Skies of Arcadia Preview
This RPG has been rescued and thanks to Sega will be landing on the GameCube late 2002. It hasn’t been heard of by many gamers but your about to find out what it’s all about in this review of SOA.
SOA is a traditional RPG in every shape, size and length possible. This game features a turn based battle system, magic weapons and creatures, a huge cast of charismatic characters and a beautifully detailed fantasy world to explore. The story is set in the main land of Arcadia, a world where people live on floating islands. The main characters of this cool RPG are a young air pirate, Vyse, and his childhood friend Aika, who make a living stealing treasure and exploring the land. This is until they rescue a girl named Fina and end up searching the world for the six Moon Crystals. There are six playable characters that you will meet along the way which have different techniques, weapons and attacks.
Although the original game was published for the Sega DreamCast, it is one of those games that just needs chance, as it’s a brilliant game. The story flows very nicely and has plenty of twists to keep you occupied, the battles are well designed and easy to understand, the magic system is colour coded, and the characters are likeable and realistic.
If you feel like taking a break from the main story you can always search the land and find many side quests to give you a break from the sweat. Although made up of islands, the land is huge and there is plenty to be found and lots of treasure to uncover. Whether the game will be a straight plot or an improved version is unknown at this point, but the original was looking good enough to get away with no improvements, but here’s hoping the GCN version is a platinum or maybe a gold game.
Final Score: 8