Arcadia of My Youth

You just gotta love pirates, plain and simple. The ones in our next game are some of the coolest pirates on land and in the air(yes, the air and not the sea)!

US Dreamcast Box Art

US Gamecube Box Art

Name: Skies of Arcadia
Genre: Rpg
Developer: Overworks
Publisher: Sega
Designer: Rieko Kodama
Release Year: 2000
Systems: Dreamcast, Gamecube

Since I promised Dreamcast games only in the next few articles, this post will mostly be about the Dreamcast version of Skies of Arcadia. I didn't feel right totally leaving out the GC one though.

One more thing I have to mention before we start the story.....I LOVE OVERWORKS!

Story
Take an adventure with the Blue Rogues!

The story opens with a young Silvite woman named Fina sailing through the night skies in her tiny Silver airship. Not far behind her, Valuan Admiral Alfonso is in hot pursuit under orders from Lord Galcian to capture her. Alfonso opens fire on and disables Fina's ship long enough to capture her before it plummets into Deep Sky, but just as she is being brought onboard his warship, a Blue Rogue vessel arrives with the intent of robbing the Valuan vessel. Vyse and Aika of the Blue Rogues jump from the Albatross onto Alfonso's flagship and fight their way to the rear cargo hold, prompting Alfonso to flee on a lifeboat while leaving Fina behind along with the war beast Antonio, who is quickly defeated by the Rogues. Vyse and Aika bring Fina back to their clan's ship, which Vyse pilots back to their secret hideout, Pirate Island (disguised as Windmill Island).

While watching the sunset, Vyse and Aika see a Moonstone fall from the skies onto nearby Shrine Island. The next day they travel to Shrine Island to retrieve the Moonstone, a concentrated form of airship fuel, leaving Fina behind in the care of their clan. The Moonstone in hand, Vyse and Aika return to Pirate Island to find it obliterated by the Valuan Armada. Fina and many Blue Rogues have been captured by the Armada and taken to the capital city, and here the game proper begins. What starts as a simple rescue mission becomes a struggle for survival amid a looming world war.

This story sounds like it promises one awesome adventure! Trust me, it definitely delivers!

Gameplay
CUTLASS FURY!

A line that is said by our Hero Vyse that I have always been very fond of. I just simply love the special attacks in this game, but more on in just a sec. First lets cover the basics of the battle system.

Skies battle system is a turn based battle system that rpg players are used to. What makes it different is the use of the spirit point system. These points accumulate from attacking and getting hit as well as using your focus command. Spirit points are vital for using Special attacks and magic in this game.

Before you go unleashing your awesome "Cutlass Fury!", there is one more thing that helps you do even more damage. Aside from your buff spells, you also have different elements in the game. What makes Skies of Arcadia nice is that you don't just have a "Flame tongue" that you have to use on an enemy that is weak to fire. You can switch elements on the fly with the push of a button. The game makes it especially easy to see what element you have by switch the color of the weapon you are holding! So when you get a new sword, you don't have to worry about going back to the old outta date elemental weapon, cause all of you weapons can use any element!

Not only do your 6 playable Characters(Vyse,Aika,Fina,Gilder,Drachma and Enrique) have their own special attacks, you also have a team up attack with your characters and you can also call out the crew of your ship to attack in a sweet montage! This attack is hilarious and really shows off the personality of your NPC crew members.

Speaking of crew members, that is another great part of Skies of Arcadia, recruiting new crew members! While not on the same scale as Suikoden(108 stars of Destiny!), there are quite a few awesome characters to recruit in this game to be on your crew! Whats else do the crew members do you ask? Well, they help you in ship to ship battles! yep, Skies of Arcadia has another type of battle system that I am going to talk about now!

Ah, airship battles.......gotta love em. The airship battles are similar to normal battles as far as attack, guard(well, evade in this case), special commands and having a spirit points bar but here is what makes it different! Ship battles are grid based. It would take awhile to get into the depth of the ship combat, so I'll just scratch the surface. Each person in your party can be set an action. All 4 actions(if you have a full party) are played out in one round. So attacking, evading, focus and special can all be used in one round, so planning ahead is crucial!

Crew members have multiple was of helping you in ship to ship combat! While some have passive skills like increasing your ships defense, some crew members have active skills that increase your ships crit chance!

Not only do you have a great crew to help you out, you can also customize your ship to your liking! With main cannons, secondary cannons, torpedoes and your special weapon, there is alot to choose from. Every ship needs a special weapon, and nothing is better then firing your Harpoon gun in this game! Ok, now that we talked about the battle system, lets take a look at the rest of what makes this game so wonderful and totally different then the norm!

Fina's weapon is a living creature and is powered up by finding food for it called chams. These are found all over the dungeons and towns. The way you locate these chams is by VMU!(or beeping in the GC version) Cupil(her animal) will pop up on the VMU, alerting you of nearby food for it. After hitting a certain number of chams, it's attack in battle would change, going from alittle puffball Fina threw at enemies to a sword that would slice at said enemies.

Not only was the VMU used for Cupil, it also had a unique game that you could play on it, and earn money and items on the go! Ah, the VMU.....so much fun!

Last thing to talk about in this game is discoveries! Adding to the already amazing sense of adventure this game already oozes are places and monuments that you have to seek out and discover(hence, the name discoveries!). As if finding a discovery and being known for it isn't enough, you also get paid money to find them! This is done by reporting into the guild.

Ok, I could go on about how great this game is......but i don't wanna type for ever!(and I am sure you don't want to read forever either!) So lets go onto the Game play video, before I think of something else that is great in this game!

Quick note: While I normally don't do this, for this game I have to use 2 gameplay videos! One of the first boss fight(IT HAS CUTLASS FURY!) and one of the first ship battle. You just have to witness both battle types!

The First Boss

The Ship Battle

One thing alot of games need to do more, battle music that changes depending on the state of the battle. NOTHING was better then hearing that close to victory music that plays after a hard fought boss battle.

Final Thoughts
Our voyage comes to an end

Great characters, battle systems, recruiting crew members, cool battle theme and a close to victory theme are just the tip of the ice berg of why this game should get a sequel. The sense of adventure you get outta this game is top notch. Following the Blue Rogues is a roller coaster ride all the way to the end. With Cameo's in Valkryia Chronicles game and Anime, someone is thinking of the Blue Rogues, now lets go one step further and get a sequel!

Preview
Bullets! Bullets! Bullets!

We all need more brawlers! Join us next time as we take a look at Zombie Revenge! They come for brains, we'll give them bullets!(Thanks House of the Dead Overkill!)

HAPPY TENTH DREAMCAST!

I had to make a post on it's 10th anniversary. So this is just a quick post to say, HAPPY BIRTHDAY DREAMCAST! As stated in the Guardian Heroes post, the next few games are gonna all be Dreamcast games! So Tune in next time as we take a look at Skies Of Arcadia!

Treasure made by Treasure!

This is a first, The American and the Japanese cover, I think I'll start doing this for games I can find the images for. I am glad this game is the first cause it is just that great! Our next game needs a sequel(or a another sequel in this case) AND a Remake for Xbox Live Arcade!

American Cover

Japanese Cover

Name: Guardian Heroes
Genre: Beat'em up with RPG elements

Developer: Treasure
Publisher: Sega
Designer: Tetsuhiko Kikuchi
Release Year: 1996
Systems: Saturn

Man, this game is one of the best games I have ever played! Lets head directly into the story so I can start talking about this wonderful game!

Story
Time to shed some "LIGHT!" on this story

Long before the beginning of the game, a supreme being created the universe, an eternal battlefield, to find ultimate warriors to hire as its personal soldiers. During the early periods of this, humans merely existed, cowering in fear as a vicious battle was waged between the Sky Spirits and Earth Spirits. Eventually, the Sky Spirits decided to bestow incredible powers unto the humans, effectively making powerful wizards out of many of them. With their new-found powers, the human wizards joined the effort against the Earth Spirits, banishing them into the darkness. However, soon after this was accomplished, the Sky Spirits grew fearful and jealous of the human wizards, and banished them all into the very same darkness along with the Earth Spirits. After this, mankind instead opted for a more physical approach to life, and the Time of the Sword began.

Several decades before the game begins, one of the human wizards, Kanon, managed to escape his imprisonment with the Earth Spirits, and came back to the surface so that he might eventually get his revenge on the Sky Spirits. There, he brought his case up with the existing khans; since they did not trust him, he destroyed them and replaced their kingdom with a wizard kingdom, with puppet khans to do his will. Things were not entirely rosy for Kanon, however; the former king prophesied, prior to his death, that should his reign and the Time of the Sword be brought to such an abrupt end, then eventually the sword would again resurface and in turn bring an end to Kanon's reign. As a precaution, Kanon banished most every existing sword in his new kingdom, but he overlooked one particular sword, belonging to a fierce, anonymous warrior who fought especially valiantly to the death during Kanon's takeover. Also, the former princess, Serena, survived the ordeal, and joined the band of knights to try and bring about Kanon's end from the inside.

At the game's start, four warriors - Han, Randy (with his pet rabbit, Nando), Nicole and Ginjirou - find the sword of the valiant warrior. Just as they decide to begin relaxing for the remainder of the night, Serena bursts in, hastily warning them that the knights have learned of their possession of such a powerful sword, and are coming to take it back, no matter the costs. The four flee their home as it bursts up in flames during the invasion, then escape the town via their separate ways, rendezvousing at the graveyard nearby.

Upon reaching there, they discover the leader of the Black Knights, Valgar, awaiting them, and accompanied by a very powerful robotic warrior. The five do battle with it, but fail to do a large amount of damage to it. Finally, as Han resolves to use the new sword against the robot, the sword is struck by lightning, electrocuting Han and causing him to lose his grip on it. The sword, now seemingly with a life of its own, floats over to a large mound nearby, where a zombified warrior in golden armor arises from the dead - the same warrior who valiantly fought to the death so many years ago - and claims the sword as his own. Enraged, he easily obliterates Valgar's robot, and begins to attack Serena. Nicole, uncertain of what to do, politely asks the warrior to stop attacking them - to the five's surprise, he does so. Quickly realizing that the warrior is willing to act on any command that they give him, they resolve that, with this new ally, the time to begin an attack on Kanon's new kingdom is at hand.

That obvious "LIGHT!" in the subtitle is a reference to the wizard Kanon. That is what it sounds like he says when he summons lightning.

Music
So many good tracks!

I am not even sure where to begin with this games spectacular soundtrack. From an awesome jazzy track to slow more peaceful tracks to wonderful guitar tracks, this game has it all! Some specific ones of note are the arena, forest, village, Valgar's theme and I think the music that is played when you first get to the Earth Spirits realm(which is where that awesome jazz track plays.)

I just had to mention the music before I got into the gameplay. I remember these tracks like I just played this game yesterday!

Gameplay
You'll never escape ICE STUPA!

Ok, lets start with the wonderfulness that is story mode! The first few paragraphs of the story section mentions how the first 2 stages are played out. As mentioned this game is a beat'em up with rpg elements.

Lets start with the battle system. The amount of options you have to dispatch your foes is pretty vast. Of course you have your basic multi hit combo that is standard in beat'em ups. This game also features command moves like pushing down down twice and then attack(I think that is correct) would make Randy do a multi hit uppercut with his staff. Each character has plenty of command moves for different effects!

The amount of options you have for normal attacks is already enough to make this game better then some beat'em ups, but wait, there is more! Not only do you has a vast array of normal attacks, you also have magic! These magic moves also have commands that you can use or if you can use pick one with the rotating spell menu and set it to the magic button. Now magic in this game was pure awesome! Everyone can use magic(even Hans, your melee fighter of the group), but of course your magic users, who in this case are Nicole and Randy, have more spells and higher levels of these spells. But don't think that Hans magic is useless, I can't tell you how many times his homing fireballs have been useful! Though if we are talking spells, Randy and Nicole are the ones we should focus on right now.

Randy's spells are just downright great. to list a few, he could summon an ice field that would freeze and do tick damage on the enemy, Summon a huge(well, it gets real big at higher levels) tornado around his body trapping and damaging all enemies around him and I have to mention his Dragonball style HUGE beam attack.

Lets also take a look at Nicole's spells. She was your healer of the party, making healing fields much like Randy's ice field. That doesn't mean she doesn't have attacks though! Her "Smileys" have a random chance to either rain down as many small smileys or one or more bigger smileys. She also has what could be one of the most annoying(in the arena mode, more on that later) but awesome defensive spells in the game. Her barrier keeps all enemies outside of it and anyone who touches it will take damage and bounce off. Whats makes this attack cool is that if said enemy is in a corner, they have no where to bounce which adds up to big damage!

If awesome attack options and magic still isn't enough for you, you also have your Undead Hero! The way he works is that he is a npc character that you tell commands to. like follow, wait, attack and defend. But the most fun command to make him use is his berserk mode! The Undead Hero would let out a totally sweet roar, and start using his fiery sword wave attack. After he did this for a short while, he would roar again and would literally BLOW UP THE WHOLE SCREEN! Imagine the sequence in Dragonball Z where Goku is on Namek while it is exploding screaming "OOOOOOOOOOOOHHHH NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" and the whole screen goes white.......yeah it's kinda like that.

Another quick note about the battle system. This game also has a plane shift system. a top, bottom and middle plane.

Now that you know how awesome the battle system is, lets take a quick look at the rpg elements of the game. After you beat a level, you get points for your stats. The stats are Strength, Intelligence, Vitality, Mentality(faster mp regen), Agility and Luck(modifies damage the player give and receive, in addition to improving Nicole's selection of spells.). You get to make your character anyway you want to! Battle mages, high attack ninjas, or a speedy melee fighter, you can do it all!

The last thing I will talk about in story mode is one of the biggest things about Guardian Heroes! Multiple paths through the game and Multiple endings! That is what makes this game so great! Not only do you fight in different areas, you also fight different enemies on the paths through the game. Also the characters you beat, you get to use in arena mode!

Speaking of arena mode, this is the second part that makes Guardian Heroes that makes it so great! It is a multiplayer arena brawl. You can play as our 4 main heroes, Serena and Undead Hero, but that is not all! What fun would an arena brawl be with only 6 characters? Well, we don't have to worry about that in this game. Every boss, enemy, ally AND Civilian is playable. That is ALOT of characters. There are about 6-7 stages each with a different track from the game.

The most fun thing about arena mode is the customization you can do. You can set you levels and stats for each charatcer to you play. The max level is 255 I think, and you can over level your stats past the max! This mode is just crazy fun full of many good memories!

Ok, I have yapped alot about this game, but I can't help it, it is pretty much one of my favorite games I played when i was younger. Lets head into the game play video portion of this post!



Wow, I forgot to mention my favorite thing about this game! The story mode has co-op!

Final Thoughts
For people who didn't read all that stuff.....I don't blame ya if you didn't!

Ok, Summary......THIS GAME IS ONE OF THE BEST GAMES EVER MADE! Plain and simple. I know this game has a sequel on Game boy advance. I liked it's gameboy sequel, but I would like the next one to be on a console. This game also needs to be put on Xbox Live Arcade(Also Hope Wii gets Saturn on VC).

Gameplay, Soundtrack, Character Design, Character personality and all of the above is the reason this game needs another sequel AND a Remake!(Or atleast port on XBL Arcade!)

Preview
HAPPY 10th DREAMCAST!

I think The subtitle says it all, the next few post are gonna be of Dreamcast games that need sequels! Tune in next time as I make a small tribute post to the Dreamcast!