2017/6/14: Dreamcast: Skies of Arcadia

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VideoGameCritic
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2017/6/14: Dreamcast: Skies of Arcadia

Postby VideoGameCritic » June 14th, 2017, 5:28 pm

What do you think about this review? Post your thoughts.

DaHeckIzDat
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Re: 2017/6/14: Dreamcast: Skies of Arcadia

Postby DaHeckIzDat » June 14th, 2017, 5:48 pm

I've been wanting to play this for a while. Isn't it on Gamecube too?

On a side note, shame on you! If you keep writing your own RPG reviews, what are the rest of us going to do with our bleak, meaningless lives?! D:

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Re: 2017/6/14: Dreamcast: Skies of Arcadia

Postby Sonicx9 » June 14th, 2017, 5:56 pm

VideoGameCritic wrote:What do you think about this review? Post your thoughts.


Good review but there are two things I would like to mention related with this game.

The game was very much inspired by the popular Anime media franchise called Captain Harlock saga, in factthe games name is named after the Arcadia of My Youth Anime, and Vyse's design is even an homage to Harlock's uniform.: More info at HG101 http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/skieso ... rcadia.htm

Back in 2004 over 10 years ago, the GameCube update port Skies of Arcadia Legends was reviewd by the former RPG Critc for the site and got a B grade. I think it would be interesting to see you someday tackle the GameCube version yourself with your own grade compared to the Sega Dreamcast original, the HG101 article has some info on the version differences.

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Re: 2017/6/14: Dreamcast: Skies of Arcadia

Postby Kevin » June 14th, 2017, 9:40 pm

Loved this game for the dreamcast. I never got around to playing the gamecube version. I wish we would have gotten a sequel to this but this late out, I doubt we ever will. My only regret with this game is that I never finished it. I made it to the final boss and got distracted. I ended up selling my Dreamcast (huge mistake) and haven't played it since. The only complaint that I have about this game and it's a minor one, is that there are a lot of random battles. The game is good enough that you put up with it but they could have lightened that up a bit.

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Re: 2017/6/14: Dreamcast: Skies of Arcadia

Postby HawgWyld » June 15th, 2017, 2:16 am

Very good review of my favorite game for the Dreamcast. Heck, it's one of my favorite games of all time. I still play this one about once every couple of years and have since it was released. This game is still stunning when run through a VGA box.

I also own the Gamecube version but prefer the Dreamcast one. Why? The music is the primary reason -- it was compressed to fit on one Gamecube disc and the sound quality is noticeably worse. Still, there aren't as many random battles in the Gamecube version and a couple of nice, additional challenges thrown in for good measure.

At any rate, "Skies of Arcadia" is -- by itself -- a great reason to own a Dreamcast.

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ptdebate
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Re: 2017/6/14: Dreamcast: Skies of Arcadia

Postby ptdebate » June 15th, 2017, 11:11 am

Awesome RPG review!

While we're on the subject, would you mind taking a look at the four reviews I've posted in the RPG forum? :-)

JWK
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Re: 2017/6/14: Dreamcast: Skies of Arcadia

Postby JWK » June 15th, 2017, 1:38 pm

Like some of the other posters here, I own both the DC and GCN versions of this game. As stated, the biggest plus for the Dreamcast is the incredible audio and music which was compressed for the GameCube. As a fan of video game soundtracks, that is reason enough to play through the Dreamcast version over the GameCube. I've heard some people complain about the encounter rate, but honestly I feel the encounter rate is incredibly manageable even for gamers who rarely play RPGs.

One complaint about the Dreamcast version that is legitimate is the loading times. Holy balls. The game does a decent job disguising them with a cinematic "swinging" camera before a battle is set up (and sometimes during), but they are EXTENSIVE. Some of the air ship battles took 4 times longer than they should have because the game had seemingly too much to think about. The attack animations take far too long and the developers felt it was important to get plenty of shots of the ships flying next too each other for several seconds before each and every attack. It's a glaring flaw of the DC version, but it's still forgivable if the game is this good.

Skies also has one of the most fun and endearing casts I've played in the genre. Every character is likeable and fun! The battle system may be simple but it's excellent and can require some strategy, especially in the airship battles. And at 40 hours, even casual JRPG fans shouldn't be pulling their hair out and boredom won't set in. Skies of Arcadia is an excellent game and I agree with the VGC's score-- I personally would bump it down slightly to an A- for the previously mentioned loading issues. Play it with the VGA cables for the beautiful, clean visuals and a good sound system. It's aged very well as I played it for the first time 2 years ago. Enjoy!

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Re: 2017/6/14: Dreamcast: Skies of Arcadia

Postby VideoGameCritic » June 15th, 2017, 4:59 pm

Great feedback guys - thanks. I was thinking about picking up the GameCube version but now that I've read the comments I think I might pass.

I went back and added the "2 discs" icon to the review, along with a note that it's also available on the GameCube.

thunderjohn
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Re: 2017/6/14: Dreamcast: Skies of Arcadia

Postby thunderjohn » June 16th, 2017, 12:13 am

Hello everyone!

I really loved this game! I have both versions too, but I like the DC one more. Truly amazing! A+ for me :D

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Re: 2017/6/14: Dreamcast: Skies of Arcadia

Postby Retro STrife » June 16th, 2017, 9:16 am

I snagged this one back in the day, when Gamestop was clearing out its Dreamcast inventory for 50% off. Sadly I haven't played it yet, but I'd like to someday and your review is pushing me even more to do it. I'm glad to hear from the feedback here that the DC version is preferred, since I had thought about picking up the Gamecube version too.

Best of all... this review proves our age-old theory that the Critic loves RPGs. Every time one gets reviewed, it gets a great score. I'm holding out hope that that means we'll see a Final Fantasy VII review from the Critic himself someday. But I understand that time is an issue, as I'm in the same boat nowadays when it comes to playing RPGs. Still, FF7 is probably the most important 3D RPG ever made, so it'd be really good to see it on the site someday.


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