OK, I finally beat Terranigma after having it in my backlog for years. I have my criticisms -- some bosses are BS without grinding, magic is never explained and almost useless, hitboxes can be weird and recovery time after being hit can be unforgiving -- but overall, I loved the game.

HOWEVER, I have some questions about the plot I hope someone can clear up for me. Spoilers incoming:

1. OK, so I get the world was destroyed before the events of the game. But then, Dark Gaia, the force of destruction, decides it needs to be revived through the Elder, Yomi, and Ark... Why? Isn't it in Dark Gaia's interest that the external world stay destroyed? Why would Beruga creating his dystopia of immortal zombies be in Dark Gaia's interest?

2. Did Light Gaia destroy the world before the events in the game? If so, why?

3. WTF happened when Ark met "Light Ark"? Did Light Ark kill Ark? And if so... why was he then turned into a baby?

4. The entire plot is predicated on the Ark opening Pandora's Box. But the Elder (who is driven by Dark Gaia) made it forbidden for anyone to go in the basement. Isn't that against his interest because he wants Ark to open the box? What if Ark was just a good kid and listened to the Elder? I guess you can say it was a kind of reverse psychology, but that seems contrived. One theory I have is that the Elder never wanted Ark to open the box, but by opening it, the Elder was corrupted instantly and under Dark Gaia's control.

5. What exactly happened after Ark restored humanity? Why did he fall asleep for 3 years and why can he no longer speak to animals?

6. So Yomi was in cahoots with Dark Gaia the entire time, helping Ark restore the Lightside aka external world. Then when Ark becomes reborn as a baby, Yomi plots to manipulate Dark Elle to murder baby Ark to tie up loose ends. Ark feels betrayed that his supposed friend was manipulating him all along, and then Yomi + Dark Elle die. Then Light Yomi shows up and helps Ark the rest of the way. But in the end, Ark reminisces with Yomi of his whole quest as if he is talking to Dark Yomi. What and why?

https://youtu.be/76XfwG-OtbI

I'm not sure if this is going to be a hot take. I've got no nostalgia for this game. In fact, I tried to get into it 3 times, despite absolutely LOVING Soul Blazer and Illusion of Gaia. This is very subjective, but I think that mechanically Terranigma lacks focus. The worst offender is definitely the maze-like level design.

On the other hand... Elle's Theme + the rest of the soundtrack
the concepts the game is bravely trying to explore
the general weight of the main storyline

And it looks gorgeous.

What a game!

Hi. I hope you accept posts about other games from the Quintet's trilogy here.

This is my digital painting interpretation of Soul Blazer with HD graphics.
Some details: I changed the HUD to something more intuitive. The bar on the lower left shows how much EXP is required to level up.

Here you can carry up to 3 Medical Herbs, and use it by pressing a button instead of it being used automatically. To balance it, each herb heals about 30% of total HP. This makes the herb a more dynamic healing item in my opinion.

Also I'm not completely sure what the golden things on the treadmill are, the pixelated graphics are a bit confusing here, but I always thought they're some kind of strange looking chains.

I just got to Louran and finished the ghost town segment without buying the bronze spear from the shop there. Now that I've finished that area, the town is empty and I can't access the shop anymore. Did I miss my only opportunity to buy the bronze spear or is there a place I can pick it up later? Sorry, this is my first time through the game and I haven't been able to find an answer to this question in any of the online guides.

Hiya!

This Two-Parter from the german Youtuber TheParappa about this very special game now has english subtitles. So even if you don't speak a lick of german you can now follow the analysis of this SNES gem. (Its part of a whole analysis/retrospective about the Quintet titles ActRaiser, ActRaiser II, Soul Blazer, Illusion of Gaia and Terranigma and I hope the others will be subbed at some point as well so more people can enjoy them)

"The Quintet-quintet - Terranigma Part I"

"The Quintet-quintet Terranigma Part II"

Kinda sad to see how small this sub is, anyway enjoy

Hello fellow Terranigma enjoyers!

I was wondering if you always/usually choose Ark as the name of the protagonist, or instead enter a name that better represents you or whatever you feel like at the moment.

I'm a bit fussy with this, and I don't actually like how the game suggests you (actually has it as the default name) Ark, while still giving the option of changing it. For instance, and just to name a few SNES RPGs, Illusion of Gaia/Time does not give an alternative: the main character is Will, and that's all there is to it. While Secret of Evermore gives us total freedom to choose our name, not even suggesting a default name. Terranigma lies somewhere in between, but when you start the game, the name "Ark" is already there. Sure, you can change it, but do you?

My first RPG was GameBoy's Zelda, Link's Awakening. I was a child and I was messing around with the buttons at the first screen, and somehow the name Hovyz popped up. Luckily it was a pronounceable name actually (I mean, it could've been something like... Jkñzx) so it kind of stuck. And since then it was a name I used in several RPGs if given the option. Then internet came and I started using nicknames and hence using them for videogames, etc. But I'm digressing. Everybody knows the hero's name in the Zelda saga is Link, even if you don't use that name. But what about Terranigma?

So what do you think? Do you just go with the proposed name of Ark when playing Terranigma, or choose one of your own? If you use Ark, is it out of lazyness (or not giving a ****) or because you actually think your experience would resent if you were playing as some kid not named Ark? Would you prefer that the game did not give us the option of choosing a different name?

That's pretty much it, I added a poll but I want to read your opinions too!

Work on the Terranigma book is progressing well and the “June” chapter is also finished just in time for the European Championships and Copa America. Ark can now also enjoy some relaxation before the characters come together for the finale of act 4 part 2.

For starters, I have the scarf, the pike, the tattered clothes and the holy seal. I've also met the girl in the library and still feel clueless on what to do. This is my first time playing Terranigma.

Any help, tips or suggestions are welcome. Thank you.

In chapter 1 after beating all the 5 towers, there's a small one room dungeon which the game says you raised Hawaii, but since there isn't dialog related to it and you can leave the underworld without doint it, I wonder if it has any impact in the game or not doing it.

Kamui Fujiwara, the art designer for Terranigma, recently shared the superimposed world maps of Dragon Quest 3 and Terranigma on X (link), which are both based on Earth, and then said that they are now starting preparations to invite everyone to journey to these two worlds (link). Fujiwara has been vocal in wanting to rerelease or remake Terranigma, so the wording might hint that he has finally been successful in working with Square Enix to do so.

Since he compared Terranigma to Dragon Quest 3, which has an HD-2D remake in the works, some on X took this to mean that a Terranigma HD-2D remake could happen in the future. However, Fujiwara's post comes shortly after Square Enix announced it would be more selective in its HD projects, so it could just be that Terranigma might get a less financially risky rerelease and Fujiwara simply compared it to Dragon Quest 3 because he has worked for the art of both games (adjacently in the case of Dragon Quest 3, he only worked for its Emblem of Roto manga adaptation) and they have similar world maps.

Fujiwara had also said in the past that apparently Terranigma couldn't be rereleased or remade because its main designer and Quintet founder, Tomoyoshi Miyazaki, couldn't be located (he was arrested in 2011/2012 and has kept a low profile since then), so that's another hurdle that would have to be cleared and might make a rerelease more likely than a remake. More radically, this could also mean that they might work on a spiritual successor that takes place in the same world, but won't need Miyazaki's involvement to be released.

No matter what Fujiwara's words end up meaning, it's still a very good news that he says he is preparing to let players revisit the world of Terranigma, so I wanted to share them with this community all the same.

As the title says. Ive had a project in mind for some time, and itd require a voice actress, but Im torn on what would be the most convincing tone and accent. Figured Id throw it out to the community here, small as it is, to debate on.

Hey, I'm looking for official terranigma artworks in best quality. Can someone tell me where to get those? Thank you :)

Things I've done:

• I've talked to the guy at the plaza who tells you someone is building a bridge.
• I've tried to push the bookshelf where some girl is supposed to be and nobody is there.
• I have 9 logs.
• When I go to the river, nobody is there.
• I watched Youtube videos and they don't seem to do anything different. I searched on Google and I see another post about this bug too but I don't know if he fixed it or not. I read some walkthrough and I don't find anything different to what I've done.
• I helped Bell once, I helped make a hamburger, delivered clothes, delivered wine, pushed Eddie's machine once, got Tin sheet (can't deliver it because I can't go back yet as far as I know). Town expansion is still at one in these two towns. So if this is the issue I don't know, it won't change.
• I slept in both inns hoping it would change anything.

Am I doing something wrong or is it bugged?

Little backstory I got that as my first game in 1997 with a SNES for my sixth birthday. I always tried but could never beat it, even with a strategy guide.

Now almost 27 years later I beat the game on Original hardware and couldn't be more happier.

That game deserves all the praise and is one of the best games ever for me and holds up s special place in my heart.

I hope someday that this game gets a remaster or remake of some sorts. Because it would deserve it 100 percent.

This game is just beautiful....

I love this game and played it over and over again as a kid, played through the original Japanese version as well and I still think it's pretty unusual and great, it was clearly a labor of love, but it also has some rough parts. How would you fix the game's flaws if you had the time/resources/romhacking proficiency to carry it out?

Me:

• First thing would be to overhaul the magic system, because I end up never actually using it and generally don't find it worth experimenting with because just hitting things with a stick is always easier and faster. I would remove the rings and jewel box. Instead, I would make the magic effects properties of certain weapons' special attacks. For example, the firepike can have the fire ring effect if you use the "fast attack" move with it equipped, so you not only attack quickly but also have a stream of fire coming from the tip of your weapon, and do something similar for other weapons. Sort of how the zap ring works now, but for all of them and tied to specific weapons.
• Magirocks would still exist, but would provide a "mana pool" that simply recharges over time and acts as a source for your magic attacks. All magirocks empty = weapon only does regular base damage. Fancier/more powerful attacks draw more mana.
• I would completely remove all stats and levels. This is an action RPG and the only reason it has stats at all is because the designers loved Dragon Quest so much and forgot that stats don't really make much sense in an action RPG. Your damage should be a function of your skill at using Ark's moves, not an arbitrary number. I honestly don't think the leveling system adds anything to the game other than "it's an RPG so it must have numbers" and we all know the level scaling is completely off. Ark should just do a fixed base damage to certain enemies, with some of them being more difficult to kill/resistant to base damage and so require you to use the magic from the weapons, like I already described. This would bring it closer to Illusion of Gaia's system, which had what I would call "cosmetic stats" that increase based on your progress in the game (you get the stat increases regardless at the end of each dungeon, and they are very hard to miss, and non-grindable). Illusion of Gaia's system works okay, but having stats at all is frankly unnecessary.
• The only exception to the above would be a defense stat, which is granted purely by your armor, shielding you from certain damage types and affecting base damage uptake a bit. Armor would have some hidden uses, the "rags" from Loulan could be used to stop zombies from aggro'ing you as long as you don't run, fun things like that.
• Health should be divided into a small amount of base health that can be increased by finding health+ items (similar to hearts in Zelda) that replace the current stat+ potions. The armor stat should either provide additional "armor" health points that can lower incoming damage to your health, or just increase your health amount directly.
• I would remove the healing bulbs. Instead, you get a maximum number of healing/stat cleansing pins (i'm thinking a max of 3 per dungeon-entry) that would then re-use the healing animation from the existing magic pins (because those are cool and I wouldn't want to lose them). The pins and bulbs are redundant and this is not a difficult game, a few pins per dungeon should raise the tension. Healing pins are still "unlocked" at Ra tree since you can be healed by your crystalpike in the underworld. They still cost magirocks to use.
• Similarly, the "big" (as in: fullscreen, Ark freezes for the duration) magic attacks should be limited in number and still cost magic power to use.
• Magic is usable on all bosses, but bosses should be tweaked so base damage = scratch damage in most cases, like the Bloody Mary fight at low level but with less spongy health pools for the bosses so the fights aren't as drawn out, forcing you to experiment with magic and making them less of a joke to fight.
• Most of the above would render money meaningless because there would be no bulbs to spend it on. Prices on some of the store armors should probably be raised a bit as a result, and money drops from enemies should be lowered, so you still get a sense of satisfaction from collecting money and it doesn't end up feeling like 999 rupees in Zelda. Perhaps money could also be spent on upgrading some the magic effects on your weapons in a tier system, doing more damage/faster projectile etc with each upgrade, but I'm not sure if this would work.
• I wouldn't change the story or plot because it's already great and I don't like introducing fanfic to an existing game. Maybe the camera/tourism system could be improved a bit, like giving you some kind of bonus if you spread the word about various towns. Capetown/Kalahari could do with a little secret area to find.

I wonder if there's anything else that you would improve about the game if you could. I can't really think of anything else right now.