- This topic has 2 replies, 2 voices, and was last updated 16 years, 4 months ago by Niahak.
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November 29, 2007 at 12:52 am #4590NiahakModerator
So I realize the remake for this game (the version I am playing) is for Gamecube, but it’s considered one of Sega’s best recent games, so I put it here. Deal with it :)
I’m now about 30 hours into this game. I started it over two weeks ago, before I started Super Mario Galaxy, briefly dealt with an RTKXI addiction I mean to continue at some point, played through the entire Kohan (IS) campaign, and participated in a LAN party.
The fact that it’s somehow survived all that and kept my interest should say something (and not about how much free time I have :lol:).
I was simply entranced by how this game looks and feels. Very few games have managed to do this; I think Chrono Cross is the only one in recent memory. Other games have been pretty, but they’ve had robust battle systems or great characterization to fall back on; SoA has very little of either but I still love it. In fact, voices are terrible, music is somewhat good but nothing great – pretty much just atmospheric.
I think it’s mostly the world and dungeon design. Islands in the sky. Who’d have thought it’d make a good game.
Anyone played it?
November 29, 2007 at 1:13 am #31024thechieftainParticipantI own it, but have only ever played for like 5 hours, I couldn’t get into it.
December 8, 2007 at 4:47 am #31025NiahakModeratorWell, I beat this game the day before yesterday.
It’s weird, but the game is so full of stuff to do and places to explore that it feels completely different from a lot of games. It’s a bit like Suikoden in parts (in particular crew recruitment near the end), but most of the game is good old JRPG with crazy environments. I don’t know how they did it, but everything from the abandoned cities to caves underneath continents feels more real than in nearly any game I’ve played. I felt vaguely like an intrepid explorer throughout – seeing things that nobody had seen before.
Persona 3’s the only game in recent memory that might be better; I’d put Skies nearly on the level of Lunar (and it’s very similar in a lot of ways, really). I think the game starts to hit its stride around 10 hours in, when you start to figure out how things interconnect on the map and can explore a bit.
On another note, in a lot of respects Wild Arms 5 is Skies’ younger brother. The love triangle is almost identical (each of the three characters is quite similar). Greg’s desire for revenge mirrors Drachma’s, but has considerably less intensity and isn’t resolved nearly as well. The lesser admirals of Valua are like the 4 whatever-they-were-called in WA5, but managed to have a bit more personality and their actions made goddamn sense. I have less respect for WA5 now that I have played what is probably its inspiration.
Sorry for this essay of a post. I hope it inspires someone to try this game :D
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