Skies of Arcadia Legends
Even among RPG aficionados, Skies of Arcadia is not a title much heard of, amidst Final Fantasy this and Dragon Warrior that. This is most likely due to the game being released on the Dreamcast - a console that died long before its time, and which spelled the end for Sega's console business. It's truly a shame, and hopefully the Gamecube remake of the game will garner more attention to it.
Skies of Arcadia Legends follows the exploits of a young Air Pirate named Vyse, inadvertently thrust into an arcane quest for peace - and more importantly, adventure. Throughout the game, the player will live out the life-long dream of Vyse: to sail beyond the horizon, to go where none have gone before. The spirit of exploration and adventure is strong in this game.
The denizens of the world of Arcadia live in the sky, in floating islands, traveling through the skies by airship. In this world, there are three kinds of people: the citizens, who simply live their lives in the sky; the militaries, who must maintain a constant vigil for the enemy; and air pirates. Air pirates are divided into two sects - the Black Pirates, attacking anyone and everyone they please; and the Blue Rogues, a loosely-organized gang of freelance Robin Hoods. The Blue Rogues will only attack ships who are armed, and will never pick on the little guy, attempting to enforce justice wherever possible. The main character Vyse, and his childhood friend Aika, are teenage Blue Rogues in training; Vyse's father, Dyne, is highly-acclaimed in the Blue Rogue world for his deeds.
The real plot of Skies of Arcadia begins when Dyne and his crew (including Vyse and Aika) attack a ship of the Valuan armada, the enforcers of the toughest empire in Arcadia - after a riveting introductory story, the teenage duo rescues a girl named Fina, held by the Empire for mysterious reasons. What follows is a deep and intricately-written storyline, harkening back to the ancient 'old world' of Arcadia, and bringing at almost every turn an intriguing plot twist. Not only is the plot well developed, but the storytelling is superb, and never fails to impress.
Story isn't the only thing Skies has in its favor, though - it also offers gameplay that is both original and enjoyable. On the surface, the battle system is a tried-and-true simple menu- and turn-based RPG standard; but beyond that, there are abilities which offer a nice learning curve and striking innovation in the world of RPGs. Your party, which will typically contain Vyse, Aika, Fina, and a fourth character dependent upon what part of the game you're in, has a Spirit Meter shared by all party members. Spirit Points will slowly recharge throughout the battle by a set amount per turn, up to a certain maximum point. Party members can use items, conduct a regular attack, defend, or run; all these actions are free, in terms of spirit points. They can also use a magic spell, or use a special SP move; but magic spells consume a certain amount of spirit points dependent upon their power (as well as a single magic point from the character that uses the spell), and SP moves use up spirit points as well. Another option during battle is for a character to Focus, which will add spirit points to the party's SP pool in addition to the spirit points from the turn's end.
The Spirit battle system is only one aspect of SoA's gameplay genius. The overworld is often a largely overlooked aspect of RPGs; but certainly not in Skies. It could, in fact, be said that the overworld is the main focus of Skies of Arcadia. A high emphasis is placed on overworld exploration, as you possess a blank world map which gradually becomes uncovered as you explore the world. Throughout the course of the game, you will find new airships, and upgrades to your airship, that will enable you to explore new areas; natural obstacles, like stone reefs, wind walls, and strong winds, will block your progress until your ship is capable of handling them; this often ties in with how the story of the game is revealed. While sailing, you can also make discoveries, which you can sell to a Sailor's Guild in some towns in exchange for money.
You've got battles, and you've got sailing in a ship; so what about ship battles? A remarkable - and highly enjoyable - facet of playing Skies of Arcadia is in the ship-based battles, where your airship engages another one-on-one in a duel to the death. You must use main cannon, secondary cannon, magic attacks (once you find a certain upgrade allowing you to do so), and special ship attacks to destroy your enemies. Spirit points and Magic points are used in these battles as well: SP are consumed for attack actions of any sort, and MP when using magic, quite obviously. There are some non-story-related ship battles, but most of the ones you'll likely get into are direct requirements for going through the game, such as battling the Valuan Armada. The strategics involved in planning out a turn of ship battle are very entertaining, and it's always fun to watch an enemy ship burst into flames and sink into deep sky, never to be seen again.
In addition to the battle systems and the overworld, there are towns and dungeons galore. Towns are often full of exciting things to do and people to talk to; dungeons abound with interesting enemies and scenery; and both offer countless puzzles with progress or powerful items as their rewards. Some of the puzzles are easy, but a number of them are quite the melon-scratcher, requiring acute observation and deep thought to come to the desired end. There are even two ship-based sailing dungeons in the game.
With so much story and gameplay greatness in Skies of Arcadia Legends, you might think that the graphics of the game would be neglected - but you'd only be partially correct. Most of the graphics are barely, if at all, tweaked from the Dreamcast version of the game, which, while still very respectable, are recognizably behind the graphics of today's standards. The game's cinematic introduction shows off some of the graphical fallacies particularly; and throughout the game, your character will be plagued by an elliptical shadow, completely uninhibited by the shape of Vyse. However, the shadow is barely noticable the majority of the time, and graphical flaws become insignificant when watching the action on-screen. In the midst of battle, SP moves and magic attacks might just make you drool, with the enhanced high-quality visual effects. While it would be foolish to say that Skies would win any awards for graphics, it would be at least as foolish to call them poor.
The audio quality in Skies of Arcadia Legends never fails to please. Sound effects are great, from spell sounds to opening doors and throwing switches to audio clues of some nearby items. Many characters in the game also have small voice-over segments like "Thank you" or "Let's go!" played overtop of the accompanying dialogue (which is, thankfully, far more complex). Though some of the voices are nothing special, others are very fitting to their characters. And Skies has an absolutely fantastic soundtrack, offering a wide array of pleasing and well-composed tunes.
The replay value of Skies of Arcadia Legends is indisputably great. Not only are there story-related reasons to go back and play the game again (to see with greater clarity what was going on all along), but a number of side-quest collectibles are in the game, including 88 different overworld discoveries to be found, 24 'moonfish' to collect for a story-unraveling quest, 30 chams and 3 abirik chams to enhance Fina's weapon, and ten wanted-list bounties you can battle and collect payment for. Some of these you will find during the regular course of the game; but many - especially the discoveries - are difficult, and sometimes damn near impossible to find, offering a pleasing challenge. This is all not to mention the sheer length of the game; it's estimated that most first-timers to this game will take between 40 and 60 hours from start to finish.
While perhaps not the most difficult game, Skies is a fantastic play. The makers weren't afraid to break from many of the traditions of RPGs, and they succeeded spectacularly; you may find yourself tempted to just sail around for no sake but its own. With a long and engaging story, innovative mechanics, and plenty to do, Skies of Arcadia Legends doesn't fail to please.
Progress: Complete