3RRDC Skies

It's really hard for me to write this review of Skies of Arcadia, simply
because I don't know where to begin with all of its greatness. It's one
of my top 5 favorite Dreamcast games, and it excels in nearly every
level of gameplay. It also reminds me of what many consider the
golden age of Dreamcast. That wonderful holiday season where Skies,
Grandia 2, and Shenmue all sat under the Christmas tree just waiting
to be played. Originally I had thought that I was going to be more like
Grandia 2 with its faster paced battles and name recognition. But in
the end, the lovable pirates from Skies stole not only treasure, but also
my heart. (It's corny but deal with it.)

The story revolves around air pirates. The game has a kind of age of
discovery theme to it. But the pirate ships fly in the air instead of the
sea. And the people all live on floating islands in the sky. Very cool. In
this world you have two kinds of pirates. The Robin Hood-esque Blue
pirates, and the evil black pirates. The main character, Vyse, is of
course the former. He is a talented young man who is the son of the
pirate captain on pirate isle. He is joined by his childhood friend Aika,
an energetic and carefree girl. Together they hook up with the
mysterious Fina, the quiet and proper girl, and go on an epic quest. But
I don't want to give anything away. So the story has a fresh theme
(pirates) and the characters are all lovable. The story is a long one that
spans two disks. Be ready to travel all over the world and see many
different cultures. The party members that join later are memorable
and are cool additions to the story. Although watch out as Vyse may
make a few enemies along the way as well.

Having a good story with good characters is important, but in an RPG
you'll be with them a while so you got to hope that game is both fun
and good. Skies is both. And being an RPG, you're going to get in a lot
of battles. Skies battles come in two flavors, normal and ship. The
normal battles are random and some argue they pop up a little too
much. They are turn-based so they are a little slow compared to
Grandia 2's but still enjoyable. The ship battles can be either random,
or in some cases you see the ship before it reaches you. These usually
end up being long and boring once you get it down when to use magic
and when to attack. So battles are mostly enjoyable. There are a ton of
towns in the game, some side quests, your party members change
every so often, and you fight progressively tougher bosses. All in all it
turns into a giant epic quest like all other RPGs and you'll love every
minute of it. Just make sure to level up and learn all kinds of magic.

But how is the difficulty? Obviously you don't want too hard or too easy
of a game. At first, when I got to the first major ship battle I was stuck.
But a key point in battle is to use "focus". Focusing raises you spirit
points, which are used to do special attacks and magic. So finding a
balance of focusing, healing, and attacking is key. It's never too hard
to know what to do next. Usually you are told right where to go, but
you can decide if you just want to fly around everywhere instead. Go
collect fish, level up, find discoveries, it's all up to you. Probably my
most fond memory of Skies was pain. I would play the game for hours
on end and neglect my stomach so I was always starving when I
played. This game just gets you hooked, so the game play is obviously
doing something right.

The graphics were beautiful when the game first came out. Since then
though, the bar has been raised. The graphics have a certain anime-
esque theme to them which I enjoy. So it's not super realistic, but also
not overtly cartoony. The environments are huge, be it on land or in the
sky. They are also varied as your quest takes you all over the world.
Characters look mostly good but have some flaws. Hands need work
and look a little blocky. I don't see how anyone can call the graphics
ugly. But also, they won't drop your jaw. Monsters are varied and
colorful. In fact a lot of characters are colorful. Characters mouths do
not move. Although there are a lot of facial expressions that are cute.
Special attacks are flashy and really cool, but after a while you'll skip
past them.

Now here is an interesting department, sound. Let's start with music.
Very nice epic score to it. The title screen music is very beautiful
indeed. The battle music is memorable and probably the best battle
music since Chrono Trigger. Music wise, I love it. Voices however, are
hit and miss for people. There are no real voices. Most of the time it is
just text. But the characters will make little noises and one liners like
"Ahhh!", or, "Aye aye!". These sound ok, but they get a little repetitive.

Being an RPG, you can expect to spend some time with this. It took me
40 hours to beat this my first time through (Grandia 2 took me 30 hours
I believe). And there is a ton of replay. For RPG buffs who like to level
up, you'll want to learn all the magic and super techniques. Also (as it
states on the back of the box) you can "customize your own ship with
up to 22 crew members." But you have to find them in the vast world
so good luck. I missed a few on my first play through. There are
discoveries all around the world (mostly in the sky) you can find. Fly
around and eventually your compass starts to spin. Press "A" and voila
a discovery pops up. Take these to the guilds for money and name
recognition. Speaking of, during the game you are forced to make
choices. Make the right one and your pirate rank goes up. Make wrong
choices and it won't. Also you can (still I think) download some
additional weapons and a new boss to fight. But replay value is
crippled by one thing: Gamecube.

If you have a DC and a Cube, I will suggest you buy the Cube version of
this game. More polished graphics and a lot more side quests,
discoveries, additional story, etc.. Ever since I got the Gamecube
update, Skies of Arcadia Legends, I haven't played the DC version at
all, well ok I played a little bit. But the Dreamcast version does have
the VMU game of Pinta's quest, and obviously that did not make the
trip over to the Gamecube. Just make sure that be it either on
Dreamcast or the Cube, that you play this RPG.

I feel I should note that this game, the story and characters, are very
similar to an anime film called "Laputa Castle in the Sky" (which you
can now see on DVD here in the U.S.). Play Skies and then watch that
anime. Sure it's not exact, but it should at least raise an eyebrow. But
really you should just see that anime as it is good.

So if anyone is looking for THE number one DC RPG, I would say Skies is
it. Heck, I have it as the second best RPG of all time, just behind
Chrono Trigger. The story and characters just pull you into their unique
world. There's just so much to see and do, that the sense of freedom is
great. The only minor flaws are sometimes long ship battles, some
blocky graphics, the voice issue, and the fact that the Gamecube one
exists. If you own one RPG for Dreamcast, make it Skies of Arcadia.
And now we wait for the sequel, which I believe is in development as
we speak. Note; add 5 to each section below for the Gamecube
version scores.

Review by: Orochi Sonic