r/skiesofarcadia

(Yes I just finished the game so I'm slightly spamming the sub since I'm kinda obsessed right now)

I searched the sub but couldn't find anyone talking about them so I thought maybe a lot of you aren't familiar with them.

While playing the game I kept thinking about all the similarities. The magical girl from an ancient civilisation coming from the sky on a quest carrying a magical item. The magic stone that awakens ancient warmachines resembling giant beats. The empire seeking to use these war machines. These machines having destroyed the world in the distant past. A focus on traveling through the air with airships and airpirates. A forgotten floating continent that once houses an advanced civilisation. There's way too many to name. Obviously these movies didn't invent any of these tropes, but the way they all come together I'd be very shocked if they weren't a major influence during development.

Have you seen them and if so do you think there's a connection? And if you haven't seen them, enjoy some of the best movies ever made 😄

Playing through again for the however many-ith time and it always disgusts me just how wrong Vigoro makes me feel when he's on screen. The man has to wear what amounts to a damn chastity belt/cage with the key around his neck just to keep himself in check and he still makes me feel dirty with his comments and actions. He's like an even worse Johnny Bravo, thinking himself a gift to the women of the game, especially how he acts toward Aika during the second Grand Fortress escape. He's the one admiral I always take pleasure in beating in a fight even over the mad scientist De Loco and arrogant noble Alfonso.

I just got the Delphinus which seems to be about the halfway point and I'm really enjoying it! (I'm playing Legends on the GC)

The initial experience is pretty bad though. The world map navigation is really clunky and confusing. The first dungeon has to be one of the worst introductions to an RPG I've seen. What an RPG should generally do is first explain the combat system to you and then make you go through an easy dungeon so you can get a handle on the mechanics. In this however the first dungeon is by far the hardest dungeon in the entire game. Literally the very first random encounter I had was against these robot enemies that easily wiped my entire part out in a few hits, then one of the next fights I got into was against this giant fish enemy that felt like a boss fight since it had a lot of HP and had a multi target attack. Have mercy on a new player! At this point you have only 2 party members, almost no useful skills and are new to the combat system. After that you go to the Valuan Capital and it got better, but I still wasn't that invested. I was considering dropping the game since I didn't want to continue playing a 50 hour RPG that didn't seem like my thing. It's when I got to Nasr that it all suddenly clicked with me and it felt like the game really started with everything before then being the intro.

This game just screams adventure! Sailing through the skies exploring different continents. The story is fairly simple: Good guys, bad guys, evil empire, collect the mcguffins. But I like that, the game is clearly going for a more classic adventure story with highly expressive characters and optimistic main characters who don't have time for moping around. The adventurous music only reinforces that vibe, I especially enjoy the theme music of Horteka. Actually all the villages are fun to explore. The characters are fun, I love Vyse's and Aika's friendship. The dungeons are progressively getting more complex, gotta love puzzle dungeons. The gigas are cool, I like how Grendel is just straight up a God Warrior from Nausicaa. Just a great adventure all around, not sure how else to say it. I'm excited to see where the game takes me next, especially now that with the Delphinus it seems like another chapter has started.

The combat system is still the weakest point though. Magic seems kinda useless compared to the far superior S Moves. The elemental system feels tacked on, it doesn't add to the strategic depth at all and nothing would have changed if it hadn't been included. Juggling focus points can be fun though.

You guys seem to enjoy it when a new person discovers on of your favourite niche games so I figured I'd make a post here sharing my thoughts from the perspective of someone who has no history with this game whatsoever. Anyway, back to playing the game!