The Dreamcast now not only has a good RPG, but it’s an RPG of such scintillating quality that it puts Square’s ego–driven recent offerings to shame. Skies of Arcadia is everything a console RPG should be. You’ve got your obligatory young hero, with a cute and spunky female sidekick. There’s also a level system, and dozens of individual character stats that make your head spin trying to make sense of them all. There’s a turn–based attack system. There are magic spells, ranging from mass attacks to healing. There are random monster encounters that give you money and experience. There are puzzles to solve, a whole world to explore, an evil empire to fight, and lots of random townspeople that you can engage in conversation.
The main appeal of Skies of Arcadia, though, is not that it does what every other RPG does. It’s in what Skies does DIFFERENTLY that makes this game really shine. The magic system is based on six colors, each corresponding to an element (red for fire, purple for lightning, and so on). By collecting colored moonstones, you can have access to different spells for each element. And, best of all, your party members can learn the same spells. This comes in VERY handy when one party member is locked in mortal combat, or is knocked out by a monster. Each spells uses a number of Spirit Points, and one Magic Point. Spirit Points regenerate quickly, and are also used to power the extremely devastating Special Attacks with weapons. Magic Points replenish less quickly. In other words, the game rewards you for using the most POWERFUL spells you can, which is a refreshing change that simultaneously forces you to think about spell strategy (since some monsters and characters may be resistant to certain spell colors).
This color system also pertains to combat. Here your weapons are forged from moonstones, and you can change the color of the blade in the middle of combat. Is that fire–breathing squid–thing resistant to red–blade attacks? Merely switch to the blue ice blade, and voilà, you’re getting one–shot kills. Your skills with the various colors increase based upon the color you choose to use. If one character always battles with purple blades on his weapon, he’ll get really good at purple attacks, but he’ll suck at yellow attacks. This, again, combines strategy and deliberate thought in combat with the ability to tailor your characters’ skills.
The combat system is also gloriously three–dimensional, despite the fact that it’s a turn–based system. Enemies can appear all over the map, instead of being restricted to a straight line. The location of each of your character’s stands makes a difference in the type of attack they unleash (although I find it curious that you can’t move your characters around the map). And, rather than just standing stock–still when it’s not their turn, the monsters and characters actually duel with each other while another character or monster makes an attack. While these off–turn attacks don’t deal any damage, they provide a realistic feel, as though you’re really in a battle, and not just moving figures on a game board.
I found the most notable aspect of this game to be the air ships — everything takes place in a fantasy world of floating islands and flying ships. The only way you can venture across the world is to use one of these ships, and the game incorporates this travel as part of the adventure. Whenever the main character has to pilot a ship, you must use information regarding the altitude and a compass to get you to your destination. In other words, you can’t just point a cursor at a map location in the Skies of Arcadia and automatically end up there. In later stages of the game, the air ships evolve into a major element of game play, as the main character gets his own ship, equips and mans it, and takes it into combat against other skyships. Not only does this near–tactical–wargame aspect keep the game play fresh, it reveals the depth of the storyline. What other game lets you go from being a young punk on someone else’s ship to the master of a vessel, which is just a sideline to the game’s main story?
Skies of Arcadia is all about depth. If you purchase this title, you’re going to be engrossed in it for hours on end. You may want to get an IV drip and colostomy bag set up now, because you aren’t going to move from in front of the Dreamcast for a long while! The variety and number of characters is staggering, from the evil Alfonse to the cyber–arm–equipped Captain Ahab clone that hunts sky–whales. The myriad of game play options, from combat spells to ship–to–ship battles, is (to use a cliché) jaw–dropping.
The storyline itself is just as complex, featuring a seemingly never–ending epic series of tasks and developments. Skies of Arcadia isn’t so much an adventure as it is the main character’s whole LIFE. I can’t recommend Skies of Arcadia enough. It’s not just the best RPG on the Dreamcast, it’s one of the best RPGs ever! Next time some whiny PSX Zombie tries to tear down the DC for not having any good RPGs, wave a copy of this under his nose and ask him what the PlayStation had in the RPG department that was even HALF as good just a year after Sony released their console. Watching the Zombie sputter would be almost as much fun as playing Skies itself. THE supreme RPG on the
Dreamcast, and one of the best RPGs for any platform this year. Skies of Arcadia certainly outshines FF8 and quite possibly even FF9. If you’re an RPG fan and a Dreamcast owner, GET THIS GAME! If you’re an RPG fan and you don’t have a Dreamcast, BUY one so that you can play this game!
"Skies of Arcadia is a yet another FGN Grand Game Award winner! Dreamcast gamers should immediately glom onto this title and savor and relish their experience!"
