TomGuycott's General Trivia

[TomGuycott]

Opening this thread as a general thread for trivia evidence in games that I don't think I'll go in as heavy detail as other games.

Actraiser 2:

The evidence I'm providing today is the connection between the main game bosses and areas and the Seven Sins. The symbolism is fairly obvious and outright stated for some, but a little less obvious for others, sometimes due to the English translations.

Gluttony
One of the most straight-forward demons is Gluttony, named after the sin it represents. The demon itself is a giant ant monster. The areas near it are called Temponia and Modero, representing Temperance and Moderation, which are the opposite of Gluttony.



Envy
Jealousy is an obvious reference to the sin Envy. In the game, the city of Devote (in other words, to devote yourself to another instead of being jealous towards them) had a queen who became jealous of all things beautiful. In the game a nearby town on a tortoise's back is dragged under the sea by a squid monster, presumably controlled by the queen's ghost. A temple containing the flame of the queen's jealousy is then accessible after, allowing you to fight her.



Wrath
The kingdoms of Justania (Justice) and Favorian (Favor) are under the influence of the demon Fury (or Wrath), the war raging to the point that Justania's king is actually transcending death to proceed with it. Fury takes the form of a giant man made of fire, fairly appropriate imagery.



Sloth
Near the towns of Diligence and Industen (Industrious) there is a demon called Fatigue causing people to become weakened. In the English version it is unclear whether Fatigue is the first demon, an emaciated skeleton riding a rain cloud, but the second demon, whether Fatigue or not, is definitely a representation of Sloth. The boss is a giant snail demon, and ultimately, aside from coming in and out of its shell, the lazy demon doesn't move an inch.



Greed
Here is where some of the naming becomes confusing and the imagery and dialogue is what must be relied on. The town Leon near the castle Stormrook are affected by the king's deal with a demon called Doom. Doom is supposed to be Greed based on the fact it changes the king into a golden dragon covered with jewelry, who the player fights in a room filled with gold. The nearby prison, run by a crown-wearing goblin wizard, is called "Gratis", meaning "for free". It is unclear whether the goblin is Doom/Greed, whether Doom/Greed is actually the dragon, or whether the king was actually the Goblin and it is lost in translation. Regardless, in the final battle where all Seven Sin bosses are revisited, it is the dragon that returns, not the goblin.



Lust
The city of Lovaous is frozen by the spell of a demon in the Palace. It is some form of ice demon that takes the form of a beautiful woman.



After defeating the demon, the king is still in a deep sleep. A greater demon called Deception is said to be infesting his mind. This boss, in the form of a fetus (or is it a womb? I don't actually know about that) with the king's body swallowed up inside, is the equivalent of the sin of Lust. It would make sense, because this demon was in his mind, and the connection to a lesser demon in the form of a beautiful woman who froze the king's land would make more sense.



Pride
After the first six main demons are defeated, the town of Humbleton finishes building a gigantic Tower of Souls, atop which they place their mechanical false idol, a reference to Pride.



The Tower of Souls is actually named a bit differently in Japan, making the connection to the sin of Pride a bit more obvious.



After the battle with Pride, the final stage opens up, where all the previously mentioned seven bosses are fought a second time, followed by the final battle with...

Satan
Tanzra is allegedly called Satan in the Japanese version, and with good reason. He's the spitting image of Satan from Dante's Inferno, a giant beast with three heads (one facing off screen, one barely sticking out from the side of the screen, and of course the center one), frozen from the waist down in a giant lake.

[Psychospacecow]

Scariest fetus ever.

[Dazz]

The entire Actraiser is filled with religious connotations, so it is by no means surprising the read all of this.

[TomGuycott]

Quintet Developer Trivia:

Throughout Quintet's games, they have inserted abilities involving a visual of a Phoenix or Firebird. It is usually one of the most powerful attacks, in some cases an ability gained as part of the story exclusively for defeating the final boss of the game. There are four specific examples:

Soul Blazer:

The first appearance of the Phoenix is obtained late in the game as part of the story, a necessity to defeat the final boss. In this appearance (as with most others), slashing the player's sword will send a bird of fire flying across the screen.




Actraiser 2:

In Actraiser 2, the Phoenix ability is simply one of the magic abilities available at the start. When holding the attack button, the Master starts to glow. A symbol in the middle of the HUD shows what spell will be cast, which is based on the Master's direction and placement. When performing a flying dive and holding down, releasing the button turns the Master's diving attack into a Phoenix. The game's opening depicting the events of the first game's end shows the Master performing this technique.




Illusion of Gaia:

The Firebird appears again as a story element, a final ability at the end of the game. For that reason, the visual reference will be spoiler tagged.

Spoiler

Will gains the ability when combining his strength with Kara.


The Firebird gives Will's Shadow form a fiery projectile, similar to Soul Blazer, which Illusion of Gaia is the spiritual successor to. This ability is only available in the final battle.

Robotrek:

The final instance of the Quintet Phoenix is in Robotrek. While not a story related ability, it is one of the final weapons that the player will be able to build in the game. It fires a Phoenix across the screen that goes through all enemies it touches. At its highest levels, the Phoenix covers the entire screen and becomes undodgeable.

[TomGuycott]

A bit more of Actraiser 2 trivia:

The names of the various locations throughout the game often have some sort of symbolic or ironic implications when related which of the seven sins the demons influencing them represent.

Sloth weakens the towns of Diligence and Industen (Industry or Industrious).


The land of Devote was dragged underwater by its queen, who became envious of all beautiful things. The idea of devoting oneself to another contrasts being jealous of them.


Temponia (Temperance) and Modero (Moderation) are infected by the plague of Gluttony. Temponia was known for its extravagant amount of food, but after the invasion of demons they had to survive with what little they had left.


Favorian (Favor) and Justania (Justice) were once friendly nations, but after being infected by the wrath instilled by the demon Fury, Justania waged war on their neighbors.



The king of the city of Lovacous had his mind filled with the demon Deception, who has a lot of symbolism of the sin of Lust. The fact that Love remains in the name of the city suggests this is still heavily implied.


The people of Leon were forced into a prison by the king of Stormrook. The prison was called Gratis, which means "for free", ironic given the nature of a prison and also playing on the greed of the king when infected by the demon.



Lastly, the city of Humbleton, an advanced civilization, is engaged in a plan to build a tower to reach the Master's castle. They have no faith in god, and thus the angels cannot read their minds. Their intention is to become Masters themselves, and they do battle with the Master at their Tower of Souls (or Tower of Babel in the Japanese version).