The Super Nintendo Entertainment System has a lot of beloved RPGs. Chrono Trigger, Secret of Mana, Super Mario RPG, the list goes on. Square Enix, which was two separate publishers then, was responsive for many of those titles as well as some that only fans of the genre remember. Typically, these titles don't get the same amount of attention the big names like Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest do.
However, with Live A Live being resurrected and brought to modern consoles and outside Japan for the first time ever, it's worth looking back and seeing what other titles could be brought back and remembered. The Enix side of Square Enix tends to be pushed aside in favor of Square's output, but it was still prolific during the SNES years, even outside the Dragon Quest series.
Soul Blazer
Quintet was a company that saw a lot of success during the SNES days and that started with the highly influential Soul Blazer. This action RPG puts the player in the role of The Master's servant known as the Hero or Blazer. The evil spirit Deathtoll is killing the world's inhabitants and incarcerating their souls into his monsters. Blazer must liberate them by defeating the monsters, gain the power of the phoenix by obtaining three sacred artifacts, and gather six stones in order to gain access to the World of Evil, where Deathtoll resides.
The gameplay is classic in one of the sincerest ways. The player enters dungeons and clears them out of enemies in traditional dungeon crawling battles. Destroying the monster lairs in the dungeon will release a soul, typically of a human, but it could be an animal or a plant as well. As the player releases more souls, the humans in the nearby town will help Blazer with advice and items. Eventually, once all the monsters are defeated, including the boss fight, the player will move on to the next town. This concept would be expanded upon in later titles such as Dark Cloud, which also took inspiration from another Enix title, Act Raiser.
The 7th Saga
Seven runes have been scattered across the world of Ticondera. These runes were used by a divine being named Saro to defeat an evil entity named Gorsia. Saro's son Lemele, who defeated a demon named Gariso, has now sent his seven apprentices to find and retrieve the seven runes. Each has a power that can be wielded by the user and the one who obtains all seven will be Lemele's heir. This is the world of The 7th Saga, and many twists and turns will happen on the player's journey.
One interesting aspect about this title is the player actually gets to choose from the seven apprentices to play as. Each is essentially a different class and has different abilities and starting stats. Gameplay is the typical JRPG fair with the player exploring an open world, resting and buying supplies at towns, and fighting enemies they encounter. However, a crystal ball the player is given at the beginning allows the player to see what would normally be random encounters. Furthermore, if the player has a rune, and the player loses a fight against another of the main characters, the rune will be taken by that character. It's a very challenging game, but its open-ended approach to its characters and main objective makes this relatively primitive RPG worthy of revisiting.
Illusion of Gaia
Another title from Quintet and it's arguably the most well-known of their RPGs on the SNES. Illusion of Gaia (or Illusion of Time in Europe and Australia) tells the story of Will and is set during the real-life age of exploration. Christopher Columbus is mentioned, real-world sites like the Egyptian pyramids are in the game, and even Will himself is a survivor of a failed expedition. Will stumbles upon a "Dark Space" and is told by a being named Gaia that a comet is approaching Earth, and he must stop the evil it contains.
Gameplay features a lot of characters assisting the player, but the player only controls three: Will, Freedan, and Shadow. Each has different strengths and unique abilities, with some areas of the game only accessible by one of these characters. Unlike other RPGs, there are no experience points. Instead, clearing a room of enemies rewards the player with a jewel that will give a permanent increase in either attack, defense, or health. It also has only one side quest and one rare healing item. It's strange for a SNES RPG, which is why it deserves another look today.
Mystic Ark
This title was only released in Japan, making it similar to Live A Live, but was originally planned to be as a sequel to The 7th Saga. It actually has ties to another game entitled Brain Lord as well. In Mystic Ark, the player chooses between either Remeer or Ferris and wakes up inside a temple or on an unknown island. Upon exploring the location Remeer/Ferris must find the different arks within different worlds contained there in order to return home.
Gameplay-wise, it's a turn-based JRPG with towns to buy supplies from and random enemy encounters. The titular arks, however, grant the player the ability to bring figurines to life as partners to help out on the journey. It would receive a sequel on the PlayStation, and it's one of the more obscure titles on the SNES.
Terranigma
The last in the Quintet RPG trilogy, it sadly never saw a North American release, though an English version does exist since it did get a release in Europe. Terranigma tells the story of Ark, a child of the underworld. After unwittingly releasing a curse onto his village that freezes everyone, he must now find a way to save his village. This leads to much bigger implications, including the resurrection of the surface world and the progress of evolution up to now.
Gameplay has the standard experience points and towns with supplies to buy. However, combat feels like an evolution of Illusion of Gaia and now features a lot more attacks and defensive maneuvers for the player to do. The epic story of the game has made critics and fans call the title the best of Quintet's titles on the SNES and should definitely be experienced today.
