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It can be concluded that if a developer has any intention of making an RPG that will be successful, it's got to bring a few things to the table. It should be creative, visually appealing, considerably difficult but not impossible, include an interesting and likeable cast of characters, and most importantly, it should have a compelling storyline. Throw in some side quests, puzzles, and considerable degree of customability, and you've got yourself a winner. Well folks, the people at Overworks have definately crafted us a winner.
Skies of Arcadia, or as it is known in Japan Eternal Arcadia, takes place in, well, the skies of the world known as Arcadia. Your main party consists of Vyse, a rookie of a band of air pirates known as the Blue Rogues; Aika, another rookie and childhood friend; and Fina, the beautiful stranger with a mysterious past. As the story progresses, you'll learn more about Fina's history, and will eventually be put up to the task of saving Arcadia from being completely annihilated by various giant beasts. Pretty much your standard "save the world" story, delivered in yet another unique and completely interesting way. And while they aren't afraid to throw in plenty of comic relief, the story itself is an adventure of epic proportions.
What is truly remarkable about Skies of Arcadia is how things change and progress around you. In the beginning of the game you're some insignificant pirate, consumed in your father's shadow. But by the end, everyone around the world knows your name; you've got your own crew, your own island, and you will have traveled to every nook and cranny of the world -- even regions wherein nobody has explored or survived -- all in an airship that is bigger, shinier, and more powerful than Daddy's.
Actually, the choices you make, while they don't directly affect any aspect of the story itself, will increase or decrease your popularity level and change your title. By the end of the game, you can come to be known as Vyse the Legend; even though this really does little other than get you some respect when talking to NPCs.
Visually speaking, the game definately meets the grade, especially for its time. It's got beautiful environments that, at times, really work well to capture a player's emotions. Scenery and design of various towns and dungeons is really quite remarkable -- duly so when considering how different the regions and cultures of many towns are, they're able to accurately match up the appropriate surroundings. And of course, the cast of characters is not only very colorful, but they all have a wide variety of emotions that are so easily displayed upon their faces and body language.
The battle system of Skies of Arcadia is true to the genre of turn-based RPGs. People familiar with the genre will feel right at home, and newcomers can expect maybe a half an hour learning curve; it's not rocket science or anything like that. There are some things that are unique about this game, however. Take the magic for instance: your characters will learn a specific type of magic based upon what element you've got equipped to your weapon. That particular element will gain experience at the end of battles, level up, and teach magic accordingly. So you'll have to switch your elements periodically if you're looking to get a wide variety of magic types.
One of the main aspects of the battle system that sets it apart from other turn-based RPGs is the Spirit Bar, which shows the amount of Spirit Points your party has built up. It increases automatically at the beginning of every new turn, but can also be charged during a character's turn if you use the 'focus' ability that all characters have. Anyway, each character has a set of unique special attacks [sort of like the Limit Breaks from the Final Fantasy series] that use Spirit Points. Also, if you've got the Spirit Bar completely full, you can use one of two special ultimate attacks, both of which are equally useful and merciless.
Throughout your adventures, you'll be stopping in areas of varying cultures, meeting several new friends around the world, slaying giant monsters and enemy ships from behind the wheel of your own, and making several discoveries about the world around you -- such as the fact that the world is indeed round.
In fact, you'll be competeing with other discoverers around the world to see how many areas of the world you can find. Every now and then you can stop into a town and cash in your discoveries for some extra gold. But if you're not hasty about reporting in, you'll find that someone else already got to your discovery before you claim the gold, and you'll end up getting less. And if you're just a collector, looking for discoveries simply to have found them all, you can also buy clues for those that have already been found by others. If nothing else, this particular feature is a great sort of side quest that can keep you busy for hours on end.
If you've still got a Dreamcast lying somewhere around the house, say, in a dark corner of a closet, there's really no reason not to whip it out and get yourself this game -- it is easily one of the best RPG experiences to this very day. And if you've got a Gamecube you're in luck, too; Skies of Arcadia Legends was released for Nintendo's console, and even comes with a handful of new features. So even if you've already saved Arcadia once, Legends may provide enough new content to make another play-through all the more worthwhile.
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