My favorite Dreamcast game of all time…

There sure is a lot to choose from

Writing a post with the title ‘My favorite Dreamcast game’ might sound like something simple, something you could do before having cereals in the morning. The reality however is quite different: It is one of the hardest topics one can choose. Top 10 lists are awesome because you can put ten different things on there and don’t feel like you’re neglecting something. But if you pick a favorite, there can only be one… Hit the jump to see how the thought process went and what I came up with!

So, my first pick was House of the Dead 2, my favorite Arcade-Lightgun shooter, but two factors spoke against it as my favorite Dreamcast game. First of all, I’ve already written a fully fledged feature on that game and second of all: It’s an arcade game, best to be played in the Arcade! Same goes for Soul Calibur and Crazy Taxi, since both games came from the Arcade first.

The search became quite hard starting from that point on, since I didn’t have too many Dreamcast games to begin with. Shenmue would be a nice pick, but I didn’t have too much time with it up until now. After some time I remembered a Dreamcast game I truly loved…

It was quite obvious to me why it took me so long to remember it: It actually was the game that made me love my Gamecube first, before I even found out that it originated on the Dreamcast (I only got a Dreamcast about a year ago). Yes, Skies of Arcadia (Legends) was the last classic JRPG I truly loved on a console. I never completed it, even though I tried three times, but up to this day, I keep on planning to return to this game and complete it. It’s pretty much the basis for my Backlog, everything is just piled on it to save the best for last.

So, what is so great about this game? Short answer: Everything. It is one of the few game where I think they are pretty much flawless. You can stop reading now if this answer is good enough for you.

Twist Ending?

Oh, you scrolled past that image and want to know more? Okay, I’ll tell you.

First of all, you are a pirate and pirates are awesome. Second of all, your protagonist is not a whiny bitch like in so many of these modern JRPGs these days! Then, there is the story with many interesting characters. I won’t go into great detail, simply because I don’t want to spoil anything. Also, partially because it is now 5 years since I last played it and I’ve forgotten quite a bit. Anyway, the battle system is really fun, even though the game overall is quite hard. There’s nothing wrong with a fair challenge though, and as far as I know, it actually has been toned down for this version of the game. Yes, the graphics have suffered these past years, but seriously, the style works fine today so it ‘s not as terrible as you would initially guess. It won’t make love to your eyes anymore, but that’s a given. The game still holds up today mainly because of its story and gameplay, and really, that is all that matters to me, as far as games go. The setting is just so unique and hasn’t been done very often. In these days, where so many popular games are just grey/brown military shooters, we’re kind of lacking games with interesting ideas, like sky pirates in a universe where everything floats in the air. That’s pretty awesome and very memorable, which is why this is my favorite Dreamcast game ever…

As far as I’m concerned, Skies of Arcadia still is one of the most iconic and interesting games the Dreamcast had to offer. If you ever come across it, be it the Dreamcast or Gamecube version, just buy it. It’s still worth it!