Skies Of Arcadia Legends Recuman Fight

Skies of Arcadia Legends: Hard Mode is a difficulty hack for the PAL version of the homonymous game. The main objective is to increase the difficulty level of all fights (including ship battles). Taikocuya/SOALHM.

Released in January of 2003, Skies of Arcadia Legends features the sky pirate Vyse and his gang as they adventure across the sky. The Legends version is a port of the Dreamcast game entitled Skies of Arcadia. The game has received a graphical and performance boost, while the core gameplay has remained unchanged.

Category note: The GameCube and Dreamcast versions are considered separate categories.

Best GameCube version time: 10:44:17 by Charlie 'Junglechief' Reichmeier on 2013-05-30.

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Author's comments:

I had been mulling over doing this speedrun for quite a while now. It didn't seem like I was going to be able to do it, but then Zyre put his up on SDA. Amazing Ampharos and I reviewed it and while good we came up with several potential improvements. Using Zyre's run as a base I began my run.

Segment 1-Quest for the Electri Box
Segment 1 is pretty simple. Get an Electri Box drop from the first two soldiers and get to the save point. The Electri Box is a 1% drop off of the soldiers so sadly I have to take what I get. Luckly though what I got was one whiff with Aika and an otherwise very clean run with no random encounters to the first save point.

Segment 2-Antonio and the Electri Box of Fate
Segment 2 is the very first and very trivial boss fight against Antonio. I luck abuse to make sure he doesn't use anything other than his physical attack which has a much shorter animation than Thunder of Fury and that is all that really happens in this segment.

Segment 3-The Pirate's Grave
I drive the Albatross for a little bit grab the Pirate's Grave Discovery and save and quit to avoid a random encounter. In general I save on the world map a lot to avoid random encounters. Entering into a random encounter can add a lot of time, from screen break and battle load to selecting run and then how long the game decides to take on loading the post battle screen can add up to around 25 second of lost time in a run. I only fight the fights that I want to fight. There are no failed runs or unnecessary encounters in this run.

Segment 4-Landing on Pirate Isle
I land in Pirate Isle and save. I probably lose a quarter of a second veering to save.

Segment 5-Exploring Pirate Isle
I run around Pirate Isle and watch some scenes. There is no real difference in the swashbuckler choices time wise and I make one minor navigational error walking into the side of Vyse's house as I am exiting it. I probably should have redone this but it didn't cost me more than half a second and I will make up for it with better town navigation in the future.

Segment 6-To Shrine Island
I run to the small ship that you take to Shrine Island. I run into the bridge as a small error. I really plan to reset on mistakes like this from now on, but for now I take the 1/2 second. I end by saving on the world map to avoid another random encounter.

Segment 7-Landing on Shrine Island
I land on Shrine Island and save.

Segment 8-Shrine Island
This is where I honestly get very lucky. I only run into 4 randoms and with Skies of Arcadia's random encounter rate no less. Nearly every fight goes exactly how I want it to and I get three levels in the process, giving Vyse extra SP to speed up the boss fight.

The first encounter looks a little sloppy because I wanted to make sure Vyse was targeting the Looper, but I got what I wanted so I deemed it acceptable. I also run from the forced encounter with the two Maracco's and the big fish enemy on the first attempt which doesn't happen often.

Segment 9-The Guardian
This boss fight is a bit harder to get lucky on, if he uses Blaster it is an instant reset. He gets one counter off which slows things down a bit but this is otherwise a very clean fight. I then run to the world map and save.

Segment 10-Back to Pirate Isle
I make it most of the way back to Pirate Isle, save and quit to avoid a random encounter.

Segment 11-Landing on Pirate Isle again
I land on Pirate Isle and Save.

Segment 12-Let's Kill Us Some Valuans
Not much happens here. I go to talk to Vyse's mother, agree not to let everyone die at the Valuans' hands and save on the world map.

Segment 13-Flying in Central Ocean
I fly for a while and save to avoid a random encounter.

Segment 14-The Little Jack
I fly a bit, lift some boxes and save having acquired an artificial arm.

Segment 15-Sailors Island
In this segment I do my exploration of Sailors Island. I start by selling discoveries, then immediately grab the near by moonfish, then enter the inn, grab the 200 gold and grab the second moonfish, and finally save so I can get myself a Mystery Merchant at the start of the next segment.

Segment 16-Crystales Box and the Mystery Merchant
I spend all my money on Crystales Boxes and watch cutscenes and then save on the world map.

Segment 17-On the way to Baltor
I fly a bit and run into an encounter where a moonberry drops. I save because this is one of two moonberries I will need to get Rain of Swords by Marumba.

Segment 18-This segment kinda sucks
This segment looks a little sloppy, but the odd of hitting an encounter and having it drop a moonberry over the short distance left to the Baltor fight is like a 1/1000. I got very lucky on my last segment and that was not going to happen again. So I make a big arc to fight an encounter and get Increm, which will speed up the Baltor fight. I do lose almost 30 seconds for this maneuver though.

Segment 19-Baltor the Cliche
I back into the Baltor fight. Increm turn one and focus, turn two fire twice and guard, I believe guard animates ever so slightly quicker than focus, and turn three one Incremed standard cannon shot from Drachma finishes the fight.

Segment 20-Half-way to Valua
I fly half way to Valua and save to avoid a random encounter.

Segment 21-Landing in Valua
I fly into Valua watch a bunch of cutscenes and save.

Segment 22-Lower City
Lower City exploration is pretty simple I run along and grab some Sacres Crystal's, they will be useful for out of battle healing and are not far off the path, I chase Marco and double back to the Inn to save. The save is needed as the next bit of gameplay requires a lot of luck.

Segment 23-The Mace Hand and The Crystales Box
This segment is a cornerstone of my run. The Mace Hand is a 1/100 drop from one of the less common enemy types in the Catacombs. However, the Mace Hand is also going to be Drachma's main weapon for boss fights for the rest of his tenure in my party, it is also stupid powerful for this point in the game.

I had nearly one hundred attempts on this segment and the Moons of Arcadia indeed blessed me by not having one but two 1/100 drops drop in a single encounter. I get both the Mace Hand and a Crystales Box, both of which will be very useful. In my excitement I equip the Mace Hand and then immediately realize what a bad idea it was for random encounters, due to the 0% hit stat, and switch back to the Artificial Arm after the next battle.

Segment 24-Bleigock and Executioner get humiliated
With the power of the Mace Hand and the extra Crystales Box I am able to three round Bleigock. I really don't need to much luck here other than boxes not breaking and Bleigock not poisoning anyone, I don't run back to save between bosses because of this.

Segment 25-Upper City
I run to the end of the Catacombs and save in Upper City.

Segment 26-Sounds Fair
This segment turned out amazing as well. Other than a little fumbling around I did that couldn't have cost me more than a second in the ship battle, I get so lucky against the two Royal Guards that I was a little slack jawed. First none of my boxes break which is a must, but then on the first turn the guard I am not targeting guards and the other eats both Crystales without getting a turn. Then on turn two both Aika and Vyse act first and I end the fight without either guard taking an action.

Segment 27-The Moon Crystal Hunt Begins
In this segment I grab the second moonfish and leave Pirate Isle. Also yeah, I now have 'Little Jack Cruise' music on the world map, one of my favorite tracks.

Segment 28-Little Jack Cruise
I fly a bit and save to avoid a random encounter.

Segment 29-Nasr Airspace
I fly to Sailors Island to pick up some Repair Kits and a couple secondary cannons to help with two important ship battles latter. This is the only real time I will get to purchase these things before the Little Jack and Drachma leave the party..again. I then turn in my current moonfish for some nice rewards.

Segment 30-Behemoth's Ring
I begin making a circle around the Maramba area to collect discoveries. While doing this I aim for two drops. The Behemoths Ring, which makes you immune to weak, and a Black Map, prevents Loopers from running. The Behemoth ring is mostly useful because it is an easy drop that will negate the need to use SP on Delta Shield in some late game boss fights, the Black Map is going to make Loopers easily kill-able for mass experience.

Segment 31-The Black Map
I get my encounter with a Looper and it drops the Black Map. The encounter is a surprise, but there is only two enemies so their turn goes fast. I wish this could be better, but Loopers are rare enough in this area that I really need to take whatever drops the Black Map.

Segment 32-Landing in Maramba
I land in Maramba and Save.

Segment 33-Exploring Maramba
I start out grabbing the moonfish by the docks, then I buy two more Crystales Box, and sell discoveries. I got into the city proper and get all the Glyphs of Might that I will need, I am a little slow on the menu work at the item shop though. I grab the Dabu and use it to get another moonfish and Slipara Box, the box will be useful in a few future boss fights.

Segment 34-Landing in the Temple Of Pyrynn
I fly straight to the Temple of Pyrynn without any encounters and save at the entrance.

Segment 35-Temple Of Pyrynn
This segment is one of those interesting moments in speed running where you have to balance execution with luck. I am sloppy near the end of the Temple of Pyrynn, but I successfully run from every encounter and have a below average encounter rate everywhere, but the final room. I was really hoping to pick up a Looper group for a chunk of experience, but I got to the bottom quickly enough that I figured it wasn't worth redoing for an encounter that overall was going to cost me time.

The fight versus Zivilyn Bane goes very smoothly and none of my incredibly abused boxes break. Zivilyn Bane then drops a Paranta Seed, his best possible drop.

I equip the Black map on the last stretch hoping to abuse increased encounters for a Looper group, but nothing comes(this was probably a good thing). I flub up the moonfish catching near the end, but overall I thought I was lucky enough that this was worth keeping and my time through the Temple of Pyrynn was decently fast.

Segment 36-Rokwyrm
This boss fight went as well as I could possibly hope. No box breaks and on all three rounds the boss used a basic physical attack and Vyse gets a counter attack on turn two saving a Crystales Box and a little bit of time.

Segment 37-Ram the Gigas
The longest segment yet. I figured out the simplest strategies for both of these very long fights so I wouldn't have to worry about execution as much and save time on menu work. I make a couple menu flubs that don't really cost that much time.

For the first fight I just need to hit with a sub-cannon and a main cannon on the turn where Recumen fires, this keeps the long animation of your ship burning from playing if he hits. On my off turns I focus with everyone else, the extra SP is useful in this fight. The Lynx is even simpler. There is no real way without lots of grinding to destroy the Lynx before firing the Harpoon Cannon. The Harpoon Cannon hits for nearly the Lynx's entire health when under the effects of Increm. I fire two cannons turn one to make sure that the Harpoon Cannon will kill, I then turtle up, using guarding which I think animates slightly faster than focus and Repair Kits when needed. I bide my time and wait for the Harpoon Cannon and let her have it.

Segment 38-On My Way to South Ocean
Thus begins my long trek towards Ixa'Taka. I start heading toward South Ocean and Save before getting into a random encounter.

Segment 39-Entering South Ocean
I grab the Star Sand and Maroon Isle discoveries and then save after entering South Ocean.

Segment 40-Gravers Suck
I need two moonberries from random encounters for the rest of the game. I figured, 'why not get them in South Ocean,' little did I know what that meant. Gravers are an obnoxious enemy. Vyse needs Increm up to kill them with Raid of Swords. This encounter looks really sloppy and I hate that it exists, but I got my moonberry.

Segment 41-Eternum Sucks
Part two of Gravers suck. Aika dies but the encounter ends decently fast and I get my moonberry. I AM DONE FIGHTING IN SOUTH OCEAN!

Segment 42-Sky Rifts Suck
I fly very slowly through South Ocean and then save before getting in another random encounter.

Segment 43-Flying Slowly Sucks
I grab the Sky Anemone discovery, fly a bit and save.

Segment 44-Crosswinds Suck
I continue a slow trek through South Ocean grab Comma Rock and save..again.

Segment 45-South Ocean Sucks
South Ocean sucks,

Segment 46-South Ocean Still Sucks
I grab Beak Rock sail a bit more and save. At this point I am nearly out of South Ocean.

Segment 47-Horray!
Thank the moons I am out of South Ocean. I save after grabbing Ixa'ness Village.

Segment 48-The Black Map Gets Me Experience
I kill some Loopers using the Black Map and save.

Segment 49-The Black Merchant's Folly
I grab a ton of discoveries and rip off the Black Market Merchant by telling him how to find the continent he is currently sailing around. I also get Gear Grease, the single best item in the game for ship battles. Lastly, I land in Horteka.

Segment 50-Horeteka
I explore Horteka. First I head to get the moonstone fuel from Hans, while there I also grab a box containing 25 Sacri Crystals, these will serve as my out of battle healing for a while. I run past the chief's hut and get myself a moonfish and Paranta Seed. After taking to the chief I take advantage of the free inn. Lastly I save on the world map.

Segment 51-Gear Grease is Awesome
The Chameleon gets destroyed, thanks to the power of Gear Grease. Like the Lynx, the Harpoon Cannon does the majority of the damage, I simply need to get his health within Harpoon Cannon killing range. It is a bit harder against the Chameleon since it has higher defense and the Harpoon Cannon hits half as hard, but with Increme and Gear Grease the Chameleon goes down in three turns.

Segment 52-More Loopers
I begin heading towards Moonstone Mountain. I fight one group of Loopers, this is the last fighting I really need to do in Ixa'Taka.

Segment 53-Moonstone Mountain Landing
I land in Moonstone Mountain and save.

Segment 54-Moonstone Mountain
I trek through this long dungeon. My encounter rate is pretty low, I do get surprised late in the dungeon but I escape on all my first attempts so my overall time is pretty good. Along the way I grab a chest with some money. The fight with the guards at the end goes pretty well, one of them guards Rain of Swords, but he dies very quickly next turn.

Segment 55-Antionio 2 Electric Boogaloo
I use a pretty basic Tackle Strategy, lots of Crystales Box and two Tackles. This is were the Mace Hand really begins to pay off. Antonio uses lots of basic physical and goes down quickly.

Segment 56-On my way to Rixis
I leave Moonstone Mountain behind me and begin heading to the King's Hut. I save once to avoid a random encounter.

Segment 57-Rixis Landing
I go to the King's Hideout, watch some scenes, then land in Rixis and save.

Segment 58-Rixis and the Black Map
I do something interesting here. I had recently discovered that the Black Map greatly increases your odds of escaping random encounters. This had been an obnoxious segment that had me constantly getting surprised and failing to run 9/10 times. I decided that it would be better to not have to worry about failing to run and be more picky about which successful attempt I kept despite the higher encounter rate. I wait to equip the Black Map around where I would normally hit my first encounter. It worked out beautifully, as you will see this is a very clean Rixis.

Segment 59-Tackle, Tackle, Tackle, Tackle..
This boss is kinda silly, it uses lots of status moves and can really debilitate your party. Thankfully I found a very quick strategy that only requires Drachma after turn one. I focus with Aika and Vyse, Glyph of Might Drachma with Fina, and spirit charge with Drachma. If no character's actions get interrupted then Drachma can Tackle four turns in a row and kill the boss without anyone else doing anything.

Segment 60-Chameleon and Grendel
It took me a while to figure out how to down the Chameleon as quickly as a did. It goes down just barely to the Harpoon Cannon on round 3. The Grendel fight is a little obnoxious because there aren't a lot of ways to speed it up other than faster menu work. I would explain both fights in detail, but I have a lot of comments and I would rather people just watch the video and save me time typing.

Segment 61-Leaving Ixa'Taka
I begin my preparations to leave Ixa'Taka. I stop and buy a little more Gear Grease and sell the Rixis discovery. I then begin grabbing discoveries in North Ocean. I save at the end to avoid a random encounter.

Segment 62-North Ocean Discoveries
I continue to grab discoveries zig-zagging my way through North Ocean. I save before the Gordo fight.

Segment 63-Gordo the Sleepy
Remember the Slipara Box I picked up way back in Maramba. It begins to finally pay off here. Gordo and his minions take a long nap while Vyse and Drachma have their way with them ;).

Segment 64-Giant's Hammer
I grab the Giants Hammer then make my last save in North Ocean.

Segment 65-Back in Valua
I grab the Lighthouse and re-enter Valuan Airspace and save.

Segment 66-Maximum Looper
Valuan Airspace is the first place in the game that has access to seven Looper encounters. I luck abuse for such an encounter and down it for massive experience and gold.

Segment 67-Ancient Palace
I grab the Ancient Palace discovery ans save before entering the Maw of Tartars.

Segment 68-Sleepy Guards
In Valua the punishment for trespassing on the great seal is....zzzzzzzzzz.

This segment begins Drachma's send off with a flurry of Tackle's.

Segment 69-Goodbye Mace Hand
I unequip the Mace Hand so I can sell it later and use a Captain's Stripe. The ship battle here is pretty simple, the Harpoon Cannon single shots it so all I need to do is guard until I can fire the S.Cannon.

Segment 70-Deserted Island and the Stalker
I run around on the future Crescent Isle, watch some cutscenes, pick up a moonberry on Crescent Isle, and save ready to do some abusive hunting.

Segment 71-Hunting with Pyri
I begin hunting Grapors, abusing saves to fight as few encounters as possible while reaching the 15 Grapor Meat to head to the next section of gameplay.

Segment 72-Grapor Meat
I fight another Grapor fight, this one goes better than the first.

Segment 73-Grapor Genocide
Another fast Grapor fight. I save to store my luck while grabbing a piece of firewood along the way.

Hunting with an explosive is as effective as you would think, though I am impressed how there is still enough Grapor left for each to have a full piece of meat.

Segment 74-Collect-a-thon
I finish the collection quests on Crescent Isle and meet up with Gilder. I then save on the world map.

Segment 75-Operation Clara
I set sail with the Claudia and save to avoid a random encounter.

Segment 76-Ridiculous Cirumstance
I land in Nasrad and do some much needed discovery selling and grab a moonfish. I then buy a weapon for Vyse, since he is transitioning into my main damage dealer. I save on the world map with Aika and Fina.

Segment 77-Sailing with the Girls
I fly a bit with Aika and Fina's ship and save to avoid a random encounter.

Segment 78-Skull Rock
A grab Skull Rock and land on Crescent Isle. Then I sail with Vyse and Gilder for a bit and save to avoid a random encounter.

Segment 79-Aproaching Daccat's Isle
I fly a bit and save to avoid another random.

Segment 80-Aika and Fina Get Armor
This run goes pretty well. I make use of the Black Map again. I upgrade Aika and Fina's armor for the first time in the game. I get Daccat's Armor for Vyse, which is a hefty upgrade, and grab the final moonfish I need for the White Map.

Segment 81-Welcome Pirate's Wrath
I get to stretch out Pirate's Wrath for the first time in the game. Neither head goes down to one Incremed Pirate's Wrath, but they do go down to Pirate's Wrath plus a Gilder gunshot.

Segment 82-Leaving Daccat's Island
I fly for a bit and save to avoid a random encounter. This is very close to one of the last times I will need to do this as the White Map is going to allow me to travel insane distances without random encounters on the world map.

Segment 83-Nasrad Landing
I land in Nasrad and save.

Segment 84-Prison Break
I was contemplating using a word other than break in the title, but I don't think the SDA moderators would appreciate me describing what happens to Aika in this segment.

Once this practical purpose has been lost or forgotten, there is no reason for further transmission unless the object or action has been imbued with meaning beyond its initial practicality.

Segment 85-A Man's Worth
Vigoro describes a life philosophy worth living and then we get to here one of the best battle tracks in this game play for the first time to a rather silly fight.

Segment 86-The Last 1/100
I luck abuse for an Aura of Valor that I plan to use against Muraji later and this is the best place to get it. This is the last 1/100 drop I need. The other two easily acquired Auras are going to be saved for the final boss.

Segment 87-Spotlight Run
In this very simple segment I run from the Grand Fortress Gate Save to the final save before the boss without any encounters, pretty simple really.

Segment 88-Acquiring Awesomeness
Being a tank pilot must be the most agonizingly boring job in Valua because this tank is mega weak to sleep. Thankfully this means the Draklor Tank does not get a chance to do anything. I then get beckoned by a Gallant Voice which we can only assume is the voice of the Delphinus as Enrique's voice is anything but, the Delphinus after all does speak to you later(really watch the dialogue box it says engine in one of the speaker frames). I have a stupid flub near the end where I manage to inspect the helm twice instead of talk to Gilder, this costs me about 4 seconds, but the boss fights really couldn't have gone better.

Segment 89-Finally..the White Map!
I do the last of the moonfish feeding needed for the game, get the White Map, shuffle around equipment and save in Nasrad.

Segment 90-Money, Money, MONEY!
I acquire all the Gold I need to upgrade my base and the Delphinus, as well as recruit Khazim. I also buy one Valuan Torpedo that I plan make heavy use of against the Tenkou Ship.

Segment 91-The Troll
I spend the 100,000 gold necessary for my base and the Delphinus. I explored if there was any time difference between choosing the three flags and discovered that they were all about time neutral, so naturally I went with Aika's. Lastly I sail all the way to Esperanza without any encounters and save. This segment really shows the power of the White Map.

Segment 92-Pitiful Sailor
I run to the tavern in Esparanza and watch some scenes. I save ready to fight the 2nd Fleet.

Segment 93-Moonstone Cannon Fire!
The inaugural run with the Delphinus. Each boss goes down with the first firing of the Moonstone Cannon. The first fight drops a speed wax, this allows me to buff my ship for Hull Ram with no SP cost. Also I demonstrate a basic tactic that I will use in the next couple air battles. Turn one I use Marco and Gear Grease to produce a hefty reserve of SP for the next several turns. In general I don't plan to focus at all after having acquired the Delphinus, instead using Gear Grease whenever SP is needed.

Segment 94-Blimp Wreck
I fly into the Dark Rift and save, grabbing the Blimp Wreck discovery along the way. In general finding discoveries is still something I value very highly. Even though I have passed the critical point of 100000 for the base and Delphinus, I still want to maximize money for Paranta Seeds later; as this will greatly speed up the final handful of boss fights from Dangral Island onwards to such a degree as to make the minimal discovery acquisition time worth it.

Segment 95-The Dark Rift
I fly through the Dark Rift picking up another Aura of Valor and the Dream Cutlass along the way. The Dream Cutlass will be my second to last weapon with Vyse. I have minimal encounters and grab the Black Moonstone discovery along the way.

Segment 96-Anguila Catches Fire
Anguila gets rocked here. The fight takes three turns. You need a little luck as Anguila likes to use evasive action on the first Moonstone Cannon turn. He needs to not evasive action so the Moonstone Cannon can hit for enough damage to force him out of his hideaway. Then on turn three there are four critical turns in a row in which to unleash the full fury of the Delphinus. Anguila goes down on the final critical turn.

Segment 97-Yafutoma Airspace
I enter Yafutoma Airspace grab a few discoveries and then make sure I am equipped for the next couple battles and save.

Segment 98-Tenkou
The fight against the Tenkou Spellship has an interesting quirk that I am glad I discovered. Upon entering the battle their is a random chance for the second turn to have a possible Moonstone Cannon action and it is completely random whether this happens or not. What isn't random is how that action is triggered, but it took quite a bit of trial and error to find out what it was. The answer, cause enough damage with torpedoes as to force the Tenkou Spellship out of the sky. The torpedoes are set to go off after the Critical turn in order to avoid the Tenkou Spellship's love of using evasive action on the critical turn.

Jao and Mao go down pretty quick. Pirate's Wrath one shots both of them. The only luck I really need from them is to not use their special moves twice on either of the girls.

Segment 99-Serpent Torpedo
Pretty standard town segment. I run to the key story points, watch some cutscenes and save at the entrance to the next dungeon. The only real things of note are picking up a couple discoveries and buying a Serpent Torpedo.

Segment 100-The Water Level a.k.a. triple digit segments
This is the longest dungeon in the game period. Basic dungeon segment though, get a low encounter rate and cover the least amount of ground while getting to the end. There is one forced encounter against two enemies that go down to a very simple strategy of guarding until Pirate's Wrath, each goes down to a single Pirate's Wrath.

Segment 101-The Giant Turtle..Turtles
This fight looks kinda ugly, but this boss involves a stupid amount of luck to get past. Tortigar does stupid damage to the whole party with his special moves and magic and has the most broken defensive special move in the game. Tortigar needs to cooperate to a pretty stupid degree and getting a perfect fight would be about a 1/10000 chance. This fight goes pretty well, it could have gone better, but thank God I am done with this segment.

Segment 102-Diplomacy
Belleza shows how clever she is by throwing some guards at a defenseless king and doesn't even try to make sure that your party is there during the attack. I mean she is supposed to be this master of espionage if she really wanted to win wouldn't it have made sense to have Muraji poison Vyse and Co.'s food during the big feast that happens. In any case, a straight forward segment that has a bunch of cutscenes.

Segment 103-Prince Daigo
I run up Tenkou Island and back down. There are three forced encounters along the way that can all be ran from.

Segment 104-Prophecy
This is the only time in the game in which the incredibly slow Prophecy will be used to save me time. Muraji is a brain dead easy fight.

The Draco packs a punch, but goes down quick. There is some luck required to bring the Draco down quickly though, as despite Vigoro's brilliant tactical planning the Draco seems to have stupid high dodge and all torpedoes must hit for the Draco to go down when it does.

Bluheim is the real fight and bringing him down in four turns took some work and some more luck as well. Bluheim need to not evasive action on any of the 'C' turns, thankfully despite being a giant, super fast, flying bird, Bluheim can't seem to dodge torpedoes at all.

Segment 105-..Back through the Dark Rift?
I begin my trek back around the world. I grab some discoveries along the way. I stop shortly before entering Ixa'taka airspace and save to avoid a random encounter.

Segment 106-The Return of the Black Merchant
The Black Market Merchant proves useful yet again as I stop to sell the discoveries I obtained near, in, and around both the Dark Rift and Yafutoma. I also pick up the last bit of gear grease I will need for the rest of the game. I save just north of the Guide Stones to avoid hitting a random encounter in Central Ocean.

Segment 107-The World is Flat
I fly all the way back to my newly finished base. I lose a bit of time going out of my way for the Balloon Seed, but it is one of several discoveries that are worth over 10000 gold.

Segment 108-Vysicle
I head to the Lands Of Ice and save shortly after making the Lands Of Ice discovery.

Segment 109-Uhhh..Maybe two?
I grab discoveries in the Lands Of Ice and land in Glacia. Glacia is pretty straight forward. I answer some questions to gain access to Glacia proper. In the main area of Glacia I only run into one encounter and there are no notable chests to grab, it is a straight shot to the save point before the boss.

Segment 110-Riselem
My fight versus Veltarn goes exquisitely. This is the first fight that Vyse is worth 3 SP a turn and the party is at a total of 9 SP a turn. This allows me to alternate between focusing and Pirate's Wrath with Vyse for much quicker fights.

Segment 111-The Engineer & Builder
I head back to Crescent Isle stopping in Maramba along the way to sell discoveries from the Lands Of Ice. Upon getting back I watch some cutscene's then save.

Segment 112-Arcwhale Torpedo
I by a couple pieces of very important ship equipment: the Arcwhale Torpedo and the Ancient Cannon. I also stock up on all the Complete Kits I will need for the rest of the game. I then fly to the Maw of Tartars while grabbing a couple discoveries along the way.

Segment 113-This is a boring dengeon
As the name implies this dungeon is boring. The Maw of Tartars has an incredibly bland color pallet and is a very straight forward maze involving a couple of 'Y' intersections. I run into one encounter and save at the end of the dungeon.

Segment 114-Rain of Torpedoes
Yelligar is a pathetic creature. This thing's damage output is simply laughable and the beating I give it makes me feel like I am abusing a two year old with brittle bone disease. As the segment name implies, I fire a lot of torpedoes to bring it down quickly.

Torpedoes really are the most stupidly powerful piece of ship equipment in the game. They cost very little and do stupid amounts of damage.

Segment 115-Recruiting Paranta Seeds
I head Northward to recruit the most important crew member of the run. On the way back to Crescent Isle I grab a handful of discoveries.

Segment 116-Galcian's Super Secret Hideout
I cash in about one extra minute in order to grab some highly valuable discoveries on my way to Dangral Island. These discoveries really help in the Paranta Seed purchasing later.

Segment 117-Galcian's Super Secret Deep Sky Machine
I have my first dungeon of the run with zero encounters. I charge through Dangral Island, grab the plans and run back out without trouble.

Segment 118-An Old Man Dies
I fly back to Crescent Isle with Enrique for the last time. I also grab another bit of discoveries along the way.

Segment 119-Paranta Seeds Part1
Battleship row massachusetts. I purchase my first round of Paranta Seeds. Overall I am able to purchase 18 right now, that's 54 extra attack power.

Segment 120-The Final Discoveries
I make my final two discoveries on my way toward Deep Sky.

Segment 121-The Glitch
What's a super long RPG speed run without some form of exploitative glitch. I make use of a bug here that allows me to get all of the Chameleon's loot and drops twice. When the Chameleon hits half health the game treats it as though the ship ran from battle and then goes to cutscenes before entering stage two of the fight. If the entire life bar of the first fight is depleted then the Chameleon drops all of the loot and experience that it will also drop during the second fight. This gets me some extra levels, gold, an extra Captain's Stripe, which means more HP for the Delphinus, and even more gold via extra ship equipment to sell.

Segment 122-Sky Battle King Baltor
I fight Baltor in this segment which requires a bit of luck as the Black Beard 2 has a hefty amount of dodge. The Black Beard goes down on the third action thanks to the power of Shredder Bomb.

Segment 123-Cutscenes
This incredibly long segment is nearly entirely cutscenes. In the first parts I do take some important actions. I buy some Apo Wax, an item form of Increme for ship battles that lasts four turns, this item becomes available the last time Sailor's Island upgrades which happens to be right after dropping Enrique off. Then I do the last of my discovery selling. The shadow fight also goes well with all of them deciding to use very quick physical attack animations until the last round.

At the end of the segment I acquire Gilder, which is normally a little sad since he has worse special moves, but for the purpose of this run it is very exciting. When Gilder rejoins he comes back at a higher level, giving the party 10 SP generation for a turn and being able to generate 3 SP with a focus.

Segment 124-Paranta Seeds Part 2
I head into the Great Silver Shrine, where I acquire great Silver Armor. After arriving back in Crescent Isle I do my final round of buying and selling. I get a handful of healing items for the remaining bosses and purchase 22 Paranta Seeds, that's another 66 attack power. Overall I managed to get 40 Paranta Seeds from Ichymis which is a total of 120 extra attack power. To translate that into damage that means Pirate's Wrath will do an average of 1800 more damage.

Segment 125-Galcian's Super Secret Hideout, the Return
Galcian's Super Secret Hideout, the Return

Segment 126-Let's Finish This
The final fight with Vigoro. My main goal here was to down him quickly while avoiding ever seeing the move Cannon Fire, which has a very long animation and can one shot any character that isn't guarding. Vigoro is very cooperative and my menu work is quick. This was a very good Vigoro fight.

Segment 127-Valuan Five Day Forecast
This was actually a one and done segment, kind of like the Rains of Destruction and Valua, Galcian summons them once and Valua is done. The boss was very cooperative and the menu work for this fight is about the same as Vigoro's only easier since I don't really need to heal. The Eliminator doesn't pose much of a threat. I then watch Valua get destroyed and save.

Segment 128-The Final Night
Not much gameplay in this segment. I spend my final night on Crescent Isle. The only real decision I had to make was talking to Aika or Fina first. In this case I chose to talk to Fina as I am pretty sure that going up and down the elevator takes longer than running up and down the hill.

Segment 129-Battle for Arcadia
The first two fights here go down laughably easy. The Valuan Mage Ship goes down without even taking any offensive action. Galcian's Elite hits hard, but goes down in the third action of the second turn. There is a fair bit of luck as nothing can miss and I use a lot of Torpedoes, which like to miss. Super unlucky low damage rolls can also leave Galcian's Elite still alive with less than 100 HP left. Once things go how I want them to in the first to fights it is on to the Hydra.

The Hydra is a beast of a ship and has a ton of HP. It's defense however isn't super high, but it takes a lot of evasive action. This fight actually requires a lot of luck. Galcian absolutely cannot take evasive action on the first Moonstone Cannon firing, which he does nine times out of ten. Once the first Moonstone Cannon hits the boss can be brought down in six rounds, assuming that there aren't too many misses.

Segment 130-Galcian's Super Secret Supreme Sky Sanctuary
I run straight to the end of the Hydra, picking up the X Cannon along the way. Before saving I finally learn Delta Shield. After Gilder joined, I had finally reached the point in the game where I can keep up Delta Shield up without any slow down in my Pirate's Wrath spam, but against Vigoro and the Eliminator there is no benefit to keeping up Delta Shield. Galcian and Ramirez both spam moves like Eternes and Eternum and Galcian particularly has a lot of magic he can cast, so this is the first boss where Delta Shield makes sense.

Segment 131-Galcian's Super Secret Self
Galcian drops pretty quickly and only uses Terminal once, he never uses Devolver on a round in which Vyse is attacking, and he doesn't use Neglora until after Vyse hits with the third Pirate's Wrath. These all mean that the fight moves about as quickly as possible as Terminal has a very long animation and Devolver drastically reduces Pirate's Wrath damage and Neglora removes Increme which is a big deal except after dealing full damage with three Pirate's Wrath which guarantees Galcian will go down from the fourth no matter what. As a bonus Galcian kills everyone with Eternes except Vyse before the last attack, this means Vyse gets three levels and a lot more stats; on top of Vyse being the most important character this also means that Gilder is not taking any of the experience as he is about to leave the party.

Segment 132-Drachma has joind the party..yet again
This segment involves most of the final battle preparation. I recruit Drachma and deal with a lot of final equipment changes for both my party and the Delphinus.

The fight on the way to Soltis goes down on the first action from a shot of the Moon Cannon.

I land and equip the Sparkling Deck that Gadianos drops and save.

Segment 133-Ramirez's Super Secret Silver Continent
I run straight through Soltis. Nothing really significant happens here other than I hit the final save point at 10:19 and equip the Counter Bracer for the final fight.

Segment FINAL-Nothing Is Impossible
The final segment: This is what it all has been preparing for.

Ramirez goes down pretty easily, not even getting an attack off until the final turn. I use one of my two remaining Aura of Valors to allow Vyse to Pirate's Wrath every turn. On the first turn I use one Cutlass Fury to negate any healing Ramirez my accrue from Lunar Blessing over the course of the fight.

Zelo's is a very aggressive fight. I spam lots of Gear Grease knowing this is the last fight in which I will need to use any. Sylenis is also important as it cuts out over half of Zelos' attacks and keeps the Delphinus from being inflicted with Driln. Also I make the decision to back away from Zelos on the fourth turn of the fight. This might not seem like the most aggressive or quick action, but doing so sets up an option that allows me to fire the Moonstone Cannon sooner than is possible with the more aggressive options and allows me to finish the fight more quickly.

The final fight: 'second verse same as the first'. I use the Aura of Valor and use it to sustain me till the end of the fight. I wind up not using the Behemoth's ring that I grabbed earlier in the game to potentially use here, it was still useful though so I don't regret it. There is some difficulty in this segment with Vyse getting hit with destruction and Aika dieing. Aika's death is less of a big deal as it didn't slow down Pirate's Wrath spam and Ramirez still used some of his less dangerous options, for instance he uses Silver Nightmare twice, both times on Aika, the least threatening character possible, other than Fina whom doesn't have any special moves and therefore cannot be inflicted with Silver Nightmare. The game ends and we watch the credits roll with a final time of 10:44. This is timed from the final blow to the final boss, the same as was done in Zyre's run.

Closing Remarks
Overall I am highly satisfied with this run. Initially improvements were looking slim and I really just wanted a time less than 12 hours but about halfway through the game my early decisions began to pay off in spades and the time saved began to wrack up. Late sub ten hours began to seem feasible but difficult. As I approached the end of the game, not only was it feasible but easily so.

There are some places for minor improvements and overall I believe that a time of about ten minutes faster is possible with the current knowledge of the game, but this game is a monster to speed run and the luck required is substantial and for those willing to try I say, 'Have fun beating my luck in Valua'.

Also to close things out I would like to thank:

-Amazing Ampharos: for all his help planning the run.
-Zyre: for his previous run and all the information it provided.
-Zeus-Guy for the Bestiary
-sephiroth95 for the Discoveries FAQ
-everlink69 for the Discovery Map
-Cyril for the Boss FAQ, mostly for HP values on Ship Battles
-Tei Sama for the Moonfish Guide
-Porcupine for the Special Items FAQ, misleading name with tons of info including damage formulas.
-My friends for putting up with me while I spent months like a hermit in my room playing this game.
-Sega and Overworks for making Skies of Arcadia
-And the Moons that it is finally over.

Return to the Game List, the FAQ, or the Home Page.

Skies of Arcadia is a for the Sega Dreamcast, featuring who rather than the seas.Vyse and Aika are two young and eager flying under the flag of the benevolent Blue Rogues, who only target the bloated and corrupt. Rounding out the main trio is a called Fina, who was captured by Imperial troops while on a quest to recover the six that have been scattered throughout forming Arcadia.

Of course, the Valuan Empire are also after the gems for their own purposes: they act as ignition keys to that hold enough firepower to easily.The game received an for the called Skies of Arcadia: Legends. It reduced the random encounter rate to a more sensible level (and increased the XP rewards accordingly), added in new, Discoveries and, and inserted the content that was originally tied to the Dreamcast's VMU minigame.

Sega had hinted at. 'Some bag of bones is rolling in his grave laughing at us! We ran around like idiots the whole time, and we're still poor!' . The 'gold-paved' kingdom of Rixis. If Aika could punch an entire city in the face, she would do it.: Exemplified by the special move, to which all four party members contribute at once.: Toyed with in Valua, where the Yellow Moon creates thunderstorms which constantly shroud the continent in darkness.

In the game's ending when Enrique and Moegi return after the Rains to help rebuild, showing sunlight piercing though the clouds. It's also possible the darkness could have been caused at least partly by pollution, due to Lower City being filled with factories and other industrial centers.: Guardian, the boss of Shrine Island. A tough cookie in its own right—and you face in the final dungeon, except this time, they're in mint condition.: After getting your own pirate base, you can design the buildings in various styles, depending on the carpenter you choose to build them.: The bounties level up with you, and exponentially besides. Best not put off fighting them too long.: Of the possible and actual apocalyptic events in the game's course and history, classifications would be:.

The Rains of Destruction which ended war and much of humanity 1000 years ago, the potential Rains that the Silvite Elders sent Fina to enable, as well as Ramirez's intended revenge for Galcian's death: Class 2, Planetary Societal Collapse. Galcian's commanded destruction from Soltis: Class 0, Regional Societal Disruption.: Four characters at a time, three of which are always Vyse, Aika, and Fina. For most of the game, this is by having the characters come and go as the plot demands, but even after you can still only bring four people with you, with the rest stuck doing nothing on your airship.: There are six moons, each in a geostationary orbit over a different part of the planet.

They're pretty evenly spread, despite the fact that a geostationary orbit requires the object to be directly above the planet's equator. (Though it's debatable whether Arcadia even has an equator, being.).: Alfonso is the only Valuan Admiral without any sense of honor (except De Loco, who is demonstratively insane), and it's made clear that the only reason he even got the job is because he comes from an extremely prominent family.

With Enrique, the Prince. Also averted by Illchymis, who wants to heal the sick.

This trope is also what causes Ramirez to go mad: He winds up siding with a who earned his position, rather than inherited it.: The Guardian robots have cannons that extend out from their palms.: Empress Teodora believes she's in charge of the Imperial Armada. She is mistaken.: Antonio, the Gigas, and Cupil.: Soltis.

Also serves as.: By Vigoro on Aika. Of course, this being a T-rated game, he didn't get far and the dialogue was not explicit. It was in the Japanese original.: Two 'Crew Specials' are unlocked in battle once the Delphinus is in use. Prophecy is a standard Ultimate spell. Blue Rogues, on the others hand, calls forth the pirates currently assigned to Vyse's ship.:. For her Omega Psyclone attack, Aika throws her boomerang into the air, jumps up maybe one hundred feet to grab it, somersaults, and throws multiple copies of it into the ground, which creates the fiery outline of a hexagon, which then explodes and turns every bit of ground as far as the eye can see into a pit of magma. Then that explodes, dealing.

Half as much damage as Vyse whacking someone in the face with the Vorlik blade would. It's mostly useful for clearing out weaker enemies while grinding when your spirit generation isn't quite high enough for a first-turn Rain of Swords yet. Prophecy and Blue Rogues. The former for a huge amount of damage to all enemies. The latter calls members of your crew to either deal damage to your enemies or heal your party. Either attack also makes enemies skip their turns.

However, you can only use these attacks after the story event where you get the, you have to charge your spirit points to max, and the attack takes all your spirit points. By the time you've completely filled the spirit bar, you could've probably done comparable damage just whacking your enemies with basic attacks and a few special moves. That being said, Prophecy is very useful against most Bounty fights, where a safe strategy is using defensive Supers while healing and focusing every round to max out your SP bar and then bringing your opponent to near-death in a single turn.

Vyse's Skull Shield negates any physical damage for one turn. However, it only blocks regular attacks, exempting magic and super moves, and Vyse himself, being your most powerful party member physically, can do a lot more. The only time it really comes in handy is when you fight and in the port. Most super moves fall into this category, due to being either too situational to get much use or outclassed by other super moves that do better damage relative to their spirit cost. Magic, overlapping with due to the MP system. Even more so in the later part of the game, where you'll likely be spamming Delta Shield (which blocks both incoming and outgoing magic) to block incoming stat-reduction yellow spells and instant-death silver spells.: The Ixa'Takans use this.: There are many of these present throughout the entire game, even including parts of the overworld. If an area is uninhabited, it has a high chance of being one of these.

The City of Glacia deserves special mention.: The Dome of Light that protects Soltis. Also, taking 'evasive action' is represented as this.: Loosely speaking, hauntingly beautiful waif from another world Fina vs. Childhood friend and partner-in-crime Aika, respectively. However, it is and largely, because neither girl actively pursues Vyse.: Rupee Larso. Nice kid.but when you get his HP down below half, he can pull out his Berserk Rupee attack for devastating damage (unless you've finished off Barta already).: Grand Admiral Galcian uses one of these.

Looks out of place because nearly every other hand weapon in the game is realistically proportioned. Vyse's Vorlik Blade certainly isn't ideal for holding in one hand. And the Sky Fang.well, enough said.: Lots. ', FIRE!' .

Vigoro's flagship, the Draco, is. It's even bigger than the Moonstone Cannon (especially in diameter), though still less powerful. The bottom of Galcian's floating fortress, the Hydra, is a massive.:. Given that the Valuan Empire draws heavily from the era when Spain was an absolute world power, this occurs. Alfonso, Gregorio, Enrique, and Teodora are typical Spanish names. 'Belleza' means 'beauty,' and the 'loco' in De Loco's name means 'crazy.' Also, Gordo the Round's name, 'gordo', is actually Spanish for 'fat,' while 'Domingo' is the Spanish word for both 'Sunday' and the name 'Dominic.'

. The name of Ramirez's flagship, the Monoceros, despite sounding like it would be type of rhinoceros, is in fact Greek for.:. Vyse and the other Blue Rogues may be in that they only steal from armed ships, but they're still pirates. They're a light shade of grey, but grey nonetheless. The villains are all over the place: Belleza is an who is fine with espionage and betrayal, but generally tries to avoid murdering people due to her backstory.

Vigoro can pull a despite coming. Gregorio is a and actually a decent guy who pulls a to save the heroes. Ramirez is presented as a., and are basically pitch black.: Thankfully not the game itself, but the instruction manual for Legends is.something.: A little girl standing on the balcony of Sailor Island's inn.: Vigoro says he doesn't care whom he works for or to what end, as long as he gets to fight.: This becomes a vital development when the location of Silver Crystals is found to be inside the bodies of Silvites.: The Bounties in the port; special mention should go to Lapen, Daikokuya, and Lord Bane. Piastol is an example of, since she has to be fought four times before finally giving up, and she gets much stronger with each iteration. Vigoro also gets a battle after his change in occupation.: The game starts with Vyse and Aika retrieving a large Moon Stone from Shrine Island, which turns out to be the entryway to the final dungeon.: Aika's Delta Shield is pretty much the only way that you can survive some of the Wanted Battles and later boss fights, as many endgame bosses will be using the instant death Eterni spells every other turn. Gilder's Aura of Denial has a similar effect. By association, a late-game accessory you can get, the Valuan Medallion, falls under this; while it doesn't provide a massive status buff, it negates Eterni spells.

Enrique's Justice Shield is also effective for the more physically demanding boss fights, as it cuts any physical damage in half for that turn. Drachma's Spirit Charge is a souped-up Focus.

It's very useful when he's in your party in the early stages, and he only can't use it if he's Fatigued. It loses some value once the boss fights get harder, however, and you can also rack up some Auras of Valor (an item that boosts the spirit gauge to max) with a bit of luck during random encounters. Fina's Lunar Winds and Lunar Cleansing spells. The former, while a weak attack, removes enemy buffs, while the latter is more or less a Curia spell that heals all of your party members.

De Loco:.: And one that's actually ingrained in the story and not a side quest, like the other that Vyse and co. After the second escape from the Grand Fortress, Gilder hires an engineer and a builder to build a base for Vyse and co., and they need a combined total of 100,000 gold to get started. Thankfully for the player, it's at this point in the game that.

In fact, the single lousy coin that serves as Daccat's 'treasure' can be sold for 20,000 gold at the sailor's guild in Nasrad, which alone is 1/5th of your required total.: Apart from a few and (some of) the shopkeepers, just about everyone, from the main characters to random citizens, has their own character model. Hell, even the two uniformed guards in front of Nasrad's and Yafutoma's palaces look different from each other.: The Old World ending due to the Rains of Destruction.: Gordo and his bistro.: Valua's Lower City is a hive of thieves, beggars, and hatred, all wrapped in a cocoon of rusted-out metal and pollution.in stark contrast to the of Pirate Isle. There's even a Pow lookalike wandering the streets; but instead of happily greeting you like the previous huskra did, it just growls.:. Fina, although a small one. It even has a non-fanservice purpose: the exposed skin is right above Fina's shard of the Silver Moon Crystal.?. Now Bellena's, on the.: Three examples. At the end of Rixis, a lift transports you to the ziggurat where the Green Crystal is or at least used to be stashed.

When flying the upgraded Delphinus, you can see that the temple lies just above the cloud line. Princess Moegi has a hidden escape pod which runs on blue crystals. It leads directly to the high-altitude Tenkou shrine. Dangral Island leads down to hell, rather than up. The second Vigoro duel happens in mid-transport. Later, after Galcian revives Soltis, the elevator jams, and Vyse has to hurry across the collapsing railway.: The Prophecy Crew Special command drops one of the moons onto the enemies Vyse and co.

Near the end of the game, The Silvite Elders do this with the Silver Shrine in order to help Vyse and co. Past the and into.:. Blue Rogues and Black Pirates. Guess which faction of Air Pirates are and which are the evil cutthroats. The moons, moonstones, and civilizations, all six colors: Green, Red, Purple, Blue, Yellow, and Silver, with a lone discovery in the Dark Rift hinting to a Black Moon.

Galcian's admirals. It's like watching a Gothic reenactment of: Alfonso is yellow/white, Gregorio is brown, Vigoro is blue, Belleza is pink/red, De Loco is green, and Ramirez is silver/black.

The main characters also tend to wear specific colors. Vyse (blue), Aika (yellow), Fina (silver/white), Drachma (green), Gilder (red), Enrique (purple). During the Blue Rogues special attack, the background color indicates whether the featured crew member is attacking (blue) or healing (red).: Two of them, in fact: Prophecy and Blue Rogues.: Vigoro's ship has one very large cannon. Aika: Talk about trying to compensate. That guy's got a complex.: The reason why you'll be using Delta Shield every turn for the last third of the game is because if an enemy uses a Silver spell, it will wipe out at least two of your four party members. Worse still is that even though you choose your actions at the start of each battle round, the computer is under no such restriction.

Therefore, it will use an instant death spell the second you decide not to use Delta Shield.: The Daccat's Island portion overall.: The final part of the dungeon involves you dumping water on a to cool it off so that you can walk on top of it.: The Delphinus has elements of both a and a, given how ships work in this game. and: The Temple of Pyrynn features a pair of these. An endless flurry of stone spheres will roll down the slope, with small crevices in the flanking walls for Vyse to hide in.: The Silvite Elders seal themselves in these as a form of life support.:. You'd think that if there were just one enemy in the entire game that you should be allowed to fight, it would be that smug jerk Alfonso.

Instead, he goes out with the Empress when Valua gets totaled. Of course, by then, you've put him through the so many times, a boss fight with him would probably be a joke, anyway.

Hell, Teodora herself qualifies for this. She's the main antagonist for much of the game, yet she is never even shown in anything but her throne. Not only that, but she never even meets Vyse and the gang in person before she is smashed.: The manga, although not necessarily in a bad way.: Dialog with several NPC characters and ships and Vyse's internal monologue upon inspecting certain objects changes throughout the game to reflect where the player is in the story. Some conversations will also happen differently depending on dialog choices the player made and optional events they've seen- for example, Osman joining the crew of the Delpinus plays out differently depending on whether Aika and Fina tried to get a loan from her while separated from Vyse.: Alfonso would have you believe it's just egotism, but no.: Daikokuya openly flirts with Vyse following their fierce battle. At this, Vyse (a romantic, pulp-adventure hero) looks ready to pass out. High Priest Isapa openly hits on both Aika and Fina.

Aika even calls him a 'dirty old man'. Aika: The two things I hate most right now are dirty old men and ghosts.: Vyse was having his eyes glued to the, Bellena, until Aika snapped him out of it.: Sinistra and Destra, Jao and Mao.: Only Nasr possesses a fleet to withstand Valua, and Ramirez makes short work of them. Justified in the advent of Soltis' rising.

'THE TIME HAS COME.' '. 'IN DIRE NEED!' 'WE CALL FORTH!' 'OF THE ANCIENTS!'

.: Sinistra(fire) and Destra(ice).: The Delphinus is armed with the Moon Stone Cannon, which is basically an of the classic. Essentially, the Moon Stone Cannon is the keel of the Delphinus. Vigoro's ship is more gun than ship, with no way to aim without turning. Zelos' eye, which is eerily fixed on the Delphinus during your fight.: Every single one, in fact, though Soltis has been on the actual surface for a while now.: A signal that.: The Dark Rift may fool you into thinking it's the most terrifying environment imaginable. Deep Sky takes it.:.

There's a wanted list of Air Pirates with a lot of names written on it at Sailor's Island. Drachma's name is on it, as well as a few you'll meet later. You can see a verdant-looking Soltis in Fina's narrations. In Deep Sky, if you squint as you're riding up or down the vortex tunnel up until you reach the bottom/top, you can see the actual parts of Soltis beyond the tunnel walls. However, it's only fully visible when lightning flashes. After getting a base, Aika comments that Fina is sounding more like an Air Pirate each day, and that by the time they're done, she'll be dressed like one and Cupil will be wearing an eyepatch.

All of this is true in the ending. Every time Admiral De Loco is defeated, he'll angrily try to reassure himself that said defeat is just a bad dream. A distraught Enrique tries to do the same after Valua is destroyed.: Had Vyse and Aika not seen the moonstone land on Shrine Island, they wouldn't had have an excuse/motive to leave Pirate's Island and would've gotten arrested by the Valuans.: Loqua. It's stated that it's just juice, but it's treated as a type of liquor or beer, and the tavern in Esparanza has a couple of people who are in it. In the Japanese, it's more openly liquor.:. Belle, one of the crew members you can recruit, is rather bouncy. Especially since she's also a and source of much.

Did we mention you can end up talking to her while she's?. For that matter, Bellena has some impressive (though subtle) jiggle physics. For a male example, you have Pinta's belly jiggles. The really interesting bit is that your two female companions (and a vast majority of other female characters, including Piastol, an otherwise leather-clad dominatrix-looking type) do NOT have any jiggle physics to speak of.

This implies that it isn't an artifact of the physics engine, but instead something that someone spent development time on simulating.: At short range, Gilder fires his pistol like this. At long range, he uses a more sensible two-handed grip. Somewhat, since 'short range' for Gilder essentially means placing the barrel right in the enemy's face.: Esparanza. Founded as a colony on the new frontier, it was once a magnet for explorers and commerce. Eventually, the sailors gave up on uselessly crashing their ships into the Dark Rift, leaving behind a few penniless stragglers to keep Valua's flag flying.

The Empire cut its losses and withdrew from the city, leaving it to rust. Happily, the headstrong Vyse kicks the residents back in gear by barging into the tavern and telling them how it's gonna be: The Delphinus is going to pass through the Dark Rift, with or without their help. The washed-up helmsman, Don, has the option of joining the crew and discovering a safe passage through the rift. In the epilogue, he's running his own ferry service between Esparanza and Yafutoma.: The Giant Looper.: You get several throughout the game, though the Delphinus is the only one that can (eventually) fly absolutely everywhere without restriction.: Fina is treated as a goddess upon stepping into Ixa'Takan territory. This stems from the fact that an and helped subdue the Green Gigas was in their cave paintings and carvings.: Vyse's 'eyepatch'. In Legends, he can get a lens for it made out of moonstones which can help him look for moonfish since not only can it make them visible, but it also makes a noise when one is nearby.: The ending, when absolutely everyone you met that has a ship shows up to help Vyse and friends.

This is particularly impressive, as Gondor did not even call for aid. When the events that lead Vyse into a Heroic BSOD occur, Drachma, Gilder's crew, as well as all the Air Pirates in the game, both Blue Rogues and Black Pirates alike, as well as the Yafutoman navy and the Tenkou, and finally Vyse's father all just show up unnannounced at Vyse's base because they know he is the only guy crazy and determined enough to take on Galcian's Armada. In a sense,.: The, the quest for which forms the bulk of the plot; Moonfish, a sidequest; Chams, to get the; the discoveries; getting 1000 fish for one of Vyse's ranks; hunting down the 8 bounties.: The Delphinus was intended to be a prototype for an all-new fleet of Valuan warships.

When Vyse jacks it, he puts a serious crimp in their plans.: Moon Stones, also available in Red, Blue, Purple, Yellow, and Silver. Also the mysterious Black Moon Stones with the power to reverse energy; they're only mentioned in passing and have been a fertile ground for in the fandom.: It is impossible to find all the Moonfish, Chams, Treasure Chests, Crew Members and Discoveries for the shiny 'Legend' title in the version of the game without consulting some form of guide.: Valuan gun troopers are generally amongst the weaker of enemies (even when compared to swordsmen) and Gilder, while a character firmly on the physical side of physical attacks vs. Magic, is less powerful than Vyse and Drachma.

Can be partway explained in that personal firearms in Skies Of Arcadia are still at the flintlock stage, even if the ones Gilder and Dyne use are shown to utilize moonstones as well.: The Little Jack comes to Vyse's rescue at the end of the monorail chase. Just as Galcian has Vyse cornered in the engine car, Drachma blasts it in half with a well-placed shot. Happens again while escaping from Recumen. Just as our heroes are about to get fried, the Little Jack shows up and.: Gilder. Galcian: I don't think they're foolish enough to resist. However, if something should happen.burn the village and kill them all. Let the bodies rot in the sun, and leave one of our flags to set an example for others who may defy us.

They weren't foolish enough to resist: The noncombatants were left alone, and the Rogues were taken prisoner and later rescued.: The Swirlmarang in the. As a weapon for Aika, its damage is pitiful, but it causes Confusion every time it hits on anything that isn't immune to it. Most regular battles are made much easier with the Swirlmarang.: This game was released during a time when companies were pumping out nothing but clones. Mind, there are still many dark and/or poignant moments in the game, but they don't dominate the story as a whole.: Skies of Arcadia has single-use crystals and multi-use boxes that can be used to cast spells the characters don't know yet and to save on magic afterwards.: Many of whom can be recruited into your crew.: Valua is reduced to a smoldering crater before the game is up.: Vyse, Aika, Gilder, Dyne.: Possibly one of the few love triangles in an RPG where the participants don't care about resolving it—and don't.

In fact, it's easy to argue that since only one person seems to express a romantic attraction, it's non-existent. Romantic relationships and between characters certainly do exist, but very little emphasis is put on them, and the role they play in the plot is minimal to nonexistant.: For much of the game, Vyse and company travel the globe in search of the moonstones, to keep them out of Empress Teodora's hands. They manage to find all but the silver moonstone, not knowing it was hidden inside Fina all along. She was unaware of this, herself, until Ramirez revealed that all Silvites are born with one!.: Happens so often with the Moon Crystals that it's a surprise whenever you manage to hang onto one.

The last couple of crystals do not have this happen, but that's only so you can find all five of the non-silver crystals, and then Ramirez ambushes you by surprise and takes all of them anyway.: Fina's skirt only flutters up to her knees when she uses magic. (Aika's goes higher, but she has shorts underneath.).: Those previously mentioned power everything even vaguely mechanical in this game, with the exception of a few scattered windmills.:. Fina's name means 'delicate' or 'elegant' in Spanish (though the original Japanese pronunciation is 'fy-na'), which is fitting, considering that she's a and. Gordo's name is the Spanish word for 'fat'.

Fittingly, he's a stereotypical fat glutton. Ilchymis' name is a play on his profession's name, alchemist. Vigoro. Self-explanatory. Fittingly enough for a lady renowned for her beauty, Belleza's name means 'beauty' in Spanish. 'Loco' means 'crazy' in Spanish.

Guess what De Loco's most prominent trait is.: With and thrown in for flavor.: The six Moon Crystals: Each of them is basically a Moon Stone in its purest form, as Fina describes, and they have the power to summon the Gigas. The Silver Crystal is unusual in that, unlike the others, each Silvite holds his/her own crystal in his/her body, and it serves as a life force; should it be removed, the Silvite dies (hence its connection to its element of life and death).: Characters who are confused in battle get these. Also happens to characters who are hit by Ramirez's 'Silver Nightmare' S-Move in the final boss battle.: The Nasr segment gets downright maddening as Vyse (presumed dead) keeps missing his cohorts, Aika and Fina, as they wait tables in the same city he's staying in. Vyse's partner, Gilder, even hits on them at one point, but doesn't make the connection that they're Blue Rogues.: The Dheerse, Alupas and Rabbats discoveries.

The Dhabus used for transport in Nasr seem to be a mashup of camels and emus with a dash of elephant thrown in.: Loopers.: Drachma's beef with the arcwhale Rakhnam.: The Valuan continent is a craggy, crater-pocked hellhole under the oppression of permanent thunderstorms. The ruined landscape is also partly due to rampant moon stone mining.

So in a sense, it qualifies as Types 1 and 2.: Kalifa the Fortune Teller.: Upper City. You have just enough time to window shop (Aika: 'This is no time for tea!' ), get insulted by the locals, and gape at the glamorous buildings in the middle distance. However, as soon as you're over the first bridge, Vyse is diverted onto a train leaving the city, never to return.: Subverted; most shopkeepers steadily raise their prices, but Inns will recognize you the higher your Captain rating is and give you a discount.: Between the main characters, anyway.

A dashing air pirate with two lovely ladies, but they're just, although Aika drops one or two blink-and-you'll-miss-it hints she may harbor something a little deeper for Vyse.: The game doesn't even try to hide this about Kangan and Muraji the moment you arrive in Yafutoma.: Albeit in the sky.: The upper echelons of Valua are inspired by this aesthetic. Traditional Victorian ball gowns and hand fans clash wildly with the sleek monorail sitting in the middle of town. Lower City (and its sister city, Esparanza) is oddly more futuristic than any other non-Silvite setting, but the buildings have fallen into that you're afraid of sitting too close to the TV, lest your cut yourself on the rusted fanblades and jagged metal.: The Yellow Moon Crystal, which was imbued with the power of lightning. It was the means of controlling the yellow Gigas, Yeligar.

It was also one of the six keys to raising the lost continent of Soltis, and awakening the, Zelos.: Averted with the Valuan admirals who have a council but all get names and talk about things that the player soon gets context for, played straight with the Silvite elders and their sudden heavy exposition.: Only five, surprisingly: Alfonso's first ship (a very brief dungeon, to be sure), the prisons of the Grand Fortress, Dangral Island, the interior of the Hydra air fortress, and the Great Silver Shrine. Dangral Island is visited twice for story-related events and destroyed after the second time, and you can repeatedly visit the Great Silver Shrine until the assault on Soltis, when the elders of the shrine sacrifice both it and themselves to break Soltis' barrier; after that, it's permanently gone. For towns, is only visited once, and only a very small part of it; while you can eventually get back into Lower City after the Delphinus is upgraded to travel above and below the clouds, Upper City remains sealed off. And while you can visit Nasrad ad nauseum, it is permanently wrecked after Ramirez destroys it, with the Bazaar inaccessible.: Due to the game's linearity, it looks like this is going to be the case at first.