Ah, the first real decent RPG on the GC hath arrived. And, behold! It is great!
A port of the highly acclaimed Skies of Arcadia from the Dreamcast, with some nice extra thrown in, this game deserves to be played, and played a lot.
Graphically, it doesn't push the GC to any great lengths. It's got a nice, clean look to it, and uses effects like transparancies on characters blocking another character who is doing actions; but the graphics on a whole aren't outstanding. But they don't need to be. They are just right for a fun filled RPG.
The sound is a bit odd. The music is nice enough, as are the sound effects; but the oddest thing is how voice acting is done. Your characters won't say much during cut scenes/dialoge scenes, but will talk an awful lot during combat! A very odd thing, but forgivable.
The combat system is quick, and easy to navigate. An intuitive menu has all your options for combat, both hand to hand and ship to ship. Attack, guard, run, magic, and special attacks are all easy to select, and easy to use.
The odd thing is how magic works. All spell, no matter how poerful, only cost 1 magic point. Instead, you must have enough spirit points to use spells. Each character gains a certain amount of spirit each round, and all that spirit is added to a total party spirit guage. In order to use spells or special moves, you must have enough spririt in the party spirit meter. Characters can choose to focus their spirit energy for a turn, increasing the party's spirit meter by their spirit rating during the turn, but they can niether attack, nor defend while doing so.
Overall, I am highly enjoying this game. I am not quite done yet, but I'm over 80% done. And to emphasise how much I've been playing it, I've logged in almost 60 hours already...
Buy this game. Play this game. Enjoy this game. And hope Sega and Overworks make another great RPG soon.
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