Little did I know that playing Actraiser would teach me all I need to know about DIVINE JUDGMENT
In Actraiser, you take control of the Master (an amalgamation of a Judeo-Christian and an Olympian god) and his angelic servant. Master has just awakened from his centuries-long slumber following his defeat and ejection by Tanzra, the Evil One, and his demonic Guardians. The world has been apparently laid to waste and is now completely barren. The Master and his angel must now begin their work of restoring the world.
Though I can't name anyone on Quintet's team, one of them is most certainly an auteur in the Kojima sense. Every game these guys touch concern theism, restoring the proper order of the world, and humanity's relationship to the universe. Actraiser is the first of these.
In order to restore the world, you travel to each land in your Sky Palace, and then
1) descend to earth and take control of the statue of a warrior to clean out the monsters,
2) help the few people in the land develop their establishment with the assistance of your angelic vassal, then
3) defeat the Guardian tormenting your people.
The action stages are reminiscent of the old Castlevanias, in that you only have one kind of attack and you can't change the direction of your jump in the air. Very hard, but very tight, with a variety of bad guys, and all of the bosses are very scary and appropriately difficult.
As a kid I thought that the development stages were boring, but that's because I was too stupid to understand how they worked. Though they are less dangerous than the action stages, they are nearly as hectic. Between directing your miracles, continuing your peoples' progress and keeping them safe from marauding demons, your angel's a busy little guy.
The main thing Quintet is good at is imbuing a lot of importance into a 16-bit game from the 90s. Since you play as god, everything is treated with reverence. Your angel informs you very eloquently of all the options at your disposal, and apologizes when you attempt to accomplish something you yet have the ability to. Your people grant you offerings which can serve as power-ups, or knowledge like boating or bridge-building that can be shared between lands. And if something goes wrong, they remain understanding and love you anyway.
And because they love you, you really start to feel bad when things get shitty for your people. The people of my desert land, just as they were about to finish their expansion to the shore, were struck by a plague. All development came to a halt as little Jolly Rogers floated above their heads. "What do I DO?" I wondered? I had to wait until I restored the tropical land, when their people offered me medical herbs.
Then, when the people of the tropical land prayed to me that I might link the land of the far island to theirs, I decided to finally use my Earthquake miracle. My earthquake did indeed uncover a once submerged land bridge - and also annihilated all existing houses in the land. How could I have something so destructive at my disposal??
It wasn't until halfway through that I realized that playing this game was just like the episode of Futurama were Bender became a god. It's hard work.
Once you develop all of the lands and defeat all of the Guardians, the island of Death Heim, Tanzra's stronghold, is revealed. Death Heim is a grueling boss rush of all the previous Guardians - plus both of Tanzra's forms - without restorative power-ups. It's an incredibly old school kind of difficult, and it's very rewarding.
Once Tanzra's taken care of, your angel takes you on a tour of the world you've resurrected, highlighting each plight you fixed - the plague you healed, the false idol you struck down, the kid anachronistically named Teddy you saved from monsters.
He then takes you into one of the shrines that dot the land in which people prayed to you and granted offerings throughout the game... only to find it completely empty.
The continents shrink out of view as the Master floats away in his Sky Palace, presumably to slumber again, perhaps this time forever...
(also, for more God-to-man relationships: Illusion of Gaia)
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