5/5 ★ – kinchia's review of Terranigma.

This game is an absolutely incredible work of art. The presentation is out of this world, an audiovisual showcase for the ages bursting out of the limitations of the Super Nintendo. I had no idea it was possible for a SNES fantasy RPG to be this good. Let me explain myself here. Terranigma is a lot like a cross between A Link to the Past and Chrono Trigger. It's a fantasy RPG with swordfighting action similar to ALTTP, but it's also much more sprawling and story-based in the vein of Chrono Trigger or FFVI. The combat is actually surprisingly well designed with great flow to the encounters, albeit losing a few points to poor balancing and an underdeveloped magic system. Nevertheless, Terranigma is consistently engaging with fantastic pacing in both a narrative and gameplay sense. That pacing is made extraordinary by a fantastic progression which starts with a series of tutorial-like intro dungeons, morphs into a globetrotting journey to restore nature and animals, and then balloons into a sprawling adventure through countless towns and, if the player so chooses, cities. The reason this progression is so effective is because the player is not only exploring more and more of the world (the classic walk -> boat -> airship JRPG combo), they're also CREATING it. This eventually reaches a spectacular point where the player is free to develop different towns across the globe, turning them into cities. I'm a sucker for great sidequests, and this game knocks it out of the park with what you can do to alter the world dramatically, experiencing countless fun NPC interactions along the way. One of the highlights for me was discovering that the tiny rural farming community in the Great Lakes region could be rebuilt into the city of Chicago. Holy cow! When I first sat down to play this game, I was a bit surprised by the apparent small scale of its story - after setting out on his journey, Ark is essentially a solitary traveler like Link in ALTTP, not really forming many relationships or joining with any party member. Yet this too sees some amazing expansion as other humans are brought into the mix, and before you know it, Terranigma bears striking similarity to Earthbound, featuring hilarious NPC interactions and some really great friends made along the way. I especially loved Meilin's super cute relationship with Ark, as well as the increasing mystery around Elle, her character being initially introduced as the caring lover in Ark's hometown before being reintroduced much later as a solemn princess trapped in an oppressive kingdom. Unbelievably, I find this game surpassing ALTTP, Chrono Trigger, and FFVI and making its way into my top three SNES games of all time. It is an undeniable masterclass in video game progression, and while it may not reach the level of Earthbound, Terranigma brought me on an incredible adventure loaded with spectacular music, visuals, plot, characters, and an incredible ending to boot. This game truly has it all.