Extra Nate: The Illusion of Gaia

The Illusion of Gaia plan

I’ve been thinking for a while about doing small videos on the side and writing on the side as well. I’ve hinted that I’m thinking about some sort of small episodic writing in the future. I think one thing that could help keep my writing chops… limber? Is that the word? One thing that can keep my writing mind well oiled and lubricated… that didn’t sound any better actually. I’m keeping all this in. The point is I wanted to examine the story of a game. That’s where I’m going with this.

The game in question is The Illusion of Gaia for the SNES. A game published by Enix and created, nay, forged by Quintet – a studio that mysteriously ceased to exist and nobody knows what happened. This was my favorite SNES game as a kid and I would like to look at it and examine why I felt that way and if I think it still holds up. At a minimum the plan would be for me to capture gameplay footage, write blogs about it, and potentially translate those into videos. I’m not sure if there’s any desire for a stream and that might get difficult because I can’t do a stream without my buddy Superfly (Ben). At a bare minimum you’re getting more Extra Nate from me and probably some sort of video. You’re welcome.

Why The Illusion of Gaia?

I know it’s not a book and that’s sacrilege but we’ve done non-books before. Besides there’s a good reason for it: this informed some of my writing that we’ve already talked about on the podcast. How so, you’re asking the computer right now, unaware that I cannot hear you. Well the story is about a young boy during an age of exploration. He went to the Tower of Babel with his dad a year ago. His dad hasn’t been heard from since and he somehow ended up in his hometown and has no idea how he got back. The boy’s name is Will and ever since that experience he has telekinetic powers. If you can see how that has influenced my writing, then congratulations! You are Ben. Because Ben is the only person who could have possibly read this blog AND Edenverse.

My main character from Edenverse was a boy named Will with psychic powers as well. The story of the game gradually builds up and reveals itself to be one that will literally reshape the world. That was the idea I had for my Edenverse arc. So yeah, I’m interested in seeing what things are actually like once I get back into the game and examine it with an adult’s eyes and perspective. So look forward to that. Or don’t. I don’t need your approval, dad.