young

i just read that it was coming for the PS2. is it a very good RPG? i vaguely remember people talking about when they had their dreamcasts.

Shuki

yes

Darth Kabong

I don’t do a lot of console RPG - but I do know a good story when comes along. Now on the surface, it may appear a standard 'Save the world' plot that is used so much, that it's almost a cliche

Clearly the development team draws from many different sources - Jules Verne style of ships comes to mind immediately. More subtle sources of inspiration would be the extensive works of Leji Matsomoto - most notably Captain Harlock (a space pirate with big hair half covering his eye patch - sound like a lead character from a certain game?. Of course the parallel to Space Cruiser Yamato/Star Blazers - wherein a spaceship built out of a sunken World War Two battleship, equipped with a bow cannon of unspeakable power, and crewed by a team of youngsters, save the planet - cannot be denied. Heck, even Vyse's second ship looks a LOT like the Argo.

This is not to say that the game is just a shameless amalgamation of other ideas. Far from it - it takes the inspiration, builds on it with an extensive cast of characters, throws in enough side plots and character development of it's own - and tops it all off with a dash of over-the-top adventure.

The depth of characters - I'm stunned on how much feeling the programmers can evoke from the simple models. Simple motions such as a glance away speaks more than a thousand lines of dialogue. People always ask why anime characters have such big eyes - it's because the eyes portray such emotion. This is never more clearly demonstrated than in this game. By the end of the game, when Vyse gathers his allies for the final showdown against the main enemy, all the characters have so much emotional weight behind them, you cant help but cheering them on to their final destiny.

The graphics - unbelievable. The backgrounds are simple, yet amazingly detailed. The most trivial of objects - mere background filler, would be enough to take center stage in a lesser game. The lighting effects are fantastic, the spell animations are astounding, the smoke and water effects are lifelike. It's about on par with the quality that Shenmue put forth, but in it's own cartoon-ish way. The game definitely raises the bar for console games.

The sound and music - the often cited problem of voice acting is non-existent here. The development team, went with text instead of speech, so aside from one or two line - that's not a problem. The music on the other hand is GREAT. The background score for the Ixa'taka city is damn catchy - probably the best music out of the game. The Valua theme is heavy and sinister, the Silvite music otherworldy - It's the best BGM I've heard since . . . oh, Shenmue a month ago.

The battle system - Tight and intuitive. It makes sense, without ever opening the manual. And the ship battles are like a turn-based RTS - a contradiction in terms, I know, but it will make sense once you play it. Both aspects are deep and fun - and easy to master, to this RPG-newbie.

The only down side - and there is a down side: the random battles. Sometimes they come way too frequently, almost to the point of frustration. Most of the time I just wanted to get onto the next section of story, and didn’t want to fight. If not for this problem, the game would be perfect. So that means the game must settle for simply stunning. Provided the user can overlook the one flaw, considerable entertainment awaits within.

The bottom line - this is one of the MUST HAVE games of the Dreamcast - and this is coming from one who doesn’t play RPG's as a rule. The blend of characters, story, graphics blows anything the Final Fantasy franchise has to offer out of the water (with a blast of the Moonstone Cannon, no less. *BLAMMO*).

darkside

Its a bit of a Final Fantasy meets Panzer Dragoon Saga kind of game. The standard storyline and battles are very Final Fantasy, but the ship battles remind me greatly of the innovative battle system of Panzer Dragoon Saga.

Its one of the best RPGs I've played and if you missed it on the Dreamcast I would recomend picking it up if it comes to another console.

Kellehair

I asked this question last year on another board. Everyone seemed to love the game except fpr the fact that the random battles were enough to make you want to smash your controller. Seeing as how I can't stand random battles, I decided to skip this one.

Outlaw

Yeah this game is pretty cool!! Like Darth Kabong said, the story may not seem the most original but it's definitely good, and you'd miss out on a lot to skip it. Its also a pretty solid title but as far as RPG's go, I noticed the battles are a little more difficult though. I didn't mind that though its been awhile since I've played a game with challenge. I'm not sure how the PS2 version turned out, but I played the DC version and it rocks! The music is lovely too (my favorite is the overworld ship music), and the characters have distinct personalities and are very likable. Darth Kabong has written a nice review up above, but here's another one:

Skies of Arcadia Review

Exploring the skies on a flying pirate ship is a pretty unique experience and a blast

tor_greg

This game rocks.

Spicollidriver1

I am gonna have to agree this game rocks. Grandia 2 is a little better but it is still a good game.

MWoody

Fun game. Love the whole "personal island" thing. Random battles were ridiculous, though, especially given the emphasis on early exploration.

Snake Plissken

SKIES is one of the finest RPG's ever made.

huh?

is this headed to the Gamecube as well?