Illusion Of Gaia Dark Space

After you meet Will's cousin Neil and explore the Condor in the Nazca Plain, you find yourself in the Sky Garden.

Said in the first Dark Space in Edward's Prison; minor changes in the first text box. The second text box is more interesting, as it stops after 'area' and requires another input to progress despite the lack of a marker indicating so; the rest of the text scrolls up to fit everything else. You suffer less damage from attacks. Dark Space - Appears as a glowing ball. As you approach it, it turns into a gateway. You can save your progress. Gaia also heals you and gives you dark powers from time to time. Only in dark space may you transform into Freedan or Shadow.

Find the Orbs

In the Sky Garden, you find several people of the Moon Tribe. One of them says that you need to find the hiddenorbs here, and you should find them in clockwise order. Another says that you can jump off of the tilesto see the upside-down world.

Dali painted The Persistence of Memory at the age of twenty-seven years old. If we are looking for the autobiographical meaning of Persistence of Memory, the clocks might be representative of his adolescence and are fading or melting away because Dali cannot remember them accurately now that so much time has passed. The Persistence of Memory is by far Salvador Dali’s most recognizable painting, and there are many references to it in popular culture. Although it was conjectured that the soft melting watches were the result of Dali’s interpretation of the theory of relativity, Dali himself state that their inspiration was camembert cheese melting under the sun. The Persistence of Memory was painted by Salvador Dali in 1931 and is one of his most famous works. It is currently housed in the Museum of Modern Art, New York. It has a huge fan following to date and is frequently referred to in popular culture. The Persistence of Memory was painted in 1931, at the height of the Surrealist Movement. During this time, innovative artists explored ideas of automatism and the self-conscious in their work. This experimental approach to art culminated in a tendency toward peculiar subject matter that evokes dreams and challenges perceptions. The insects in 'The Persistence of Memory,' a fly on one clock face and the ants on the face-down clock, variously signify death, disintegration and/or a parasitic relationship with time. Dali's painting combines three art genres: the still life, the landscape and the self-portrait.

There is a door to the Dark Space in the northwest corner of this first room. After saving, go back to the northeast, where you entered the room, and use the northeast exit that is just south of the firstMoon Tribe Shadow that you saw.

Northeast Sky Garden

There are four Sphinx statues near the entrance. Go south to find two Nitropedes. Kill them, but be carefulof the bombs that they drop when they die. Go south, then east, and kill more Nitropedes. Go north to findtwo Blue Cybers. They shoot lasers, and they can also shoot their hands forward as projectiles. Go northto find another pair of Blue Cybers. After getting rid of them, go north up the stairs and kill the Nitropede,then go east and kill the other Nitropede. Go south down the stairs to reach a large area. There are severalNitropedes here and some Blue Cybers. After killing them, go northeast and open the chest to getRed Jewel #18.

Now go south and go to the bottom of the large area. Jump off of the cliff in the south wall. You will flip tothe dark side of the garden. There are Dinapedes here, which drop bombs more forcefully, and there are RedCybers, which shoot lasers and their fists, but their fists come back like a boomerang. Go northeast fromthere to find two Dinapedes and several Red Cybers. Keep going east to reach the northeast corner of thearea, then go south and carefully go past the flame snake. Keep going south and kill the Red Cyber while avoidingthe flame snake. Continue west past another flame snake. You reach a Dinapede. Kill it and go south.You reach a crossroads with a Red Cyber. Kill it, then go east and kill the Dinapede. Go southeast and jumpoff of the cliff to go back to the other side. You find a chest that contains an herb, as well as a Blue Cyber. Kill the Blue Cyber then jump down the cliff again.

Now go west and kill the remaining Dinapedes, then go west around the path and jump off the cliff at the end.Go east and kill the Nitropede, then continue going east to find a statue. Its sword wakes up and becomes a Slasher. Hit the sword until it disappears. Open the chest behind the statue to get a Crystal Orb.

Jump down the cliff again and follow the path to the crossroads, then go north, then west. Go to the south of the large area and jump down the cliff. Go northwest and follow the path to return to the first area of the Sky Garden. After you heal up and save, go to the southeast area of the garden.

Southeast Sky Garden

Go south and kill the Nitropede, then go south and go around to the Blue Cyber and kill it. Then go south down the ladder. Go east along the ledge, then go up the ladder at the end. Go north and kill theBlue Cyber, then go east to kill the Blue Cyber next to it. Go south and you find a statue that holds a Slasher. Kill the Slasher and then hold L or R to move the statue out of the way of the ramp.Go west and up the ladder, then run down the ramp.

Go north from the other ramp, then kill the Slasher that the statue holds. After you kill the sword,hold L or R to move the statue. There is a secret door behind it. Go in. You find a door to the Dark Spacewhere you can transform into Freedan. Do so, then go back outside. Go up the stairs behind the statueand kill the Nitropede. Then go east and north and kill the Nitropede there. Continue going north and killthe Blue Cyber and the Nitropede. Then fall off of the cliff in this area.

Go east and kill the Dinapedes, then use the Dark Friar technique to kill the Red Cyber in the middle.Jump off the cliff on the east side.

Kill the Nitropedes and Blue Cyber here to open the path to the south. Go south and jump off of the cliff.Go west and kill the Dinapedes, then go east and kill the Red Cybers. Go east and kill the Dinapede,then go north and kill the Red Cyber to open the barrier so you can reach the chest. Avoid the flame snakesthat come out and open the chest to get a Crystal Orb. Go back to the central area of the Sky Garden where the Moon Tribe is.

Southwest Sky Garden

When you are ready, go from the first area of the Sky Garden to the southwest. Go south and kill the Nitropede,then go west and kill the two Nitropedes and the Blue Cyber. The path opens to the north. There is a dead endto the south, so go north and kill the Nitropedes. Jump down the cliff here.

Go west and open the chest to get Red Jewel #19. Then go east and hit the switch, then jumpoff of the ledge again.

The path west is now open. Go west and kill the Blue Cyber. Stairs appear that allow you to go up to theledge. Kill the Blue Cybers up there, then go south. Kill the Nitropede to open a path to the east.Then go west and kill the three Blue Cybers. Go north, then go east from the door to the Dark Space and jump off of the cliff.

Go east and use the Dark Friar attack to hit the switch from a distance so you don't get trapped by the pillars.Then go back and jump down the cliff. Go into the Dark Space and transform into Will. Leave the Dark Space and go south, then when you reach the treasure chest, go east. Run down the small ramp and keep running in order toreach the two statues on the right. Use Psycho Dash to destroy those statues. Go east. Before using thebig ramp, jump down the cliff. Go east, then go north between the two rows of statues, avoiding the flamesnake. Kill the Red Cyber to open the paths, then go east and kill the Dinapedes, then continue east and kill the red Cybers. Go south from there and kill the Stinger sword that the statue is holding. Go west and killthe Red Cyber, then go east and hold L or R to pull the statue onto the tile that is west of the statue.Go north, then west, then south, then west, and drop down the cliff. Use Psycho Dash to destroy the statues again, then go up the stairs and run down the big ramp. Open the chest at the end to get the Crystal Orb.

Return to the big central area with the Moon Tribe Shadows.

Northwest Sky Garden

Use the northwest exit from the central Sky Garden area. Go south and kill the Blue Cyber, then go south and use the big ramp. You have to press up in order to reach the small ramp to the left.On the other side, kill the Blue Cybers and the Nitropede. Go north, then use the big ramp, but when you jump off of the little ramp, hold left in order to stop in the middle rather than going up the secondramp.

Kill the Nitropede, then go south and kill the other Nitropede. Go south and jump off of the cliff.Go east and kill all of the Dinapedes. Go east, then south to find a statue holding a Stinger sword. Use Freedan's Dark Friar move to hit theStinger, then kill the Stinger when it floats to you.If you need to transform into Freedan, go north, then west, and you reach a Dark Space door.Back at the statue with the sword, kill the sword as described above, then hold L or R to movethe statue onto the switch to its left. The statue below you will disappear. Before you go south, go west, continuing west instead of going down the cliff, then kill all of theenemies down below. Go back to the cliff that you passed, and jump down it. Kill all of the enemies to theeast, then go east and south and kill the enemies there. Go back north and jump from the cliff, then go east, then go south past where the statue was.Kill the Red Cybers,then go to the southeast corner and jump from the cliff. Go north past the ramp and kill all of the enemiesthere.

Finally, go to the big ramp. If you press up after going down the ramp, you reach an herb. If you go downafter using the ramp, you reach the Crystal Orb. Go back to the central area after you get the orb.To reach that area, go to the dark side of the garden and go north from the statue that is holding the sword. Keep going north, then jump down the ledge, then jump down the cliff. Use the big ramp to returnto the entrance of this area.

Put the Orbs in Place

You should have four orbs now. Equip them and use them on the round holes in the middle of the first areaof Sky Garden. After all four are in place, you can walk up the new bridge to the north to reach theboss area.

Viper

Go north up the stairs, which collapse as you go up. If you are Freedan, charge up the Dark Friar attack.At the platform at the top, go up close to Viper. The wind blows you back. As soon as Viper starts flappingits wings, hit it with Dark Friar. Step to the side to avoid the exploding feather attack. Don't worryabout the large chunks of rock that float upward. These do not hit you. Sometimes Viper stops near the topof the platform. It will spit feathers/crystals at you. Stand to the left or right from Viper during thisattack to avoid damage. At all other times, stand at the bottom of the platform to avoid the featherattacks. Soon Viper will be gone.

After the battle, go to the left side of the platform and jump down from the tile.You and the others will go to Mu.

A Legends of Localization reader named Theodore asked a question about Illusion of Gaia for the Super NES:In the SNES game “Illusion of Gaia” (called “Illusion of Time” in Europe), there’s a special move (used by Freedan the Dark Knight) called “Dark Friar”. The move has absolutely nothing to do with friars, so I assume it’s a mistranslation (especially since the rest of the game isn’t translated very well). Can you tell (or at least guess) what this move was supposed to be called?I’ve never played this myself, I only watched a while back and recall being confused by the “Dark Friar” move too.

So I just took a look in both the Japanese and the English versions of the games to see what the deal is:Gaia Gensouki (SFC)Illusion of Gaia (SNES)So it looks like the “Dark Friar” move is called “ ダークフライヤー” in Japanese. Because of how Japanese-to-English transliteration works, it could be written a bunch of different ways in English, “Dark Friar” being one of them.

Another could be “Dark Flier”, like a move that has something to do with flying or sending something flying. But since the game specifically mentions that you can use the move to “scorch a distant enemy”, it seems that “Dark Frier” was the intended meaning:This move also causes a big, red fireball to shoot out of Freedan’s sword, and if you’re sufficiently powered up you can even make it explode into more whirling fireballs:So it seems clear-cut (in fact, I thought I figured it out at this point myself!) but there’s a bit of added confusion – the Japanese description for the move says, “A shockwave flies from your sword.” Which fits more with the “Flyer” meaning. And since that’s the connection made in the original source text, I’m inclined to think “Flier” was intended all along.I’m not sure why the translators went with “friar” instead of “frier/fryer” or “flier”, but in hindsight I doubt they would ever have been as memorable as “Dark Friar” 😛Anyway, hopefully that helps solve that little mystery!

And thanks to Dan for bopping me on the head with my own screenshot! Oh wow, FF IV (but especially VI, and maybe SoM too) would be really interesting (even though realistically the first draft of the script wouldn’t have fit the space limitations).An Earthbound build without graphical/text censorship? Would be really nice 😛I’d like frankly whatever they managed to finish with Final Fantasy V, Front Mission or Bahamut Lagoon (which were announced then suddenly scrapped).Or the beta localization of GBA Mother 3. Even if it’s merely Engrish (probably).Illusion of Gaia is a special case though. It was really planned to be released in this beta form under that title (“Soul Blazer: Illusion of Gaia”), but Nintendo came and published it, not before editing the text a bit. Dark Frier is indeed the most sensible translation, and a fine example of why direct translation is often a bad idea. As for the tooltip question of why it’s called “dark” when it doesn’t seem to be all that dark, that’s because all of Will’s moves in Illusion of Gaia are considered to be aligned with darkness.Quintet was really big on “light and dark” themes in their Super Famicom line-up, especially with their “big three” (Soul Blader/Soul Blazer, Gaia Gensouki/Illusion of Gaia, and Tenchi Souzou/Terranigma).

As the official Japanese title of Soul Blazer should tell you, they were not good at gratuitous English. Ah memories, one of my favorite SNES RPGs ever (rented it as often as Secret of Mana; too bad I never bought a copy)!

I sadly never played Soul Blazer though, and I don’t need to mention the travesty that was Terranigma not being released here.Even as a kid, I always knew “friar” was not correct at all (with thanks to the story of Robin Hood for first introducing me to the term), but I just had to accept the fact somebody didn’t do their homework in the proofreading department. Despite that, the move itself is just awesome when you acquire the upgrade. It can clear out enemies within two seconds of using the split extension.