Skies of Arcadia

is a role-playing game developed by Overworks and published by Sega for the Sega Dreamcast console.

A Mysterious Girl
Vyse and Aika, air pirates who are part of the Blue Rogues' Dyne pirates, seize a Valuan Battleship captained by Alfonso, an admiral of the Valuan Empire's armada. Fina, a girl of mysterious origin, was captured by Alfonso and subsequently rescued by the Blue Rogues, and is taken back to their base at Pirate Isle. While Vyse and Aika are away at Shrine Island to obtain a Moon Stone, stones that fall from the moons and are a source of energy, Pirate Isle is attacked by Valua's Lord Admiral Galcian and his vice captain Ramirez, and the Dyne pirates and Fina are taken to Valua to be executed and subjugated respectively.

On their way to Valua to save their crew and Fina, Vyse and Aika's ship is capsized by their encounter with Rhaknam, a giant arcwhale. Drachma, an old sailor whose mission in life is to destroy Rhaknam, saves Vyse and Aika and drops them off at Sailors' Island. Without a ship, they are eventually able to convince Drachma to take them to Valua, escorting a Nasr Merchant to Nasrad and protecting him from the Black Pirate Baltor in order to earn a passport to sneak into Valua. Reaching Lower City Valua, Vyse learns through Marco, a Lower City boy, that they can take the Catacombs to reach the Coliseum save their friends from execution. After saving their friends, Vyse and Aika head out to save Fina, and they all escape from Valua, narrowly escaping an encounter with Galcian.

Red Moon Crystal
Back at Pirate Isle, Fina reveals that she is a Silvite of the long lost Silver civilization. Her mission is to obtain the Moon Crystals, crystals of great power that control the Gigas, giant monsters that ravaged the land long ago. After much war, the Rains of Destruction wiped the civilizations out, and the Gigas disappeared. The Valuan Empire are also after the Moon Crystals to obtain control of the Gigas in order to conquer the world. Vyse, Aika, Fina, and Drachma head to the deserts of Nasr to obtain the Red Moon Crystal. Drachma abandons the trio stranded at Maramba to pursue his goal of defeating Rhaknam. Vyse encounters Bellena, a belly dancer who offers to take them to the Temple of Pyrynn to obtain the Red Moon Crystal. They obtain the crystal and Bellena, revealed to be the Valuan admiral Belleza in disguise, takes the Crystal and revives Recumen, the Red Gigas. Drachma saves the trio from certain death and they fight Recumen in a ship battle. Realizing they cannot defeat the Gigas, they fight and defeat Belleza in a ship battle, as defeating whoever controls the Gigas will allow them to call off the Gigas. Vyse obtains the Red Crystal and they head towards Ixa'taka.

Green Moon Crystal
Sailing through South Ocean, an airspace with turbulent winds, they reach Horteka, a village in Ixa'taka. They learn from the village elder that King Ixa'taka knows of the Green Crystal's whereabouts and that he is hiding out elsewhere. On their way to meet the king, Vyse encounters the Valuan Admiral De Loco burning the forest with his ship, the Chameleon, in order to find the hidden city of Rixis. Vyse defeats De Loco in a ship battle and they reach the King's Hideout. They learn from King Ixa'taka that the Green Crystal is in the lost city of Rixis and that the only person who knows its location is High Priest Isapa, who is held captive at the mines of Moon Stone Mountain. The party goes to Moon Stone Mountain to rescue Isapa from De Loco and Alfonso with the help of Centime, a fellow Blue Rogue. Returning to the King's Hideout, Vyse uses clues given by Isapa to reach Rixis. They reach an altar to find the Green Crystal missing, and a priest that was tailing them reveals that the Crystal is already in King Ixa'taka's possession. King Ixa'taka summons Grendel, the Green Gigas, and is subsequently knocked unconscious by De Loco's ship cannon, causing him to lose control of the Gigas, allowing it to rampage uncontrollably throughout the land. Vyse defeats De Loco and incapacitates Grendel in consecutive ship battles, and the king entrusts Vyse with the Green Crystal.

Separated
On their way to Valua to obtain the Yellow Moon Crystal, the party sail through North Ocean and are attacked by Gordo, a Black Pirate, whom they defeat. They reach the Maw of Tartas, where they are ambushed by Valuan soldiers and, after defeating them, learn that Rhaknam is nearby. Drachma orders the crew to prepare to attack Rhaknam. The night before the attack, Drachma confides in Vyse that he was a fisherman and had a son named Jack, and that his son and crew were killed by Rhaknam years ago. Rhaknam arrives, and a three-way battle between Ramirez's fleet, Rhaknam, and Drachma's ship, the Little Jack, takes place. The Little Jack attaches itself to Rhaknam via its Harpoon Cannon, but the Little Jack catches on fire after being damaged by Ramirez's assault. The party get on lifeboats to abandon the Little Jack, but Drachma stays on and goes down with his ship, disappearing with Rhaknam. Ramirez shoots at the lifeboats Vyse, Aika, and Fina are on, separating Vyse from Aika and Fina.

Vyse wakes up on a deserted island and finds half of a map on the remains of a previous sailor seeking treasure. Meanwhile, Aika and Fina have been picked up by Clara, a fellow Blue Rogue, and she drops them off at the Nasr's capital, the city of Nasrad. Vyse works on creating a fire to signal any passing boats and on fixing the lifeboat. A boat sails by and picks up Vyse, captained by Gilder, a Blue Rogue. They travel to and arrive at Nasrad, evading Clara, who is enamored with Gilder, on the way. After Vyse arrives at the inn, Fina and Aika, who are also in Nasrad but never crosses paths with Vyse, earn enough to buy a ship and they encounter a sailor, Pedro, who was friends with Gonzales and has the other half of the map. He gives the map to the girls and they decide to try and find Daccat's Island with it. Vyse attempts to warn the Nasultan of an impending Valuan attack that he learned of back at the Maw of Tartas, but the Nasultan dismisses their warning, and Vyse and Gilder try to find Daccat's Island at the same time as Aika and Fina.

Both parties find and reach Daccat's Island to hunt for a treasure left by the legendary pirate Daccat. They arrive at different parts of the island, and unwittingly assist each other as they try to traverse through the island. At the end, Vyse is reunited with Aika and Fina, and they obtain a coin and letter left by Daccat. Disappointed by the meager treasure, they return to Nasrad, which is then attacked by Ramirez's fleet. They are captured by Ramirez to be imprisoned at the Grand Fortress, and the Moon Crystals appropriated.

Captain Vyse
Vyse and Gilder manage to escape their prison and save Aika from Vigoro, an admiral of the Valuan Armada. They reunite with Fina, and during their escape to the docks, encounter Enrique, the crown prince of Valua. Enrique does not agree with the his mother's desire to conquer the world, and offers Vyse his prototype war ship, the Delphinus, and begs Vyse to allow him to join their cause. He gives back the stolen Moon Crystals, and the party escapes the Grand Fortress with their new ship. Vyse is elected captain of the Delphinus, and Gilder gives Vyse advice on being a captain, such as building a base and a crew. Gilder leaves with his crew, and Vyse reaches Crescent Isle to start funding the building of his headquarters. Around a campfire, Fina reveals her connection to Ramirez, who is also a Silvite and was Fina's childhood friend whose mission was to obtain the Moon Crystals for the Silvite Elders before they lost contact with him, not understanding why Ramirez chose to side with the Valuans. They then head east to seek the Blue Moon Crystal and head to Esparanza.

At Esparanza, they learn that to travel east, they must go through the Dark Rift, a perilous airspace that has claimed many ships and lives. Their journey is interrupted by Gregorio, a Valuan admiral who is close to Enrique and was order to bring Enrique back to Valua. Enrique refuses to go back, and Gregorio's fleet is defeated by ship battles, forcing him to retreat. They then go through and successfully reach the other end of the Dark Rift.

Blue Moon Crystal
On their way to Yafutoma, the Delphinus is attacked by the Tenkou. They fight and defeat Jao and Mao, who retreat to report to their commander. Upon reaching Yafutoma, they have an audience with Lord Mikado, the ruler of Yafutoma. They learn that the Blue Moon Crystal is in Mount Kazai, and they catch a ride with a Yafutoman boat, as the entrance to Mount Kazai is at too high an altitude for the Delphinus to reach. They venture through and obtain the Blue Crystal. Back in Yafutoma, they give the Crystal to Mikado, and Vyse asks to borrow it but Mikado asks Vyse that he keep it as long as Vyse is in Yafutoma. The party stays overnight at the Royal Guest House.

The next morning, Belleza and Vigoro are revealed to have arrived in Yafutoma, and they seize the Delphinus. They successfully invade and occupy Yafutoma with the help of the Yafutoman vizier and son, Kangan and Muraji, who now assume power. Unable to reach their ship, they escape through a secret passage with the help of the Yafutoman princess, Moegi. Using an escape capsule, Moegi suggests to meet her exiled brother and Yafutoman prince, Daigo, at Exile Island and obtain his help in taking back Yafutoma. They reach the island and have found it has been taken over by the Tenkou, encountering Jao and Mao. They learn that Daigo is now the leader of the Tenkou, and they manage to gain his aid in taking back Yafutoma.

With Daigo's help, The party boards the Delphinus, now in control by Muraji. They defeat Muraji and reclaim their ship, after which they battle and defeat Vigoro's ship, the Draco. After the battle, Kangan summons Bluheim, the Blue Gigas, whose powerful winds forces the Valuan ships to retreat. Vyse is forced to battle and defeats the Gigas in ship battle, and Kangan and Muraji are apprehended. Daigo returns to resume being prince of Yafutoma, Mikado hands Vyse the Blue Crystal, and Moegi joins Vyse's crew. Using a tip from an earlier encounter with Belleza, they travel east to go back home.

Purple Moon Crystal
Back at base, the party learns that the Purple Moon Crystal is in the Lands of Ice and travel there, reaching the abandoned city of Glacia. After reaching the heart of Glacia, they find Drachma and Rhaknam, still wounded from the Valuan attack, with Drachma having been taking care of Rhaknam ever since. They learn that Rhaknam is Plergoth, the Purple Gigas, who, without a master, has been aimlessly wandering the skies. Drachma forgives the whale for killing his son, realizing Rhaknam itself is a victim of war, and it drops the Purple Crystal as it passes away. Drachma learns to let go of his hate, and parts ways with Vyse.

Yellow Moon Crystal
Back at base, the party discusses on how to reach the Yellow Moon Crystal. Enrique suggests using the subterranean tunnels of the Valuan continent to reach the Yellow Crystal. They make their way through the underground caverns, the Maw of Tartas, and encounter and defeat Yeligar, the Yellow Gigas, completing Fina's quest after obtaining the final crystal, the Yellow Crystal.

Deep Sky
Back at Crescent Isle, Fina explains that she cannot get back home without her ship, which was fallen into Deep Sky when she was initially captured by Valua. Using a tip from Gilder, Vyse learns that Valua itself is making advances into Deep Sky and have built Dangral Island, a base beneath the clouds. At Dangral Island, Galcian announces to the admirals that he has assumed control of the Valuan Armada, which is now no longer under control of the Empress Teodora, to mixed reactions by the admirals. Vyse and party arrive at Dangral Island, where they sneak in and obtain De Loco's schematics for going into Deep Sky. As they leave the base, they encounter Galcian, who intends to stop them. Coming to their defense is Gregorio, who sacrifices himself to hold Galcian off to allow for the party's escape. The engineers of Vyse's crew are given the schematics and modify the Delphinus to allow it to go into Deep Sky. They go into Deep Sky and secure Fina's ship, but are attacked by De Loco. They defeat De Loco in ship battle, and De Loco goes down with his ship. Before returning to base, Enrique is dropped off at Sailors' Island and leaves the party to return to Valua and warn his mother of Galcian's treachery.

Silver Moon Crystal
At Cresent Isle, a going away party is thrown for Fina, which is interrupted by an attack fleet led by Ramirez. Ramirez bombards the base, and seizes the Moon Crystals. He reveals his disillusionment with the world, the reasons for his loyalty to Galcian, that the Silvites' true mission for obtaining the Moon Crystals is to raise the lost Silver continent of Soltis from Deep Sky and call down the Rains of Destruction, and that each Silvite is born with a Silver Moon Crystal, which upon removal causes death. He attempts to take Fina's Silver Crystal, but is interrupted by one of Gilder's cannons, causing Ramirez to retreat. As Vyse and crew rebuild their destroyed base, Fina asks Vyse and Aika to come with her to the Great Silver Shrine to confront the Elders regarding the true purpose of her mission, and Gilder rejoins their party. Meanwhile, Enrique tries to warn his mother of Galcian's plans. Enrique, wanting to get the people to safety and disagreeing with his mother's plans to obtain the Crystals, attempts to subdue his mother by force. Belleza, returning to Valua at Galcian's earlier behest, knocks Enrique out and is ordered by Alfonso, the new Commander of the Valuan Armada, to lock him up.

They arrive at the Great Silver Shrine and meet the Elders, who are confronted about the truth behind the Moon Crystals. The Elders reveal that long ago, as civilizations grew, they sought the power of the Moon Crystals, and each civilization created their own Gigas. Due to the creation and power of the Gigas, they left a trail of death and destruction in their wake. The ancient Silvites sought to reset the world, and so created their own Gigas, Zelos, who had the power to summon the Rains of Destruction. They commanded Zelos to use the rains, and the world was battered and cleansed. After it was over, Zelos was sealed in Soltis, which was sent to Deep Sky in the hopes it would never have to be used again. The Elders offer Vyse to stay at the Shrine to avoid falling victim to their future plans, but their offer is denied by Vyse and Fina. Galcian and Ramirez ambushes and assassinates Elder Prime and takes his Silver Crystal. Galcian and Ramirez escape and all seems lost, but the party asserts that they won't give up and that they will stop Galcian.

Soltis
Going off a rumor that Galcian has built an elevator from Dangral Island into Deep Sky in order to reach Soltis, the party goes to Dangral Island. On their way to the elevator, they are attacked by Vigoro, who is subsequently defeated. They reach the core room of Soltis and find Galcian, but they are too late, as Galcian and Ramirez have broken the seal holding the Gigas and awaken Zelos, raising Soltis. After the party escapes back to their ship, they are forced to retreat because Soltis' impenetrable defense system, the Dome of Light, prevents them from reaching Galcian. Galcian orders Zelos to summon the Rains of Destruction to annihilate Valua, killing Empress Teodora, and Belleza and Enrique barely escape with their lives. Back at headquarters, realizing that without the firepower to take on Galcian's defenses, Vyse is at a loss for what to do. However, gradually the allies Vyse has made over his journey come to Vyse's aid to defeat Galcian. Everyone rests up the night before the final battle.

On their way to Soltis, they battle through the ships of Galcian's armada, eventually reaching his sky fortress, the Hydra. They weaken the Hydra in ship battle and board the ship afterwards to reach Galcian. After Galcian is defeated, he attempts to escape, but Belleza crashes her ship into his escape pod, killing them both. Galcian's death unhinges Ramirez, who attempts to summon the Rains in order to avenge Galcian. To prevent the Rains of Destruction from falling, the Silvite Elders sacrifice themselves by crashing the Great Silver Shrine onto the top of Soltis, interrupting the Rains and destroying Soltis' defense, the Dome of Light.

The party enters Soltis to stop Ramirez. They reach him in the core room and defeat him in battle, but afterwards. Ramirez forfeits his life to control and merge with Zelos. Fina reveals that Zelos must be defeated before he finishes transforming, lest the Gigas be unstoppable. Returning to the Delphinus, Vyse and his crew battle with Zelos and manage to defeat it. The party rushes to the outer deck, where a chunk of Zelos, merged with Ramirez, slams onto the Delphinus' deck. They battle, resulting in Ramirez's death and the defeat of the Valuan Armada. Vyse and Aika inaugurate Fina as a Blue Rogue, and the three sail into the sunset.

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Characters
The main playable characters of Skies of Arcadia are Vyse, son of Blue Rogue captain Dyne and the main protaganist, Aika, Vyse's childhood friend and fellow pirate, and Fina, a mysterious girl on a dire mission.

Additional playable characters are Drachma, an old grumpy man whose mission in life is to hunt down Rhaknam, Gilder, an air pirate captain who's always up for the pleasures of life and excitement, and Enrique, the Crown Prince of Valua who wishes to right the wrongs his country has committed.

The main antagonists are from the Valuan Empire, ruled by Empress Teodora. The Valuan Empire frequently flexes its military might, the Valuan Armada, to try to conquer the world. Among the armada's ranks are Galcian, its Lord Admiral, and his subordinates Alfonso, Gregorio, Vigoro, Belleza, and De Loco. Later, Galcian's vice-captain Ramirez, who has a mysterious connection to Fina, is promoted into their ranks.

Subsequent Appearances
Vyse and Aika appear in Guruguru Onsen 2 on the Sega Dreamcast, an online game that had a collection of multiplayer card and board games such as Uno, P(how to turn off spam filter wiki won't let me write this word)oker, Mahjong, and more.

Vyse, Aika, and Fina appear in Valkyria Chronicles on the Sony PlayStation 3 and Senjō no Valkyria 3: Unrecorded Chronicles on the Sony PlayStation Portable. As such, some characters also appear in supplementary materials, such as its anime series.

Development
The remains of Team Andromeda (of Panzer Dragoon fame) and the talent behind the Phantasy Star series worked under Overworks to work on a title originally codenamed Project Ares.

Downloadable Content
When the Dreamcast was able to go online, players were able to download three files from the site allowing players to obtain the Tuna Cutlass and Swirlmerang, access Hamachou Island for the final Cham, and able to fight a Giant Looper ship battle.

Gamecube Port
An enhanced port of Skies of Arcadia titled Skies of Arcadia Legends was made for the Nintendo Gamecube console.

Trivia

 * Plop your copy of Skies of Arcadia into your computer's CD drive to find a 640×480 BMP wallpaper. Inserting the CD into a CD player nets a message about inserting the game into the game console instead.
 * Other than the shopkeepers and guildmasters, no two town NPCs look alike. Even the shopkeepers in Lower City Valua, while identical to their more fortunate counterparts in Sailors' Island, display differences by looking more downtrodden.