Iron Gaia Series
"What is the Iron Gaia?"
The Iron Gaia series is arguably the most important aspect of Ghostlight's history. The initial decision to create a separate website for Ghostlight projects was made in part due to an incident involving the never-released conclusion to this epic science fiction series. It is also the series that introduced one Otokonoko to Legion's games, so without it... well, there's a very good chance you wouldn't be reading this right now.

If you are a fan of science fiction games, or if you liked some of the older projects we've posted on this site so far, read below for more information on the games in this series.


Part I: Where Angels Fear to Tread
"False angels have fallen, and fake gods will bleed."

As the amnesiac test subject designated Number 898462138069001 (as you later learn, structural engineer Armand Carter) you awaken aboard the enigmatic Iron Gaia mobile space station, your memories shattered. As the only human awake on board the rapidly decaying station, controlled by an insane artificial intelligence with delusions of deification, is up to you to unravel the mystery of your own identity, and to answer the crucial question: what is the Iron Gaia?

Released in its final form in 2004, Where Angels Fear to Tread is the first half of an epic, story-driven science fiction RPG adventure. It features custom skills, great storytelling, metaphysical angst, memorable characters, unique minigames, a truly vast dungeon crawl, and if we are to be honest with ourselves, some of the worst graphics you've seen in a long, long time into one complete full length jRPG style roleplaying game.

Its genre, self-coined, is apocalyptic spacepunk, combining the cheesy high-action grandeur of space opera and the dark, gritty film noir stylings of cyberpunk. If you like these sorts of things, you might want to consider giving Where Angels Fear to Tread a try, although we would like to stress that this game is VERY, VERY old, and... well, to put it mildly, it shows.


Iron Gaia: Virus
"Come to know me in a different light now...come to know me as a God."

In this action-packed, stand-alone side-story to the Iron Gaia series, you play as Dietrich Slade also known as Sigmus the Fallen. Once a brilliant and gifted rocket scientist who was the chief of propulsion for the Iron Gaia project, Slade was rewarded by the Gaia for his role as Her creator by being in turn recreated by her. Rebuilt in Her image as one of her Celestials, angelic beings genetically engineered and cybernetically enhanced to act as her servitors.

As Slade tries to secure an exit from the self-destructing Iron Gaia space station directly after the events of Iron Gaia Part I, he meets someone from his distant past, one of the men who made him what he has become today. Dr. Cross, who he had believed dead. So, as he struggles to escape, he reflects on his journey, from man, to Celestial, and finally to become a kind of fallen angel, a dark God.

Iron Gaia: Virus is a side story (or, to be completely Japanese about it, a "gaiden") set in the immediate aftermath of Where Angels Fear to Tread. You have just 3 hours -- not counting cutscenes and battles -- of playtime to escape the doomed station before it plummets down to the mysterious planet below. You can choose how to develop Slade to best confront the perils of the Gaia by using Nanites to purchase skill training or cybernetic enhancements. Also included are hacking systems, as well as seccurity cameras that must be avoided or disabled.

Iron Gaia: Virus is told from a much more adult perspective than Where Angels Fear to Tread, and we conisder it one of the better games Legion produced using either RM2K or RM2K3, so if you're interested, give it a shot.


Part II: Mana from Heaven
"Truth be told, the child was born."

The following blurb was written by Legion:

The much-awaited and ultimately never delivered sequel to/completion of Iron Gaia. Infamous instead of famous and notorious for all the wrong reasons. Not a bad game at all, but was ultimately over-reaching. Trying to hard to be all things to all people. The Too Human of indie game making, essentially. When more time is spent promoting a game than working on it, that is a surefire sign the project is dead in the water. It could have been great, (ryanwh, clest, and despain graphics, soundtrack by brandon abley, me manning the story and gameplay) but my head was in the wrong place. It got wrongfully gutted by Gaming World for stupid reasons, ryan was abandoning the project anyway so I couldn't maintain the level of graphical sexiness people were expecting, and I ultimately stopped trying.

That said, this was a team project and ryanwh and Clest have provided some of the sexiest graphics imaginable, so if you want to see those or you're very curious about the fate of Xenos, you might want to check out the old demo. I think the dungeon it includes is pretty cool too.

But ultimately this chapter of Iron Gaia history will probably be left as the missing piece, for fans to speculate about and wonder just what happened.