Skies of Arcadia was well received by most game reviewers. IGN gave the game a 9.2, praising it for its "solid overall visuals, lively and appealing characters, excellent use of camera angles, and some of the coolest mechanical designs for the airships". <ref name="review-ign">Gamespot gave the game a 9.2 as well, also praising the visuals, stating that they were "some of the most painstakingly detailed ever seen in a role-playing game". As a whole, Gamespot concluded that the game "lives up [to] the high expectations". <ref name="shoemaker">Shoemaker, Brad. (2000) [http://uk.gamespot.com/dreamcast/rpg/skiesofarcadia/review.html "Skies of Arcadia"]. Retrieved October 17, 2000.</ref> At Gamerankings, it currently ranks in the top 10 highest scoring Dreamcast games, with an average score of 90.3%.
Skies of Arcadia was well received by most game reviewers. IGN gave the game a 9.2, praising it for its "solid overall visuals, lively and appealing characters, excellent use of camera angles, and some of the coolest mechanical designs for the airships". <ref name="review-ign">Gamespot gave the game a 9.2 as well, also praising the visuals, stating that they were "some of the most painstakingly detailed ever seen in a role-playing game". As a whole, Gamespot concluded that the game "lives up [to] the high expectations". <ref name="shoemaker">Shoemaker, Brad. (2000) [http://uk.gamespot.com/dreamcast/rpg/skiesofarcadia/review.html "Skies of Arcadia"]. Retrieved October 17, 2000.</ref> At Gamerankings, it currently ranks in the top 10 highest scoring Dreamcast games, with an average score of 90.3%.
The game has received acclaim for its advanced battle system and unique fighting style. Like most [[computer role-playing game|RPG]]'s, ''Skies of Arcadia'' involved the usual attack, defence and healing components. In addition, further strategy was incorporated into the game through the use of the Elements system. By equipping the right element color against a given enemy, the player could effectively increase the delivered damage. For instance, equipping the fire element against an ice enemy would deliver greater damage. The use of Spirit Points to deliver special moves is also a notable addition to the battle system. Each round a number of spirit points are made available in order to use magic abilities or character-specific special moves. Later on in the game, two 'super' abilities become available by filling the spirit meter completely. These moves unleash a devastating amount of damage to the enemy, but forfeits the player's turn.
Lacking any highly rated single player [[Console_role-playing_game|RPG]]'s, Skies of Arcadia filled a hole in the Dreamcast's lineup. As such, Skies of Arcadia is generally rated higher amongst it's owners than by the press. Skies of Arcadia debutted with a one-hour playable demo in games magazines. To this date, Skies of Arcadia is held by most reviewers as the best RPG to ever be released on the Dreamcast.
The game has received acclaim for its advanced battle system and unique fighting style. Like most [[Console_role-playing_game|RPG]]'s, ''Skies of Arcadia'' involved the usual attack, defence and healing components. In addition, further strategy was incorporated into the game through the use of the Elements system. By equipping the right element color against a given enemy, the player could effectively increase the delivered damage. For instance, equipping the fire element against an ice enemy would deliver greater damage. The use of Spirit Points to deliver special moves is also a notable addition to the battle system. Each round a number of spirit points are made available in order to use magic abilities or character-specific special moves. Later on in the game, two 'super' abilities become available by filling the spirit meter completely. These moves unleash a devastating amount of damage to the enemy, but forfeits the player's turn.
One major complaint about the game was the high rate of [[random encounter]]-based battles, which made traveling from location to location somewhat testing on the player's patience. This was fixed to a degree in the [[GameCube]] version of the game, '''''Skies of Arcadia Legends''''', the director's cut version which also added some new content and improved graphics. The game was successful enough that it was re-released in Q2 2004 in Japan, which vouched for a similar release in [[North America]] on January 27, 2003.
One major complaint about the game was the high rate of [[random encounter]]-based battles, which made traveling from location to location somewhat testing on the player's patience. This was fixed to a degree in the [[GameCube]] version of the game, '''''Skies of Arcadia Legends''''', the director's cut version which also added some new content and improved graphics. The game was successful enough that it was re-released in Q2 2004 in Japan, which vouched for a similar release in [[North America]] on January 27, 2003.
Skies of Arcadia is a console role-playing game developed for the Sega Dreamcast by Overworks, a division of Sega. Released in 2000, it was known as Eternal Arcadia in Japan. It was critically well received thanks to its stylish graphics and lighthearted setting. A swashbuckling tale of pirates, discovery and adventure was a great change from the then highly popular cyberpunk-influenced brand of dark fantasy that was popularized by such games as Final Fantasy VII. A similar motif was used by Final Fantasy IX, released around the same time for the SonyPlayStation. Battles could be conducted both on foot and between ships (both using a turn based system, but the latter being more strategic). The game's musical soundtrack, composed by Yutaka Minobe and Tatsuyuki Maeda, is especially well-noted among its fans, with strong, soaring melodies that effectively underscore the adventurous themes of the plot.
An expanded version of the game, with new featues and enhanced graphics entitled 'Skies of Arcadia Legends was released for the Nintendo GameCube in 2002. A port for the PlayStation 2 was also in the works, but was cancelled[1]. Also planned was aPC re-release which would have added even more new content, however, it now seems the PC port has been shelved for the time being[citation needed].
Fans have long wanted a sequel to the game, and from comments by Noriyoshi Oba of OverWorks one was in development, although this too has now been put on hiatus. Though the Final Fantasy series has featured Airships in role playing games since Final Fantasy I, many Skies of Arcadia fans believe that Square Enix have ripped Skies of Arcadia by copying some parts of the story and in some parts of the character designs in Final Fantasy XII[citation needed].
The travel complaints largely stemmed from the fact that overworld travel - typically done on foot - is accomplished in Skies of Arcadia via "airship," which is traditionally a method of random encounter-free conveyance in RPGs. Later in the game, the same freedom of movement is accomplished by an advanced mechanism discovered for the Delphinus which allows it to rise above the upper cloud layer and sink below the lower cloud layer of Arcadia and fly in the monster-free skies at high and low altitudes. The player can also find Discoveries hidden throughout the world while flying their airship. Information about discoveries can be sold at Sailor's Guilds located in cities throughout the game; the value of a discovery is determined by how well-hidden it is, and falls over time. When finding a new land, a Discovery is recorded. This will happen by not pressing the action button, as these Discoveries are part of the quest. The new lands include Ixa-Taka, Lands of Ice, Yafutoma, and Nasrad.
Throughout the game the protagonist, Vyse, is the character that is actually controlled by the player. Vyse and Aika, the female lead, are permanent members of a four character party. At various stages, the player can pick up one, and only one, of the secondary characters. At some points the player has a choice which of these to use, but often it is compulsory for the party to contain a certain secondary character. A short way through the game, Fina changes from a storyline-only role to a playable character.
At one point in the game the four character party is split in two, with Vyse + Gilder and Aika + Fina being the pairs. This part of the game presents an unusual challenge as the various strengths and weaknesses of the characters are unable to complement each other. The two primary damage dealing characters (Vyse and Gilder) are paired together, with little magical ability, and the two primary magic characters (Aika and Fina) are paired, with little damage ability.
At various stages in the game Fina, Gilder, Drachma and Enrique are added and removed from the character pool. This is usually done forcibly, however near the end of the game the player can choose which of the three characters to choose from.
Main player characters
For the voice actors, JP indicated the Japanese voice actor, and EN indicates the English voice actor.
File:Vyse (Skies of Arcadia).jpgVyseVyse: 17 year old boy, "Blue Rogue" (Air Pirate that only attacks armed vessels larger than their own ships, in particular those of the Valuan Armada). Vyse has a highly upbeat personality and refuses to give up. Vyse fights with twin cutlasses, one primarily used in offence and one for extra defense. Vyse's magic is relatively weak compared to that of Aika and Fina, but his physical attacks are the second strongest in the game (after Drachma's). His super-moves often become a staple in boss battles. Voice acted by Tomokazu Seki (JP) / Christopher Sullivan (EN).
File:Aika (Skies of Arcadia).jpgAikaAika: 17 year old girl. Vyse's close friend since childhood and fellow Blue Rogue. Aika has a strong personality and easily inflamed temper. Aika fights using an oversized boomerang. Aika balances her high speed and respectable attack strength with fairly strong magic. Aika becomes mostly used for buffs and items rather than attacking enemies. Her Super Moves are best used to destroy large numbers of common enemies at once. Voice acted by Tomoko Kawakami (JP) / Victoria McCreary (EN).
File:Fina (Skies of Arcadia).jpgFinaFina: 17 year old girl, "Silvite" (survivor of the ancient, defunct Silver Civilization). Fina is sweet-natured and demure, like many typical love interest characters in RPGs, but her sweet nature hides an iron will. Fina's pet, a silver ball-like creature named Cupil, fights for her. Cupil can morph into various shapes, and gains power by eating chams, Moon Stone shards that are hidden throughout the game. His most powerful form is Final Cupil, although it required a download in the Dreamcast version in order to get the final cham. She has very strong magic powers, and her super moves are very useful when fighting bosses like Galcian, Ramirez, and Piastol, for their healing abilities. Voice acted by Yui Horie (JP) / Julissa Aguirre (EN).
Secondary player characters
File:Drachma (Skies of Arcadia).jpgDrachmaDrachma: A maimed man in his early 70s. Drachma has a mechanical arm replacing his right arm, which he uses as a weapon in battle sequences. His obsession with hunting the purple arcwhale Rhaknam (Mobys in the Japanese game in a homage to Moby-Dick) leads him to search the skies. Drachma is the captain of the small fishingairship, Little Jack. He travels with Vyse and the others for part of the game, and pretends not to care about them, but he shows up just in time to save them quite a few times. Voice acted by Mugihito (JP) / Joseph Hughes (EN).
File:Gilder (Skies of Arcadia).jpgGilderGilder: A rakishly handsome man in his early 30s. Gilder wears a pince-nez and uses a pistol as his weapon. Gilder is the captain of the light, swift pirate vessel Claudia. He has a parrot named Willy, who can be helpful when Gilder needs to break out of jail cells. Voice acted by Norio Wakamoto (JP) / Jay Styne (EN).
File:Enrique (Skies of Arcadia).jpgEnriqueEnrique: 25 years old, Enrique is the Crown Prince of the Valuan Empire, but disagrees strongly with the imperialist policies of his mother, Empress Teodora I. The name of his father is unknown. Enrique uses rapiers as his weapon in battle. He joins the party and gives Vyse his flagship, the Delphinus, when he escapes Valua with Vyse, Aika and Fina. Voice acted by Soichiro Hoshi (JP) / Robb McCulloch (EN).
Antagonists
The general villains of the piece are the Valuan Empire, however the main characters are specifically opposed by the six (later seven) Admirals of the Imperial Armada:
File:Galcian (Skies of Arcadia).jpgGalcianGalcian, Lord Admiral of the Valuan Armada: Galcian is a dark, cold and calculating man. He is strongly connected to the mysterious Ramirez. His flagship is the Serpent, although in the later part of Disc 2, his flagship becomes the floating battlestation, the Hydra. Galcian is an incredibly powerful fighter, and wields a gigantic sword (possibly a wide-bladed zweihander) as a weapon. Voice acted by Kinryuu Akimoto (JP) / Dennis Lancaster (EN).
File:Alfonso (Skies of Arcadia).jpgAlfonsoAlfonso, First Admiral of the Valuan Armada: Alfonso is a foppish noble with very little courage. He is closely related to Empress Teodora, which goes a long way to explan his high ranking despite his incompetence. The player never fights Alfonso, only his mechanical bull Antonio, although he is seen using a rapier. His flagship is the Cygnus. Voice acted by Ryotaro Okiayu (JP) / Jerry Lawrence (EN).
File:Gregorio (Skies of Arcadia).jpgGregorioGregorio, Second Admiral of the Valuan Armada: Gregorio is the oldest of the admirals, and a long time friend of Teodora's late husband. Gregorio serves as a father figure of sorts for Prince Enrique (who calls him "Uncle Gregorio") and obviously cares deeply for him, even though they are not related. He is known as 'Ironwall' for his impenetrable defenses, and fights with a shield and spear. His flagship is the Auriga. He fights Galcian in order to allow the party to escape from Dangral Island, sacrificing himself. Voice acted by Takehiro Komaya (JP) / Steve Cloyes (EN).
File:Vigoro (Skies of Arcadia).jpgVigoroVigoro, Third Admiral of the Valuan Armada: Headstrong and aggressive, Vigoro is a lecher of the first rank. Vigoro has a very large ego, thinking himself impossible for women to resist. He develops a "romantic" interest (i.e. infatuated) in Aika when she is in the Valuan prison. His flagship is the Draco, whose biggest feature is the massive cannon on its front. Vigoro also uses a scaled-down cannon for close quarters. Voice acted by Masashi Sugawara (JP) / Charles Martinet (EN).
Belleza, Fourth Admiral of the Valuan Armada: Sultry and dangerous, Belleza, an expert in espionage, is the head of Imperial intelligence. She addresses Vyse as 'handsome' since they meet in Maramba, where she disguised herself as a travelling dancer. Her flagship is the cruiser Lynx. Late in the game, she sacrifices herself to prevent Galcian from escaping the damaged Hydra. Her name means "beauty" in Spanish. Voice acted by Yuri Amano (JP) / Andrea Satin (EN).
File:De Loco (Skies of Arcadia).jpgDe LocoDe Loco, Fifth Admiral of the Valuan Armada: A deformed, insane little man. De Loco, nicknamed bubble head by Vyse due to his distinctive glass helmet, is the head of the Armada's research and development programs. He cares more for his machines than the lives of his crew, and will go to great lengths to punish anyone who damages any of his inventions. His flagship is the Chameleon, which serves as a test bed for his numerous prototype weapons. He developed the powerful "Moon Stone Cannon" which serves as the Delphinus's most powerful weapon later in the game. The player faces De Loco three times in airship battles; in each encounter, he is armed with a different "super cannon." 'Loco' is Spanish for 'crazy', reflecting his manic behaviour. Voice acted by Issei Futamata (JP) / Bill Broughton (EN).
File:Ramirez (Skies of Arcadia).jpgRamirezRamirez, introduced as Galcian's Vice-Captain, later becoming the sixth admiral in the Valuan Armada. The youngest admiral by far at the age of 24. Ramirez has a mysterious connection to Fina. He is a deadly swordsman, and a brilliant tactician. However, he does not scruple to shed blood. (quite the contrary: Soldier:"We can take Nasrad without damaging it, sir." Ramirez: "Maybe, but I want it to burn to the ground.") His flagship is the Monoceros. Voice acted by Hikaru Midorikawa (JP) / Ian Reddoch (EN).
File:Piastol (Skies of Arcadia).jpgPiastolPiastol, A gothic-looking woman who hunts air pirates. Also known as "The Angel of Death". She is after Vyse because she mistakenly believes that he killed her father Admiral Mendoza of Valua 10 Years before the story began. One night, her father's ship the Aquila was on fire. Dyne's Blue Rogues saw the ship aflame and staged a rescue mission to find survivors. However, Piastol thought it was they who set the ship on fire and attacked the first person she saw, which was Aika. Aika came unarmed thinking it was a rescue mission, so Vyse defended her from Piastol's throwing knife and got a scar on his cheek which remains to this day. When Mendoza's corpse was found and examined, it turns out it was a sword wound that killed him instead of the fire. From then on Piastol planned to avenge her father's death by hunting down any and all air pirates. It is later revealed that Piastol is Maria's older sister, who was traumatized by the same incident and believed her sister to be dead. Piastol is armed with a scythe and Eterni spells, along with a Deathhound at her side. She has the Super Move Tempest Dance, which becomes longer and more deadly each time Vyse and company fight her. Piastol appears in Skies of Arcadia: Legends as part of a side quest, not in the Dreamcast version.
Skies of Arcadia was well received by most game reviewers. IGN gave the game a 9.2, praising it for its "solid overall visuals, lively and appealing characters, excellent use of camera angles, and some of the coolest mechanical designs for the airships". Cite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page). At Gamerankings, it currently ranks in the top 10 highest scoring Dreamcast games, with an average score of 90.3%.
Lacking any highly rated single player RPG's, Skies of Arcadia filled a hole in the Dreamcast's lineup. As such, Skies of Arcadia is generally rated higher amongst it's owners than by the press. Skies of Arcadia debutted with a one-hour playable demo in games magazines. To this date, Skies of Arcadia is held by most reviewers as the best RPG to ever be released on the Dreamcast.
The game has received acclaim for its advanced battle system and unique fighting style. Like most RPG's, Skies of Arcadia involved the usual attack, defence and healing components. In addition, further strategy was incorporated into the game through the use of the Elements system. By equipping the right element color against a given enemy, the player could effectively increase the delivered damage. For instance, equipping the fire element against an ice enemy would deliver greater damage. The use of Spirit Points to deliver special moves is also a notable addition to the battle system. Each round a number of spirit points are made available in order to use magic abilities or character-specific special moves. Later on in the game, two 'super' abilities become available by filling the spirit meter completely. These moves unleash a devastating amount of damage to the enemy, but forfeits the player's turn.
One major complaint about the game was the high rate of random encounter-based battles, which made traveling from location to location somewhat testing on the player's patience. This was fixed to a degree in the GameCube version of the game, Skies of Arcadia Legends, the director's cut version which also added some new content and improved graphics. The game was successful enough that it was re-released in Q2 2004 in Japan, which vouched for a similar release in North America on January 27, 2003.
Gamecube differences
Unlike Skies of Arcadia on the Dreamcast, Gamecube did not use most of the external hardware (e.g. Jump Pack, VMU, etc.) to let players know when many treasures or events were about to occur. It only had an optional rumble pack. Some use of external hardware in the Dreamcast version is that when a battle was about to begin, the Dreamcast's GD-ROM drive would spin loudly just beforehand, allowing players to jump to the Status Screen to make any last minute adjustments a split second before the battle began. The Jump Pack would also rumble a split second before a battle began. Moreover, with an official SegaVMU, Cupil would cause it to beep whenever there was a Cham in the area. He would also appear on the VMU screen to guide players to its exact location. Since the GameCube version has no VMU, Cupil would instead start making a "Pyu!" sound and appear as an icon in the corner of the screen when the player was on top of a Cham.
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