What Makes Terranigma So Special?

I played it ages ago, not around the SNES time, but around the 2000s when I was dabbling in .... uh something that rhymes with "shemulations".
It is up to this day, one of the best games I ever played story/concept-wise, with some of the best, and most-hitting soundtracks I ever witnessed.
The whole idea of creating a world piece-by-piece, and then rescuing it, only to find out "you know what"... jeez

Ah yes, the one SNES RPG I never played, despite my friends telling me to. By that time I had already moved on tho the PS1.

I don't think your linguistic skill is the problem Mike. It's the beautiful thing about art. A great piece of art reaches a place that words cannot. And Terranigma is a prime example of this concept.

Terran - Ligma

there i got it out of my system, it's been in my brain for weeks since you guys said you were talking about it.

I will be playing along with this one, which i haven't done since Xenogears. And dust off my ff9 discs for that one too.

Terranigma truly resonated with me when I played it at the age of 10. I couldn't agree more with what you said about it – it’s that feeling of depth and transcendence that's so profound. It's something that emerges when all the pieces, including the player, fit together, evoking a kind of metaphysical 'melody.'

For me, Terranigma is probably the most influential work of art when it comes to what I want to create in a game. I honestly don't think I would be working on my own project if Terranigma didn’t exist.

Really looking forward to your analysis!

If I had to be extremely brief in trying to really distill the thesis of Terranigma, it would be two questions:
1. Are you gonna be okay?
2. Are WE?

And it refuses to directly answer those questions, letting you sit on them the entire playthrough.

Thank you for giving some love to this beautiful game. Simple yet grand, it speaks about us.

The first RPG I ever played back in the SNES days,

Still to this day I’m not quite sure why my mum purchased it for me as I was about 8 years old at the time, I don’t think I actually played it until about a year after I got it as I didn’t play games much,

The game is the entire reason I’m a gamer now, I’d enjoyed Sonic and Mario games prior but I got so insanely hooked on Terranigma (and badly stuck for ages around the middle of the game) I haven’t played a game since that gave me the same feeling, I still get goosebumps the moment I hear the main theme

Love you Mike. Discovered this gem through your retrospective. My fsvorite SNES game ever released one of my favorite games of all time.

Can't upvote this video harder

Looking forward to a non-verbal experience!

You walking around the world as if it was your child and you're walking along it while it grows is what makes Terranigma THAT special.
You being used by destiny and taking the wheel of your future sacrificing yourself for the world was the twist that put the cherry on top.

Played this game a couple years ago for the first time thanks to emulation I liked it so so much that I did a couple videos about it myself, I cant express how much I like it, and its a weird thing that I always tear up a little when talking about it (no joke, happening now), the words I would use to describe it are (in order):
Magic
Melancholy
Sadness
Hope
Of course that's not enough and I would fall short in a description, but those stand up out among others.
As old as it is, and as late as I played it, it went straight to my top 10 fav games of all time, that's how good this game is in that department, it's hard to recommend a game for people to play even more so if you hype it this way, but I'd say that AT LEAST, if you havent played it, try read or listen what it is about and I bet it will trigger not only your imagination but your curiosity.
I cant say how excited I am for these coming videos and happy that this game is getting the recognition it deserves.
It almost feels like a love letter...to Earth....it's weird...and as you can see you can just talk and talk about it, in an emotional/melancholic way of happiness and "sadness?"...can't express...

I really enjoy these prelude videos to the podcast coverage. I’ll be there and ready for the deep dive, looking forward to it! 🎉

Perfect, I missed the opportunity to play Planescape:Torment when you did its podcast, but this I will definately do!

YES!! you don’t know how long I’ve been waiting for this to be analyzed by you guys!! I discovered this game by chance, and I wish there was an easy way to get a new copy of it, but alas. This is truly a game that pulls you by the heartstrings, and leaves a deep impression in your heart when it ends.

eeeeee I am so excited. This is my absolute favorite game from the SNES... and I named my kid after a Final Fantasy character..

yess!

I first found Terranigma thanks to the Extra Credits “games you might not have played” over a decade ago now, and I loved it enough to buy myself a reproduction cart in English. Some games are worth it

In order for the world to grow into something new, the present world must cease to be. That's what I took as the theme of the game at least.

To me, this game asks "why" in ways Chrono Trigger asks "when..."

The soundtrack is amazing too... the track "overcoming everything" makes a lot of sense if you think about it

Oh Terranigma, it was a bunch of years when I decided to give it a try on some emulator when I realized it was a deeper game than expected…
It’s around the same of chrono trigger and other contemporaneous.
This one as an Action RPG with all its beautiful visuals is one of a kind though 😊 hope this can drag some of the attention it really deserves

YESSSS BACK TO THE RETROSPECTIVE / REVIEW VIDEOS!!! THESE are what turned me over to your channel and i loved watching all of your video essays on JRPG's because they were so deep and beautiful to watch, no offense towards your long podcast videos but i can't really vibe with those, please go back to making these videos!! there are so many you have to do!

I will play that game. And then I will come back to hear you guys talk about it. That could not be another way.

Thank you Mike

Never played this game but I was always intrigued by it. Looking forward to the analysis podcast 🤩

There is an honesty to this game and its predecessors Soulblazer and Illusion of Gaia that I appreciate. I've been listening to the FFVIII soundtrack again because of the FF Music series and the FH track hits me the same way. The acceptance of universal truths about life: sadness, joy, labor all come through in these works. It gives a deep inner peace that is hard to find outside of these types of art. Can't wait.

its a real pity NA children never got the chance to experience this game.

Me - in dire need of Mike to explain Terranigma to me, as it didn't really click with me. (Only just played it for the first time a few weeks ago because of your recommendation)

Mike releases video - "I can't explain it."

Me - feeeeeetttcccchh!!!

I really look forward to your podcast! I can not explain enough how much I need your explanation of the game.

Started my 1st playthrough of Terranigma now due to this recommendation! Its theme of healing/restoration seems beautiful.

I’ve always wanted to play this it’s a shame it’s so expensive now. It’s not justifiable to buy at over £200. Hoping it comes to the e shop or the virtual console at some point

I grew up with a sega master system so was always a sega lad until I got a ps1 and discovered final fantasy but I think if I had a snes with all the jrpgs I’dve switched, Mario wouldn’t have sold /swayed it for me it would’ve been games like this

I started replaying Terranigma the other day and while the game just gets better each time I play it, I found the english translation to be, let's say 'distracting'. Thankfully I found a 22 year old fan translation for my second language, so I can now enjoy the profound story alongside a competent translation. The patch-maker even included a glossary of notable locations/people/events and musings over what real world equivalents they represent, while also rating the game's many official translations. Apparently the German script is almost entirely different from any other version and very interesting (if you can read German.) In the Japanese version, some of the english names are not shortened, such as Crysta being Crystalholm (they really screwed up this one, huh?), Gecliff being Great Cliff etc. The Japanese, French and Spanish versions also contain a Terranigma Quiz in Neotokyo revolving around Quintet's other games which sounds fun. I do not wish to spoil anything for people just getting into this game, but cut dialog shows that much was removed from the end of the game, which is why it feels the way it does.

Your video on Xenogears is what convinced me to play it and it became one of my favorite games. This may be the push I need to play Terranigma.

So excited for this! One of my most beloved games

A little over 10 years ago, I went to a convention that had a panel discussing RPGs that weren't FF and that's when I learned of Terranigma's existence. People there praised the game highly so I thought "ok I guess the game is good, lemme give it a try one day." I eventually did play it couple of years later via emulator. But the game didn't click for me really. I finished the entire game but it just did not click, and since then I've thought either it just wasn't for me or maybe I'm missing something. I'm eager to see what this discussion series will get into and maybe I'll understand why people love it so much.

The Quintet trilogy is my favorite SNES property so this has me beyond excited.

I'm getting it all set up so I can play alone with the podcast! Always wanted to make the time to complete this mega-interesting game.

This game needs a remaster in the biggest way imaginable!

I seem to be in the minority. I couldn't finish this game. It was just.. not good. I guess ive lost my old school edge. I needed to play with a guide to figure out where to go multiple times. Im not 100% sure where i stopped but was really put off by it.

Very well done video, you have a new subscriber. What did you mean by "secular discourse" when mentioned Xenogears?

Is the Terranigma footage an effect or a remasterization that I have missed? The last time I played Terranigma was 11 years ago with a SNES emulator. Your footage make me wanna play it again.

Played it with a guide wayyy back when, so I wonder if my experience of it would be different if I tried it and it's story without a safety net of always knowing where to go and what to do... but even then, I think I saw that you experienced in the game. It's a story about the passage of time and development of civilization that somehow manages to feel like it's about the passage of time and development of one single guy as well. A journey of mankind and one man in particular, where you take big leaps in life and leave some things behind, and how those leaps leaves you feeling so empty... but you must still go on. No matter how much something might feel like it's over there's still more life to live- different than what you've had so far, but still interesting in it's own way. Each jump in time feels sad, grand and part of the path we must all walk- and unlike Chrono Trigger where we are free to choose our path Ark is pulled along, unable to go back, just moving ahead. There's a melancholy to it that Chrono Trigger doesn't go for, and for those who're susceptible to melancholy... this is a very special game.

Of course that's not to oversell it because this is also the game where we are at one point helped out by a skateboarding kid distracting our enemy with his sick tricks, so you can't go FULL overly serious analysis... but still. Terranigma deserves it's props, and I look forward to seeing where this cast goes.

This game invokes feelings like Forrest Gump does.
Hear me out...
The main character constantly finds themselves actioning events that are beyond their comprehension, but betters the world as a result of said actions.

You create the continents, the plants, the animals, humanity...hell, you are partially responsible for several societal and technological advancements.
You are a mortal with the accidental purpose of a God.
This game invokes a sense of awe like nothing else.

How does one play this game nowadays? What would be the best way to experience it? I haven't touched an emulator in over a decade.

👁👄👁🤳❤️💯

This was the second game I have ever played and it left a lasting impression. This game changed me for the better.

I like this better than Chrono Trigger. They're both at the absolute pinnacle of SNES games, but I give the edge to Terranigma.

There is a fan made redux available for this gane too people 👊

Was this written by AI? Little too dramatic