User Reviews (1 - 11 of 92)

Show these reviews first:

Highest Rated
Lowest Rated Newest
Oldest Most Helpful
Least Helpful

Little known, but a classic RPG

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: July 31, 2008
Author: Amazon User

When first I played Skies of Arcadia on the Sega Dreamcast, I faced an utterly daunting challenge to beat the first boss. Failed at my attempt and hadn't played in a very long while. Recently, I came to purchase the title on the GameCube and I couldn't have been happier. The game itself is a fair challenge to gamers of all ages, and it has an innovative element system unused by any other RPG. Boss battles are a little tedious, rather drawn out by the sheer HP totals of the foes. In all, I do honestly recommend the game to any true RPG gamer, and it's worth the price if you can find it.

Still My Favorite RPG of All Time

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: April 28, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Skies of Arcadia is a game with a real sense of exploration. The game shuns most cliches of plot and character development by including memorable characters you actually care about rather than cartoon cliches. The gameplay and combat is simple and but addictive and memorable. The game continually expands, dishing up new types of gameplay and unique areas to explore in your airship. Ship combat and the crew system further enhances the variety.

Keep in mind that this GameCube remake tones down the battles significantly, fixing the main problem that some had with the original DreamCast remake. The visuals are very last-generation (maybe even before that), but you'll be caught up so much in the experience that you won't mind.

It's been 5 years now...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: December 30, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I purchased this game when it came out in 2003 and couldn't wait until I got home to play it. The first day I played it, I spent 6 hours playing and not knowing where the time went. After I beat the game, I, of course, moved on with my life playing games, going to school, etc.. Still, I haven't found a game more satisfying to play than this game. But enough reminiscing, let me tell you why I love this game.

First off, the story. I know several elements of the game's story are a bit cliche, such as having to defeat an evil empire, finding a certain number of ancient crystals to protect innocents from being subject to their power, a love triangle, and such. However, the CHARACTERS of this game really make the story evolve from a basic plot to an exciting adventure story. Main man Vyse is courageous, cool, and likable. Far from the moody, depressed heroes of many modern RPGs. Everyone that Vyse meets in the game has a personality, and when these characters act, it really feels like they are actual people in an actual world that could exist. What they say and do is the most influential aspect of this game, making the story into a far deeper element than "beat the bad guys, save the world, get the girl."

The next aspect is the design of the game. This is an enhanced port of a Dreamcast title, so if you played this before, you won't find too many new things here. However, seeing all the action of the game take place in the sky on floating islands and airships is a whimsical sight to behold, and it really creates some memorable scenes in the game when all you can see is ships fight and the sky. The music is epic, from pirate themes to sorrowful tunes, the orchestrated music is wonderful. Unfortunately, this Gamecube port has lower quality music that the original. If you want cleaner music, I suggest the Dreamcast original. Another downer is the graphics. They are not bad by any means, but the full extent of the Gamecube's graphical power is not used here. Yes, it has higher polygon counts than the original, but several characters appear to be somewhat blocky. But to seriously look down on the game for that reason is folly. However, if perfect graphics are your dig, move on.

Next, the combat. Just like in the original, there are quite a few random encounters in this game. Not as many, but still a lot. I know many people don't like this, but that's the way the game is made. The actual combat is turned based, like many RPGs, but the most unique aspect of the combat is the Spirit Point meter. You get a certain amount of "SP" each round, and they are shared by all members of the party. They are used for magic and special moves, adding strategy and planning to the combat. The other unique aspect are the ship battles. They are similar to normal combat, but they are ship-to-ship, and they require different strategy because of the different weapons your ship can use. You slot in the moves and watch the battle go. Some may find this slow and frustrating, others, like me, do not.

The last thing is the extra stuff. While sailing, you can find hidden locations and objects called "Discoveries." Finding these will earn you money at local towns. There are more Discoveries in this version that the Dreamcast title. There is optional Moonfishing side story that lets you play through a subplot involving a vengeful pirate hunter, a doctor, a little girl, and a bird. This quest is also new. Also, there is a small list of strong bounties to collect, new to this version. Aside from those things, there is a special weapon just for Vyse later in the game, and a special boss to fight. Doing all this stuff increases your rank, changing the way people talk to you and the way to find new things.

Indeed, this game is not perfect, but I believe once you get involved in the game's many great qualities, you will overlook its small flaws. The intriguing setting and characters will entice you and make you want to keep playing. This is one of the Gamecube's more overlooked titles, and I recommend this title to anyone with a Gamecube. You won't regret it. I didn't, and haven't been for 5 years.

A flawed masterpiece...

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: June 18, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Standard turn-based RPG battle system, check. Damsel and world in distress, check. Numerous random battles, ugh.

Yet, this game transcends the sum its parts. The story is absorbing, the sail, explore, and discover new worlds aspect is engrossing, and the playable characters (yup, all three of them) are endearing. Isn't that why RPG enthusiasts get such a kick out of this genre. It's the disparate, loner characters, banding together and forming a family, and along the way (if the game is any good) they become our friends.

I highly recommend this game. Look past the out-dated graphics, and keep pushing through those random battles, because what unfolds is definitely worth the trouble.

The best rpg of all time.................

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: February 02, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Why do people play rpg's? I can't answer that question for other people as everyone has their own taste and their own reasons, but i can tell you the reason why i play rpg's is because i like to feel like i am in a world of fantasy and adventure, a world where anything is possible and where the sound of the wind resonating quitely against the breeze preordains a future of uncertain destiny. This game brings the gamer a feeling of adventure the whole way through and throws you right into the story. You start as vise, a young sky pirate who plunders treasure from other pirates in the skies of arcadia, as vise and his father navigate the skies they come across an airship belonging to alfonso of the valvuan armada, they decide to plunder the airship and thats when the story takes off. Throughout the game you encounter different enemies both in airships and in single hand to hand battles, the game is basically about the valvuan empire trying to take over the world, Fina, the mysterious stranger, completing her "mysterious" voyage, and vyse fighting the empire for the good of the world and the sheer joy of pissing them off. Once the story begins to unfold you are automatically drawn into a world of diverse cultures and environments, places like ika'taka, nasrad, and valvua are just a few of the areas you will encounter along your journey, you will meet different people and everywhere you go will bring you satisfaction as you keep records on your journal of all the places you've explored.

THE GRAPHICS

Yes this game came out orginally for the sega dreamcast and so there weren't many visual improvements done to the game, but this was still the best looking rpg on the gamecube and the visuals match the game perfectly. the specials are those of your typical rpg with the razzle dazzle attacks, the magic attacks are also pretty cool to watch and the best part is, once you get your ship, it has a special also! The environments in my opinion look amazing and the clouds shifting softly through your ships propellers just add to the feeling of actually flying.

THE GAMEPLAY

The game play is basically the same as your typical rpg except for a few improvements in the battle mechanics, you encounter random battles, you lvl up with experience and moon stones allow you to learn specials, what really sets the game apart from your typical rpg's are the ship battles, which allow you to fight using a ship and crew to battle against enormous monsters and pesky valvuan airships. The ship battles are turn based and the commands closely resemble the commands used in regular hand to hand combat, you get to use magic, choose if you want to use evasive manuvers, or just attack with a cannon torpedo or special. The ship is fully costumizable in terms of crew and equipment, and it is one of the coolest vehicles i have ever used in any game.

THE STORY

The story is one of greed, hate, love, and betrayl, its about an adventurous young sky pirate reaching for the sky and protecting those he loves, its about a young woman trying to overcome the betrayel of her long time friend and about a dictator who wants nothing more than power for rebuilding what he deems a lost civilization. This is what epic legends are made off!

REPLAY VALUE

To me one of the most important things in a video game is will i want to play the game over after i'am done. The answer for skies of arcadia is a certified yes. acquaring the ultumate weapons, all the magics, all of the specials for every character, all of the crew member for the delphenus, and the best weaponry for the delphenus, plus completing the discovery journal and if your a true fanatic, getting all of your character to level 99 and increasing their strength to 999 using the power seeds, this game has some of the highest replay value out of any game ever.

In conclusion skies of arcadia promises nothing less than one of the best "evil empire" stories ever narrated in a video game, beautiful visuals, and gameplay that is going to keep you coming back for hours on end, (i beat the game 4 times!), so if you are an rpg fan, then you owe it to yourself to pick this one up, you will not be disappointed.

Game play: 5/5
Replay value: 5/5
Story: 5/5
Graphics: 4.5/5

On Par With the Greats

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: January 10, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This was one of those games I found on the shelves of the rental store and thought 'heck, why not?' And not once did I regret my decision. Though Skies of Arcadia has its fair share of 'gaming cliches' (the mysterious girl who gets things rolling; every female is incurably attracted to the main character... that sort of thing) the story is compelling.
Vyse and his cohorts are Blue Rouges, a faction of the 'Air Pirates' distinction who are easily likened to the Robin Hoods of the world. Their favourite target is the Valuan Empire, easily the ruling power of Arcadia. But it seems that Valua has developed a streak of imperialism, and is attacking the other countries of the world. After discovering a strangely garbed kidnapped girl in the Valuan ship they'd just attacked, Vyse and co. find out that Valua is really after the Moon Crystals. These items are each able to control a Gigas- 6 of them altogether (one for each Moon of Arcadia)- and Valua intends to use these powerful weapons against those who oppose them. Thus begins Vyse, Fina, and Aika's quest to gather the Crystals before Valua can.

One of the great things about this game is that the villains are so delightfully evil and competent (at least most are, namely Galcian and Ramirez). No more wondering how they came into power; it's quite obvious that Galcian and Ramirez lied, cheated, and murdered to get where they are.

The ship-battle system was a nice change of pace for players, breaking away from the repetitive random battle screens to give us a good old-fashioned cannons-and-torpedos aerial battle (no oceans in Arcadia- you sail the skies). These battles also aren't just dependent on brute-strength (though being strong helps keep you alive) but they also take some strategy, as you have to consider how far away the other ship is and if your cannons could reach, and because you input several commands at once you also have to consider 'how much damage do I think I'll sustain this round? Will I need to heal?'

The side-quests in this game are extremely worthwhile, especially the sidequest involving feeding Moonfish to Maria's little pet. This will give you items as well as interesting insights to the back-story and how a certain villain fell from grace. The optional battles against Piastol are also worthwhile.

All in all, Skies of Arcadia is a great game with a decent amount of replay value. Decent graphics make everything relatively easy to see (though don't expect breath-taking cutscenes), battle systems detract from the monotony of random battles, and the music offers a very fitting atmosphere.

The Best!!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 3
Date: April 02, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I love this RPG!The graphics and storyline are both awesome!The only thing that kind of gets on my nerves is the random battles,but otherwise,this game is great!It's the only game I can think of that explores the sky instead of on the ground.A must buy!!

Very good Game!! but bad porting...

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 3 / 5
Date: January 29, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I loved this game alot when it came out on the dreamcast! and was highly depressed when dreamcast met its doom and i was forced to sell it.....when i heard it came out for the gamecube i was really happy and didn't mind playing it again due to the extra features!! but once i played it, i was really shocked at how bad the audio mixing was!! it was so bad that it felt like i was playing the game on a regular nintendo system and to top that! the extras in this game are very unnoticable!!! graphics were the same thankfully!!.....anyways i regret selling my dreamcast because of this game!! it was sooo good , but like i said bad porting!! idk if its because gamecubes audio isnt as good as dreamcasts audio i couldn't tell! but i highly reccommend the dreamcast version it was just perfect!!!!!!

Best Game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: October 17, 2005
Author: Amazon User

December 25, 2004 -- the fateful day I had ordered this game, as I had been wanting it for a while, but never actually got around to getting it, and so 12/25/04 I got it, played it, and definitely thought I couldn't love a game more, and I was right, but I recently re-played it, and I loved it even more then back then. This is surely the best game I've ever played, and ever will play. Tales of Symphonia probably takes 2nd to it. The battle system is just so incredible, as are the Bounty heads you defeat for money. I must say, if you're an R.P.G. lover, and you haven't tried this game, please do so now. Actually, even if you aren't an R.P.G. fan, you should still give this game a chance. I can guarantee you'll be satisfied, or at least you better be. I can also guarantee anywhere from 40-50+ gameplay hours. I have no more to say, except I wish for a sequel to it, or an Anime or something. And my last thing I'll say to you is: if you have a GameCube, buy this from online for only $20 now, and I can 99.9% guarantee you'll enjoy this game, and even if you don't have a GameCube, go and buy one for this game. And if you do, others game you should get for it are: Gauntlet: Dark Legacy, Tales of Symphonia, Sonic (if you're an old Sega Genesis fan of them, they have this deal where you get 7 games in 1, which is rather nice, I'd say), and Ty The Tasmanian Tiger.

Fly high

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 1
Date: August 22, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Skies of Arcadia: Legends is a remake of a game with the same title for the Dreamcast. I never owned a Dreamcast, so I thought I might play it. I became quickly addicted. This is the best RPG for the GameCube.

Vyse, a Blue Rogue, fights the evil Valua Empire with the help of his friends. Yes, the story isn't very oringal. What IS orginal is the ship vs. ship battles. You start with a small ship ('Little Jack') and then later upgrade to a warship called The Delfinus. The graphics are decent, and the story keeps you interested until the end of the game.

Review Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next 

Actions