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| [ROTM Winner]Sam's Wise Review On Skies of Arcadia; (56K Waring) Sam's last thread for now! | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Jan 30 2005, 05:02 PM (758 Views) | |
| Samthewise7 | Jan 30 2005, 05:02 PM Post #1 |
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Hello, and welcome to another one of my reviews. Today we will review a sleeper hit RPG called Skies of Arcadia aka Skies of Arcadia Legends. Now Skies of Arcadia was originally released on the Sega Dreamcast, but soon after Sega went out of the system business, they released Skies of Arcadia for the Game Cube with extra characters, features and 5 new hours of gameplay in all. Let’s review the game now! Please keep in mind I will be talking about both versions of the game, that’s right I will review both the Dreamcast version and the Game Cube version and compare them. Sam’s Wise Info on Skies of Arcadia! ![]() Picture of the Box Art Release dates! Japan December 26, 2002 United States January 28, 2003 Europe May 23, 2003 Recommended Requirements: 3 blocks of space required to play Skies of Arcadia Legends! ![]() Pic of Skies Of Arcadia Main Menu Storyline: Do you like adventures? Do you like to sail boats in the air and look for treasures and discover new unknown lands? Enter Vyse a young Air Pirate who longs for adventures in which he finds treasures, discovers new unknown territories and becomes the Captain of his own crew and ship. The story is about Vyse aka our main character and his friends Aika and Fina. Now Vyse and Aika first find Fina captured by one of the many main bad guys Alfonso 1st Admiral of Valuan Empire. They later scare away Alfonso and rescue Fina. After they rescued Fina they took her to Pirates Island aka Home of the Blue Rouges. After the Valuan Empire heard that Fina escaped they set out to get her again this time at Pirates Island. Valuan Empire then did an air raid on Pirates Island and they captured Fina. So now Vyse and Aika must rescue Fina again can they do it? Personal Opinion: The storyline was great, and obviously there is a lot more to Skies of Arcadia then rescuing Fina from Valuan Empire. But I wanted to make sure to stay away from Spoilers. I wanted to make sure whoever reads this review and hasn’t played SOA will enjoy the surprises it has in the storyline and I felt giving too much away would only take away from the gamers experience in this game. Anywho I really enjoyed the Storyline it has some many twists and surprises in it. It kept me wanting to play it all the way until I beat it. Storyline Final Score: 9.0 ![]() Journal's allow you to read what has happend in the story so far Graphics: The graphics of SOA are that of Dreamcast quality. It still looks choppy in some areas for example Fina’s hand looks really fat in the beginning for some odd reason and it looks like they really didn’t do much to try and take advantage of the Game Cube’s graphic capability’s. So basically the graphics for SOAL reminds me a lot of the Dreamcast version still. As for the Dreamcast version of SOA the graphics were amazing at the time it came out only the PS2 system had better graphics. Personal Opinion: I really felt like Overworks and Sega could have tried a little harder to make the game look better for the Game Cube, I felt like they were lazy in the Graphics area and they could have done a lot better. As for the Dreamcast version I really liked the Graphics, when I played the game on Dreamcast I was blown away by the Graphics in it. Please keep in mind I hadn’t played a good graphics RPG game in quite a long time so I was surprised by just how good SOA looked on Dreamcast at the time. Graphics Final Score: 7.5 ![]() This is a pic of Vyse running towards Shrine Island Sound: SOA did really well in the Sound department. SOA had one of the best Soundtracks for any RPG ever made. The sound effects were also very well done as well. The voiceovers for the game were ok but they could have been better. If there was one bad thing about the Dreamcast it was that it had one to many voiceover games, and the voiceover in Dreamcast games were terrible it’s safe to say SOA should have stayed away from the voiceovers. Personal Opinion: Where to begin I mean wow great amazing Music. I would deffently buy the Soundtrack to SOA. Because I loved the music in the game, it really made you feel as if you were in the game, and it also made you feel as if you were playing the game every time you listened to the music without playing the game. The sound effects were also well done I really liked the sound effects in the game. One thing I did not like was the voiceovers I mean come on you can do better then that! Sound Final Score: 9.0 (For the Music mainly) ![]() The Air battles are amazing in this game Sam’s Music Specialty! In this section of my reviews on Sound in each game I do I will post links to some of the songs to the Game Soundtrack. Please keep in mind these links will either be Remixes or Midi’s. Midi’s for Skies of Arcadia! (Thanks to vgmusic.com for the Midi’s) http://www.vgmusic.com/music/console/sega/...ship_Battle.mid http://www.vgmusic.com/music/console/sega/...oabattlev12.mid http://www.vgmusic.com/music/console/sega/...dungeoncave.mid http://www.vgmusic.com/music/console/sega/...Hand_combat.mid http://www.vgmusic.com/music/console/sega/...aryfacility.mid http://www.vgmusic.com/music/console/sega/.../Sky_battle.mid http://www.vgmusic.com/music/console/sega/dreamcast/gss.mid http://www.vgmusic.com/music/console/sega/...oa_battle-2.mid http://www.vgmusic.com/music/console/sega/...irateisland.mid http://www.vgmusic.com/music/console/sega/..._reflection.mid http://www.vgmusic.com/music/console/sega/...st/yafutoma.mid Remixes for Skies Of Arcadia! (Thanks to ocremix.org and vgmix.com for the Remixes) http://www.vgmix.com/song_view.php?song_id=1842 http://www.ocremix.org/detailmix.php?mixid=OCR00730 http://www.ocremix.org/detailmix.php?mixid=OCR01109 Sam’s favorite Remix/Midi for this game! http://www.vgmusic.com/music/console/sega/..._reflection.mid Gameplay: The gameplay in Skies of Arcadia is a little hard to understand mainly because SOA was originally made for the Dreamcast, but the transition over to the Game Cube is not that hard to get unless you played the Dreamcast version then it might be hard to get at first. One of the main things in Skies of Arcadia that makes it so different from any other RPG is the Color Mode with Weapons what you do is equip a certain color for your Weapon which either makes your physical attacks better or worse. Say for example I equipped Red on my Weapon and my enemy is Blue then I’m going to do more damage on the enemy since Fire is good vs. Water vise versa Water is good against Fire. The 7 main colors are as follows: Red for Fire Blue for Water Purple for Ice Yellow for Lighting Black for Unknown White for healing mainly Green for healing mainly Its best if you equip the right colors on the right bad guys because you never know when you are going to need that extra punch. There are also tons of side quests in the game which will keep you busy for a long time. You can do Side Quests such as finding new people to hire for your crew, you can catch fish and sell them for a good amount of gold in the game as well, you can even make discoveries in the game as well, such as finding new landmarks and places which nobody has seen before, they have also added a wanted list in the game, that’s right you can hunt down bad guys as side quests and you get rewarded if you can beat them that is. You will learn soon enough that side quests are you best friends in SOA and SOAL. Camera control is always a huge issue in every game you play even more so if it’s an RPG. So with that said Skies of Arcadia had some good camera controls but then again every now and then the camera would lose control and you would have to manually adjust it back to normal. Here are some controls on the game now! Controls for Villages & Dungeons! A-button: Inspect for items/ Talk to people/ Enter selection/ Read next line of text. B-button: Cancel. C-Stick: Rotate Camera Angle. X-button: Display Status Menu Screen. Y-button: Change viewpoint to 1st person perspective. Controls while sailing in the Air! Control Stick: Move player’s ship A-button: Inspect for items/Talk to other ships/Enter villages or dungeons/Enter selection/Read next line or text. B-button: Cancel. L-button or C-Stick down: Descend in the air. R-button or C-Stick up: Ascend in the air. X-button: Display Status Menu Screen. Y-button: Display world map. Z-button or Start/Pause: Display Menu. Personal Opinion: The gameplay was fantastic for the most part. I really liked the Color Weapon aspect of the game it brought strategy into play and I loved that. Because in an RPG game I like to take time to consider what my next move will be, I like to plan things out so if I find an RPG game that is Turn Based. I like it even more because I get the chance to consider what my moves will be, and if that happens there’s a better chance of me winning the battle against a bad guy. The controls were very simple and easy to use and I like that in a game especially if it’s an RPG game. The camera control in the game was decent while it could have been better at least you could fix it unlike some other RPG games I’ve played before. What I really liked most about the Gameplay was the Airship battles, they were awesome because it was like you were playing Risk or some other RTS game, it was cool and it was different from any other RPG game I have ever played before. You had to think ahead of time while doing an Air Battle you had to plan what you were going to do with the next three rounds aka you use your first character to do something with the ship in the first round and you use another character to do something else in the 2nd round and the same thing happens in the third round as well. Gameplay Final Score: 9.5 Replay Value: SOA has a good solid Replay Value. There are tons of Side Quests which will keep you playing this game for a long long time. Also the game is worth playing over and over again because as the title says The Skies the Limit! New to the Game Cube version there is also another 5 extra hours of gameplay which is something worth checking out if you own the Dreamcast version and have yet to try out the Game Cube version of SOA. New to the Game Cube Version of SOA! • Enhanced Graphics. Brighter colors and higher detailed models • New scenes throughout the game • Tells stories of events that happened prior to the game • Slightly updated and tweaked Battle System • Hunt "Wanted" criminals down for gold and other items • Find "Moonfish" for rewards, such as advanced equipment or story expansion • Search for Piastol, a headhunter out to see Vyse dead • Find new ultimate weapons • Search the world for all new Discoveries • Includes the Dreamcast's downloadable add-ons. Personal Opinion: The replay value in Skies of Arcadia is solid. The Side Quests are tons of fun and that alone will keep you playing for a long long time. Also new bad guys in the wanted list and new discoveries are waiting to be found! So when you beat the game you really won’t get the feeling that you beat the game you will want to go back and get all the Bad Guys/Discoveries that you missed while playing the game the first time. Replay Value Final Score: 8.5 ![]() Fighting mode allows you to take your time to decide what you want to do Overall Score: Skies of Arcadia, is an amazing RPG game that has a great Storyline that will keep you guessing for a long time, I mean who would have ever thought to make an RPG where the Skies are like the ocean and Ships are like boats only sailing in the air instead of the sea, and who would have ever thought the storyline could bring some many good twists Now for the pros and cons of Skies Of Arcadia Legends! Pros: - The music in the game was fantastic I wish I had the money to buy the Soundtrack. - The graphics were well done for the Dreamcast but could have been better on the Game Cube version. - The gameplay was something else I mean the Color Weapon mode was awesome It brought strategy into the game which I liked. - The replay value was excellent I really enjoyed all of the Side Quests it had to offer. - Storyline was amazing the game kept me guessing for a long time and it had a great ending that’s for sure! Cons: - The camera angles made the game hard at times and that’s not a good thing at all in an RPG game. - While the graphics were good in the Dreamcast version, I had expected the Game Cube version to look a little better which it did but in some areas you could still tell that there were problems from the first Dreamcast that they didn’t fix. - The Game Cube version would have been better had they added more new features for the Game Cube like trying to use the GBA link cable abilities more. - Voiceovers in this game were terrible and were not necessary at all they should have just stuck with text in this game. Sam’s Wise Final Score on Skies of Arcadia Legends: 9.5 Skies of Arcadia is an amazing game I felt lucky to be able to play it and now own it again while I was a little disappointed with the lack of new features in SOAL I did enjoy playing the game again and all the new features that were added were cool and tons of fun. I really think this game does not get the credit it deserves it’s truly one of the best RPG’s I have ever played and that’s saying a lot since I have played classic RPG’s such as: Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy 7, Breath Of Fire 3, Chrono Cross, ToS and a lot of others I can’t think of at the moment. Well that’s my very long and hard review on Skies of Arcadia Legends I put forth a lot of effort into this review and I hope you guys could that in the review. Well that’s going to do it for now I plan to write a review on Super Mario World or Animal Crossing next. So until then enjoy the review and I hope you like my next one! |
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| Pulse | Jan 30 2005, 05:09 PM Post #2 |
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WOW! Best review I have seen here! |
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| Samthewise7 | Jan 30 2005, 05:12 PM Post #3 |
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Thanks i've been working on it for awhile now and i wanted to really see if i could make a great in-depth review and it looks like i did a decent job on it this time. |
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| Pulse | Jan 30 2005, 05:18 PM Post #4 |
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You will most likely win ROTM for next month! |
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| Samthewise7 | Jan 30 2005, 05:22 PM Post #5 |
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w00t then i can't believe my review did this well! |
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| monkimann | Jan 30 2005, 05:41 PM Post #6 |
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Forg Mario PWNS!
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Amazing! The most in-deph review I have ever read. I have heard many good things about this game and this review proves them all. I loved how you cored it, you had a non-biased part the your oppinion. I also like the pictures and the music that you added in. Excellent job, definately tthe next Review of the Month winner! Congrats and, again, great job! |
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| Samthewise7 | Jan 30 2005, 05:46 PM Post #7 |
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Thanks Monki! |
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| monkimann | Jan 30 2005, 06:06 PM Post #8 |
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Forg Mario PWNS!
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Your welcome Sam, you deserve it! |
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| DiddyKongDude | Jan 30 2005, 07:34 PM Post #9 |
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All I can say is.....wow.... Great Job Sam! I just saw this game at GameStop for $19.99!!! I would've bought it, but I had no cash. $_$ It looked really fun!! Now the next time I go there, i will probably buy it thanks to your review.;) |
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| monkimann | Jan 30 2005, 08:45 PM Post #10 |
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Forg Mario PWNS!
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Ya, I think I might buy it also! |
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| Samthewise7 | Jan 31 2005, 04:17 PM Post #11 |
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Thanks guys make sure to vote for this review on ROTM poll! |
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| monkimann | Jan 31 2005, 04:43 PM Post #12 |
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Forg Mario PWNS!
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I already did! |
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| Samthewise7 | Jan 31 2005, 04:50 PM Post #13 |
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Good job Monki thanks! I can't wait to see how my next review will turn out. |
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| monkimann | Jan 31 2005, 04:56 PM Post #14 |
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Forg Mario PWNS!
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I know it will trun out great
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Feb 2 2005, 07:16 PM Post #15 |
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Samus Aran's First Love
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IT'S . . . it's . . . it's . . . AWESOME! Well . . . Except for this . . . ![]() He looks deformed or something . . . But this is like magazine material . . . I would get this game, but two things . . . #1 I don't like Pirate games . . . #2 I don't have a gamecube or sega Dreamcast . . . |
![]() ![]() PLEASE CLICK THE BANNER TO VISIT THE OFFICIAL WEBSITE FOR THE COOLEST GAMING COMPANY VIDEO GAME VELOCITY . . . | |
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