Soapbox features allow our individual writers and contributors to voice their opinions on hot topics and random things they’ve been chewing on. Today, on the 20th anniversary of the GameCube port, Alana is desperate to see Skies of Arcadia Legends on modern consoles…
Sega isn’t exactly known as an RPG developer, but it’s still quietly responsible for creating some of the best in the genre in the 90s. Both the Phantasy Star and Shining Force series were at the forefront of Sega’s RPG forces, and Panzer Dragoon Saga is one of the most experimental (and expensive) games in the genre. Today, when you think of Sega and RPGs, Like a Dragon (earlier Yakuza) probably comes to mind. For me, my answer has always been the same and will remain the same – Sky of Arcadia.
Released on the Dreamcast in 2000, Skies of Arcadia features some of the most talented names in Sega history. Hosted by legendary Phantasy Star IV producer and director Rieko Kodama (who sadly passed away earlier this year), the game is one of the few RPGs released worldwide for Sega’s swansong console. Poor sales and a late console release meant the game fell short of sales expectations despite rave reviews from critics. Later ported to the GameCube as Skies of Arcadia Legends – 20 years ago today – it never saw a re-release.
Skies of Arcadia was kind of like my Breath of the Wild moment. How can you have a BOTW moment ago does that game even exist, you ask? Because of the way the game lets you explore. Open worlds and exploration are pretty much the norm these days. The vast landscapes the size of Skyrim or the massive monsters with exaggerated levels roaming the world of Xenoblade Chronicles. Skies of Arcadia, while nowhere near as open as those games, captured the essence of exploration perfectly.
Makes sense, really, given the game’s story. You are Vyse, a daring air pirate who is a member of the Blue Rogues, a group of Robin Hood-style pirates who steal from the rich (aka the Valuan Armada, essentially the Spanish Armada) and give their loot to the poor. Along with his best friend Aika, the pair rescue a mysterious girl named Fina who is trying to find Moonstones across Arcadia, crystals that can summon weapons of mass destruction. For Vyse, this is not only a chance to help the vulnerable and save the world, but it’s also his chance to go out and discover the world.
…since it’s a game where you actually play as pirates, exploration and discovery become the two cornerstones of the game.
Indeed, most of Skies of Arcadia is quite iterative compared to other RPGs. Its turn-based combat is similar to others in the genre, and the characters – while all charming and lovable – are all familiar RPG tropes, just executed perfectly. However, since it’s a game where you actually play as pirates, exploration and discovery become the two cornerstones of the game. When you’re not roaming towns and dungeons or engaging in turn-based battles, you’re sailing the skies. And as you progress through the game, you get a new ship, your own crew, and you can upgrade your vessel to better cruise the cloudy seas. You may start out in a small fishing boat, but eventually end up with a military-ready ship that can sail high above or below the surface of the clouds and smash through rocky reefs.
The game manages to tease out the scope of the world so well. You end up being the same wild-eyed, excited teenager that Vyse is, ready to discover new things. You see the world as Vyse – from small things like new cities or enemies, all the way to entire continents and discovering that the world is round. Even the world map you have at the beginning of the game only shows you a part of Arcadia, and as you progress through the game, it expands, as if you were sketching it yourself, to reveal completely new areas.
The basis of Arcadia is quite simple – it’s a world divided into six unique ‘kingdoms’ that all live under a different colored moon. Don’t ask me how six months in stationary orbit, but here we are. Beneath the Red Moon is Nasr, a desert kingdom based on the Ottoman Empire and Middle Eastern elements. Warmed in the light of the Green Moon is Ixa’Taka, which is inspired by Central and South America. Beneath the Blue Moon is Yafutoma, which contains a mixture of Chinese, Japanese and Korean culture. The Valuan Empire is under the Yellow Moon and is based on the Spanish Empire. The Purple Moon civilization was wiped out thousands of years ago, while beneath the Silver Moon lies the humble Pirate Isle, home of Vyse.
From a world that is a reinterpretation of our own Earth’s past to Armada airships named after star constellations (Cygnus, Delphinus, Auriga, etc.), Skies of Arcadia stokes the flames of exploration, curiosity, and wonder. Each continent counts as a new, exciting discovery for Vyse, Aika and Fina, and the cheerful tone and witty dynamic between the main party encourages you to bang even harder. In a sea of RPGs where the modern world and darker themes were increasingly prominent, Skies of Arcadia was a breath of fresh air. The world is colorful and the characters vivid, and it feels like you’re flipping through a lost Jules Verne novel.
In a sea of RPGs where the modern world and darker themes were increasingly prominent, Skies of Arcadia was a breath of fresh air.
As exciting as it is to watch the world map unfold before your eyes, it’s the detail that makes Arcadia as a fictional RPG world so magical to me. As any decent sailor does (and we’re ignoring the reality of real sea piracy here), you’re the person who charts and discovers the world, and as you sail the skies battling enemies, you’ll come across hidden landmarks called ‘Discoveries’. You’ll know you’re close because your compass will start spinning like crazy, and if you’re like me, it will ignite the childlike glee inside of you.
Discoveries are one of the best sidequests in any RPG because no one tells you to look for them – you can just leave them behind or try to hunt them down as much as you like. Things start out simple like the hidden tombstone of an ancient pirate or the ruins of an abandoned lighthouse, but eventually you’ll start finding things like a ghost ship above a deadly crack in the black sky or a sky train following a certain path high above the clouds.
It’s like you’re finding little pieces of Arcadia’s history since as you uncover each one, you get a tiny little blurb about what you’ve found along with an annotated sketch or two. There are 88 of them (89 if you complete another GameCube-exclusive side quest), and each one sheds a little light on the world. The Black Moonstone widens the Dark Rift and hints at a lost kingdom, while the Mourning Prince is a landmark that represents one man’s grief. Cute animals like Dheerse come in conjunction with myths and stories, while the wreckage of the Valuan reinforces the idea that Arcadia is a world still making history and creating mysteries.
You’re not just collecting this information for your own enjoyment – although in fact, I am and I make sure to find every Discovery every time I play the game. Call and sell this tidbit of information at any Sailor’s Guild around the country. Some discoveries are worth more than others, and the more things you find out there in the world, the higher your Swashbuckler rating goes up.
You are also in a ‘friendly competition’ with another sailor, Domingo, to find the Discovery before him. If he finds them first, their value drops significantly. Of course, you can solve that problem by finding 30 Discoveries, after which he will join your motley crew when you become captain of the Delphinus. If money, crew members, and reputation aren’t enough motivation to find every single discovery in the world, then I don’t know what is.
Nothing beats playing a game where you go to places that even the protagonist doesn’t know about. Glacia is a complete mystery to both the player and Vys, while Nasr – while ever-present in the sky thanks to his ongoing war with Valu – is much bigger than you first expect. And while Aika fantasizes wildly about the possibilities of what she can do in some of these areas, at every turn Arcadia defies your—and the group’s—expectations.
…who would want to buy a purple lunchbox console anyway? Well, I wish there were more people.
Skies of Arcadia Legends was a treat for people like me who played the Dreamcast version, but also those in 2002 (or 2003 when it was released in the West) who didn’t have the chance to discover a truly special RPG. The N64 had very few significant entries into the genre after Squaresoft switched from Nintendo to Sony Final fantasy, and the GameCube also had a very limited number. So Skies of Arcadia Legends has already carved out a niche – who would want to buy a purple lunchbox console anyway? Well, I wish there were more people.
What Legends brought to Skies of Arcadia fans were new discoveries, new side quests and super bosses. Bounties could be claimed to get money, strange creatures could be found in the sky and caught to feed a hungry little bird-like creature (which isn’t small by the end of the quest), and the bounty hunter actually seeks your head. It has added additional challenges and riches for all, old and new, to come and discover.
So why oh why is Skies of Arcadia still stuck on the GameCube? Former Skies of Arcadia developer Kenji Hiruta said “I really really want to develop a sequel” as early as 2020, but also stated that it really “depends on Sega”. Kodama herself said ua Kotaku Interview 2019 that he considers “Skies of Arcadia Legends to have completed the “director’s cut” of the title”.
However, Sega still acknowledges the existence of the game, even today. Vyse, Aika, and Fina all appeared in 2008’s Valkyria Chronicles (which you can find on the Switch eShop), while Vyse and the Skies of Arcadia theme song Rogue’s Landing are available in Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed. Vyse even has an icon in Sonic Colors Ultimate.
Outside of video games, the Skies of Arcadia cast has also appeared in Worlds unite crossover from Archie, and if you’re really careful in Sonic the Hedgehog opening of the movie, you can spot a small clip of Skies of Arcadia in the Sega logo on the right (in the timestamped video below).
Admittedly, a lot could be done to polish Skies of Arcadia Legends — the music quality suffers, and some textures are a bit rough. Chance encounter rates are extremely high, even for an RPG of the era, and the battles are quite slow. But Skies of Arcadia feels like lightning in a bottle – few other RPGs have managed to capture that sense of adventure like Sega’s RPG (Grandia, lunar).
With open-world RPGs like Xenoblade Chronicles capturing the magic of strange worlds and dangerous discoveries, it feels like it’s time for Skies of Arcadia to return and let everyone discover (and rediscover) the best – and my favorite – RPG world ever.