Memorable Videogame myths: from reviving Aeris to saving Wander

In the dark, early days of the Internet, when BBS boards and gaming magazines made of combustible paper still ruled supreme, videogame myths enjoyed a healthier existence. What videogame myths you ask?

Ever heard from a friend of a friend that he had a friend was able to play Leisure Suit Larry 4? Remember the rumors of the existence of the notorious Cow Level before the release of Diablo II? Yeah folks, videogame myths – rumors that have passed from mouth to mouth and are now part of gaming lore.

Below are infamous videogame myths that immediately come to mind. The first three are old ones – and legendary ones at that. The last game is a bit more contemporary and stands as an example of how quickly videogame myths get busted nowadays.

The full article awaits after the jump! (No really, unlike most of the games about to be mentioned, this is no wild goose chase, it’s really there. Just click on the” Full Article” link below.)

In the dark, early days of the Internet, when BBS boards and gaming magazines made of combustible paper still ruled supreme, videogame myths enjoyed a healthier existence. What videogame myths you ask?

Ever heard from a friend of a friend that he had a friend who was able to play Leisure Suit Larry 4? Remember the rumors of the existence of the notorious Cow Level in Diablo I, before the release of Diablo II? Yeah folks, videogame myths – rumors that have passed from mouth to mouth and are now part of gaming lore.

Below are infamous videogame myths that immediately come to mind. The first three are old ones – and legendary ones at that. The last game is a bit more contemporary and stands as an example of how quickly videogame myths get busted nowadays.

Finding Schala

Schala is the older sister of the character Magus (Janus) in Squaresoft’s 16-bit RPG classic, Chrono Trigger. During the course of the game, Schala chooses to sacrifice her life to save the heroes of the game from a grim fate. By the end of the game, (well, in most of the many endings of the game) the optional character Magus leaves the party to try and find Schala.

Apparently such is the attachment of fans to this 16 bit lady, that rumors emerged that you can embark on a side quest to go find Schala. A lot of true believers are quick to cite one of the side quest hints given to you by a character in the game, the Guru of Time. It says: “One of you is close to someone who needs help… Find this person… fast.” Many assume that this refers to Schala.

Rumors spread that this final quest was removed in the final print of the game, or that hacked versions of the game existed where you’ll be able to find schala. The fact that Chrono Trigger had multiple endings only added fuel to the rumor inferno.

The fans were thankful though, that Schala’s disappearance was eventually addressed in the Japanese only Radical Dreamers, and then ultimately in the PS sequel Chrono Cross.

Conspiracy theorists are still attached to this issue though, mostly because some fans point out that Schala’s hair is blonde in Chrono Cross and not the known blue in her Chrono Trigger incarnation. They speculate that perhaps something is not fully explained or whatnot.

Reviving Aeris Gainsborough

Yep, another Square game, another dead/lost character. Sigh… Attachment apparently fuels delusions/hope/denial.

The rumor maintained that in some versions of Final Fantasy VII, Aeris could be resurrected. Some maintained that she was actually meant to be resurrected but the option was not implemented or was dropped during later stages of game development. This belief flew blindly against claims from the game’s production staff that this was not the case, and that Aeris’ death was always intended and was meant to capitalize on the cliche of heroic sacrifice.

To this date there is no found in-game method of resurrecting Aeris, nor is there a discovered alternate ending to the game. Yes, multiple cheats do exist to resurrect the last of the ancients, but most lead to errors and glitches.

Such is the infamy of this supposed resurrection, that a rumored scene is referenced near the end of the Final Fantasy movie expansion, Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children.

It is said that, if a player backtracks to the church in the Midgar slums, a “spirit” of Aeris can be seen in the church tending flowers. However, if you approach the sprite, it will vanish. Wikipedia informs us that this can be seen at anytime from the addition of Aerith to the party onwards.

The rumor is that this is an Easter egg by the developers. Some contend though that this is just likely a glitch. Still, the scene can be observed towards the ending of Final Fantasy VII, when Cloud was in the Lifestream-saturated waters underneath Aeris’ church. He glances up to catch a split second ghostly appearance of Aerith and Zack.

Sorry fans, whether they meant it or not, the lady is dead. And given the events that happened in Advent Children, she will likely stay dead, even if Square Enix decides to cash-in on a remake of Final Fantasy VII.

Fighting Sheng Long

Sheng Long came to exist mostly due to the bad English localization of the arcade version of Street Fighter II. Whenever Ryu won he said the following lines: “You must defeat Sheng Long to stand a chance.” Players of course thought that Sheng Long was the supposed master of the “Dudley Boys of Street Fighter” – Ryu and Ken.

Some console versions eventually changed that translation to “You must defeat my Dragon Punch to stand a chance” but still referred to Sheng Long as the master of Ryu and Ken.

The thing is Sheng Long never existed. At all. “Sheng Long” was a bad translation of Ryu’s “Shoryuken.”

The reason why Sheng Long persisted in the minds of hopeful gamers though is due to an April Fools joke that Electronic Gaming Magazine ran in 1992. A fake reporter, named W.A. Stokins (waste token), reported that if Ryu did not suffer any damage during the game – once he reaches M. Bison’s stage and causes the game to end in a perfect draw (no damage to each combatant) – and the process was repeated for ten consecutive fights with Bison (hence the token wastage), Shen Long will come out and beat the bejesus out of Bison and challenge you to a “fight to the death.”

Capcom, those wise-ass corporate folks, increased Street Fighter II token consumption and popularity by neither confirming or denying the existence of Sheng Long. It is believed that the Sheng Long joke inspired Akuma, an assertion that has neither been denied nor confirmed by Capcom. Those shady creeps. Smart of them.

Sheng Long got a revival when Street Fighter III came out. They were slightly more revealing about it being a gag though.

An alternate ending to Shadow of the Colossus

After you defeat the 16th Colossus – the sorcerer Grandis Supernus Malus, interesting events occur, without being a bit too spoiler-ish, let’s just say that Wander got a taste of how it is to be a colossus. Anyway, the ending sequences offered enough limited freedom to cause folks to start thinking that perhaps things could be done to somehow unlock an alternate ending.

Several investigative folks – Ryu Sinclair and David Rodoy – over at GameFaqs have countered this speculation though in their Shadow of the Colossus Plot Theory Analysis, by stating that no, there is no alternate ending. You can’t do what you think you could do, and that whatever round-about solutions you can come up with, won’t work.

Despite the FAQs assertions, I know a lot of folks who are still trying, and consequently, are still failing miserably.

Of course, given the odd construction of Shadow of the Colossus‘s story, there’s a lot more stuff for folks to speculate, and theorize about other than the existence of an alternate ending.

 

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Having given all of these examples, these videogame myths prove, if anything that videogames are powerful enough to move minds and wrench people’s guts. So much so that they go into enough denial, that they hope or wish that certain things were possible.

Some games just cause people end up screaming: “That’s that? There’s got to be more. I should be able to do more! I could change this right. This has to be possible.” You know what? Perhaps that ability to move people in such a manner should be one means by which we judge if a game is good enough. But nah, that’s just probably me being a bit too optimistic.

Anyhow, what about you folks? Do you have any videogame hoaxes/myths/rumors you know that you’d like to share? Zelda myths? Nude codes? Unlockable Sega mascots? Use the comments and let us know.