Aye Matey, Here we are
Again, it's been 5 months since I played this game so my memory may be a little vague. (For those of you who don't understand the "again" see my review for Grandia 2). It's to take to the skies with Skies of Arcadia, one of Sega's first good RPGs. Has anyone ever heard the expression "all gold and no glory?" (No? Yeah, me neither). Wello SoA has both gold and glory, with a huge 3D world, a deep storyline, eye-popping graphics, a unique battle-system, and almost near-perfect controls and gameplay.
Imagination Transfiguration
Your main character is Vyse, who is an air pirate determined to one day have his own ship and crew. Accompanied by Aika and Fina, Vyse will battle deadly monsters, explore dangerous ruins, fight black pirates, all in all trying to thwart a local governments plan to take over the world. The team has your work cut out for you in this stimulating adventure.
Once Again.
Even though the Dreamcast is dead, (are people getting mad at me for saying this?), Skies is one of those that will make it go out with a BANG. Graphics are beeautiful with immense backgrounds and characters. the overworld brings a huge reaction of ohhh and ahhhh as you explore the world. And don't think this is supposed to be like old school RPG's. Every person, every character (almost), every living thing that moves has a unique look and personality. I'd say SoA has the best graphics the Dreamcast has to offer. ( For RPG's and adventure games, that is.)
Sky High
Voice acting is actually COOL in this game. Besides the graphics, the voice acting deserves a section in the Master of Puppets Hall of Fame. (there isn't really and Hall of Fame, it just sounds cool). I can't even hardly begin to explain them. However, I'm going to do it anyway. While voices are mostly only apparent during battle, they are music to the ears. Every time a character shouts the name of his or her move or action your speakers are hit with a striking echo that makes the character sound like he is in an alternate cyberspace. It makes you want to pull of the moves and actions over and over again. Music, however, is a little boring but not too bad. The songs suit the environments pretty well, but battle tunes could have been a lot better.
Welcome to my ship
Controls could be worse; and that's saying something. Walking and moving in the environment is simple fun and super easy to do. Just move with the analog stick and check areas and chects with the push of one button. Ditto for talking to people. The battle controls are nothing more than easy-to navigate menus, and the same can be said about ship battles. However, moving around in the overworld with your ship is somewhat...................... . . . crappy. You will sometimes find yourself stuck in an area where there is nothing there. It can be a pain in the ass, but such a minor problem in such a huge game can be overlooked.
The Skies the Limit
Get this game. If you're not an RPG fan.................get this game. It's still really solid and deserves to be in anyone's game library.
--Master of Puppets
Graphics: 10
Sound: 9.5
Gameplay: 8.5
Satisfaction: 10
Overall: 10
