What I really want is a way to play all my Dreamcast games on a PC emulator…
What I really want is a way to play all my Dreamcast games on a PC emulator…
Any Dreamcast games in particular? Many have already been ported to other systems (and it’s looking likely that the Shenmue games are on the way).
Personally I want Sega to look ahead more instead of looking back. The only retro games Sega should focus on, IMO, are those that aged extremely well (due to unique art that never ages).
Sega should keep making games of such quality in my ever-so humble opinion. Artistically Phantasy Star Online 2 still looks great IMO.
Having said that, I am glad that Sega are still alive to even see the future.
Is there any kind of hope for a Skies of Arcadia 2?! Come on Sega!!
I’d prefer a spiritual successor to Skies, rather than a direct sequel. The story of Skies of Arcadia was wrapped up nicely and geographically there isn’t much more of that world to explore. The gameplay of Skies of Arcadia was already quite traditional back in the Dreamcast era; a game with random battles and turn based mechanics would struggle in today’s market. If you’re going to change the gameplay, setting, and characters, is it still Skies of Arcadia? A modern, open world game with similar themes and setting could be epic.
Skies had a self-contained story. There’s a lot of truth to that story too (especially when it comes to the Gigas).
I don’t believe the gameplay of Skies would be a good return on investment in today’s market given that it is rooted in turn-based RPGs that came from a different time such as Phantasy Star which require a lot of patience.
I would much prefer for Sega to simply survive through these dark economic times at the moment.
I think it would be a great idea if we saw some of the main characters again though. I was hoping that Garian would show up in Time Stalkers, but I guess he’s still trapped on Jailer’s Island. Or maybe he changed his name and decided to start again somewhere.
Anyway, I have no plans to give up on Sega. I will try to keep up to date with Sega in the future.
Okay, but there is one option left for a sequel (I know Vyse wouldn’t be able to resist): Why not have Vyse and crew explore the Moons? They still have Fina’s ship right?
And you need a new story/villain right? Well what about the mystery and ominous presence of the Dark Moon suddenly appearing in the sky?
And yes, the battle system would have to change. I would prefer something along the lines of a Kingdom Hearts/Final Fantasy 15 action rpg battle system. Hey, if they revived Shenmue this is not out of the question…
All my Dreamcast games really…
http://www.gamefaqs.com/community/urbanreflex/games/owned?platform=67
That was really the culmination of someone’s persistence. The story was never finished. We might see a conclusion to the story now, whereas Skies never really left itself open for a sequel.
Edit: It’s a minor miracle that Shenmue 3 is even being made.
Yes, I agree. It’s quite extraordinary, actually! I still really love Skies of Arcadia though, it would be a shame never to see another game.
Is Skies of Arcadia worth the £50-60+ price it goes for on Ebay?
Yes.
It’s actually a very long RPG by today’s standards (it took me 60 hours to complete, and I am an RPG fan).
I’d say the turn-based battles when fighting normal enemies are similar to Phantasy Star, so they are an acquired taste, but the ship-to-ship battles are some of the best battles I have ever seen in an RPG.
The characters have real character too.
Only buy it if you can afford it though. Surely it can be emulated easily by now? I’m not up to date on this.
I wish someone would pull some strings and make some characters from Panzer Dragoon and Skies mysteriously show up in new Sega games. Like Gilius in Shining in the Darkness. Imagine a mysterious stranger who saves you and he happens to be Kyle who traveled back in time to another dimension… or something (it would be a fitting end for him when you consider his name).
I wouldn’t necessarily say that it would be a shame if we never saw a sequel. Skies was what I would call complete. What I would rather see is something that builds on the themes of the game (airships, empires, villains, noble villains, heroes and anti-heroes etc). There is room for growth there I believe.
I think it would be a shame to never get a chance to go back to that world or atmosphere, though (at least for the fans). Even Legend of Legaia got a sequel!
It’s been so long, I think if it wanted to sell and capture a new audience; it might have to be rebooted or turned into a spiritual successor. From what I’ve seen though, most times when this is done, the game doesn’t live up to the standards of what it’s mimicking. Just look at Crimson Dragon or Star Fox Zero for example. If you don’t have the same exact team; most times the soul of the game suffers dearly, or for the most part, is almost completely gone!
I’m also afraid of what an open-world-nature could do to this game. With a more open world comes
the loss of that fine tuned environmental detail we had, with more or less confined games. These games had a set space to work with and that space was always given artistic flare and attention to
detail. That’s one of the reasons I admire the fist game so much; I can appreciate the attention to detail found in the environments. Every space had it’s own character, like a sprawling unique painting!
In my opinion, a spiritual successor would just be a repeat of the first game. They might try too hard to capture the magic of the fist game without actually doing anything new. Just like Star Wars the Force Awakens just rehashed Star Wars a New Hope.
Would the environments be as creative, vibrant and varied?
Would you still be able to feel the exhilaration of discovering something for the first time?
Would the soundtrack be as epic, and organic as the first, setting the mood for the adventure?
Would the characters be as endearing, charming and full of chemistry just like the first game?
If it’s not the same Overworks development team as the first Skies of Aracadia, then I wouldn’t bother. Without the same creative flow of the original team, moving from person to person, the heart of the game will be lost to someone else’s interpretation.
There has to be room for one final adventure with Vyse and Crew. Why not just build on the relationships of the exiting characters and fly off to explore the (unexplored) Moons in new and exiting environments?
We can dream. First it needs to be economically viable. Keep in mind that even if a new RPG could sell even half a million copies, something else might still be a better investment.
I think the best thing Sega could do is take the best parts of PD Saga and Skies and build on them. It would take some extremely principled people to do it, not to mention it would need to be done in great or good economic times. These are not good times for the games industry as a whole from the perspective of an average consumer. You have to compete with giants and free to play games etc etc.
So, first thing’s first. I believe that if the Saturn had been more popular in the west, PD Saga would have sold 1 million+ copies (it would have been a cult classic like Silent Hill which started a long running series of mature games). Unfortunately, I can’t prove that. Maybe one day.
I think a hybrid of both Skies and Saga in terms of gameplay, visuals, story, and atmosphere would be quite simply, amazing! We just don’t see very many development teams which are allowed or given unrestricted, free-rains-creativity though.
I didn’t realise the game was worth so much these days. I think the more important question is whether you have around 65 hours available to finish the game. If you do, it’s worth it, provided that you can endure the numerous random battles. The characters and sense of discovery make up for the slower parts; at the end of the journey you will feel like you’ve experienced a truly epic adventure. The light hearted nature of the game, while not being childish, makes it stand out from most of today’s games. After Panzer Dragoon Saga, it’s my favourite RPG.
It’s the nature of the beast these days sadly. I think I will escape mainstream gaming for a while. The only game that really piques my interest at the moment is Bloodborne.
At least older games have been preserved so that modern gamers can go back in time.
Oh. Maybe one for when I retire then… I find playing long games in small bursts ruins the story and atmosphere.
Yeah, if you’re going to play an older title, Shadow of the Colossus is a more concise experience. I recommend it over Skies for the time constrained; you could finish it in a weekend. Although Skies of Arcadia was a magical experience, there is no doubt that it was aimed at old school RPG fans prepared to make a commitment. For that reason I will probably never play through Skies of Arcadia again.
Well u could do what I do. I’ve played it enough times the real way. Now I just use Action Replay codes with max stats and no random battles.
This allows me to take in the music, atmosphere and probably cuts 30 hours from the game. It’s nice being able to explore the environments without being interrupted by random battles; just fighting the boss battles and enjoying the ship battles! I can just sit back and enjoy the game’s strengths. I don’t feel like I’m cheating myself because I’ve beaten the game the real way many times before!
On a side note: it’s funny how I can always replay Panzer Dragoon Saga and never feel like I’m grinding! The game is so well balanced and never a chore!