself and moving forward. Compromises may sometimes be necessary, but the passion in your work is always apparent.
Dollar for dollar my most unsuccessful video, but I honestly think it's one of my best. Thanks very much for watching and commenting, man. Means a lot.
The attention to detail in this documentary is impressive! 🔍
Much appreciated!
The way it was edited was so seamless and smooth, it was a pleasure to watch.
You have so much passion for Quintet's games and now I'm enjoying them too.
This is fantastic work! As someone who holds Terranigma in a special place in my heart, this was a beautiful and nostalgic experience. I really enjoyed learning the history of the game!
So glad you enjoyed! I had played most of these games previously, but wanted to present them as a package so that you could follow the evolution and story behind them. 👍
This just popped up in my recommended feed. I'm so glad someone made a video about this underappreciated developer. Illusion of Gaia and Soul Blazer were some of my favorite games as a kid, and I plan on playing Terranigma finally this year.
Went under the radar late 2022. Glad you managed to see it! One of my favorites despite its lack of viewership.
I've been a fan of these games for years and this documentary gave me a whole new appreciation for them! 🎮
this deserves more views. great video! i learned a lot
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed.
I've rewatched it.
So glad you covered it in extensive detail, because these studios need to be remembered for their efforts and creativity.
Thanks, Hemang! Glad you enjoyed.
The attention to detail in this documentary was truly impressive!
This documentary brought back so many memories of playing these games as a kid!
A masterpiece of a video remade? I just love your work dude.
It's basically the same video, with a couple very minor visual fixes, and the audio re-rendered correctly. The original video had everything but the voiceover skipping like a CD Player while jogging. Dating myself, I know. :)
Few things in gaming can match walking around the world map wrapped up in that comfy red blanket in Terranigma.
Thanks for another great episode!
Couldn't agree more. We didn't know how good we had it. Thanks for watching!
I played both Illusion of Gaia and Terranigma, discovering the latter on FantasyAnime website. While Illusion of Gaia was nice, Terranigma blew me away. Between the gorgeous resurrection scenes and the divine soundtrack, this game actually managed to creep its way toward Chrono Trigger in my list of favorite games. It saddens me Terranigma never got a US release, and we may never see a remastered version, but I'm still happy I got to enjoy this masterpiece. Thanks for this retrospective.
It's truly a masterpiece of the 16-bit era. I've always argued that later 2D games hold up much better than early 3D games. Thanks for watching!
Video is phenomenal. Thank you Indigo
Thanks for the kind words, and thank you for watching!
I'm so happy to see you're still active Indigo, your videos are so incredible and you have the best voice and delivery. I'm just so fond of your work and had been missing your presence! Of the games in this video I only have actual experience with two of them; Illusion of Gaia, where I played it at a friend's house who was relatively recently new to America from Germany, I would have been 9 years old when the game released here and I recall vividly sitting in his living room at our apartment complex and watching him play, and then getting my own turn. The other game I know well is Actraiser, a game I bought blind around the same age during a very rare trip to a local video game store. I had only enough money for one game and I bought it because I thought the box looked cool. That game was an obsession of mine and a childhood friend for that summer, and when we finally beat it we were jumping up and down with excitement, haha.
Really makes my day to receive comments like this! I'm glad you enjoyed the video. If you liked ActRaiser, the recent remake on Steam is worth a try! I also recommend Terranigma, but that obviously is a bit difficult to play now without emulation.
It's all good. I'll just watch this a second time to help you out! Thank you for this content, some of my best childhood memories involve these games!
I appreciate that! I know I'm probably killing the momentum of this release, but the frequent audio hiccups and misfires in the original render lowered the experience in my eyes. Thanks for watching!
This was so awesome to watch!!
Thank you for reminding people about these games
The storytelling in these games was truly captivating and this documentary did a great job of showcasing that 📜
Another excellent video. Quintet deserve the recognition.
The soundtrack in these games is iconic, glad to see it highlighted in the documentary
This is simply amazing, love it!
The footage of the games in action was a nice touch, it brought back a lot of memories.
A great way to discover more about these classic games.
The soundtrack in these games is iconic, and it was great to see it highlighted in the documentary!
The interviews with the developers were really interesting and gave a lot of insight into the creative process.
I've never been a fan of these games but this documentary has completely changed my mind!
The interviews with the developers were insightful and gave a great perspective on the games' creation
🎮🎵🕹️ This documentary brought back so many memories of my childhood spent playing these games. It was a real trip down memory lane! 🎮🎵🕹️
I always forget Granstream Saga is a part of all of this. Makes sense why I loved it so much, I used to rent it from Blockbuster every weekend.
I rented Chrono Trigger and played it for the first time through Blockbuster. Good times!
The nostalgia is real with this one! I can't wait to replay these games now! 💕
The interviews with the developers were incredibly insightful and gave a great perspective on the games' creation! 🗣
I was surprised how modern the commentary about game design was, considering these interviews took place 25 or so years ago.
Keep making amazing videos like this!
The insights into the design decisions behind the games was really fascinating.
I loved the way it explored the history and development of these classic games.
This documentary was an incredible trip down memory lane!
Informational, entertaining and nostalgic is my goal, generally!
The documentary was well-produced and had a great balance of information and entertainment!
I am so glad I stumbled upon this video, it was a real treat for fans like me.
The editing was seamless and smooth
Oh.... My....God....20 second in powerful opening statement. Im sold.
Worked really hard to get that intro right. I hope you enjoyed!
The research and work that went into the documentary was impressive
I really enjoyed watching this!
The animation was well done, it gave the documentary a polished feel.
This documentary made me want to replay all of these games again!
Thanks for sharing some of the lesser known games, I will be checking them out now.
The music from these games was always so memorable, it was great to hear it again.
These games have truly stood the test of time and it's great to see them getting recognition.
The innovation and creativity behind these games is impressive
The commentary on the creative process was insightful
Played Terranigma a few years ago, and it blew my mind. Super underrated, and that story is gonna stick with me. Needs a Steam port or something. Surprised critics don’t celebrate this game.
I know the character artist for the game has been lobbying for a rerelease for some time now, but I don't know who holds the rights to it. Quintet (which has folded from what I can tell), Enix or Nintendo.
The voice actors for these games did an amazing job, and it was great to see them featured in the documentary!
This documentary was a great reminder of how much these games meant to me as a child!
The interviews with the developers really gave me an appreciation for the amount of work that went into these games
Shout out to Shmuplations.com for most of these interviews, they're a great resource.
I love how the documentary explored the cultural influences on these games, it was truly enlightening!
I couldn't help but feel a sense of nostalgia while watching this documentary.
I just wanted to say that in your poll you didn't gave a choice for the kind of video you make, and that is just the best kind. Man, you are making the best video game videos I've ever seen. Thank you. I can't imagine why you would give us choice between other kind of vids, when yours are just the best.
Always appreciated! I hope you liked my latest as well. Haven't covered a ton of JRPGs lately, but I wanted to cover this studio at some point, so here we are!
The behind-the-scenes look at the development of these games was incredibly fascinating! 🤓
I never knew how interconnected these games were, great job on the research! 🤯
The gameplay is so great!
A great watch for fans of these classic games
I love the 16 bits gen and Quintet was one of those developers that made that Gen my favorite. It was very difficult for them the transition to the 3D era but their legacy is great.
Great retrospective too , I hope one day you create a video about Final Fantasy VI (snes) , love your content.
It was tough for so many developers to make the leap to 3D. Thanks for watching, and I do love FF6, that would be an interesting topic to cover one day (although many, many others have already done so).
Incredible content as always, I only played Gran Stream Saga but I loved it as a kid. I believe Planet Laika is translated, I'll have to check it out! Thank you for doing such a great job, hopefully this brings more awareness to a semi-obscure dev who left us too soon
Fans did do an english translation hack for Laika while this video was being made, but I also excluded almost all fan updates in this video for documentary purposes. The only other one of note that I recommend would be the alternate ROMs for Terranigma, which fix the framerate for US users, and an optional fix for its letter spacing in dialogue.
It was great to learn more about the people behind these beloved games.
Amazing work. I've played through Actraiser, Soul Blazer, Illusion of Gaia, and Terranigma and each one remains one of my most solid and impactful memories of the medium of video games, and except for IoG I've played each of them only once. I fully agree when you say that their games were often greater than the sum of their parts. For Actraiser, the action and sim segments were both simplistic even for the time. The exploration and combat of Soul Blazer and Illusion of Gaia paled to the Legend of Zelda. And Terranigma lacked the cast of memorable characters found in nearly every Final Fantasy game.
And yet, to play any of these games was to have your mind invited to ponder the circumstances of these worlds and the people in them. To consider the themes and flesh out what living really is and what that means to you. I've played many games over my gaming lifetime, but Quintent games were among the small but mighty few that had me thinking about them long after the credits rolled.
Well said, couldn't agree more! Although I think IoG holds its own a bit better than you'd expect when compared to a 1st-party Zelda title or Squaresoft game, they each did have their shortcomings. In the end, though. It didn't matter. They were enjoyable, off-beat adventure classics.
The interviews with the developers were fascinating!
Brilliant editorial.
Thanks for watching!
Lovely documentary, Indigo!
Thanks. I'm glad you enjoyed!
I've been a fan of these games for years and it was amazing to see their development history 💻
The nostalgia is real with this one! 💕
I played the hell out of Quintet's games when I was younger, they were some of my favorites, and I didn't even realize they all had a common developer at the time. There's something unique and deep about the subject matter they chose for their games, they def don't make em like they used to.
Yeah, it was an interesting find when I realized I had incidentally played several of their games without realizing it. Kind of shows how valuable branding is, and the effectiveness of labeling something as part of a series.
The documentary was well-produced and had a great balance of information and entertainment 🎥
This documentary was a great reminder of how much these games meant to me as a child 💭
Awesome documentary and not just that covered one of the most brilliant underrated development teams in gaming. But how they all formed their crafts from other series like Ys which is even more popular today.
It's like they planted the seeds to so many great things, but left the industry before they grew into what they are today. Beautiful and sad.
It was a great reminder of how innovative and ahead of its time these games were.
The footage of the games was a nice touch
Love this video ❤️❤️