Skies of Arcadia Legends Preview

The original Skies of Arcadia stands as one of the finest games available for the Dreamcast. The game was developed by Overworks, best known for the Sakura Taisen series in Japan, and was released in November 2000 for the Dreamcast. The role-playing game offered an experience that captured the feel of the old-school classics many gamers grew up on, but with a nautical twist. When Sega announced its shift toward multiplatform development, Skies of Arcadia was named as one of the titles slated for release on the GameCube. Rather than just port the Dreamcast game, Overworks has gone ahead and expanded it for the GameCube edition, called Skies of Arcadia Legends. While the game hit Japan at the end of December, we got our hands on a previewable build of the US version, which is slated to hit at the end of January. Featuring solid graphics, an engaging story, and strong gameplay, Skies of Arcadia Legends is looking quite good.

For those unfamiliar with the Dreamcast game on which it's based, Skies of Arcadia Legends is set in the fantasy world of Arcadia, a land that is made up of floating islands. The game's story follows the adventures of Vyse, a young air pirate who is a member of the noble Blue Rogues, not to be confused with the far more sinister Black Pirates. Unlike the Black Pirates, who take a stereotypical antisocial approach toward their pirating and engage in indiscriminate theft and assault, the Blue Rogues are a more selective bunch that rob from the rich and give to the poor. The Blue Rogues' philanthropic ways lead them to rescue a mysterious young girl named Fina from the Valuan Empire, the game's oppressive baddies. As you would expect, Fina's mysterious past and the mission she was on when the Valuans captured her end up involving Vyse and his friend Aika in a quest to get to the ancient relics, which could bring about the destruction of Arcadia, before the Valuan Empire gets to them. While the core story is essentially the same as the DC game, Overworks has thrown in some surprises to keep things interesting.

In terms of gameplay, Skies of Arcadia Legends stays true to the original game, which was rooted firmly in the classic turn-based RPG genre. Your time in the game will be split between exploration and combat. You'll find two types of exploration in the game: on foot and in an airship. When on foot you'll roam through towns, interact with nonplayer characters, and poke around dungeons, where you'll be required to solve puzzles and face off against bosses. When in the sky aboard an airship, you'll navigate your way to new destinations while keeping an eye out for archaeological discoveries and Black Pirates with bounties on their heads.

The same split between land- and sky-based adventuring applies to combat in the game as well. When exploring dungeons with your party, which can grow to be four strong, you'll engage in random turn-based battles. You'll choose from four types of attacks during a battle: normal, s-move, magic, and offensive items. Normal attacks are a standard physical attack that characters perform with their individual weapons. S-move will let you perform one of several moves that are unique to each character; while some are offensive, others can offer support to the entire party by healing them each turn or protecting against magic attacks. Magic is based on the experience level of the six elemental moonstones each member of the party carries. Although every character can learn roughly the same spells by leveling up their stones, it will be easier for characters to learn certain magic types depending on their affinity to the elements. Finally, you'll be able to use items to attack or heal the party during battle.

While combat sounds fairly straightforward, there's actually quite a bit of strategy to it. One of the major components is spirit points, which are used for all actions during battle. The entire party draws from the same bar, which slowly fills during each turn. As a result, you'll be forced to plan your attacks carefully and make the best use of your party members and the available points. In addition, the six moonstones your characters will carry can be equipped to their weapons on the fly during combat. Switching the moonstone you have equipped is key to successfully completing battles, as the enemies you'll encounter in the game will be vulnerable to specific stones.

Combat in the air differs slightly from dungeon combat. While you'll encounter random battles that take place on the deck of your airship and that follow the same rules as ground-based combat, many air battles and boss fights will involve ship-to-ship fights. The core mechanics for the battles are roughly the same in that you'll have the same basic set of attacks available, but the turn-based element does work a bit differently. You'll plan out your attacks on a grid that features a color-coded bar across the top to let you keep track of the threat posed by your foe. Once you've settled on a set of moves, you sit back and watch things play out.

In addition to the main quest, you'll have some engaging side quests to participate in as well. As you progress through the game, you'll eventually get the opportunity to build up your own island hideout as well as find crew for your airship. Interacting with nonplayer characters and exploring will help you find candidates for your hideout and ship. One of the big draws for potential crew or townspeople, however, will be your reputation. Vyse's reputation will actually change dynamically through the game based on your actions. While some of your reputation will be based on your reaction to situations, it will also be possible to raise it by making discoveries and reporting them to the sailors' guilds you'll find on every island. The catch to discoveries is that you aren't the only pirate out to make a name for himself, and as a result you'll be competing with other characters in the game to report them for cash and prestige.

While the bulk of the gameplay in Skies of Arcadia Legends should be familiar to those who played the Dreamcast game, Overworks has made some tweaks and added a few things to keep it fresh. The VMU features from the Dreamcast game have all been tweaked, including the Pinta's Quest minigame, the Cupil feature, and the downloadable content that could be uploaded into the game. Pinta's Quest is no longer included in the game, and Cupil, who directed you to invisible items he could eat via the VMU, now offers audio cues along with the GameCube controller's rumble feature. As for the content you could upload into the game via the VMU, Overworks has included it in the game for you to discover.

In addition to reworking old content, Overworks has added some new stuff as well. When you go to a sailors' guild in the game, you'll find the option to look up bounties on Black Pirates you can encounter in the game. If you manage to take out an evildoer and bring him to justice, you'll be rewarded with cash and a boost in reputation. In addition you'll also be asked to look out for moonfish, invisible critters that loiter in towns and dungeons. Fortunately Vyse is outfitted with an eyepiece that will clue him in on their location and let him capture them. The fish can be traded in for items. However, seeing the moonfish and getting within range to catch them are two different things, so expect to come across some challenging situations.

As for graphics, the game generally looks a bit better than its Dreamcast predecessor. Polygon counts have been increased, the frame rate (which hitched in places in the DC game) appears to be rock solid, and a few minor touches of detail have been added--but don't expect to see a huge graphical leap. You'll also find a few rough spots that stem from some ported art assets. As a result, you'll find some awkward moments of color banding and a few unattractive textures. Still, as a whole, the game looks fine. The stylized character models are rendered with plenty of detail that's enhanced by animated elements on their clothing. The world of Arcadia is especially impressive thanks to the imaginative collection of floating islands you'll encounter. You'll find distinct lands with a diverse array of environments to explore. You'll also find little touches such as other ships and schools of air fish in the skies as you make your way around the world, which helps make the world come alive. During battles, the game's graphics engine turns out impressive spell effects that are an over-the-top collection of sight and sound.

Skies of Arcadia Legends features a strong assortment of sounds that work well in the game. You'll hear snippets of voice throughout the game, and when interacting with other characters in your exploration you'll hear short sound bites to punctuate conversations along the lines of the Nintendo 64 Zelda games. In battle you'll hear longer bits of speech during spells and attacks. Exploration and battles are complemented by a great soundtrack that features a collection of tunes that suit the action perfectly. You'll also find strong ambient sound that helps set the tone for the various areas you'll explore in your travels.

From what we've played so far, Skies of Arcadia Legends seems to retain all the appeal of its Dreamcast predecessor and add to it. The game's rich gameplay and solid graphics should be a perfect fit for the RPG-deprived GameCube. The new gameplay elements and tweaked plot should keep the game fresh for fans of the original game as well as newcomers. The one potential ding against the game could be its random battles, which some players found to be excessive in the DC game and which are still plentiful in the new edition. Despite that slight hitch, Skies of Arcadia Legends should be a game for RPG fans to keep a look out for later this month when it ships for the GameCube.