Customer Reviews:
  A flawed masterpiece... June 18, 2007
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................. February 2, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
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 January 10, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
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!!! April 2, 2006
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
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... January 29, 2006
4 out of 6 found this review helpful
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!!!!!!
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