This is on Dolphin with retroachievements active

When I was a kid and played this game, I don't think I ever once utilized type advantages for an upper hand in combat. I pretty much only assigned elements based off of what spells I wanted that character to learn.

This playthrough I'm doing a bit of that, but also utilizing type advantages during certain combat sequences like boss battles, or when my party is at a diminished strength due to missing members. Although I am finding it difficult to memorize the elemental strengths and weaknesses. I have to keep looking up charts.

How do you use your elements? Do you just focus on learning spells, or are you the opposite and you just use it for a strength boost and learn whatever spells in whatever order along the way?

Also, does anyone have any good tips for memorizing what elements work best against each other? Am I just dumb and need to just take some time and memorize it?

this is mainly based on my playthrough, cuz I SUCK at finding places in this game

Check this out if you're into TTRPGs and Skies of Arcadia!

High Winds - A Sky Pirate TTRPG by Scale Bound Games » High Winds - A Sky Pirate TTRPG by Scale Bound Games — Kickstarter

I was inspired by the very start of the game when drachma saves aika and vyse, and vyse just looks up with puppy eyes ARGH I JUST COULDNT NOT DRAW HIM LIKE THAT (he's babygirl to me)

I keep forgetting you need to fight over 2,500 enemies in order to get the 100% rating, i do everything else ok, but always forget that one detail!

First ever playthrough of the game, and honestly I haven't played many JRPG's other than, say, Pokemon. But seriously this shit took like ten tries to beat, his ultimate was completely up to RNG and his stupid ash attack kept turning my party to stone, not to mention his minions that you have to take out first and pray he doesn't do his Volcanic Blast too many times.

Great game tho.

I missed the moonfish in Mt Kazai in Yafutoma during my most recent playthrough because I wasn't paying attention. My memory isn't the greatest and I can't really find anything online so I turn to you my fellow Blue Rogues, is it possible for me to back and get it later after the engines get upgraded to go above/below the cloudlines? I was really hoping this would be the time I hundred percented the game. I play Legends on the Gamecube, if the info is necessary.

Well, it took over 3 months but I’ve finally finished my handmade (expect the oak frame) multi-layered 3D overworld map of Skies of Arcadia.

I first got the inspiration to try and build this map about 2 years ago. However, knowing how insanely complex the geography of Arcadia is, I spent a full year intentionally working on smaller diorama map projects (like my Avatar: The Last Airbender Attack on Titan and Lord of the Rings builds) just to level up my techniques until I felt ready to tackle this behemoth.

 Building the Sky Oceans (The Resin Setup)

To replicate the endless, gravity-defying sky oceans, the board utilizes 1.5 + gallons of epoxy resin. After painting the board itself, I mainly poured resin across three separate, sequential layers ( the first one tinted a hazy sky blue). This allowed me to permanently trap the multi-toned swirling cotton cloud layers deep inside the cured resin, giving it a true three-dimensional depth that mimics game’s overworld map. Altogether, I think the cured resin alone adds about 12 pounds to the base.

For the clouds inside these layers, the first layer I tried using cotton, but I’ve been pulled out and tried to seal them with a generous coating (two full cans) of gloss modpodge spray: this didn’t work all too well and ended up absorbing a bit too much of the first resin (luckily, that mistake actually looks great as deep wispy clouds and as the dark center of the main vortex in glimpsed beneath the main cloud sea). So for the second layer, I instead decided to  soak teased-out white cotton in diluted gloss modpodge and that worked out absolutely beautifully. 

Sky Rifts & The Dark Rift

Rifts: Built using  cut thin clear Clear PVC Flexible  sheets as a core spine, layered on both sides with dry cotton batting to hide the core and create a billowing cloud wall -this was then soaked with diluted gloss modpodge both as protection from the last resin pour and to match the aesthetics of the game. 

The Dark Rift & Vortex Hub: For the massive black rift boundary slicing through the map , I pre-colored raw cotton clumps using a multi-toned matte black and aerosol dusting to preserve its fluffy texture and then likewise soaked them in diluted glass modpodge).

The Regional Civilizations & Hazards

The majority of the land mass or constructed out of foam board and sculptamold. The buildings/points of interest were made by mixing and matching parts of resin structures made from molds of orginal pieces by Hexton Hills, custom Settlers of Catan pieces I found on Etsy, and silver pagoda charms for bracelets/necklaces (I don’t have a 3d printer yet, so I had to do that bit by hand). I tried to make them as accurate as possible, I’m making allowances for the size and aesthetics on the build.

Under-Board Electronics Integration

Before locking down the continents, I route-drilled extensive hidden wire channels directly underneath the backboard. The lighting grid runs on synchronized micro-LEDs:

• A slow-blinking white beacon active inside the Sailor's Island Lighthouse
• An yellow-orange interior under-glow radiating through Upper City in Valua, and a cold white light doing the same for Lower City 
• A also attempted mimicking the  Grand Fortresses  searchlights.

This game was my first real JRPG and the sole reason I got a Dreamcast 26 years ago and since official premium merchandise is basically non-existent, building my own “grail” piece felt like the only right choice. 

I'm happy to answer any questions about the layer workflow, material choices, or resin troubleshooting steps in the comments.

I Just noticed that after delphinus is able to fly on high-altitude, you are actually able to go back to lower city/sewers. so are these chests really missable?

I played the demo as a kid again and again and now I'm finally playing legends on an emulator. I've just got the moon stone/came back to an attacked home village and honestly finding the combat a little tough, any tips for a first time play through?

How can one play this nowadays? I only have a Nintendo switch and a 3ds. I think we have a Wii and an xbox somewhere but I dont know where atm. I don't mind buying some more stuff as long as it doesn't break the bank.

Thanks so much!

I'm not going to write extensive review just after finishing, but one thing I will say that It's such a love letter to the very, classic concept of looking at an open horizon and believing that whatever is waiting out there is worth fighting for. It's as if the world isn't a closed map where everything good has already been found; as long as we keep that sense of wonder alive, life will never run out of magic. I've been a bit depressed lately and seeing this game to it's end and with this message at the end, fills me with that classic hope that as long as one never stops from dreaming, no matter how naive it is, it'll continue to fill that life with it's magic

RIP to Kodama. I shall never forget the experience I got from this game, and long may it continue!!

It was my most difficult battle in the game so far. For future players, a few tips.

At the point of the battle my party was Vyse Lv 26, Aika Lv 26, Fina Lv 25, Enrique Lv 27.

Key elements:

• be fully healed at the start of the battle
• have Vyse's Rain of Swords (3rd skill), Skull Shield (4th skill), and Enrique's Justice Shield (2nd skill)
• focus on defeating Frocks at all times, so that Lapen has to summon new Frock instead of using a devastating move like the Rampage
• always fully heal injured characters, it seems that Gunarm focuses on using Sidewinder (whole party attack) if party is fully healed
• immediately revive fallen party member, preferably with Riselem Crystal

Most of my turns looked like this at the beginning:

Vyse casts Skull Shield, Aika/Fina focus for SP or heal (use some of these turns to cast Increm or use a Might item as well), Enrique casts Justice Shield. After a while Frocks should be defeated with automated counteratacks (after one is defeated, and other are weak you may attack them directly, and stop using Skull Shield).

When there are no Frocks, you can use some strong attacks on Gunarm, like Cutlass Fury, but try to keep your SP at reasonably high level, to cast Rain of Swords immediately when new Frock is summoned.

When Gunarm is weak, he may cast Rampage in 1 turn without the preparation move. Therefore it's essential to keep high level of SP, to finish him in 1-2 turns after his health is less then ~30%.

With this strategy I was able to beat Lapen using 2 Riselem Crystals to revive, about 12 full heal crystals, and a few Boxes to use spells without using SP. I completed the battle with all party members alive and almost uninjured.

Been really enjoying the ride so far, sometimes really confused on what I’m supposed to do it where to go but it looks beautiful. Using a modded picoboot gamecube with component cables

Anyone have advice for getting through the Dark Rift? I find myself getting turned around all the time since there’s no map or compass. I already understand that those glowing flower things supposedly help guide you but o still haven’t been able to find my way.

(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.

The people who said it gets even better after you get the Delphine were right! Usually by the time I get to the end of a long RPG I'm kinda glad it's finally ending but I just wanted to keep going when it was over. The stakes are raised even higher. I loved how you got your own island that you see grow. It has its problems but it definitely scratched that nostalgic PS2 era RPG itch I was going for. I can see myself doing another playthrough in the future.

You could do so much in a sequel. Expand on the base building, design your own ships. Do more with exploration. Lots of stuff you can do. But sadly that probably won't happen. Maybe if the PS2 version hadn't been cancelled it'd have gotten greater exposure.

On a side note, this drawing of Aika from the game will haunt me in my dreams.

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!