Together RPG - Skies of Arcadia - 8/4 -> 10/4

[Sarge]

I don't know if any other guides picked up on it, but I figured out how to properly take out the toughest bounty battles without putting yourself at risk to get completely destroyed. It turns out that their SP meter is tied to yours. If you have a lot of SP stored up, they will unload on you with their most powerful attacks. If you keep that number low, always expending your SP with smaller moves, they'll never rip off the hard-hitting stuff, which will allow you to scrape by, particularly in battles you're not really equipped to handle at the time.

It's a great game, I've got both the Dreamcast and GC versions. I've actually got a dead spare copy of the Dreamcast version, I need to try to find that disc and see if I can get it resurfaced. That was a death knell back in the day, but I think the resurfacers have gotten so good that it might actually work. It's worth a shot to try to bring that copy back, anyway.

Also, 50 hours is long for an RPG when you're an adult with lots of responsibilities. I know my optimal time for a JRPG is 20-30 hours.

[Exhuminator]

I know my optimal time for a JRPG is 20-30 hours.

I absolutely agree with that range. It takes a truly great JRPG to remain actively engaging and entertaining beyond the 30 hour mark.

I did just about everything you could do in SoAL, and it took 65 hours (without using a walkthrough/guide). For the most part despite being twice as long as I would have liked, the game stayed enjoyable and I didn't get bored with it. That says a lot for its quality indeed.

[jmbarnes101]

I just got this game recently so this is great timing. I don't know that I'll finish it since that's a lot of hours but I'll certainly give it a try. My daughter might like this game as well so that would be a bonus.

[BoneSnapDeez]

People are considering 50 hours to be long for an RPG?

Yes.

For me that's easily a month's worth of play time. Probably more.

I mostly play 8/16-bit JRPGs. They tend to be shorter. Much shorter.

It's almost a miracle I was able to squeeze Grandia into one month earlier this year. I had to "marathon" a few evening sessions - 3 hours of straight playing. That game was phenomenal though, so I was always itching to play it.

[MrPopo]

3 hours is a marathon?

Man, I joined a community of lightweights.

[Exhuminator]

Man, I joined a community of lightweights.

If by lightweights you mean grown adults with spousal, parental, occupational, societal, and domestic responsibilities, then yes you did. You have an unrelatable gaming schedule for most of us. Although to be honest, I wouldn't want to play a game for more than three hours in a session these days even if I could. I have other interests besides just playing video games. But we are living our childhood gaming fantasy lives vicariously through you sir.

[MrPopo]

Man, I joined a community of lightweights.

If by lightweights you mean grown adults with spousal, parental, occupational, societal, and domestic responsibilities, then yes you did.

Priorities, man. Spouses and kids come and go; videogames are forever.

But we are living our childhood gaming fantasy lives vicariously through you sir.

As I like to say, I am living the dream.

[pierrot]

I have both the DC and GC version of SoA, and have 100%-ed each. While the GC version is by all accounts the definitive version in terms of content, it looks and sounds atrocious in comparison to the DC version; due in large part to a maximum supported resolution of 480i.

I don't personally feel that the additional content in Legends is worth the trade in visual and audio clarity, but I hear there are also namby pamby casuals about who can't stomach old-school encounter rates.

[Exhuminator]

it looks and sounds atrocious in comparison to the DC version

I'm sure the game looks nice in 640x480 over VGA on DC. But it absolutely did not look "atrocious" over s-video on a CRT via GameCube when I played it.

[KoLAddict]

The game still looks fantastic on GC, and even with the reduced encounter rates, it added a bunch of content. The gain in extra content is worth the loss of slightly better visuals and audio. If you're looking for one version to play, the GC one is it.

Although everyone knows the cool people own both!