Games I Love: Skies of Arcadia

I think it’s time for what will be a recurring feature here on Ask Me About Grim Fandango: I’m going to gush about games I love and why I love them.

 

My absolute favorite game of all time, bar none, is Skies of Arcadia. Originally released for the Dreamcast and later re-released for the Gamecube, Skies of Arcadia was an oddity. Final Fantasy VII arrived 3 years ago and brought about an era of darker, moodier RPGs. At the time, developers were trying to capitalize on the trend by making characters with tragic pasts and enough angst to choke an elephant.

Skies of Arcadia balked at that. The world of Arcadia is bright and cheery. The protagonists are unflinchingly optimistic. The music is upbeat, and even the poverty-stricken sections of the Evil Empire’s capital have life to them. Skies of Arcadia remembers something that far too many games forget – you’re supposed to be having fun, and it wants to have fun with you.

It’s certainly not perfect. Random battles happen far too often, even in the fixed remake. The combat isn’t as deep as it could be. The story is incredibly predictable, and some of the characters are horribly 2-dimensional.

But the game has its tone down perfectly. Like its hero, Skies of Arcadia understands that moping for more than a minute or two is obnoxious. It decides that rather than dwelling on the negative, it’s going to accentuate the positive. And its charm is infectious. It’s impossible to listen to the music swelling and see the protagonists grinning and not feel better yourself. And that’s why I love Skies of Arcadia.