Back in the day on the 1st 128bit console, Sega Dreamcast had a game called Skies of Arcadia. It lacked good RPGs at the time so this game was a very welcome addition to any RPG fan that owned a Dreamcast. At the time the graphics were seen as fantastic, the sound superb and the gameplay... wow... But now it has undergone what some games on the Dreamcast *cough* Sonic *cough* have undergone, being ported to the Nintendo Gamecube.
'Legends' looks and sounds exactly the same as the Dreamcast version. The Gamecube is much more capable of better graphics and sound effects than this ported Dreamcast game can produce make no mistake. But this game just oozes excellence with some new twists to battling the bad guys as well as other sub-plots that branch from the main storyline. New characters have been introduced, new sub-quests if you wish to be challenged and new enemies to kick your arse all over the game.
I'm not going to write you guys an essay about how much I like this game so let's get on with the nitty gritty shall we?
The game is based in the world of Arcadia where everything is in the sky. Floating islands, flying ships (literally wooden ships not some hi-tech machine out of Star Wars) and people living on these islands trying not to fall off. In each part of Arcadia are different moons, 6 to be exact. Each moon affects that area's climate and culture such as the Red Moon creates deserts in a region and the Green Moon creates jungles in another. Occasionally the moons rain down bits of themselves onto
Arcadia, these bits are called Moon Stones and the people use them for practically everything from weapons to fuel for their flying ships.
Outside the influence of the moons is an island called Pirate Isle where a group of Air Pirates called the Blue Rogues inhabit. Unlike Black Pirates who attack anything, Blue Rogues, led by Dyne, steal only from armed ships and use the loot to help people in need, kinda like Robin Hood with a flying machine.
The lead character is Dyne's son, Vyse, who along with his childhood friend Aika help out his paps with the pirating on-board their ship. The games starts off with them attacking a battleship of the Valuan armada (Valuan's = evil, enough said). During this successful raid they rescue a girl who was held captive called Fina, a member of the Silvite Civilisation (from the Silver Moon region blatantly). From there the game starts dragging the 3 main characters Vyse, Aika, and Fina all over Arcadia in search of ancient relics to prevent the end of the world.
I know it sounds crap but there are many twists in the story and the characters develop extremely well in accordance to how the stroy unfolds. Fina, the shy Silvite girl, eventually becomes more outgoing as Vyse's personality rubs off on her.
Gameplay: There are two types of battles; the first is standard turn based fighting and the other is the ship battle. The turn based battle is more or less the same as Final Fantasy's classic 'its my turn then your turn, oh sorry I am faster so I go first' fighting affair with magic and weapons. It is still alot of fun and the characters that aren't having their go are in the background fighting the other enemies, not giving damage of course but it gives the battle more life. The ship battles though is a new concept and is extremely well done. You choose what command you wish to do on the ship such as fire cannons, guard or heal. After you select your commands you watch to see how it turns out and if you're good enough, eventually the bad guys blow up. Alot of strategy will be used for later fights but the combination of both turnd base fightings and ship battles really keep you interested since it isn't the same thing over and over again. Random battles are now less frequent than the original Dreamcast version, where every 2 seconds on your ship sailing you get into an battle making that journey longer than ever! The game has been made longer with the introduction of many new features as described above. This extras are actually alot of fun to play and the battles are extremely difficult later on as well.
Storyline: The storyline combines alot of what's been done already into one that immerses you into how the plot thickens. Sure the 'meet the girl, world in peril, help girl save world, big twist near end' has been done before but the way the characters are used to portray it is exceptionally good. As mentioned already Vyse and crew go to try and save the world from the Rains of Destruction, basically all the moons rain down many moon stones and obliterate the entire world. To do so they must find the Moon Stone Crystals and prevent the Gigas (giant evil robot thingies that can vaporise an island with a sneeze) from being controlled by the Valuans. How they start the adventure and how it ends you must play it to fully feel it unroll.
Responsiveness: Yes this game is very responsive when you are on foot with the characters running about exploring dungeons. Vyse is very fluid and actions are made straight after the action button is pressed. However navigation on the ship is rather slow. Flying it around is easy enough, but the time it takes for the ship to move up or down can sometimes take ages. And when you fly through areas that are quite tight such as valleys or tunnels the ship may stop moving due to it being caught onto an 'invisible' part of the mountain etc. This is of course a graphics glitch but at the end of the day it still gets you from A to B, albeit very frustratingly.
Graphics: If it was 1998 the graphics would of been seen as one of the best. But nowadays these graphics are not all that. Compare it to games on the Gamecube such as Resident Evil and you will be rather dissapointed with this game's graphical capabilities. You can see how many blocks were used for Aika's chin, it's that bad. But the battle special effects still provide more than enough eye candy for us game players and besides the gameplay more than makes up for it!
Sound: The sound is more or less the same as the original game on the Dreamcast. In fact some sound effects on the Gamecube not as crisp as the original either, but unless you really want the same experience as the Dreamcast then I don't see it being much of a bother for most players. The music is for the game is very well written and is used well to protray what type of emotion or atmosphere your current situation is in. And oh yeah, the battle theme rocks! Only this game has had a good battle theme after Final Fantasy VII.
Value: This game is very good value for money. Playing it will take 40+ hours depending on how frequently you play and how skilled you are with RPGs. Last place I saw it being sold at was on for £30, but I say it's worth every penny. This is a game you would play again in future.
Verdict: Fantastic game will have you hooked fro mbeginning to end. Graphics, audio, and ship navigation could of doen with some improvements but this doesn't take away the fun of the game. Highly recommended for RPG fans with a Nintendo Gamecube.
Overall Score: 9/10
Pictures of Skies of Arcadia: Legends (GameCube)
Anime art of the main characters
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Advantages: Fantastic soundtrack at times, hugely engrossing,an unforgettable experience Disadvantages: Possibly too many random encounters, no sequel (yet...)
Advantages: Fantastic soundtrack at times, hugely engrossing,an unforgettable experience Disadvantages: Possibly too many random encounters, no sequel (yet...)
Aug 20th, 2004
(Aug 22nd, 2004)
exceptional by (12%):
very helpful by (88%):
