Skies of Arcadia

[LuketheXjesse]

My personal favorite RPG. Great Music, original gameplay, awesome story. Lacking in dialogue though (did I spell that right??). But still the best RPG ever in my opinion. Either that or Super Mario RPG. I can't help but feel this is one of the neglected RPGs of our time though.

Anyone else as passionate about this game as I am?

[Hawkwing]

*prepares for mini-modders*

[The Author]

Played it on the GC, I loved it.

Could not be bothered to sit down and play it again afterwards... some games a good but annoying like that. (Also ship combat: good idea, poorly implemented in some moments. And just way too long)

[Soma]

I still have it on the gamecube. I got stuck on some dungeon where your party was split up and you had to work together to open doors. There was a similar dungeon in Lost Odyssey actually. The random encounters are far too frequent for my tastes and I don't normally mind random battles.

[LuketheXjesse]

Meh, the random encounters aren't that bad. I can live with them. I can play the game endlessly.

[meccil]

I think it was definitely a fabulous game. I'd heard about it on the Dreamcast, and owned it when I had a Gamecube. I'm currently saving some money to re-acquire it. It's a great story and really has beautiful artistry!

[The Damned]

*prepares for mini-modders*

Why? This isn't a favorites thread, it's a thread about a specific game that other happen to enjoy.

[LuketheXjesse]

Why? This isn't a favorites thread, it's a thread about a specific game that other happen to enjoy.

You know, almost every time I start a thread, the first post I get is a smart-alecky comment like that (not yours, but the one you quoted). Stuff like that never does anything productive. >_<

[SoloGamer]

Why? This isn't a favorites thread, it's a thread about a specific game that other happen to enjoy.

Having the word "favorite" in an op is now a bannable offense

[LuketheXjesse]

I find the music in Skies of Arcadia very good. Preferably these.

[MajLink]

Having the word "favorite" in an op is now a bannable offense

Forgive my ignorance, but what does "op" stand for?

[SoloGamer]

original post/poster, depending on the context (in this instance, it's post).

[Jam Stunna]

I started it, but didn't get too far. What I played I really enjoyed, but I don't think I have the patience for random battles anymore.

[The Damned]

I liked flying the airship around... in fact, I had an idea for a turn-based airship battle centered RPG for the GBA.

Sadly, a complete lack of any programming, design and art skills held that back.

Oh well. Flying around was still fun.

[Neo Samus]

For some reason I have a problem with finishing RPG's. I've played FFVII...never beaten it. Golden Sun....got really far, but then my fiancee's brother deleted my file (actually did it to other games as well, like Soul Calibur for DC and F-ZERO GX, I was so pissed) and then a week later I lost the game. But for Skies of Arcadia, I actually beat it....and loved every minute of it. I was swaping days with this and Metroid Prime (lots of long nights, but so worth it). Sad thing is, I haven't touched it since I beat it. I seem to do that to a lot of games thoguh. Does any one else have this issue with beating a game and have a hard time picking it up again?

[Kureejii Lea]

I started it, but didn't get too far. What I played I really enjoyed, but I don't think I have the patience for random battles anymore.

Skies had especially frequent random battles. The GC version actually toned it down compared to the original.

Though eventually not only did you get an item to reduce the encounter rate, you gained the ability to travel with no battles at all. Of course, doesn't really change the problem early on...

I really liked the discoveries aspect of the game. It was neat going around and finding natural oddities or bits of history on the map, very engrossing.

[Arrow]

Wonderful game. It had its problems: the already mentioned ridiculous random encounter rate, for one; ship battles being neat to watch but not that special; normal battles from about the half point on getting too simple (except for Piastol in Legends, where the AI accurately assumed you were Delta and Justice Shielded every turn and would kill at least one person if you weren't); and especially how it was so easy to overpower your characters and break the game via Ilychmis' shop.

But the plot, characters, and atmosphere just totally overrode the problems for me. It was all overdosed in clichés, but to me, that's why it was so charming. In a five year period where every RPG was tripping over itself to follow Final Fantasy VII's lead with darker, edgier, and more emo characters/plot, SoA felt like a breath of fresh air with its return to form.

[LuketheXjesse]

Wonderful game. It had its problems: the already mentioned ridiculous random encounter rate, for one; ship battles being neat to watch but not that special; normal battles from about the half point on getting too simple (except for Piastol in Legends, where the AI accurately assumed you were Delta and Justice Shielded every turn and would kill at least one person if you weren't); and especially how it was so easy to overpower your characters and break the game via Ilychmis' shop.

But the plot, characters, and atmosphere just totally overrode the problems for me. It was all overdosed in clichés, but to me, that's why it was so charming. In a five year period where every RPG was tripping over itself to follow Final Fantasy VII's lead with darker, edgier, and more emo characters/plot, SoA felt like a breath of fresh air with its return to form.

Yes! There's one of the reasons I liked the game a lot myself! It gave me that old school feeling. I love games that give me that! I've always been an old school type of gamer.

[Ray Falling]

I remember seeing the game in stores for the GC back in the days and I looked on the back of the box to see what it was all about. It gave me the impression that it was a very bad game about collecting pirates, that looked pretty awful to boot. So I never bought it.

Little did I know that this game was to become one of the rarest GC titles out there u_u;

Eventually a friend over at some other forum pestered me into getting it anyway and I did Overall it was a very enjoyable experience with many memorable moments.

The battle system was a bit confusing at first, what with the whole element swap thing, and some regular enemies were plain evil at the beginning of the game.

My import copy of the game owould occasionally crash ;_; ,one time right after I beat what's-her-name and her magic ship, after fighting off the Red Gigas u_u; Needles to say, I was annoyed.

Like others have mentioned; the rate of random battles was way too high at times. There is a really annoying "maze" near the end of the game and going in the wrong direction was often punnished by random battles u_u; Took ages to get through.

The things I like about the game are the ship battles though, especially against the fleet generals. Exploring different parts of the world and meeting all these "races" felt pretty good too

I wouldn't call it the best RPG ever though. Most people I hear about this game are either raving fans or haters...there's not often a middle ground (which is where I'm at).

Good game though

[Sag Ee Mana]

I can't find my Gamecube copy.

I know about bad music quality in that version but I don't have anymore my Dreamcast, so...

Mmm, has anyone seen my game ?

[LuketheXjesse]

I can't find my Gamecube copy.

I know about bad music quality in that version but I don't have anymore my Dreamcast, so...

Mmm, has anyone seen my game ?

Big problem with Legends: Music quality sounded so aweful. Felt like Super Nintendo sometimes >_<

[Argle]

I tried playing it after I finished Tales of Symphonia, tbh it was a letdown and I didn't get too far. Maybe I'll try again.

[IcedDevil]

I bought this game when it first came out for the Dreamcast. I got through it and looking back at it now, I can't remember much of the story, I just know I beat it and had alot of fun with it. I'll have to pop it in sometime to play it again.