Skies of Arcadia for Sega Dreamcast - No Nostalgia Review | hungrygoriya

Please listen to this absolutely gorgeous cover of the ending credits music by ‪@stalwartturtle‬ : • Skies of Arcadia Credits
Skies of Arcadia for the Sega Dreamcast is an RPG that has stood the test of time. Although I wasn't a fan of the slow-paced random encounters or the ship battles, I adored the game's world and characters and would recommend this game to anyone looking for a very deep adventure. 🍖
Also, here's a great, in-depth video about Pinta's Quest: • Review: Skies of Arcad...
The introductory animation and outro text were created and designed by Saad Azim.
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#retrogaming #skiesofarcadia #segadreamcast

[@thevibesgaming1]

I absolutely loved the small touch during boss battles that when your HP gets low, the song starts to shift into minor keys and get a little slower, but once you heal up it hits the key change to go right back to normal. I've never seen another game that does that, ever. (Could be a gamecube thing because that's the only one i've played, but still it was an awesome small detail)

[@hungrygoriya]

That happened in the Dreamcast version as well! I remember I was really shocked at how "bad" the music sounded in the first big fight I was losing. I had my TV volume a little lower than usual and it just sounded like whale noises!

[@josephscottadams39]

Puzzle Quest adjusts it's music when your hit points get low.

[@MrAweeze]

Aika is amazing, and her and Vyse's relationship was very natural and sweet. Each time she and Vyse did their patented celebratory high five, I smiled.

[@hungrygoriya]

They were very sweet!

[@me8751]

That thumbnail got me wishing I was a sky pirate.

[@hungrygoriya]

I loved the art in this game. Me too!

[@phillippiedmont4074]

One of the most overlooked, underrated games of all time. SOA should've been recognized alongside the likes of Zelda, Mario, Donkey Kong etc

[@hungrygoriya]

I thought it was really good too!

[@russellmania5349]

@@hungrygoriya This was probably my favorite turned based RPG game of all time. My other favorite game was grandia 2.

[@hungrygoriya]

@@russellmania5349 I really need to play Grandia 2 one of these days!

[@russellmania5349]

@@hungrygoriya You can buy the game on the Nintendo Switch.

[@drowningin]

@@russellmania5349 I got it on switch. I personally really loved grandia 1, but didn’t enjoy my time with 2 so I quit. I want to try it again some day

[@Protoman00]

14:53 LOLOLOL!!!! I bet when your at home you probably say “Fire consume my enemies, Lamdba Burst!!!” All the time. Another great video, with amazing Dreamcast noises!

[@hungrygoriya]

Sometimes I look my poor husband straight in the eyes and say it to him, and then I sigh and roll my eyes. People bring it up in the stream all the time. I'm never going to shake it!

[@ThoughtyTheWrangler]

I forgot how many things this game did incredibly well.

[@hungrygoriya]

It was really good when it was good, you're right!

[@HybridAngelZero]

This is one of my most wanted games, I'm so happy to see you reviewing games from this era. It's kind of funny to me, personally, as late 90s and early 2000s RPGs are my bread and butter, and things like repeated voice clips and flashy magic attack animations are something I'm so used to (or personally enjoy) that I never even notice them xD Also, you are reaching the era where instruction manuals are going to become peripheral or even useless, sadly. And I can promise you in future games, battles will speed up, and character models will gain fingers around the PS2 era xD

[@hungrygoriya]

I hope you can find a copy sometime and play it. It's a great game despite some of my piddly gripes about battle slowness and voices... I'm just not used to them at all. One of the first RPGs I played was FFX and it felt so snappy compared to this... I'm glad there's light at the end of the tunnel! I was so, so sad to see how much was in the manual but how little of it was helpful. It's a sad way forward :( I am also looking forward to actual finger-functional hands. It cracked me up how Fina's default standing position is with her flesh mitts straight up over her chest all the time. Your comment made me laugh out loud... thank you for that :)

[@HybridAngelZero]

@@hungrygoriya Always happy to provide a laugh xD I, and many others, are hoping for a modern rerelease of Skies, sadly both Dreamcast and GameCube copies have inflated in price to the point of absurdity.

[@hungrygoriya]

@@HybridAngelZero I haven't checked the prices lately, but I can just imagine. I think my DC copy was around $100 (Canadian) a few years ago. I think I might've traded a few things for it so I didn't pay that much out of pocket, but the state of retro collecting frustration city these days.

[@HybridAngelZero]

@@hungrygoriya The Dreamcast one is around $150 and GameCube seems to be sitting around $200... and that's in USD :( I hope this retro game bubble bursts soon

[@hungrygoriya]

@@HybridAngelZero :( :( :( :( :(

[@firefly5677]

I love this game to death. One of my favorite games from childhood. I would do anything for a modern remake

[@hungrygoriya]

Here's hoping!

[@BrickFlairMMA]

Sego announced the other week they are focused on remakes and remasters so I’d say there is actually a good chance this happens in the few years!! Or so I hope I would love to play through this again I lost my GameCube copy and used copies are like 200-300 dollars 😭

[@hungrygoriya]

@@BrickFlairMMA I heard about that too! The first game I thought about was Skies so I'm keeping my fingers and all relevant appendages crossed!

[@Jack_80]

i would love a remaster of the dreamcast version. not a huge fan of the gamecube version and it's nerfed difficulty. instead of just nerfing it, i don't understand why they couldn't just leave it as is and add an easy mode for those who wanted it. but it's like people don't want to play easy mode, they want normal mode to be easy so they don't have to feel like they need an easy mode, so just leave it as is and make that hard mode, and make normal mode easy mode without calling it easy mode, then everyone is happy.

[@scorpionsapprentice3248]

one reason i want to play the dreamcast version is because it has much better music over legends. i wish this game had a remaster which kept the legends content and the dreamcast music.

[@hungrygoriya]

Maybe it'll come out some day!

[@scorpionsapprentice3248]

@@hungrygoriya i wish and the only moment of hope is that vyse did appear in sega all star racing.

[@mattshuey1]

Holy moly this channel is underrated! I've just binged a good 10 reviews (all wonderful), and subscribed. Your reviews are the single most well constructed and written reviews I've ever seen.

[@hungrygoriya]

This is very high praise! Thanks so much :) I'm glad that you're enjoying the videos here.

[@DonYagamoth]

In a time, when games seemed to strongly steer towards more and more crazy plot twist, insanely deep lore and other things, Skies of Arcadia was nice and refreshing on how straightforward it was. And still, it managed to tell a fantastic story, have great characters, and so many more admirable things I don't have enough words to describe Thank you for linking the nice ending cover in the description :)

[@hungrygoriya]

It's honestly an amazing game. If the combat was just a little faster paced, it'd be an easy favourite for me. I'm glad we share a lot of the same sentiments here.

[@DonYagamoth]

@@hungrygoriya It certainly is too slow for it's own good. The Gamecube version improves it slightly with a reduced encounter ate, and fleshing out some more side content. But it's still way slower than I'd like it to be

[@hungrygoriya]

@@DonYagamoth Yeah, just a little tweaking to things like that would really elevate it to untouchable heights. It's still really, really amazing as is though. I'm glad I eventually got around to playing it.

[@michaelsnow1]

Another great review! You're one of my favorite channels! I've only played Arcadia on the Gamecube and its one of the best JRPGs I've ever experienced. I agree with you about the ship to ship fighting issue though. I wanted ship battles to be a refreshing change of pace but it always felt like a confusing slog. If you have a PS2 you may want to try a game called Rogue Galaxy. It reminded me of Skies, except you play as Space Pirates instead of Air Pirates. It might be worth checking out. Thanks again for this video!

[@hungrygoriya]

This is super nice of you to say! I'm honoured to be among your favourites :) I was also hopeful that the ship battles would feel fun and fast-paced, but like everything else combat-related, they were slow as well. I actually have a copy of Rogue Galaxy but haven't played it before. I think it's still sealed even... (it came to me as part of a huge game collection I bought a few years ago) ... if it's very Skies-like, I think I'll try to get to it sooner than later. Thank you for the recommendation!

[@atoth62]

I've played both Skies and Rogue Galaxy. Rogue Galaxy was by far the greater slog, I felt. I don't quite remember what frustrated me so much about that game, but I think it was due to the fact that it had 9(?) possible party members, and they only leveled up if they were in your current party. Given the fact you were occasionally forced to use a party member, they could be dangerously unleveled if you were forced to use them at some point. I also remember not liking the crafting/upgrade system, but I don't remember the particulars of why.

[@Jack_80]

@@atoth62 i really enjoyed both games. at first rogue galaxy annoyed me a little because of how quickly your characters can die out of nowhere, but then i just started loading up on revival potions and that pretty much solved the problem. wasn't my favorite combat system because of the constant need to resurrect fragile party members, but the story kept me interested and the visuals were amazing for a ps2 game.

[@Grail_Quest]

Curse of Monkey Island fan? Faxanadu coffee mug!? Your awesomeness continues to grow!!

[@hungrygoriya]

Oh yes... I adored Curse so much. I played it on and off my whole childhood. It took forever to get out of the chicken restaurant's lobby, haha

[@jymfiskburk2256]

Great review, i really like how much love this game is recieving these days from expensive figures, mentions from sega, discussion about the game and review like this, great job, keep the good work

[@hungrygoriya]

Thank you! I did see F4F is releasing an Aika statue. From what I understand, the fans of this game have been very underserviced over the years so I agree. That's very nice to see!

[@kainemaxwell]

Another beautiful review! I laughed at the "remember your mantra" coffee mug cameo. 🤣

[@hungrygoriya]

I do my best to keep it real!

[@AL_Talks]

Same

[@kainemaxwell]

@@hungrygoriya and shameless plug 🤣

[@hungrygoriya]

@@kainemaxwell It's only a shameless plug if someone asks about it. Nobody has yet!

[@cryomancer199X]

I enjoy the pre-battle console noises in D2. You can always tell when a monster is about to pop up, makes for a weird layer of ambiance.

[@hungrygoriya]

It does it in that game as well? That's so funny! Nothing is a surprise on the Dreamcast!

[@jasonblalock4429]

11:50 Funny thing. If you stop moving and go into the main menu at the moment you hear the disc spin up, it usually interrupts the encounter. With the right timing, you can almost entirely skip past battles.

[@hungrygoriya]

Oh is that so? I had no idea you could manipulate the game like that!

[@Kevin-uj4uu]

by main menu you mean the screen with the characters with you and potions you can use? this has not been working for me and i can pause it as soon as i hear the noise long before the battle begins. but after i leave the battle will start

[@AL_Talks]

I appreciate the chugging and grinding noises of the Dreamcast that were in both your playthru and the review. Before I started this I wondered if they would be here in some regard and you didn't disappoint. I had already mentioned it to you but I have this on Gamecube which I have heard with much verbosity by most is the "inferior" version (I don't care.) When Gamestop had a huge sale on Gamecube games back in 2010 or so I picked up both this game and Evolution Worlds since they were two Dreamcast games I had seen that I always really wanted but never got into Dreamcast to buy one for a similar reason - the library never really stuck out for me to pick up the system. When I played it I didn't get that far before my whole memory card was corrupted. A decade later and with new memory cards maybe I should give it another try especially after watching your review. I might but this up to my play list after Final Fantasy IX (which is also upcoming) and this review also got me into wanting to play Grandia. I also plan to get back to your other videos that I've missed soon-ish. I remember this was the age that voice acting in games started to head to professional actors after getting whoever was around to do it. It also was in the time that games like Soul Caliber II offered the option for both English and Japanese voices. I thought to myself, "Why didn't they offer that here too?" but hours of voice acting is probably much harder to condense to disc with two versions over a line or two of battle dialogue. I saw that there is a de-make patch for the Gamecube version to restore the Japanese voices to use on emulation but I'll probably end up playing what is on disc and have Lambda Burst, "Fire Consume my enemies" etched into my brain as well - it can be friends with Pit's "Hiyayayaya!" from Smash Brothers and Sora's "I fight for my friends" from Kingdom Hearts. There's a lot of intricacies that you noticed that I'll have to see myself to comment on more along with the bouncing (my thoughts stem from the old days of rubber hose animation) to the idle animations of enemies cutting the air (Playstation era flourishes) to the long turn battle system making me think of DnD second edition. More to get into for another time. Lovely review as always

[@AL_Talks]

Another JRPG this game makes me think of is Rouge Galaxy on PS2, ever play that one? I don't think they are that similar outside of being pirate RPGs in Space

[@hungrygoriya]

I really hope you like this one when you play it. It's a good one and honestly, my frustrations with some things are likely just based on my current immersion in earlier generations where VAing wasn't so prevalent. I liked the voice acting, but it was repetitive. I played Kingdom Hearts a loooong time ago and can't remember the Sora lines, but I can just imagine...

[@robertbarker5802]

Finally playing this but the Gamecube version. So I guess I don't have grinding gears noise for a warning... I still love the Dreamcast though!

[@hungrygoriya]

Enjoy all the random battle surprises and the game! It's a lovely adventure.

[@TheReNesance]

Great work on this lengthy review with a ton to cover.. every review has new slick transitions, etc that keep them engaging. Beautiful work!

[@hungrygoriya]

Awwww thanks my friend :) I don't even feel like I scratched the surface in this game but I had to put on the brakes at some point. And about the editing: I'm trying my best to try something new with each video. Thank you for noticing! I'm far from having mastery over editing software, but I'm learning a lot!

[@CasperEgas]

I like it, but took a long time to complete it, because of the high random encounter rate. I love the world and music though. I played it when it was new, so I was 16 years old at the time. I used to play Pinta's Quest in class. I never had the game hang on me, but the loud loading is supposed to be like that.

[@hungrygoriya]

Oh yeah, there's a ton of fights for sure. I also really loved the world and how they made it bigger and bigger as you went on. It was really well done!

[@MidlifeCrisisJoe]

I can say that while the Gamecube version of Skies of Arcadia (which is the version I originally played) did miss out on VMU support, it had some extra sidequests and more importantly, was much quieter to load. Wow is that Dreamcast loading for battles something!

[@hungrygoriya]

I heard the GC version comes with more content, so if I ever get my hands on it someday, it'll be nice to have that to look forward to. The Dreamcast is so loud!! I thought mine was broken the first time I booted it up, haha

[@katherineberger6329]

@@hungrygoriya Once it was realized that the loading could be interrupted and preempted by opening the pause menu, the frequency of the battles became easier to handle.

[@lawrencemcstephens308]

Very thorough review, hungry! I remember hearing the title for this game back in the day, and I actually got a Sega Dreamcast on launch or shortly after for that Christmas in 1999. I never ended up playing this game, but hearing your critique of the cutscenes disrupting the momentum of battle really resonated for me. My brother had a PS1 at the time, and had Final Fantasy 8. I remember being really disheartened at how long it took to go through the animation cycle of summons, such as Doom Train, Shiva, Ifrit, etc. Some of them would take several minutes to move through, and using them throughout the entire game really bogged it down for me ever wanting to play a lot of JRPGs during this era. I was still having a lot of fun with Chrono Trigger, Secret of Mana, Final Fantasy 6, Illusion of Gaia, Ys III, etc.

[@hungrygoriya]

You know, it's funny that you mention FF8 because I had the same feelings when I played it as a teenager! FF9 does a lot of that too but has streamlined the summons quite a bit so you can't just spam them... I really do enjoy how quick and snappy the SNES/Genesis era and earlier RPGs feel with respect to combat.

[@freddyvidz]

I love the reference to Garfield. "Candy, candy, candy, candy"

[@hungrygoriya]

I LOVE that cartoon... I used to watch it so much as a kid, and I picked up the Garfield's Holiday Special DVD a few years ago. I watch it every year on Halloween while we dish out candy at home and it makes me happy! I usually watch The Great Pumpkin and some choice King of the Hill episodes as well.

[@kevintown311]

Just found this channel with this video and subscribed. This is one of my favorite games and I like the presentation of it in this video. Keep it up

[@hungrygoriya]

Hey thanks so much! I appreciate you taking a chance on the channel.

[@kevintown311]

@@hungrygoriya yeah it came up in my feed because I guess I've been watching things about SoA lately. I need to replay it at some point. Stuck on DQ11 right now though

[@hungrygoriya]

@@kevintown311 I've heard such wonderful things about DQ11. I hope you get moving again soon!

[@kevintown311]

@Hungry Goriya oh no I meant I'm fixated on it. The game is wonderful. It took a while for me to really get it, I'd never played a DQ game before. Now i regret that because DQ11 now sits among the likes of SoA as one of my favorites. Highly recommend when you get around to it

[@kromanaut]

I always love your in-depth reviews--probably the best out there. Also, I totally hear you on your complaints about battle animations and repetitive voiceovers that became common during the CD-era. Unfortunately, this can still be an issue with some RPGs today, though developers have gotten better at making it less annoying, and we don't have super long CD load times to deal with. I agree that this one of the things that makes 16-bit RPGs so appealing, we didn't have to suffer through any of that.

[@hungrygoriya]

Thanks so much! My tolerance threshold for repetitiveness is pretty low. I think the only time I don't mind it so much is in Final Fantasy IX when I don't have to constantly hear all the yelling of the move names. The 16-bit generation and earlier wins out for me most of the time, but everything else about Skies of Arcadia was awesome. I really enjoyed it and it's easily one of my favourite RPGs.

[@RetroFred]

I've been curious about this game for about 2 decades, as well as why it has a reputation as a must play on Dreamcast and GameCube for RPG fans, so it was great to see a detailed review of it.

[@hungrygoriya]

I'm glad to have provided some insight for you. I think it's an excellent game with some of the best characters and open exploration I've ever experienced but it's also very tedious. The slow pace of the random encounters were almost a deal-breaker for me, even with those big area of effect attacks later on. Do you think you'll play it?

[@RetroFred]

@@hungrygoriya I've been sitting on a copy of it, eyeballing it, so I will probably play it once I've finished the other games I'm trying to finish. As to whether or not I will finish it will depend entirely of my impression of the game. That being said, I will be using a guide to smooth out those rough spots because I just don't have the time to be going into an RPG blind.

[@hungrygoriya]

@@RetroFred That's totally fair... I usually livestream stuff I'm playing so I have the benefit of asking people for help if I get stuck. I hope you have a great time with the playthrough whenever you get around to it.

[@jasonangeles3765]

i played Skies of Arcadia and Grandia II back to back when they were new and loved them both.. pick up Grandia II if you can i think the story and battles are on par with SoA..

[@hungrygoriya]

I've got Grandia II around here somewhere. I am excited to try it out sometime.

[@dgdiggz3918]

when i was a kid, i found out that if you stop walking when the dreamcast makes that noise, it doesn't complete loading the random battle. Saved me a lot of time that way :P

[@hungrygoriya]

Oh seriously? I don't think I ever tried to avoid them that way!

[@dgdiggz3918]

@@hungrygoriya Hah, yea, I was pretty stoked when I figured it out!

[@thepositiver9977]

Great review! I've only played this one two years ago and immediately became one of my favorite RPG of all time. Loved the story, the setting, the unique yet simple battle system and the soundtrack. The older I get I definitely feel that a lot of RPG in this generation can feel like huge dedication in comparison to older titles from the 8 and 16 bit generations because of it's length and sheer amount of hours it can take to complete, but I guess that's just me. I do find your annoyance with voices very fascinating and I don't know why lol.

[@hungrygoriya]

I think it's up there with my favourites as well for all the reasons you mentioned, though I would've really appreciated a little bit more speed in the battles. And yes, they're a total time sink! I don't mind putting in the effort to get through a game if it has lots of good in it, and this wasn't one I was rushing toward the end of. I appreciated it from start to finish! I don't know why voices irk me so much but it's funny that you find it fascinating. I was scandalized when Nintendo added voices to Super Mario Bros. 2 in Super Mario Advance!

[@thepositiver9977]

@@hungrygoriya I think the voices thing might have to do with preference or something you get used to, to be fair Super Mario Bros. 2 on GBA voices are some of the most annoying in the series haha!

[@tomsimmons7673]

That Dreamcast at the end reminded me of an early 2000's industrial song.

[@hungrygoriya]

It makes for a good sound byte!

[@Parallelepiped2]

That was a great in-depth review that covered many facets of gameplay. I appreciated the touches of humour! I don't have any strong desire to pick this up, at least not soon, but your review gives a good impression of what to expect if I do, thanks!

[@hungrygoriya]

Thanks very much! I was wondering at times if it was too much since it's probably my longest review to date(?) but I just couldn't stop talking, haha! I hope you will give it a try sometime, despite the slow speed of the random encounters and the learning curve with the ship battles, it's definitely near the top of my favourite RPG experiences for the story and world-building alone.

[@Euruk1]

I have strong nostalgia for this game. A friend let me borrow it in middle school and insisted I play it after commenting I wasn't into RPGs. Long story short I fell in love with it and I still consider it one of my favorite games of all time. I actually played it again recently and although I still love it, I won't deny the encounter rate is annoying. Funny you mention Drachma being the most relatable as I totally agree. I preferred Gilder as a kid as he reminded me of Han Solo, but I appreciate and connect with Drachma way more now. Great review !

[@newwavejunkie]

You did a wonderful job with this review! I’m so glad you incorporated those lovely Dreamcast sounds into this video as well. That was such a nice touch during your streams and it was nice to hear it again. I had just managed to wipe that Lambda Burst dialogue from my memory, so thanks for bringing that gem back again 😄

[@hungrygoriya]

Thanks so much! I couldn't leave the sounds out after they became such an important part of the streams... I felt like I had to yell over them sometimes since they were so loud! And you're welcome for bringing back that wonderful bit of poetry to your brain folds. It's still stuck in mine!

[@TuxedoMagnum]

I second relating to Drachma! My soul must be that of a grizzled old man, because I thought he was the best back when I played this as a teen. He reminded me a little of old warrior Hudson, my favorite character from Gargoyles. This game is on my "to be played again" list. I've got the Gamecube version which tones down the random encounters a little bit. The Dreamcast version was brutal. Sometimes it was every step or two that a battle would break out. My hat's off to you for making it through! It's a hidden gem of a game and I'd love to see either a sequel to this, or to the PS2 game Rogue Galaxy (Another excellent RPG in this same vein).

[@hungrygoriya]

Drachma still has my heart all this time later. I haven't watched much Gargoyles but I'm pretty sure I know the character you mean, and yes! Totally the same person! The encounter rate here was definitely reminiscent of stuff that came from several generations earlier. I'm glad the GameCube version fixed some of that! I've yet to play Rogue Galaxy but I've heard excellent things about it.

[@stevemanart]

32-bit era game dubbing is painful now that we have two decades of improvement in the dubbing industry.

[@hungrygoriya]

Truth be told, most games I've played that are modern stuck to voice acting in cutscenes almost exclusively... I haven't experienced this improved dubbing you speak of!

[@Wyrdwad]

Is this your first review for a "modern" system? I don't recall seeing any previously, so that's really cool, if so! Skies of Arcadia is a game I never got around to playing, but have always meant to -- and after seeing your review, it seems pretty clear I'd enjoy this one! If you plan to continue sifting through the DreamCast library and are looking for something a bit unusual, may I recommend Space Channel 5? Even if you're not typically a fan of rhythm games, Space Channel 5 is... an experience. Though it is completely overshadowed by its sequel, which is sadly only available in English as part of Space Channel 5 Special Edition on PS2, or as a download on PSN (you can get it on DreamCast in Japan, but that version never made the jump to Western shores). Definitely a game I'd love to see your take on, though, as it's always fun hearing people's first impressions of it. It takes a lot of people very much by surprise. ;) Also, if you're willing to jump a bit farther ahead than DreamCast at any point, there's a semi-obscure RPG on the Wii that I rank among my top 10 favorite of all time, which the Skies of Arcadia footage in this review made me think of. The game is called Opoona, and it's a highly underrated game IMHO. It doesn't seem like much at first, but the world in the game is one of the most fleshed-out and lived-in I've ever experienced in a video game before, and is just INCREDIBLY expansive (thus why Skies of Arcadia kind of made me think of it). Hell, the game world actually has its own art history, complete with its own artistic movements (standardism, revolvism, etc.) which are defined by classic paintings and sculptures you can actually go see at in-game art museums. And each piece of art is signed and dated, with the descendants of a lot of their artists actually surviving as NPCs within the game you can talk to for additional backstory, and the locations for every nature painting being based on actual locations within the game that you can visit yourself if you want to. That's the level of detail we're talking here. The battle system is something else, too. Your main characters are aliens called Tizians that all have balls called "bonbons" floating either above their heads or beneath their torsos, and you attack by hurling those bonbons at the enemy. Which means you don't just choose "attack" -- you also have to aim your bonbon, and charge up a meter to indicate how hard you throw it. It will then fire off in an arc at the specified angle and speed, which you sometimes need to use to your advantage to hit enemies from the top, or -- if you have boomerang-style bonbons -- from the back. And of course, since your weapons are bonbons, equipment isn't swords and armor or anything -- no, it's things like bonbon cores and coatings. Deck your bonbon out with a titanium core and spikes, or a diamond core and flames! It's literally unlike any other RPG I've ever played, and is just an incredibly fascinating game. Oh, and the music was scored by Basiscape, led by Hitoshi Sakimoto of Final Fantasy Tactics and Vagrant Story fame, so the game also has an absolutely GORGEOUS soundtrack. Anyway, yeah... apologies for the long comment and the random recommendations, but if you're taking the lid off the Pandora's box of newer games, I figured I might as well pass along a few recommendations for unusual titles I think you'd probably enjoy. ;) And either way, thanks for another great review!

[@hungrygoriya]

I have Space Channel 5 hanging around here somewhere... I can't say I've ever tried it before, but your thoughts here are intriguing. Thank you for the recommendation! Opoona sounds really, really interesting. That degree of depth when it's done candidly, like in the ways you've mentioend here, make me happy. I remember playing Dragon Age and just having to find book after book after book to fill in history and lore, and while that's fine, having something interactive and embedded in the game's world sounds really neat! And bon bons? What? :D I will have to keep a look out for it since I don't currently have a copy, but I'd definitely be interested in taking a look! I think the only other game I've reviewed from around the same time period was Elemental Gimmick Gear, but nothing newer than that or this. I am certainly not opposed to heading into newer territory, but my focus is mostly retro just because that's what I have the most of in my collection. Thanks for another thoughtful comment!

[@Wyrdwad]

@@hungrygoriya Ah, I forgot about your Elemental Gimmick Gear review, but I have watched that one! It's another game I never played, but I recall seeing mostly positive thoughts on it from others, so your review took me a bit by surprise -- but was an interesting perspective to hear, to be sure! Opoona definitely seems right up your alley, though I should note that if you do play it, the English localization (from Koei, of all companies!) has some issues that do detract from the game just a bit. It's mostly a perfectly fine localization, but there are moments when the meaning gets a bit muddled, and also spots where one thing is translated two different ways. I can remember one in particular that was actually a bit funny: an art installation in one area that basically consists of a spinning metal protrusion on the ground with big, dangly arms that are perfectly timed and positioned to smack metal pipes of varying heights as it spins, producing sound each time it does. This installation is correctly labeled by a sign with the name "Octo Ballet," but one of the nearby NPCs refers to it -- completely unironically -- as "Taco Volley" when you speak with him. ...You may be scratching your head, but if you speak any Japanese, it's pretty obvious what happened here. The Japanese word for octopus is "tako," and the English borrow-word "baree" is used both as "ballet" and as the "volley" in "volleyball." Whoever translated the NPC dialogue almost certainly did so without seeing his in-game position, and thus had no context for what he was talking about. But small flubs like that do pop up from time to time in the game's text, and while they are by no means game-breaking, it's a bit of a shame that they're there. We're lucky we got the game localized at all, though, really, as it was kind of destined never to be a big seller in the West. Whoever greenlit it probably didn't wind up in particularly good standing at Koei, but I'm very thankful to that person for letting it happen anyway. ;)

[@GAMESYSTEMHUNTER]

finally! someone who says valua properly. i dont know why people call valua like balooa, its not the jungle book, guys.

[@GlitchHuntingGamer]

It is always refreshing when a reviewer can discuss how they have changed as a player over the years and still remain balanced in assessing the game as presented. Fantastic work! The Voice Acting and Anime Style lend well to advances made by this generation of console, though we should be able to turn off battle animations. Even Advanced Wars does this (even if it makes AW less fun to watch). I have to agree. I am more of an old man with baggage type now too. Long are the days where I could identify with the casts of Grandia II or Evolution. I still enjoy these titles though. The mug bit was perfect. I am constantly reminded just how the Dreamcast was great for RPG’s and Fighters alike. I could only winder what the timeline where it was a commercial success was like. And there is surely a CR2032 Battery graveyard somewhere. Those VMU’s were power thirsty.

[@hungrygoriya]

Thanks so much! I'm glad you liked the video! And I haven't played enough "modern" RPGs to really get a taste of what's available for convenience's sake, like skipping cutscenes/text, etc. It's good to know that some games were more generous with these features going forward. That graveyard has to be a mountain by now! When we first got a DC we got a package of them for the VMUs and they were dead in about a week! I was shocked!

[@fy8798]

Nice review. This era of games really has issues with cutscenes - back then I guess they wowed people, but jeez did they age poorly :D love the loading sound ending too. Nice work!

[@hungrygoriya]

In battle when I just want to hit somebody with my sword real quick, I don't want to watch a 30 second cutscene for the billionth time!

[@MosesMedinaE]

I really enjoyed your review. Thank you for yet another awesome video. 🤙

[@hungrygoriya]

Thanks so much for taking the time to watch today and for the kind words.

[@Teknanam]

Its funny that you mentioned the brick hands everyone has. The game was also ported to the Nintendo Gamecube. That version lost the VMU stuff and compressed the music so the whole thing can be on one disc, but added some new sidequests, weapons, and slightly updated the visuals. One of those visual quirks were the hands. All playable characters and Admirals all have fingers whether in cutscenes or combat. IMO, all it did was make the brick hands in everyone else that much more jarring, but it never ruined the game for me. Glad you enjoyed the game. I never played the Dreamcast version myself, but I will always appreciate its uncompressed music. EDIT: Another change for the Gamecube version is that the random battle rate has been decreased and the experienced gained has been increased. Though its only something people who played the Dreamcast version will notice. Anyone playing the Gamecube version first will still feel that the game throws a lot of random battles at you.

[@hungrygoriya]

It's so sad that the music's compressed in the GameCube version. I have this soundtrack on vinyl and it's so wonderful... the other changes sound lovely though. Especially the hands, haha... good to know they fixed that. I'll have to watch some gameplay from the GC version just to see what they did to the game design. Rebalancing is always welcome as far as I'm concerned. Thanks for the info! I would love to try the GameCube version someday, and it's nice that it'll feel a bit different when I do.

[@justavian]

I cannot play any of these old RPG games without a fast forward button mapped to something on my controller. Everything feels like it's specifically designed to waste my time. The first time you see a Guardian Force summon in FF8 it's pretty cool. By the tenth time, it's already rage inducing. And you're gonna watch it 100 more times. This is the true boon provided by modern emulators. I played many of these kinds of games as a youngster, but as an adult i cannot sit through the tedious animations. Anyway - great video. Your work is well done.

[@hungrygoriya]

I imagine the fast forward button really helps in these highly cinematic games. I agree with you entirely here in that lots of the repetitiveness of this stuff feels like a time waster. And thank you very much! I really enjoy talking about these games and chatting with folks here, so it's good to know that we're on the same page.

[@GodofWarChuka]

I just bought this game on EBay for $120! 😬😬! Great Review! 👍

[@hungrygoriya]

Oooo nice! I hope you enjoy your time with it!

[@GodofWarChuka]

@@hungrygoriya Thanks! I should be getting it in a few days. I’ve had my Dreamcast since Launch, and recently bought a Japanese Sega Saturn. I can’t believe the amount of games I never heard of! Skies being one ☝️ lol!

[@hungrygoriya]

@@GodofWarChuka I'm always digging for RPGs in game libraries and this is one of the few. I only got my Dreamcast about 5 or 6 years ago but I've enjoyed quite a few games on it. And a Japanese Saturn? That's awesome! There are some great imports for the system.

[@GodofWarChuka]

@@hungrygoriya Thanks, and that’s good. There’s so many great games out there. I watch a lot of Sega Lord X, and because of his Channel I went with a Japanese version, because a lot of great and exclusive Titles only came out on the Japanese Saturn. Like Guardian Heroes for one. I Have a pretty good collection of Retro systems and games, but i thank God for Emulation! Because a lot of Games are Super Pricey! Like the NEO GEO and Games. I ended getting the Sega Genesis Mini 1 not to long ago with over 8000 games, and I have the Genesis Mini 2 Pre-ordered, coming in November. That one has a nice collection of Sega CD games like Sewer Shark and Night Trap. I never owned the Original Sega CD, and some of them games are expensive collectors items now. So, I definitely seek out Emulation now. But, sometimes I’ll want to buy a nice, original version of a game like Skies of Arcadia. 👍

[@hungrygoriya]

@@GodofWarChuka Yeah, all the CD-based stuff from Sega as well as Neo Geo stuff is super pricey. Turbografx as well! I'm glad you have a way to play the things that interest you!

[@TheUncleshady]

I never had a Dreamcast, nor played any of that system's games. The little controller gamepod looks pretty cool though. Thanks for the review.

[@hungrygoriya]

I've only dabbled a bit so far. I've played Elemental Gimmick Gear which I didn't love, and then a bunch of shorter games on variety streams with nothing in particular really standing out. I do love Crazy Taxi and Power Stone since they both really crack me up!

[@colinbaker7614]

Ended up watching your twitch stream (as dafatfat) because I ran across your KZbin channel. Great job on both fronts.

[@hungrygoriya]

Too kind! It's been lovely having you out at the streams, and thanks so much for the comment here.

[@markasscop]

it's such a shame not many people these days can have the opportunity to experience this game, since there's no modern re-release

[@hungrygoriya]

Yeah, it would be nice to see it brought to a new system some day. Lots of other games from this era have made an appearance, so why not this one? Maybe they're planning something big for it, but also maybe not. It's so obvious that the fan base is enormous.

[@markasscop]

@@hungrygoriya oh it'd be a dream if they had plans for it, but I'm not holding out for it, and yeah I'm sure even a digital only remaster would sell a lot

[@StewNWT]

I have a deep appreciation and love for this game - it's not my favourite by any means, but it does EVERYTHING well, and has several surprisingly deep system, customizable bits, a shit ton of actually interesting side quests, a great story, a fantastic and unique world to explore, and virtually nothing about it is cookie cutter

[@hungrygoriya]

Yes, yes, and yes! I agree with you. There was nothing about it, other than maybe how slow combat felt sometimes, that really bogged me down from enjoying this one.

[@StewNWT]

@@hungrygoriya yeah the high encounter rate is a bit much

[@american_comics_engineering]

Great video as always. Are you going to cover the early "Tales of" or Fire Emblem games? Valkyrie Profile? Disgaea?

[@hungrygoriya]

I would love to someday... I haven't played any of those games yet so I have to get through them first of course!

[@childofcascadia]

No. Youre not spoiled. There was this weird period of time in the early-mid 3d console era where devs were like "oh, we made this awesome animation/voiceovers"! So you need to see/hear every single goddamn time! Tales of Symphonia did this too on the Gamecube. I got my brother the ps2 version and his gf at the time made him quit playing it because people shouting attack moves every 5 minutes annoyed the crap out of her. (I still to this day hear Rightous Indignation! in my head as I type this. And I played that game 20 years ago). Hell, I got Tales of Arise last year, and they *still* havent put a "bark control" setting for how often chars actually shout special attack names. It gets real old real fast when you do combos. Bark/acknowledgement settings have been pretty standard on PC rpgs since the late 90s so I was surprised. Fortunately, most modern console rpgs give you the option to skip summons/massive attack cutscenes. So you can view them if you want, or press something to skip through.

[@gameandwinetime]

The sound of your Dreamcast disc drive spinning sounds eerily similar to the JAWS theme 🦈 building up that tension before every "random" encounter 😅

[@hungrygoriya]

Totally daunting, haha

[@ChrisS-xo9le]

Excellent review. High quality footage, well-edited and very well articulated points :)

[@hungrygoriya]

That's awfully kind! Thanks very much!

[@johntracy72]

The end of battle cheering was also used in Grandia. It would be from the character who struck the last blow in that battle. For example, Justin would say "Alright, we won!" or Feena would say "Not bad, eh!"

[@hungrygoriya]

Feena must be a fellow Canadian!

[@tomsimmons7673]

I felt the exact same about Dreamcast library.

[@hungrygoriya]

I'm glad I'm not the only one. I always feel like coming to these console libraries late, I'm cursed because I don't have the nostalgia to lean into that people had playing anything 3D like this when it was new. I got a PS2 when I was 16 and played FFX which blew my mind, but I've never been drawn to games that are 3D and aren't RPGs or adventure games. It's a cruel fate!

[@youssefelbahtimy]

The biggest problem I find with getting Dreamcast games is how easy it is to find all the 2k sports games, but difficult to find pretty much anything else.

[@hungrygoriya]

@@youssefelbahtimy Outside of one example of finding a really beat up copy of Ready 2 Rumble boxing at a thrift store, I've never seen Dreamcast stuff outside of game conventions. I agree!

[@Chad_Thundercock]

"We can't save the world from a CD player!" Best part of the whole soundtrack.

[@hungrygoriya]

It was very cute, haha

[@GSM22]

You should do grandia 2 or evolution for dreamcast

[@hungrygoriya]

All in good time, I hope!

[@JetWolfEX]

Time Stalkers looks alright for Dreamcast, haven't played it yet but it's by the Landstalker team

[@hungrygoriya]

@@JetWolfEX Right on! I'll look into it!

[@sarahpod]

Excellent review! Thanks! I'm hoping for a port to the switch someday, so I can give this game a try.

[@hungrygoriya]

It would be nice to see this come to newer consoles or get re-released in some form other than the GameCube version. These characters were so awesome and I'm honestly shocked there was no follow-up. It left me feeling as empty and wanting more as Phantasy Star IV did.

[@RedAuxPDX]

Clearly this game lacks pant-suits and has pig-tails instead of a pony-tail character as I've come to expect from 16 Action and RPG games. That surely would have helped the protagonists, right? A lot of the characters feel a little too "the 90s" or early 2000's specific, but overall it was a fun and charming experience to watch this one with you. Its nice to see the updated "fast travel" mechanic in this game, which feels like a fresh and supportive game mechanic vs some of the famous 16 bit adventures I've experienced. Thanks again for a detailed and thoughtful review, I enjoyed this journey with you live on stream and in the review.

[@gregnavarro2892]

Wtf

[@WhiteThumbs]

You will die of heat stroke without a dhabu on that 10 second walk

[@hungrygoriya]

Apparently! It's so silly!

[@Komagb]

Another great video, as usual! (Just a quick tip, this is the second time I've heard "overarKing" when it's "overarCHing")

[@hungrygoriya]

Thanks very much! And oh really? I've always heard it as overarKing... we must all be wrong then!

[@cam9144]

Oh heck yeah, SoA was awesome. Loved this review. I'm subbing and looking forward to more!

[@hungrygoriya]

Thanks so much! I should have another video out shortly here. I've just started editing.

[@GutsOfRivia]

Even as I am here much older than before I still liked Vyse just as much now as I did as a kid just because he reminded me of my own brash youth.

[@hungrygoriya]

I was a pretty quiet kid so I couldn't really relate to him.

[@azuza2525]

Amazing video. I always wanted to play this game. I wonder if the gamecube version fixes the loafing error bug.

[@hungrygoriya]

Do you mean when the game locks up sometimes when it's in a cutscene? I had that happen a few times and attributed it to my system or the quality of my disc... is it just something that happens a lot in the game for everyone?

[@azuza2525]

@@hungrygoriya to be honest im not sure but it might be less frequent on the gamecube port.

[@mariusamber3237]

Dreamcast also has a large number of Japan-exclusive VNs/otome games. Interestingly, Sakura Wars games are also some of the best-sellers over there... but yeah, Dreamcast is definitely not well-known for its RPGs or action games overall. I never owned any Sega consoles past Mega Drive, but I did have a chance to play this one on GameCube, ages ago. I liked it too, though I fully agree about the problems.

[@hungrygoriya]

I'm drawing a total blank on what VN/otome games are... could you elaborate? And I know not all systems can cater to all audiences, but I think there are less than 10 RPG/adventure games that I can think of that were released in North America? That makes me sad! I'm glad you agree about the problems with SoA as well. I felt a little nitpicky at times, especially about the battle pacing, but it was really frustrating! I just wanted to keep the game moving forward and it really chugged.

[@mariusamber3237]

@@hungrygoriya VNs/Visual Novels - I'm sure you know, like Ace Attorney, but often with less interactivity still; otome games are basically dating sims. Not genres I'm personally interested in, but in Japan some of those games sell millions. AFAIK there were tons of them on PSP as well, in particular. If you like to read, I guess that's fun, but personally I'd rather just grab a book, haha. And yeah, you're right... I can only think of SoK, Grandia II, Elemental Gimmick Gear and Time Stalkers... ah, and Phantasy Star Online, but that's it. Saturn was similar, all things considered.

[@hungrygoriya]

@@mariusamber3237 OH! That makes sense... Yeah I could totally see the popularity of those experiences being bigger there, especially for the dating sim aspects! I can't think of anything quite like them that I've played so they might be worth a try for me sometime.

[@MarceloKamui]

I loved Skies of Arcadia, but it sure has some frustrating parts and yeah, the map didn't help me much lol Great review!

[@hungrygoriya]

Thank you! The mini-map was the devil incarnate. I couldn't believe how unhelpful it was!

[@thatonegeeksite5251]

One of my favourite games of all time. Still have my original Dreamcast copy. Really hope we see a new release on modern consoles at some point.

[@hungrygoriya]

My fingers are crossed! It'd be nice to see new people have the chance to experience this one.

[@MotherKojiro]

I played the GameCube version of this right around the time that the Wii was relevant and you could still get it for cheap, and I'll probably need to play it again; I didn't remember most of what I saw in this review. I have heard that it has fewer encounters, and a few extra bits of content, and it's possible that it makes the ship combat easier, too, because most everyone I talk to says how tricky it is, but I didn't have trouble with it. I do remember really enjoying this one, and how the discoveries really made you feel like an adventurer. I was also surprised by how visually diverse they were able to make the different sections of sky; I wish games like Skyward Sword and Bioshock Infinite would've taken some pointers.

[@hungrygoriya]

It sounds like a replay's in order for you then! I'd like to get my hands on the GameCube version someday but with prices how they are, I'm not holding my breath. I got this DC copy initially because it was the cheaper of the two options at a convention and I never looked back!

[@altercell_]

Just found your channel…great video!

[@hungrygoriya]

Right on! Thanks very much!

[@thewingedavenger1007]

Awesome review! I expect you'll lose a few hundred subscribers for saying that the Dreamcast isn't perfect. Don't you know that retro gamers can't accept that sort of talk? You have to say that the Dreamcast can do no wrong. I never had a Dreamcast or Game Cube, and I only briefly played this game at a friend's house, and I was so jealous because I only had a PS2. It made me realize that the only way to have access to all the best games is to have three or four consoles, which is crazy because the film and music industries are smart enough to have always avoided that trap. Can you imagine a Warner Bros dvd player that only played movies by Warner Bros and certain third parties? The idea sounds as stupid to film producers as it does to us. Sadly, the videogame industry is run by really unintelligent people. Anyway, even when you do have nostalgia for a game, you never get blinded by it, and you point out the flaws of those games. So it doesn't matter whether you have nostalgia or not. I wish I could say the same for many other reviewers. As long as this game doesn't come out on the Switch, we'll always need a Dreamcast or a Game Cube to play it. But apart from this game, I don't see a reason to own a Dreamcast. As you pointed out, there aren't really any good RPGs on it besides this one. Grandia II might be ggod for all I know but from the gameplay footage I've seen online, I gather that it's very linear and there is no overworld exploration, so for now I'm not very interested. But even that game is on the Switch. Also, Crazy Taxi 1 & 2 and Power Stone 1 & 2 are all on the PSP, not to mention Street Fighter Alpha III. Tony Hawk Pro Skater 1 & 2 are on the Switch. These are most of the best games for the Dreamcast, and I play them without a Dreamcast, so to me the console is obsolete except for Skies of Arcadia. The Dreamcast was great mainly for arcade games, i.e. mainly fighting games, shoot-em-ups and racing games. But that stuff was already great on previous-gen consoles, and the Xbox had a lot of games in those genres plus a ton of great 3D games. I don't see how Sega expected to have success with such a stupid strategy. "Let's make a console to play arcade games in an era when arcades are almost dead!" Genius.

[@hungrygoriya]

I'm ready for the Rotten Tomato Club to show up and pelt me, but as someone who didn't grow up with anything other than an NES, Sega Genesis, a Game Boy and a PS2 eventually, I've barely scratched the surface of most other video game libraries. I think what the Dreamcast did it does very well in terms of bringing arcade stuff and lots of fast-paced genre games into its spotlight, but you're right: other systems did it too, so it was one of many! I'm still excited to try Grandia II for its interesting battle system mechanics (I played it a little and loved the mechanics) as well as Shenmue some day, but other than that, there's not much else to look forward to for me personally. Crazy Taxi's fun and there are a handful of games I'd pick up to play for a few hours here and there, but yeah: it's not an RPG/adventure game console for someone like me!

[@tp1382]

lmaooo oh my god your blurb about relating to the older, perhaps a bit-too-jaded secondary character is exactly how i feel now. I've been playing thru PS1 rpgs, and this is exactly how i feel thru so many of these

[@hungrygoriya]

I'm glad you relate! I felt so out of touch playing this game but definitely felt like I was on the same wavelength as Drachma a lot of the time.

[@chaospoet]

I have a Skies of Arcadia refrigerator magnet. I love this game. I do have to agree with you about the voice acting in battles. It got to the point where when I knew I'd be getting into battles I'd turn the volume off and put on my own music. The enemy encounter rate is sinful and the battles do take way too long, but the story is so good that I overlooked it. I didn't play this one until about 5 or 6 years ago. I wish I had played it when it came out. This would have blown my mind back then. Drachma is my favorite character and also the one I related to the most. That issue with freezing and not being able to save sounds like either your dreamcast is having issues or the game disk needs a resurfacing. I had no problem. This is one game I'm glad I got this and the Gamecube version when they were cheap. Also I totally noticed that Lunar The Silver Star Sega CD disk. That is my all time favorite rpg. I actually own 5 of the 7 disk variants.

[@hungrygoriya]

I'm with you about the game potentially blowing your mind if you'd had a chance to play it new. While I feel sad about having missed that chance, better late than never I suppose! Yeah, I thought the freezing up issue might've been the game only because I had two DC consoles I kept swapping out when it happened, and the same problem happened with both. I wonder if they're both just at that same stage and age. And 5 of the 7 disk variants? I knew they were big on making variants but I had no idea there were that many! Wow! Are any of the ones you have rarer than others? I still have yet to play Lunar so I know nothing about the game still.

[@Meta527II]

If only the greedy scumbags didn't sell it for 100 dollars online!

[@hungrygoriya]

:( I hear ya. The prices have really gone up lately.

[@ReflexVE]

Great review! This is one of the two classic rpgs on the Dreamcast alongside Grandia II. Skies had the better story and world while Grandia had better characters and my all time favorite rpg battle system. Dreamcast sadly didn't last long enough to build up the library it deserved...

[@hungrygoriya]

Grandia II seems like it'll be at least as good as this. I can't wait to play it someday!

[@ReflexVE]

@@hungrygoriya Grandia II's big drawback is that it's not an open world, it's very linear. The story has twists and turns but if you've played other JRPG's you'll see them coming a mile away. That said, the characters are more interesting and likeable (aside from the main protagonist who's the normal silent does not give a damn type), and the battle system is one I'd love to see used in a modern RPG. There is also a very good ending with followups to everyone's story, which shows the growth of everyone involved. Oh, and an amazing soundtrack I still use as background music while working at times.

[@hungrygoriya]

@@ReflexVE So many good things to look forward to! I played a little bit of the game when I first got a Dreamcast as a test and I couldn't put it down for about an hour or so. I loved the combat system from what little I've played of it. I'm glad to know it holds up so well despite the linearity!

[@ReflexVE]

@@hungrygoriya The combat system really only improves as the game goes on, with increasing depth without being difficult to use during battle. Being able to cancel incoming attacks from a boss while other characters pile on the damage is a lot of fun, at least it was for me. And again, the characters are mostly very likeable IMO.

[@maximusaralieous1728]

Glad you got to experience this game. It is one of my favorite games of all time. You mentioned the young characters being about half your age, so I assume you are my age. I actually did get to play this game around when it came out, so I was about 14 and the characters were all older than me and it's true they didn't bother me as much then. It is what eventually what led me to become disinterested in JRPGs, as I got older, I wasn't interested in playing bright eyed or angsty teen characters haha. Gilder is my favorite character personally and was even back then. Shame you had difficulty with the ship battles, I love them and eventually got to a point of being great at them, one of the unique mechanics of Skies. I have the Dreamcast copy and adore the laser sounds it makes, but I also own the GameCube version which has some faults, but overall the loading is much faster and they decreased the amount of random battles somewhat in that version. I play it on my Wii mostly these days. Anyways good review, I disagree on some of the stuff you don't like, but then again, seeing all those features(voice clips, running around the battlefield and interacting with enemies, etc) when they were new to the genre was cool. Anyways, good review, glad you loved it.

[@hungrygoriya]

It was something I needed to play once I found out it existed! I'm glad it's near and dear to you and that you still value a lot of what it has to offer. I wish so, so much that I could've experienced this game when I was younger. Something with the ship battles just never clicked for me. I even had help while livestreaming but for some reason I couldn't make sense of them or really plan. I'm sure there's a trick to them that I just didn't grasp, but I found their pacing to be very slow. It's a neat concept though, and I think the game's better for having them.

[@maximusaralieous1728]

@@hungrygoriya with the ship battles, it's been awhile myself, the trick is to use the color coding. You can do certain attacks that lower their AP and stop them from doing an attack all together. Once you lock into that, it becomes a cat and mouse game of using focus strategically, countering their ability to do big damage while also landing your own heavy hits. Planning out the moves and watching them execute to see if I read the enemy right was a big payoff(or pain). There are some tough and long battles and if it just isn't something you enjoy, yeah, I can see how they would seem tedious and slow for sure. Your title is accurate to your criticisms, no nostalgia, which I'm sure helps me gloose over so many of it's aged mechanics. Glad it can still hook first time players though regardless of it. I always hope we'll get some sort of HD remaster or eventually a follow-up, but it's been a long time. I'm about to jump on Skies now just because of your review haha.

[@hungrygoriya]

@@maximusaralieous1728 Have fun! I'll keep my fingers crossed for a remake as well. I'd love to find out what other adventures these characters embarked on too... a sequel would be really nice, but I think that's a big dream at this point.

[@drowningin]

This really needs a port to modern consoles so I can sell all my DC and GCN copies to collectors. My favorite way to play currently is GCN version on Dolphin with all the settings maxed. Looks really good. This is my favorite game of all time across all genres. I want a port, and I want a remaster. Sega, do it please jeeeeez you can’t find this game under $120. Any time a game is selling for 100 it absolutely needs to be ported. That’s money you are leaving on the table for investors. I was super sad when I heard the artist of Skies, and Phantasy Star passed away this year.

[@hungrygoriya]

It would be nice to see it be made more widely available for new players on modern consoles. It's trapped in those original two releases and it's a real shame! I was also sad to hear that she passed. She was extremely influential for so many beloved series.

[@HaldamirElensar]

I love Skyes of Arcadia so much... Even with all this flawless haha. Also loved Pinta Quest on the Memory Card unit. It's a hard to revisit game and anyone can suggest to try it on Game Cube if really have the interest . But somehow I will always going for the Dreamcast Version. Edit: Have you ever tried Valkirya Chronicles? Vyse n Ayla are playable characters in that game... Love having them on my main party.

[@hungrygoriya]

It was a really great game. Easily a favourite RPG for me! I haven't played Valkyria Chronicles yet, but I'd like to play it someday! It's sad that that's Vyse and Aika's only other appearance :(

[@l.j.d.millar2822]

@@hungrygoriyanot so! Well, for Aika and Fina it is… they are only in that game and none other(Archie added them to the Sonic and Mega Man comics for a crossover though) but Vyse actually appears as a playable racer in Sonic & All Stars Racing Transformed! WITH a dedicated Skies of Arcadia race track. It’s a huge love letter to the game with so much going on around you throughout the race. Highly recommend it if you ever find your way to it. Actually a slightly older looking version of Vyse was in the Valkyria Chronicles anime as well I believe. And actually, all three of them made another appearance in Valkyria Chronicles 3, but that only released in Japan, sadly

[@hungrygoriya]

@@l.j.d.millar2822 I'm making some notes here! Thank you for the information!

[@ShinShadoWolf]

My absolute favorite RPG of all time. Contender for my favorite game too. Thanks for reviewing it, and I'm glad you liked it almost as much as I did.

[@hungrygoriya]

It was honestly so much fun to play through this! I can see why it's your favourite RPG. It does a ton of things right!

[@ShinShadoWolf]

@@hungrygoriya It's the mystery of the planet itself. The more I explore and discover, the more I want to see. Even as I learn about the history of the planet through the main story, the Discoveries tell me about the cultures and theories and amazing technology that the planet's civilizations had. It's absolutely enthralling.

[@hungrygoriya]

@@ShinShadoWolf Agreed... and it's done in a way that's fun. Not just going to a library in the game to read about the history or something...

[@boom78]

I played this on Dreamcast years ago and loved it. The only downside was too many random battles, but this is ok given how good everything else was. Someone gave me the Gamecube version a few years ago, have not tried that one yet though.

[@hungrygoriya]

Yeah totally! The random battles were very frequent for sure. I hope you enjoy the GameCube version. I've heard they rebalanced a few things, including the encounter rate.

[@japanimationman4442]

Yeah, the Dreamcast is the loudest console I've ever played. It's like those old dot matrix printers of yore. Fun side note: Xenogears on the Playstation also makes some fairly obvious load noises when a random battle is about to start. Sometimes it helps you not try that tricky platforming jump right at the wrong moment. I do really hate this era for RPGs. The voices and cutscenes were all new and overdone as a result, and the acting was usually terrible. It always makes these early 3D RPGs a chore. But if you're up for more on the Dreamcast, Evolution is not a bad game. I haven't tried out its sequels yet (part two also on Dreamcast, the third on Gamecube), but the first one is a pretty decent turn based RPG.

[@hungrygoriya]

I loved the screaming of old printers. It's nostalgic for me now but I always remember how poor the quality was... they've improved so much since then! Good to know that Xenogears is also a culprit of giving away random encounters. I haven't played it yet, but are you implying that if you start jumping and it loads you into a battle that when you come back, you fall to your doom? That is both horrible and hilarious if so! Evolution you say? I think I have the second game but not the first. I'll keep an eye out!

[@japanimationman4442]

If I remember right, Xenogears disables jumping when a battle starts to load, so you'll literally just run off a cliff, mashing the button in confusion. I don't think I've ever seen a battle start in midair, so I think they were trying to prevent that problem only to create a new, but equally annoying, problem instead. Thankfully falls don't hurt you in that game, but it will usually send you back to an earlier point in the dungeon, and you might have to redo some difficult jumps while retracing your steps.

[@hungrygoriya]

@@japanimationman4442 Oh no! That sounds horrible! I can see why that would be really annoying... what a funny flaw.

[@imthethriller]

Played a little bit of this in the Dolphin Emulater

[@jmarx3943]

Thanks for the great review. This was a great one from my experience. The game cube version cleaned up some of the issues in the original. If you can find it for a decent price, play through that version in a couple years. You won't be disappointed.

[@hungrygoriya]

I'm glad I played the DC version first since from what I understand, the GC version adds in some extra content too eh? It's nice to know that they fixed up some of the issues I mentioned in the remake. I bought the Dreamcast version only because I found it first for a price I didn't feel was robbery. I don't think I've ever seen a copy of Skies of Arcadia Legends for a price I was willing to pay. I will keep my fingers crossed though!

[@manafestation]

So, you're saying the voice acting made you want to Lambda Burst at your seams? :V

[@hungrygoriya]

Yes.

[@dethaddr]

Best game on DC (besides the King of Fighting Games, MvC2) is truly Record of Lodoss War. Best Diablo upgrade around. That's an RPG you'd have to get for it, if you can find a copy. Unfortunately, never got a copy of Arcadia, but Grandia was a decent game (not the most memorable, but it was fun, even with the same "voice-over victories" we both grow tired of quickly ). I find it almost offensive though that you said you didn't like most of the library when the unabashedly eternally fun "Crazy Taxi" was showing! Sacrilege! Not my most favorite genre, but that game can't be denied in fun factor alone!

[@hungrygoriya]

I will have a look for it. I don't have too many DC games and am always looking for more interesting titles. I just played through Diablo a few months ago and had a lovely time of it. I will admit that Crazy Taxi is extremely fun, but I can't say I'm particularly excited about many other games on the system. Plus The Offspring is my favourite band so...

[@wertywerrtyson5529]

I played this back in the day and loved it. Maybe it helped that I was 14 back then. The feeling of exploring and fighting with ships was so cool and unique. Even to this day I wish they would make another Skies of Arcadia game. Along with Shenmue it is my favorite game for the Dreamcast. I went through so many batteries playing Pinta Quest on the VMU. I always had it with me in the car when I waited in the car for my mom to buy food. The graphics were so amazing compared to Playstation 1 that I had before that I really thought that graphics could never get better than the Dreamcast or at least didn't need to be since they were perfect. Of course now it looks dated. Interesting that you had issues with the ship battles being hard and boring. Personally I found them very fun and if anything they were too easy and there wasn't enough of them. Especially after you have gotten the better ship and upgraded your guns and such. If there were more end game enemies to fight I would keep playing that game for longer. even with the fairly negative review this just makes me want to play it again. I replayed it last about a decade ago. It could have quicker animations in fights though I agree. I think the gamecube version had that m´but I never played it.

[@hungrygoriya]

I wish I could've gotten into the ship battles more. If I were to ever replay the game I think I'd enjoy them way more than I did this time through, but I felt like their difficulty came from not really understanding how they worked very well. I'd probably read up a lot more on the mechanics. It was an interesting addition to the usual turn-based fighting game so I appreciated them doing something totally different! I know a few people who played this in childhood and adored it. I wish I could've experienced it that way too!

[@Jack_80]

i thought there was a fairly new shenmue game. i know i saw at least 3 of them on the ps4 store, pretty sure part 3 was made long after the death of the dreamcast.

[@lurkerninethousand2591]

HG nice video as always. You did a great job describing the game and what it was like experiencing it as an adult. Fun fact the producer of this game, Rieko Kodama, was also the producer of Phnatasy Star 4 and the main artist for Phantasy Star 1.

[@hungrygoriya]

Thanks for the kindness as always, and for the trivia!

[@michellelincoln9987]

as a 38 year old who first played this game at 17 and still enjoys it to this day, I have no idea what you are talking about in regards to the characters. The only character I've never been able to relate to was Gilder. The poon hound skirt chaser was never my favorite character. I did love Clara tho, but that's beside my point. Basically, what I hear is "I missed out on this game when I was young enough to care about 'these damn kids' and I'm too old now to really care about anybody but the crotchety old man." Kind of amusing, because even when I first played this game, Drachma was my favorite character, essentially anime Captain Ahab, and I found his tendency to just up and dump Vyse and Aika whenever their plans didn't align with his a legitimately funny aspect of the game, especially once the game itself began acknowledging it as a running gag (Drachma has left the party...again). I'm not even 5 minutes into the video and it sounds like you hate the main characters just for being kids, even though you say you don't. I'm honestly trying to understand where you're coming from, but it's kinda sad in my opinion when people feel the need to allow their age to dictate their enjoyment of a game. I feel like if that's the case, why even bother to continue playing?

[@hungrygoriya]

I think we all relate to characters differently, and for some context: I've never been a fan of bratty characters even as far back as my teenage years playing games like FF8. I found 90% of that main cast insufferable. It's more my personality than it is my age I think. Not being able to relate to them at the beginning didn't detract from my ability to enjoy the rest of the game since it's not just focused on them, and they obviously grow a lot throughout the adventure. And I also think it's perfectly okay to play a game in your 30s and see that game's world and the people in it through your own eyes and your own experiences... our preferences don't line up and that's totally fine.

[@g40rc378]

Let us be thankful for your videos! There is a PS1 strategy game called Brigandine that has very... slow... animations... for every single attack. The devs smartly put in an option to skip these.

[@hungrygoriya]

I will lovingly accept your thanks, though I can hear its delivery in my head... Brigandine eh? I think I have heard of it and (un)fortunately I don't have it yet. It's good to know it struggles with something similar to this prior to purchase... I found Final Fantasy's summons really long-winded as well, but regular battle moves should be snappy especially if random battles are frequent. Maybe I'm just meant to play 8- and 16-bit games forever. I don't know.

[@ineptsparrow]

My Dreamcast hangs up after cutscenes sometimes as well, I wonder if the laser isn't finally starting to go.

[@hungrygoriya]

It could be eh? I had two different Dreamcasts to switch between in those circumstances so I wonder if they're both just on the same timeline for failure... oh no!

[@bulletgaming5712]

The Dreamcast was an amazing console.

[@jakek5417]

turn the game discs into coasters…. lol! i chuckled at that. i really like your reviews, thanks!

[@hungrygoriya]

I've spoken often about throwing games into traffic or turning them into coasters but this is the first time I've ever filmed it. I laughed at the visual too! Thanks very much for watching!

[@jojoabc100]

I forgot how loud the Dreamcast could be. While I didn't experience (Or remember) any crashes it could be an issue with the system you have. Also, what did you think of the base building features? It was one of my favorite aspects and time sinks

[@hungrygoriya]

The crashes kept happening with both of my Dreamcasts, so maybe I just had two dying lasers at the same time? Hard to say! I mostly enjoyed the base building! I changed up the aesthetic once in a while and I thought it was a neat direction for the game to go partway through for something different. Recruiting people was fun!

[@jojoabc100]

@@hungrygoriya The systems are so old now that may be the case. Anyways I loved your review and thought you did a fantastic job of covering the game. You really hit home a lot of points!

[@hungrygoriya]

@@jojoabc100 Thanks very much :) I really liked this game and I hope to try the GameCube version someday down the line too.

[@alwaysasn]

I truly love this particular Dreamcast look. It had exactly the perfect graphical output to show much more detail than a PS1 era game, but not enough that they could get lazy and just draw everything to normal proportions like on the PS2 era system. That rounded character look is so cartoony and fun. And I honestly wish the PS2 era went more in that direction honestly.

[@hungrygoriya]

I agree! I love the look of just about everything in Skies of Arcadia. It's one of the best looking games that I've seen from that era!

[@The_Cakeminator]

This is a top tier JRPG, and one of my favorite games. Even though it was at least 15 years since I played it, things like "Lambda burst!" and Vigoro's giant...cannon has been burned into my brain forever. The Legends version on the GameCube plays a lot better than the original, with shorter loading times and skipable cut scenes in battle. The only downside is that there is very little replay value. Once you've completed the game with all its treasure hunts and optional bosses, the only thing you could've done differently is your pick of the 4th party member, and that has very little impact on the game.

[@hungrygoriya]

It's been a couple of years since I've played it now and it's still burned in my brain too. Glad I'm not alone! I'm curious about the GameCube version and am glad in some ways I didn't play it first. At least there's some extra content there if I ever want to revisit the game, though it's so expensive at this point that I very well may not ever have the opportunity to do so.

[@ggbetz]

This video was very helpful, thank you! I had some experience with the Dreamcast, like 15 years ago, and I do prefer the same types of games. I still love the console and its graphics tho. Sega has that way of at least having me try different things. I had similar issues with early cd games (ff7 for example is too in love with its cinematic videos on your abilities, so some moves take like 5 min), so while I appreciate it has a good story, maybe I'll play battles with the volume down. I love that instead of shelves and shelves of games, your set up is a simple collection of your Sega Master System games. I dont think I noticed that before.

[@hungrygoriya]

You're very welcome! I wish I'd been playing these games when they were new because I think they would've been mindblowing, but I have a huge blind spot between the Genesis and the PS2 more or less. I'm just starting to catch up on many of the consoles in between! The good story is one thing, but it's another when the pacing suffers or things get really repetitive. I have yet to play FF7 (I've played most of 8 and 9/10 back when I was younger though) so I'll keep this in mind. And thanks about the Master System collection! I wouldn't say that I don't have shelves and shelves of games because that's just one wall in this room, but I only really try to collect what I think I'll like or what I've heard is worth my time. My collection is certainly way more modest than a lot of other people's, but it's definitely not small! My Master System collection is slightly bigger than what's show there, but not by much!

[@ggbetz]

@@hungrygoriya haha. Its cool that they have a special place then! Yeah, early 3D gaming is a blind spot as well.

[@Darkkfated]

Now you just have to hunt down the GameCube port of this amazing little gem. Dubbed "Skies of Arcadia: Legends", it fixes nearly every problem with the DreamCast title. Battles happen about half as often but give you way more rewards; there are more Discoveries on the world map to find; combat load times - well, load times in general - are cut in HALF (or better); there are some optional near-the-end-game side quests and Bounties to take on, and the character models for the main cast (basically, anyone who ever joins the party in battle) get an upgrade - no more oven mitt hands! You can also skip more of the in-battle animations for Skills and Super Moves, and the tiny "skip it" window is more or less gone now. If you ever get a hankering to play through Skies again, track this one down (I got my copy pre-owned for about $60 online a few years ago) and give it another whirl. It'll be even better the second go-round.

[@hungrygoriya]

I will keep an eye out! When I picked up the DC version, it was the one I found first for a price I was willing to pay. Hopefully the GC one will come around one day for me. It's definitely worth a second playthrough.

[@Darkkfated]

@@hungrygoriya I'm so glad I found the GC version because I like to replay this one every couple of years...but my son damaged my DC disc when he was a wee lad so it's unplayable. Now I can re-join Vyse and friends whenever I want, and without all the Dreamcast baggage.

[@dmsparacording7983]

This Dreamcast title left me cold. Only completed a scant 1/3 of it, and I have no regrets. Grandia II (and its soundtrack) was more my jam. Thanks for the fine review, though. :-)

[@hungrygoriya]

Yeah it's not going to be for everyone. I haven't played Grandia II yet, but I'm looking forward to it for sure.

[@PragmatikReviews]

I picked up the latest Star Ocean on ps4 and I got the heavy reminder that a lot of our older games loved using voice lines as often as they could. I always hear about this game, but have never picked it up myself. It does look engaging for sure! I do like that they gave you the animal riding equivalent of a pony ride. Great review!

[@hungrygoriya]

I definitely recommend a playthrough someday if you can find a copy. It was definitely great despite all of the little things I mentioned here, but it is what it is I suppose! And the Dhabu was so disappointing! I was so pumped and then so let down, haha

[@justovision]

I really enjoy your thoughtful reviews and Canadian accent. 🍁

[@hungrygoriya]

Thank you very much!

[@oscarl.3563]

-Cutlass fury! Lamba burst! Pirate's wrath! Yeah the system was noisy, but I don't recall the game freezing so that must be your console(could be aging hardware.) The game had too many encounters, and dragged out, but all in all it was a visionary game and there was so much to enjoy. Just like the Dreamcast. Skies or Arcadia was a great experience with a few annoying drawbacks, but it's a very special game nevertheless.

[@hungrygoriya]

It's probably a weak laser at this point in its lifetime. And you're right: slow/too many encounters that dragged on, but still a wonderful game. I'm so glad I got to play it!

[@johntracy72]

Did you play the GameCube version of Skies of Arcadia as well? That was the version I played.

[@hungrygoriya]

Nope, just this version. I'm happy that I'll have more Skies to enjoy some day in that version, if I can manage to find a copy of it...