Skies of Arcadia

From Sega Retro

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SkiesOfArcadia title.png

Skies of Arcadia
Skies vmu.png
System(s): Sega Dreamcast, Nintendo GameCube
Publisher: Sega
Developer:
Genre: RPG

















Release Date RRP Code

Skies of Arcadia, released in Japan as Eternal Arcadia (エターナル アルカディア), is a console role-playing game developed by Overworks for the Sega Dreamcast and published by Sega in 2000.

Skies of Arcadia Legends (Eternal Arcadia Legend (エターナルアルカディア レジェンド )), an enhanced remake, was released for the GameCube in 2002. Legends was also in development for the PlayStation 2 and Windows. however, it was canceled shortly before the GameCube release. The game's story focuses around Vyse, a young pirate in a Jules Verne-inspired fantasy world, and his friends as they attempt to stop the Valuan Empire from reviving ancient weapons with the potential to destroy the world.

In Japan, there were also special Dreamcast releases of the game. Eternal Arcadia Limited Box bundled the game with a bandanna, three keychain figures, a mobile phone strap, a necklace with leather strap, and a glossy 64-page 'Visual Book' A4 artbook. There is also an "@barai" version, which for a small fee would allow the player to access a small portion of the game. The rest could be unlocked after payment via the Dreamcast's online service.

Gameplay

Dungeons

Most of gameplay in Skies of Arcadia takes place in dungeons. Controlling the male protagonist, Vyse, from a third-person view, players must traverse and defeat these dungeons in order to advance the storyline. Dungeons comprise of a network of pathways with treasure chests, puzzles, and ubiquitous monsters. Completing the dungeons is usually a matter of exploring each of the possible pathways presented to the player until the correct one is found. Treasure chests are commonplace and contain some of the most powerful items in the game. Throughout the dungeon gameplay the player meets compulsory random encounters. If the entire player party is defeated, progress is reset to the beginning of the dungeon. In the Dreamcast version, it was possible to slightly foresee these random encounters by noticing a loud spin-up of the console's GD-ROM drive. This gave the player time to open the start menu and prepare for the battle.

Travel between the numerous dungeons is accomplished by piloting an airship through the overworld, a three dimensional sky with massive floating rocks forming islands and continents. Some islands are completely uninhabited, while others are filled with sprawling towns and cities. All dungeons are located on these islands and continents. There are two exceptions to this, where a dungeon is traversed whilst piloting the airship. This form of dungeon contains floating spherical objects instead of treasure chests, and vortex-like tunnels in place of corridors and doors in one case, and a single series of tunnels in the other.

Overworld

Overworld travel takes place entirely on the player's airship. The world is at first divided by impassable "sky rifts" which bar the player's passage. Throughout overworld travel, unavoidable random encounters occur as in the dungeons. These battles take place on the deck of the airship and are otherwise identical to their dungeon-based counterparts. Later in the game, however, an advanced mechanism is discovered for the player's ship which allows it to rise above the upper cloud layer and sink below the lower cloud layer of Arcadia, presenting two ways to avoid these encounters, and also provides the player the means to pass through sky rifts. In addition, ship-to-ship combat can occur whilst traveling through the overworld; however, the majority of these are unavoidable boss fights which advance the storyline. Random ship-to-ship battles can occur, but they are rare and avoidable.

Discoveries

The player can also find Discoveries hidden throughout the world while flying their airship. Information about discoveries can be sold at Sailor's Guilds located in cities throughout the game; the value of a discovery is determined by how well-hidden it is and how much time has elapsed since it was possible to find. When finding a new land, a discovery is recorded automatically, as these Discoveries are part of the storyline.

Battle system

Combat occurs frequently, especially during the overworld travel. It is not until late in the game that it becomes possible to avoid combat during overworld travel. Combat comprises two vastly different settings: those encountered in ship to ship combat, and character to monster combat. Ship to ship combat occurs relatively rarely compared to the common character-combat. This encounter rate was reduced for the GameCube re-release.

Character combat

Character combat occurs between one to four player characters and one to eight monsters or NPCs. Combat comprises seven main options: Run, Items (which can be used to change the characters' equipment as well), Guard, Attack, S.Move (Super Move), Magic and Focus. An eighth option, Crew Special, becomes available later in the game by meeting certain criteria (which replaces the Run command). After an action has been chosen for each character, the round will commence.

Ship combat

Ship combat is used when battling other ships and the extremely powerful gigas that are summoned throughout the game. Ship combat follows the same framework as character combat, however there are a few distinct differences. Each round in ship combat is divided into either three or four turns depending on how many characters are currently in the party. During each round, neither team has more than a single turn advantage over the opposition. Ship battles use a color-coded grid system to show each turn in the following two rounds, and the amount of fire the ship will come under during each turn.

The same actions used in character combat are used here, albeit with small differences. The 'Attack' option now has the player pick between four different cannons that have been equipped to the ship. Cannons come in three different types - powerful main cannons, multi-firing secondary cannons, and delayed-effect torpedoes - and each one can only be used once per round. This same stipulation carries over to the S. Move command, which now uses a large, front-mounted cannon. In addition to the standard actions, the ship's crew can be called upon by one of the characters in the party. Whilst each of these can only be used once in each ship battle, the diversity and power of the crew's abilities can be very useful.

Trivia

VMU Features

Game saves can keep track of game progress. Up to 7 save files came be created on one VMU. Each additional save provides a different icon. There are also Downloadable Quests as well as a VMU mini game that can be obtained once certain criteria in the main game has been met.

Skies of Arcadia Save Data
Name File Name Comment File Size Icon
Arcadia Save File ARCADIA_E001 Arcadia [Game Location] 27 blocks Skies vmu.png
Arcadia Save File ARCADIA_E002 Arcadia [Game Location] 27 blocks Skies vmu2.png
Arcadia Save File ARCADIA_E003 Arcadia [Game Location] 27 blocks Skies vmu3.png
Arcadia Save File ARCADIA_E004 Arcadia [Game Location] 27 blocks Skies vmu4.png
Arcadia Save File ARCADIA_E005 Arcadia [Game Location] 27 blocks Skies vmu5.png
Arcadia Save File ARCADIA_E006 Arcadia [Game Location] 27 blocks Skies vmu6.png
Arcadia Save File ARCADIA_E007 Arcadia [Game Location] 27 blocks Skies vmu7.png
Arcadia Download File 1 ARCADIA_ED01 Arcadia Download 4 blocks Skies vmuDL1.gif
Arcadia Download File 2 ARCADIA_ED02 Arcadia Download 4 blocks Skies vmuDL2.gif
Arcadia Download File 3 ARCADIA_ED03 Arcadia Download 4 blocks Skies vmuDL3.gif
Arcadia Pinta_Quest ARCADIA_E_VM Arcadia VMgame 83 blocks Skies vmuPinta.gif

GameCube Memory Card Features

Game saves can keep track of game progress.

Skies of Arcadia Legends Save Data
Title Comment Blocks Icon Banner
Skies of Arcadia Legends [Game Location] 3 blocks

Skies gc mem.png

Skies gc memBanner.png

Production Credits

  • Executive Producer: Noriyoshi Oba
  • Producer: Reiko Kodama
  • Director: Atsusi Seimiya, Shuntaro Tanaka
  • Chief Planner: Tomohiro Nimura
  • Planner: Takuya Ogawa, Takanobu Yoshino
  • Chief Designer: Toshiyuki Mukaiyama
  • Graphic Designer: Hirotaka Kanazawa
  • Chief Programmer: Tetsuichiro Hirose
  • Programmer: Kouichi Nomura
  • Map Design Director: Koji Maekawa
  • Map Designer: Karashima, Hiroshi Soma, Takuya Ogawa
  • Map Scripting: Ryosuke Waki, Masaaki Shimoma, Takaaki Tokunaga
  • City Maps: Masako Okuda, Makiko Kubo, Atsuko Moroe, Kayo Hoshina, Masaaki Ohki, Masayoshi Iwase
  • Dungeon Maps: Keiichi Kawase, Kensuke Kita, Shinpei Tanaka, Hitoshi Fukazawa, Takashi Ohtsuji, Kensei Ogiwara, Hirohiko Samekawa, Hitoshi Honma, Nobumichi Sugawara, Yuji Yanase
  • Sky Map: Hirotaka Kanazawa, Saeko Matsuura, Kazuhiro Yamashita
  • Window Designer: Mie Furuhashi
  • Map Illustration: Hiroshi Nishio
  • Map System: Tsutomu Matsuo, Kenji Hiruta, Tatsuhiro Oshii
  • Window Programmer: Kazuo Wakihara, Katsuhiko Yano
  • VMU Programmer: Kenji Ohsawa
  • Scenario Designer: Shuntaro Tanaka
  • Scenario Coordinator: Yuko Suzuki
  • Scenario Director: Toru Shimizu, Kanji Wakabayashi
  • Scenario Scripting: Tetsuya Ohtsubo, Hideki Sakadume, Tatsuo Saito, Ryotaro Fukunaga, Hiroshi Odajima, Hideaki Kitamura, Naoyuki Miyoshi, Tsutomu Mizuno, Kiyoshi Iwaoka, Takanobu Yoshino
  • Character Models: Shinichi Higashi, Chika Kojitani, Yuka Miyazawa, Shizuyo Kanda, Tetsuya Oguri, Asako Yamasaki
  • Character Motions: Kazuo Komuro, Motohiro Fukui, Shigeki Taniguchi, Yoshiaki Ogura, Hironari Hashimoto, Masaya Takahashi, Yoshihiro Kaneko, Takahiro Honma, Kenichi Harada, Takashi Ohta, Shinobu Ohmura, Kazuhiro Miyazawa, Tsunemasa Endo, Takayuki Naito, Takahito Otome
  • Villager Motions: Shiro Kanemori, Kenichi Izawa
  • Scenario Effects: Daisuke Oikawa, Minobu Fujii, Satoshi Ono
  • Battle System Director: Daisuke Fujii
  • Battle Stage Planner: Azusa Kimura
  • Enemy Specs: Wataru Murakami
  • Enemy Models: Toshiyuki Takamatsu, Paku Sugiura, Satoshi Yokokawa, Tadashi Ohmine, Kiyonori Ohsawa, Sigeru Sato, Kazuyuki Watanabe, Nobuto Iwao
  • Enemy Motions: Kentaro Nonaka, Hisashi Toyama
  • Battle Stage Designer: Kazuo Komura
  • System Programmers: Yoshiaki Endo, Kouichi Nomura, Kentaro Yamamoto
  • Effects: Toshihiro Ito, Yasutaka Tanaka, Takamitsu Watanabe, Makoto Tanaka, Etusi Nisiura
  • Ship Battle Director: Yorio Kuramoto
  • Battle Scripting: Takashi Wachi, Motoyuki Takeda, Kazuhisa Ohmi, Yasunari Sekine, Tsutomu Hotsuki
  • Ship Models & Motions: Tsuyoshi Mayumi, Kenichi Minamizawa, Hirotaka Kawai, Masahiro Ito, Isao Wada, Motoko Toyama
  • Special Effects: Satoru Arai, Tsuyoshi Inaba
  • Battle System Programmers: Shigeharu Yoshikawa, Osamu Sato, Junichi Ishiba
  • Sound Director: Tatsuya Kouzaki
  • BGM & Sound Effects: Yutaka Minobe, Tatsuyuki Maeda
  • Sound Effects: Seirou Okamoto, Mariko Nanba, Takashi Endoh, Hideki Abe, Tomoya Ohtani, Keiichi Sugiyama
  • Story Consultant: Junya Fujimoto
  • Illustrations: Itsuki Hoshi
  • Orchestra Coordination: Kiyoshi Tonozaki, Torakichi Takagi
  • Music Performed By: The Skies of Arcadia Symphony Orchestra
  • Manual & Package Designer: Kaoru Ichigozaki, Makoto Nishino
  • Planning Consultants: Akira Nishino, Takaharu Terada, Katsuhito Goto, Keisuke Nakamura
  • Design Support: Toru Yoshida, Tsukasa Mori, Takehiko Akabane, Haruo Nakano, Satsuki Nagano
  • Advisor: Tomoyuki Ito
  • Voice Actors: Christopher Sullivan, Victoria McCreary, Julissa L. Aguirre, Joseph Hughes, Robb McCulloch, Jay Styne, Fay Lumley, Jerry Lawrence, Steve Cloyes, Charles Martinet, Andrea Satin, Bill Broughton, Ian Reddoch, Dennis Lancaster

Sega Europe, Ltd.

  • Director of Product Development: Naohiko Hoshino
  • Executive Producer: Kats Sato
  • Assistant Producer: Akiko Koutstaal
  • Test Manager: Jason Cumberbatch
  • Language Translator: Caroline Ruiz, Enrique Gonzalez Fajardo
  • European Head of Product Marketing: Jim Pride
  • European Product Marketing Executive: Mathew Quaeck
  • Package Designer: Tom Bingle
  • Manual Support: Sarah Ward
  • Lead Tester: Nick Bennett

Associate Lead Tester: Daniel Slater

  • Special Thanks: Akira Nishikawa, Hideki Yokaichiya, Yutaka Kawasaki, Yukako Suzuki, Ken Natsuhara, Masanori Daigo, Noriyuki Deguchi, Hideki Matsuzaki, Takahiro Kobae

Promotional Material

Physical Scans

Dreamcast Version

Sega Retro Average 
Publication Score Source
92 №106, p106/107
80 №93, p92/93
Sega Dreamcast
86
Based on
2 reviews
Sega Retro Average 
Publication Version Score
100% Consoles (FR) PAL
90
[1]
576 Konzol (HU)
85
[2]
Ação Games (BR)
87
[3]
Bonus (YU) PAL
97
[4]
Consoles + (FR) NTSC-J
92
[5]
Consoles + (FR) PAL
98
[6]
Dreamcast Magazine (JP) NTSC-J
90
[7]
Dreamcast Magazine (UK) PAL
94
[8]
Dorimaga (JP) NTSC-J
94
[9]
Edge (UK)
80
[10]
Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) NTSC-U
93
[11]
Entsiklopediya igr dlya Dreamcast (RU)
83
[12]
GamePlay RPG (FR) NTSC-U
98
[13]
GamePlay RPG (FR) PAL
96
[14]
GamePro (US) NTSC-U
90
[15]
Game Station (UK)
80
[16]
Gamers' Republic (US) NTSC-U
100
[17]
GameWEEK (US) NTSC-U
83
[18]
Hyper (AU) PAL
90
[19]
MAN!AC (DE) NTSC-U
87
[20]
MAN!AC (DE) PAL
87
[21]
Neo Plus (PL)
70
[22]
Next Generation (US) NTSC-U
75
[23]
Official Dreamcast Magazine (UK) PAL
80
[24]
Playbox (FR) PAL
93
[25]
PSX Extreme (PL)
83
[26]
PSX Extreme (PL) PAL
70
[27]
Ready! (ES)
91
[28]
Revista Oficial Dreamcast (ES) PAL
90
[29]
Silicon Mag (US) NTSC-U
93
[30]
Strana Igr (RU)
90
[31]
Video Games (DE) NTSC-U
90
[32]
Sega Dreamcast
88
Based on
32 reviews

Skies of Arcadia

Dreamcast, US
SkiesofArcadia DC US Box Back.jpgSkiesofArcadia DC US Box Front.jpg
Cover
SkiesofArcadiaDCUSInlay.jpg
Inlay
Dreamcast, EU
Skies dc eu back cover.jpgSkies dc eu front cover.jpg
Cover
Skies dc eu disc1.jpg
Disc 1
Skies dc eu disc2.jpg
Disc 2
Dreamcast, JP
SkiesofArcadia DC JP Box Back.jpgSkiesofArcadia DC JP Box Front.jpg
Cover
Dreamcast, JP Limited Box
SkiesofArcadia DC JP Limited Box Front.jpg
Cover
Dreamcast, JP @barai
SkiesofArcadia DC JP Barai Box.jpg
Cover

GameCube Version

GameCube, US
SoAL GC US Box.jpg
Cover
GameCube, JP
SkiesofArcadia GC JP Box Back.jpgNospine.pngSkiesofArcadia GC JP Box.jpg
Cover
GameCube, JP (Reprint)
EternalArcadiaLegends GC JP Box Front Alt.jpg
Cover
GameCube, UK
SoAL GC EU Box.jpg
Cover
GameCube, FR/DE
SkiesofArcadia GC FR-DE Box.jpg
Cover
  1. 100% Consoles, "Avril 2001" (FR; 2001-0x-xx), page 90
  2. 576 Konzol, "Október 2001" (HU; 2001-xx-xx), page 44
  3. Ação Games, "Fevereiro 2001" (BR; 2001-xx-xx), page 50
  4. Bonus, "5/2001" (YU; 2001-06-25), page 38
  5. Consoles +, "Novembre 2000" (FR; 2000-1x-xx), page 106
  6. Consoles +, "Avril 2001" (FR; 2001-0x-xx), page 68
  7. Dreamcast Magazine, "2000-32 (2000-10-13)" (JP; 2000-09-29), page 28
  8. Dreamcast Magazine, "No. 20" (UK; 2001-03-22), page 46
  9. Dorimaga, "2002-18 (2002-10-11)" (JP; 2002-09-27), page 32
  10. Edge, "January 2001" (UK; 2000-12-28), page 92
  11. Electronic Gaming Monthly, "January 2001" (US; 2000-12-05), page 195
  12. Entsiklopediya igr dlya Dreamcast, "Izdaniye chetvertoye, dopolnennoye" (RU; 2002-xx-xx), page 207
  13. GamePlay RPG, "Décembre 2000" (FR; 2000-1x-xx), page 38
  14. GamePlay RPG, "Mars 2001" (FR; 2001-0x-xx), page 46
  15. GamePro, "January 2001" (US; 200x-xx-xx), page 123
  16. Game Station (UK) (+0:00)
  17. Gamers' Republic, "January 2001" (US; 2000-12-20), page 62
  18. GameWEEK, "October 16, 2000" (US; 2000-10-16), page 22
  19. Hyper, "August 2001" (AU; 2001-06-27), page 68
  20. MAN!AC, "02/2001" (DE; 2001-01-03), page 44
  21. MAN!AC, "04/2001" (DE; 2001-03-07), page 76
  22. Neo Plus, "Czerwiec 2001" (PL; 2001-xx-xx), page 56
  23. Next Generation, "February 2001" (US; 2001-01-18), page 72
  24. Official Dreamcast Magazine, "May 2001" (UK; 2001-04-05), page 68
  25. Playbox, "Mars 2001" (FR; 2001-0x-xx), page 42
  26. PSX Extreme, "06/2001" (PL; 2001-0x-xx), page 29
  27. PSX Extreme, "09/2001" (PL; 2001-0x-xx), page 54
  28. Ready!, "08-01" (ES; 2001-0x-xx), page 66
  29. Revista Oficial Dreamcast, "Mayo 2001" (ES; 2001-04-17), page 34
  30. Silicon Mag, "January 2001" (US; 200x-xx-xx), page 21
  31. Strana Igr, "Dekabr 2000 2/2" (RU; 2000-xx-xx), page 16
  32. Video Games, "01/2001" (DE; 2000-12-06), page 108