You just gotta love pirates, plain and simple. The ones in our next game are some of the coolest pirates on land and in the air(yes, the air and not the sea)!
US Dreamcast Box Art
US Gamecube Box Art
Name: Skies of ArcadiaGenre: Rpg
Developer: Overworks
Publisher: Sega
Designer: Rieko Kodama
Release Year: 2000
Systems: Dreamcast, Gamecube
Since I promised Dreamcast games only in the next few articles, this post will mostly be about the Dreamcast version of Skies of Arcadia. I didn't feel right totally leaving out the GC one though.
One more thing I have to mention before we start the story.....I LOVE OVERWORKS!
Story
Take an adventure with the Blue Rogues!
Take an adventure with the Blue Rogues!
The story opens with a young Silvite woman named Fina sailing through the night skies in her tiny Silver airship. Not far behind her, Valuan Admiral Alfonso is in hot pursuit under orders from Lord Galcian to capture her. Alfonso opens fire on and disables Fina's Ship long enough to capture her before it plummets into Deep Sky, but just as she is being brought onboard his warship, a Blue Rogue vessel arrives with the intent of robbing the Valuan vessel. Vyse and Aika of the Blue Rogues jump from the Albatross onto Alfonso's flagship and fight their way to the rear cargo hold, prompting Alfonso to flee on a lifeboat while leaving Fina behind along with the war beast Antonio, who is quickly defeated by the Rogues. Vyse and Aika bring Fina back to their clan's ship, which Vyse pilots back to their secret hideout, Pirate Island (disguised as Windmill Island).
While watching the sunset, Vyse and Aika see a Moonstone fall from the skies onto nearby Shrine Island. The next day they travel to Shrine Island to retrieve the Moonstone, a concentrated form of airship fuel, leaving Fina behind in the care of their clan. The Moonstone in hand, Vyse and Aika return to Pirate Island to find it obliterated by the Valuan Armada. Fina and many Blue Rogues have been captured by the Armada and taken to the capital city, and here the game proper begins. What starts as a simple rescue mission becomes a struggle for survival amid a looming world war.
This story sounds like it promises one awesome adventure! Trust me, it definitely delivers!
Gameplay
CUTLASS FURY!
CUTLASS FURY!
A line that is said by our Hero Vyse that I have always been very fond of. I just simply love the special attacks in this game, but more on in just a sec. First lets cover the basics of the Battle system.
Skies battle system is a turn based battle system that rpg players are used to. What makes it different is the use of the spirit point system. These points accumulate from attacking and getting hit as well as using your focus command. Spirit points are vital for using Special attacks and magic in this game.
Before you go unleashing your awesome "Cutlass Fury!", there is one more thing that helps you do even more damage. Aside from your buff spells, you also have different elements in the game. What makes Skies of Arcadia nice is that you don't just have a "Flame tongue" that you have to use on an enemy that is weak to fire. You can switch elements on the fly with the push of a button. The game makes it especially easy to see what element you have by switch the color of the weapon you are holding! So when you get a new sword, you don't have to worry about going back to the old outta date elemental weapon, cause all of you weapons can use any element!
Not only do your 6 playable Characters(Vyse,Aika,Fina,Gilder,Drachma and Enrique) have their own special attacks, you also have a team up attack with your characters and you can also call out the crew of your ship to attack in a sweet montage! This attack is hilarious and really shows off the personality of your NPC crew members.
Speaking of crew members, that is another great part of Skies of Arcadia, recruiting new crew members! While not on the same scale as Suikoden(108 stars of Destiny!), there are quite a few awesome characters to recruit in this game to be on your crew! Whats else do the crew members do you ask? Well, they help you in ship to ship battles! yep, Skies of Arcadia has another type of battle system that I am going to talk about now!
Ah, airship battles.......gotta love em. The airship battles are similar to normal battles as far as attack, guard(well, evade in this case), special commands and having a spirit points bar but here is what makes it different! Ship battles are grid based. It would take awhile to get into the depth of the ship combat, so I'll just scratch the surface. Each person in your party can be set an action. All 4 actions(if you have a full party) are played out in one round. So attacking, evading, focus and special can all be used in one round, so planning ahead is crucial!
Crew members have multiple was of helping you in ship to ship combat! While some have passive skills like increasing your ships defense, some crew members have active skills that increase your ships crit chance!
Not only do you have a great crew to help you out, you can also customize your ship to your liking! With main cannons, secondary cannons, torpedoes and your special weapon, there is alot to choose from. Every ship needs a special weapon, and nothing is better then firing your Harpoon gun in this game! Ok, now that we talked about the battle system, lets take a look at the rest of what makes this game so wonderful and totally different then the norm!
Fina's weapon is a living creature and is powered up by finding food for it called chams. These are found all over the dungeons and towns. The way you locate these chams is by VMU!(or beeping in the GC version) Cupil(her animal) will pop up on the VMU, alerting you of nearby food for it. After hitting a certain number of chams, it's attack in battle would change, going from alittle puffball Fina threw at enemies to a sword that would slice at said enemies.
Not only was the VMU used for Cupil, it also had a unique game that you could play on it, and earn money and items on the go! Ah, the VMU.....so much fun!
Last thing to talk about in this game is discoveries! Adding to the already amazing sense of adventure this game already oozes are places and monuments that you have to seek out and discover(hence, the name discoveries!). As if finding a discovery and being known for it isn't enough, you also get paid money to find them! This is done by reporting into the guild.
Ok, I could go on about how great this game is......but i don't wanna type for ever!(and I am sure you don't want to read forever either!) So lets go onto the Game play video, before I think of something else that is great in this game!
Quick note: While I normally don't do this, for this game I have to use 2 gameplay videos! One of the first boss fight(IT HAS CUTLASS FURY!) and one of the first ship battle. You just have to witness both battle types!
Skies battle system is a turn based battle system that rpg players are used to. What makes it different is the use of the spirit point system. These points accumulate from attacking and getting hit as well as using your focus command. Spirit points are vital for using Special attacks and magic in this game.
Before you go unleashing your awesome "Cutlass Fury!", there is one more thing that helps you do even more damage. Aside from your buff spells, you also have different elements in the game. What makes Skies of Arcadia nice is that you don't just have a "Flame tongue" that you have to use on an enemy that is weak to fire. You can switch elements on the fly with the push of a button. The game makes it especially easy to see what element you have by switch the color of the weapon you are holding! So when you get a new sword, you don't have to worry about going back to the old outta date elemental weapon, cause all of you weapons can use any element!
Not only do your 6 playable Characters(Vyse,Aika,Fina,Gilder,Drachma and Enrique) have their own special attacks, you also have a team up attack with your characters and you can also call out the crew of your ship to attack in a sweet montage! This attack is hilarious and really shows off the personality of your NPC crew members.
Speaking of crew members, that is another great part of Skies of Arcadia, recruiting new crew members! While not on the same scale as Suikoden(108 stars of Destiny!), there are quite a few awesome characters to recruit in this game to be on your crew! Whats else do the crew members do you ask? Well, they help you in ship to ship battles! yep, Skies of Arcadia has another type of battle system that I am going to talk about now!
Ah, airship battles.......gotta love em. The airship battles are similar to normal battles as far as attack, guard(well, evade in this case), special commands and having a spirit points bar but here is what makes it different! Ship battles are grid based. It would take awhile to get into the depth of the ship combat, so I'll just scratch the surface. Each person in your party can be set an action. All 4 actions(if you have a full party) are played out in one round. So attacking, evading, focus and special can all be used in one round, so planning ahead is crucial!
Crew members have multiple was of helping you in ship to ship combat! While some have passive skills like increasing your ships defense, some crew members have active skills that increase your ships crit chance!
Not only do you have a great crew to help you out, you can also customize your ship to your liking! With main cannons, secondary cannons, torpedoes and your special weapon, there is alot to choose from. Every ship needs a special weapon, and nothing is better then firing your Harpoon gun in this game! Ok, now that we talked about the battle system, lets take a look at the rest of what makes this game so wonderful and totally different then the norm!
Fina's weapon is a living creature and is powered up by finding food for it called chams. These are found all over the dungeons and towns. The way you locate these chams is by VMU!(or beeping in the GC version) Cupil(her animal) will pop up on the VMU, alerting you of nearby food for it. After hitting a certain number of chams, it's attack in battle would change, going from alittle puffball Fina threw at enemies to a sword that would slice at said enemies.
Not only was the VMU used for Cupil, it also had a unique game that you could play on it, and earn money and items on the go! Ah, the VMU.....so much fun!
Last thing to talk about in this game is discoveries! Adding to the already amazing sense of adventure this game already oozes are places and monuments that you have to seek out and discover(hence, the name discoveries!). As if finding a discovery and being known for it isn't enough, you also get paid money to find them! This is done by reporting into the guild.
Ok, I could go on about how great this game is......but i don't wanna type for ever!(and I am sure you don't want to read forever either!) So lets go onto the Game play video, before I think of something else that is great in this game!
Quick note: While I normally don't do this, for this game I have to use 2 gameplay videos! One of the first boss fight(IT HAS CUTLASS FURY!) and one of the first ship battle. You just have to witness both battle types!
The First Boss
The Ship Battle
One thing alot of games need to do more, battle music that changes depending on the state of the battle. NOTHING was better then hearing that close to victory music that plays after a hard fought boss battle.
Final Thoughts
Our voyage comes to an end
Our voyage comes to an end
Great characters, battle systems, recruiting crew members, cool battle theme and a close to victory theme are just the tip of the ice berg of why this game should get a sequel. The sense of adventure you get outta this game is top notch. Following the Blue Rogues is a roller coaster ride all the way to the end. With Cameo's in Valkryia Chronicles game and Anime, someone is thinking of the Blue Rogues, now lets go one step further and get a sequel!
Preview
Bullets! Bullets! Bullets!
We all need more brawlers! Join us next time as we take a look at Zombie Revenge! They come for brains, we'll give them bullets!(Thanks House of the Dead Overkill!)
Bullets! Bullets! Bullets!
We all need more brawlers! Join us next time as we take a look at Zombie Revenge! They come for brains, we'll give them bullets!(Thanks House of the Dead Overkill!)
