Aaarrrr, Mateys! >: D
Everyone loves a good pirate story. Yes. Everyone. Even you. Yes, you there, in the back. But that’s just one of many reasons you should play and love Skies of Arcadia Legends.
If you own a GameCube (and you better), then you MUST own this game. No excuses. I give it my highest recommendation. Now let me help show you why.
Skies of Arcadia Legends is a ‘Cube exclusive RPG (it was going to be released on the PS2 as well, but was scrapped), developed by Overworks and published by Sega. This is mostly a port of the Dreamcast game, but I’ll get into its differences. It tells the story of the world of Arcadia, in which the sky is the final planetary frontier. For you see, the world is the sky. There are floating landmasses and continents, but otherwise no ‘ground’. People travel in air ships in the ocean that is the sky. The Valuan Empire rules most of the world, by Empress Teodora’s sinister hand. A group of pirates, the Blue Rogues, have set out to cripple and eventually topple the regime, lead by Vyse, and his family, and aided by his best friend Aika. Although pirates, the Blue Rogues only raid Imperial vessels; this is different from the Black Pirates, who are your typical, scummy pirates who attack and kill anyone. One day, a mysterious woman in silver, Fina, appears, chased by the Empire. Vyse and his comrades aid and befriend Fina, discovering that Valua is attempting to resurrect the Gigases, old and powerful monsters that brought the world to ruins once before. But it won’t happen again, if Vyse can do anything about it.
The story of the game is not one that will radically impact players in any real sense. It has a decent story, but not a ‘deep’ one. Fortunately, what really makes the game go are the characters themselves. Everyone loves Aika! : D The characters often display quite amusing expressions (such as Aika’s angry face) that add amusement, and add on to what the given situation is about. Fina also must undergo some changes, as her mission is not what she thinks it is, and when it is revealed, the burden is heavy. Vyse and Aika have a true friendship going on, and an important element of the story is the two of them sticking together no matter what. It seems a bit contradictory that the characters are ‘good’ pirates, but when the wickedness of Valua is displayed, the situation becomes understandable. Along the way, the friends also encounter Drahkma, an old man with an Ahab complex. He is fairly headstrong and gruff, which certainly proves useful. Gilder is a gun-fighting sky sailor, who wants every woman except for the one in forever pursuit of him.
The game does have ‘voice acting’. I use that term somewhat lightly because the game’s dialogue is not spoken, but there are voices for the occasional word (‘Uh huh’, ‘Yeah!’), and also during battles; ‘Moons, give me strength!’ is the Focus prayer. Everyone also shouts the names of their special attacks; ‘Cutlass Fury!!’, ‘Alpha Storm!’, etc. And there are victory quotes; ‘We won! We WON!!’, ‘That wasn’t so bad…’, ‘Thank the Moons…’, for example. What little voice acting there is, the ones that are present are quite good. It’s just a shame the game does not have more voicing in it.
This is a fairly typical RPG, and runs as you would expect. You have your hit points and magic, defeat enemies, equip weapons, etc. The magic system involves Spirit Points; SP. Your party’s SP is actually in a communal pool, instead of each character having their own number. When you use magic, it draws from this pool. You can replenish it a little bit by using the ‘Focus’ function in battle (it’s a little like charging Ki in Dragon Ball Z). You may have to Focus several times if your SP runs really low, and you need to do serious damage with a special attack.
On the subject of Special Attacks, your party members each have several, and can learn new ones throughout the game. These attacks play out a lot like finishing moves in a fighting game; they’re typically fun to do and watch, and often the more expensive the attack, the greater damage it does. You unlock more special attacks not through experience, but through finding items called Moonberries. When you give a character a certain number of Moonberries, you can unlock one (or possibly more, if you wish) new attack. Moonberries are simply found throughout your gameplay, often in dungeon areas.
However, Fina’s ‘weapon’, her pet Cupil, also changes and becomes stronger by giving it another item called Chams, which you also find throughout the game. Fina is a lot like Aeris in Final Fantasy VII, for example; her physical attacks are very weak, and she’ll be your weakest fighter, but she can become stronger; through experience, and through giving her Chams.
Your magic is divided into color-coded, elemental types: Red for fire, Green for healing, Yellow for Lightning, Purple for Ice, Blue for Wind, and Silver for Void. Additional spells, such as status ailment-boosting abilities, are also learned in addition to typical offensive attacks. This is due to the fact that magic is derived from Moonstones, rocks that have fallen from all the moons and found in Arcadia; the color of the stone is the same color as that moon. As you’d expect, you may have to change what color your weapons are, as some enemies are strong against certain types and weak against others.
In addition to dungeon battles, there also ship battles, in which you, surprise, fight ships. As you fly around the skies of Arcadia, you sometimes come across ships; Valuan or Black Pirate, and engage in battle. Boss ship battles can be very long and tedious, so patience is required. You must maintain your ship by regularly upgrading its equipment, armor and weapons, as you do with your party. You have 2 grades of cannons to use, and you can use some special weapons, such as torpedoes and bombs. You can also use your magic attacks while in a ship battle, and healing becomes essential. Your ship has HP, and you can repair it by ‘healing’ it with your magic, or by using a Repair Kit. You can also use Focus during a ship battle, and take Evasive Action, to hopefully avoid enemy attacks (you otherwise do not control the ship’s movements). Your ship also has a special attack it can use. The Moonstone Cannon grants true satisfaction whenever it is used on your enemies, I assure you. However, your SP must be built up enough, and you can only release the attack when your ship battle chart indicates it’s possible. This can become very irritating at times, because you may have a nice open shot, and have the SP saved, but the battle, by way of the chart, will not allow you to use it. Your battle chart displays whose turn it is and how many times cannons can be fired until they need more SP.
This game has some VERY hard boss battles; dungeon and ship. They can be very, very aggravating, and, well, good luck to you. I’m reminded somewhat of Xenogears, in this sense…Some of the hardest battles, by far, are Bounty battles. At a Traveler’s Guild, you can view posters of wanted criminals. If you meet them, you can fight them and claim a reward (and other prizes). But these tend to be exceedingly difficult; I cannot stress that enough. If you think you’ve found one, you should feel fairly confident in your current leveling position. But if you’re not, well, you’ll find out soon enough. This especially applies to the Vize Gang battle…You’ve been warned.
Unfortunately, this is an RPG where leveling isn’t quite that easy. Level-gaining isn’t all that quick, so when you do need to level, you’ll be doing it for a while. Top that off with the fact that most enemies do not give you a lot of experience anyway, and you can be sitting for hours just leveling, potentially. Enemies themselves can be very, very aggravating in this game, as well. When some certain enemies attack you in groups, it can be a bit overwhelming if they have strong attacks. Also, a few enemies that can call for reinforcements receive back-up basically every time they call for it. This could be good in that if you kill them all, you’ll get more experience, and money. But it becomes extremely tedious, and can easily tire the player. But if you’re not leveled up enough, such a group of enemies is probably not worth your time. If you do run away a lot from battles, this will also eventually lower your ranking, as well. On the subject of running away, this is another RPG where it’s not always easy to escape battles either, if you really need to do so.
Exploration is an important theme of the game. This is implemented in gameplay through the use of Discoveries. You can go to a Traveler’s Guild and view the list of things waiting to be discovered; when you discover it, report back to the guild and claim a reward. However, you have to move fast for this, because there are other explorers that claim discoveries, and can beat you to it. However, discoveries can also be difficult to find. Although clues are given as to whereabouts, you have to be precise in discovering it. You just move over or onto the area with your ship, press the action button, and you discover it. But again, this can be more difficult than it sounds. As such, with so much to discover, a player will probably want to consult a guide of some type to make sure they get everything available. I assure you this is bound to happen anyway, as directions can be ambiguous.
If you can discover everything, this will help lead you to earn the ranking of The Legend. Rankings are obtained throughout various deeds in the game. For example, you can gain the rank of ‘The Fisher King’ by catching a lot of fish (which fly around in schools all over Arcadia). You can earn the title of ‘Bounty King’ by catching all the Bounties. There is a point in the game where you automatically are given the rank ‘The Fallen Pirate’, and some events in the game will not occur unless you boost it back up. When you achieve this ranking, you will also notice some people acting strangely around you, and see you suspiciously….
A ship needs a crew. When you eventually find yourself with a very large ship, you’ll be able to hire some help. Scattered about Arcadia are various people who will be willing to help you on your vessel. Some will want money, or have other conditions met, before they join you though. Also, several of your crew will need money to perform whatever task it is they are hired for (such as your Builder).
This game is not a complete port of the original Dreamcast title; some changes and additions were made. There are less enemy encounters while flying. There is a new optional boss battle against Piastol, ‘the Angel of Death’. This adds a bit more story to the game, as Piastol is out for Vyse’s blood; and yet, Vyse claims not to know who she is. Her battles are exceedingly difficult, and you must be in tip-top leveled shape to win. When the Traveler’s Guildmaster gives you a Black Flag after speaking to him, that’s the sign that she is back, and ready to fight again. The Dreamcast also had two download-exclusive monsters; Elcian, and the Giant Looper, and they are available already in the game and appear after a certain point. One of your crewmen, Pinta, also had you go on an animal hunt when you are constructing your headquarters, on the DC game. This has been erased from the ‘Cube game, and now, you just tell Pinta what animals you want, and he gets them for you (but for a price). Also added is the Moonfish quest. You will meet two new characters, ‘Doc’ and Maria, who ask you to hunt for Moonfish for them to feed to Maria’s pet. You will get prizes afterwards. Moonfish are found in dungeons and towns, and you can grab them with the special rod Doc gives you. I believe all the Bounty battles are also new additions (I know the Vize Gang is, at the least). The ultimate form of Cupil is also in this game, which I believe was also originally a Dreamcast download.
The game’s graphics will not impress people who have been spoiled by RPGs such as the PS2 Final Fantasy or XenoSaga games, for example. However, the graphics are quite nice and fitting to the story, and the characters do display emotional responses, as stated before. The characters are structured in an anime type of style as well, which will please many fans as it is (and this helps for the more creative emotive responses). The game could always be more refined and polished, and less blocky, but again, it doesn’t really matter. The game also features no FMV (‘full-motion video’) cut scenes either, but it doesn’t need any. Personally, as I’ve been playing RPGs long before the days of FMVs, I’m used to not seeing them anyway. The game’s engine (except for battles) looks more like a third-person adventure game, however, and as is typical with those games (and RPGs), there are puzzles to solve and chores to do when in dungeons and the like. Most of these puzzles and chores are not too hard to do, but a map would often be handy for several dungeons. The camera can be VERY nicely rotated, and has no problems of becoming obscure. You can even change to first-person view to get a better scope out of the scene. The automatic rotating camera in Soltis is absolutely gorgeous. I love experiencing it, I really do…
The music features a lot of very nice, memorable tracks as well. I love Horteka’s music, and the Silver Shrine and Soltis are pretty nice, as well. The battle music is also particularly memorable, and fun.
Skies of Arcadia Legends, like its DC originator, is a fairly overlooked game, which is very sad. It has its fans to be sure, but most of the gaming community just made no big deal about it at all. This is a travesty, as this is a contagiously-fun game, with great, memorable characters and loads to do. The story itself is nothing special really, and the graphics will not wow any newcoming gamers (or those with just high standards). But none of those things should prevent players from having this game and loving it. It becomes exceedingly difficult at times, and one should consult a walkthrough to find everything, but it’s all worth it. As I said earlier, if you own a GameCube, you MUST own this game. Owners of the original, however, shouldn’t bother with it. However, it’s extremely fortunate that this edition was released for a new generation of players to love.
So set sail for the Skies of Arcadia, and become ‘The Legend’.
Breakdown:
| Skies of Arcadia: Legends | ||||||||||
| Story/Plot: | 8 | Graphics: | 7 | Sound: | 7 | Gameplay: | 7 | Misc.: | 7 | 9 |
| Overall: | ||||||||||
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