Skies of Arcadia

Skies of Arcadia is still one of the best RPGs ever made

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Nearly ten years ago, Skies of Arcadia completely changed the way I viewed video games. What I once saw as a passive medium, where I followed a trail of bread crumbs from point to point to see what the developers had in store for me, I now saw something greater.

Arcadia drew me into its world in a way no game has before or since with colorful characters, beautiful locales, and a sense of adventure that the game not only emphasizes, but cherishes. Even today, when I come back to the game after having experienced the likes of Oblivion, Mass Effect, and Skyrim, I still get a feeling of adventure that no other game seems able to provide in quite the same way. Naturally, there are some spoilers ahead, so if you’d prefer to go into this game ignorant, don’t read any further!

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The Weekly Five: Favorite Moments in Skies of Arcadia

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Hey everyone welcome to another episode of The Weekly Five, I’m your host George and today we will be talking about my favorite moment of Skies of Arcadia. The game originally came out in 2000 on the SEGA Dreamcast.

The game later got 2002 re-release in Japan and 2003 in the West on the Gamecube, which included better graphics, less random battles, extra content, and more. Regardless of what version of the game play, both are fantastic experiences. Some disliked the game due to its constant random battles but I think it more than makes it up with its charming characters, light hearted humor and sense of exploration.

Great games have great moments and Skies of Arcadia is full of them, so if I don’t mention a moment you loved, share it with us in the comment section. Let’s get this list started.

Warning: Spoilers ahead. 

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Aboard Little Jack: How Skies Of Arcadia made an RPG fan out of me

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Skies of Arcadia is a game that made a huge impact on me as a fan of SEGA and Role-Playing games. Before it, I had very little exposure to RPGs. I had seen Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest, but very rarely did I play them. The only one I actually played was Phantasy Star IV. While I enjoyed it, I was a bit too young to really be able to understand or get into it. I still had fond memories of playing it with my neighbor, and when I got older and had the chance to finally play it again, it became one of my favorite games of all time. It never would have happened without Skies of Arcadia.

At the time the game came out on the Dreamcast, I was around 10 years old. Old enough to start wrapping my head around more complex games. However, I didn’t have a Dreamcast at the time, only a Nintendo 64. My cousin had the Dreamcast though, and I was super close with him. He was like an older brother to me. He picked on me a bit, but he also showed me lots of cool stuff, even stuff I probably wasn’t supposed to see or play at my age yet. He was also a huge RPG fan, and had always tried to get me into them, but I never did get engrossed with them that much. Then, one weekend when he came to visit, he brought Skies of Arcadia. We spent an entire night playing it, and I don’t remember how long we played it for, but it was almost sunrise before we finally had to give into sleep.

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Year of the Developers: A look back at the games of SEGA’s Overworks

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Last week when we kicked off Overworks and WOW Entertainment month, we took a look back at how SEGA organized their many internal development teams over the years. Among those teams were Overworks and WOW Entertainment, two separate teams that released games from 2000 through to 2004 when they were merged and became SEGA WOW. This week, we will be taking a look back at the games released by Overworks. While the Overworks softography is small, especially compared to giants like SEGA AM2, in the span of four years Overworks released some truly classic titles.

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Classic SEGA Ads: Take a peek above deck at these Japanese Skies of Arcadia commercials

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When it comes to Japanese games being localized for the West, I tend to like it when they stick as closely to the original release as possible. I like to hear the original Japanese dialogue, have the names of characters and locations retained, see the original cover art used, and I hate it when they change the game’s title (hey, I just noticed that Jet Grind Radio broke all of these rules!). Skies of Arcadia, however, is a rare exception. When it was revealed in the pages of The Official Sega Dreamcast Magazine that Eternal Arcadia was to be retitled Skies of Arcadia, I was not only okay with this, I actually much preferred it.

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Tuesday Tunes: Skies of Arcadia’s OST will make you feel adventurous

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Skies of Arcadia is a special game that had just the right amount of charm to win me over. Skies of Arcadia is just one of those games where you really like the bright colorful world and cheery character personalities, despite its random battle encounters and parts in the game that lead to frustration. Not only that, the game had an epic soundtrack that gives you a sense of adventure. Listen to the main theme above and tell me this doesn’t make you want to go exploring some caverns or travel in exotic locations?

This week on Tuesday Tunes we will be listening to some of my personal favorite tracks in Skies of Arcadia. Hit the jump and set your volume to an appropriate volume.

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What today’s Japanese RPGs can learn from SEGA’s Skies of Arcadia

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If there’s one type of game that has struggled to find its footing in the modern era, it’s been the Japanese RPG. Looking at a console generation that has seen a major RPG from the creator of Final Fantasy struggle to achieve a Western release, and one where the once-mighty RPG giant Square-Enix has become more known for Tomb Raider than for their RPG output, it’s without a doubt been an interesting ride for the genre.

In recent years it’s been the games that have deviated most from the typical format, such as the Persona series and Dark Souls, that have garnered the most mainstream appeal outside of your usual Final Fantasy releases. As the seventh console generation wound to a close, however, we’ve also seen the smallest signs of a shift back. With more traditional Japanese RPGs like the 3DS’ Bravely Default being warmly received worldwide, it’s shown that developers can look to the past to find inspiration for the future.

And if they look back at Skies of Arcadia, there’s plenty they can learn from the Dreamcast’s biggest traditional RPG.

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First 4 Figure’s Skies of Arcadia statue available to pre-order at 12% discount

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Its no secret that First 4 Figures aren’t cheap and saving any type of cash on these expensive but well crafted figures is a nice relief to one’s wallet. Well, the online shop where I pre-order my comicbooks also does pre-orders for figures, statues and all that jazz; including the First 4 Figure’s Vyse statue.

If you pre-order through DCBS, you just need to pay the shipping (which is like 6 dollars within the United States) on top of their 30% discounted price of $175.96. That may seem like a lot, but consider that the figure is 17 inches tall and originally costs $199.99 on First 4 Figure’s website, that’s a nice discount.

 

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SEGA All-Stars “Skies of Arcadia” Vyse statue now available to pre-order from First 4 Figures

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First 4 Figures, creators of the Sonic the Hedgehog and SEGA All-Stars lines of collector’s statues, are at it again as pre-orders for their beautiful Skies of Arcadia Vyse statue are now open! Sculpted to 1/6 scale, Vyse himself measures approximately 11″ tall. In total, from the base to the tip of the pirates flag, the statue measures 17″ tall. As expected from First 4 Figures, there are two versions. The standard edition is limited to 1,000 pieces and is priced at $199.99, the exclusive version is limited to 425 and is priced at $219.99 and features a switch-out right arm holding the Pirate’s Cutlass. Both statues are expected to release Q4 2014.

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