Skies of Arcadia: Difference between revisions

{{quote| '''Vigoro:''' Hey Vyse! My cannon's bigger than yours!<br />

'''Aika:''' Talk about trying to compensate... That guy's got a complex. }}

** This is why the optional Gamecube battles are so time-consuming. Most of your skill points will likely be spent on re-casting Delta Shield, Justice Shield et. al over and over again.

* [[Contrived Coincidence]]: The Duccat's Island portion overall.

* [[Dual Boss]]: Sinistra and Destra, Jao and Mao.

* [[Dueling Games]]: The original vs. Evolution vs. [[Grandia II]]. The remake vs. [[Tales of Symphonia (Video Game)|Tales of Symphonia]].

** Justified in the advent of Soltis' rising. Hard to defend against laser-accurate meteor showers.

* [[Eggshell Clothing]]: Maria's pet Hamachou.

** Blue magic is [[Blow You Away|wind-]] and [[Making a Splash|water-elemental]]. Offensive spells are area-of-effect, and non-offensive spells buff the speed stat or deal a [[Standard Status Effect]].

** Yellow magic is [[Shock and Awe|electric-elemental]]. It attacks all enemies in a line or debuffs the enemy.

* [[Encounter Bait]]: The Black Map.

* [[Encounter Repellant]]: The White Map.

* [[Fight Woosh]]: The screen breaks when you hear the woosh. In the Dreamcast version, this woosh was preceded by the console's trademark loading noise; since the random encounter rate is ''ungodly'' high in the Dreamcast version, this was something of a godsend. Simply opening the menu and changing a weapon when you heard the fight load would stop the fight from happening.

* [[Final Boss Preview]] / [[Hopeless Boss Fight]]: Galcian and Ramirez at any point besides their final appearances.

{{quote| ''''THE TIME HAS COME...''''<br />

** "IN DIRE NEED!" "WE CALL FORTH!" "THE POWER!" "OF THE ANCIENTS!"

** [[Big Bad]]: Galcian.

** [[The Dragon]]: Ramirez. (Later {{spoiler|promoted to [[Dragon Ascendant]]}}).

** [[The Dark Chick]]: Belleza.

** [[Sixth Ranger Traitor]]: {{spoiler|Gregorio}}.

** [[The Hero]]: Vyse.

** [[The Lancer]]: Aika.

* [[Gondor Calls for Aid]]: The ending, {{spoiler|when absolutely ''everyone'' you met that has a ship shows up to help Vyse and friends.}}

** This particularly impressive as Gondor did not even call for aid. When the events that lead Vyse into a Heroic BSOD occurred, {{spoiler|Drachma, Gilder's crew, as well as all the Air Pirates in the game, both Blue Rogues and Black Pirates alike, as well as the Yafutoman navy and the Tenkou, and finally Vyse's father all just show up unnannounced at Vyse's base because they know he is the only guy crazy and determined enough to take on Galcian's Armada.}}

* [[Green Rocks]]: Moon Stones, also available in Red, Blue, Purple, Yellow, and Silver. Also the mysterious Black Moon Stones with the power to reverse energy; they're only mentioned in passing and have been a fertile ground for [[Epileptic Trees]] in the fandom.

* [[Guide Dang It]]: It is pretty much impossible to find all the Moonfish, Chams, Treasure Chests, Crew Members and Discoveries for the shiny 'Legend' title in the [[Game Cube]] version of the game without consulting some form of guide.

* [[Lighter and Softer]]: This game was released during a time when companies were pumping out nothing but uberdark ''[[Final Fantasy VII (Video Game)|Final Fantasy VII]]'' clones. Mind, there are still many dark and/or poignant moments in the game, but they don't dominate the story as a whole.

* [[Loads and Loads of Characters]]: Many of whom can be recruited into your crew.

* [[Loveable Rogue]]: Vyse, Aika, Gilder, Dyne...

* [[Love Triangle]]: Possibly one of the few love triangles in an RPG where the participants don't ''care'' about resolving it- and don't. In fact, it's easy to argue that since only ''one'' person seems to express a romantic attraction, it's pretty much non-existent. Romantic relationships and [[Ship Tease|hints]] between characters certainly do exist, but very little emphasis is put on them, and the role they play in the plot is minimal to nonexistant.

* [[One True Sequence]]: Due to the game's linearity, it looks like this is going to be the case at first. {{spoiler|But in reality, Valua is nowhere to be seen when the Purple and Yellow Moon Crystals are found, Belleza leaves Vyse's team alone to [[MacGuffin Delivery Service|recover the Red one for her]], the Green Crystal was recovered by the very civilization that was guarding it, Valua only attacked Yafutoma after Vyse came back with the Blue Crystal, and the Silvites always had their own.}}

* [[Only One Name]]: Everybody.

* [[Our Founder]]: One of the carpenters offers to chisel your face, Mt. Rushmore style, on your pirate HQ.

* [[Padded Sumo Gameplay]]: Due to the increasing health and and defense of certain types of enemies, it can actually be faster to have your entire party charge up the spirit gauge in order to use Prophecy anytime you come across one such foe.

* [[Palette Swap]]: Largely avoided by having completely different enemies in each area, but upheld by the [[Metal Slime|Loopers]] as well as a few other enemy types that come in two or three colors. [[Justified Trope|Justified]] by the influence of the six moons -- you get red Loopers in Nasr, blue Loopers in Yafutoma, etc.

* [[Pirate Girl]]: Quite a few. Aika's the most memorable for obvious reasons, but there's also Clara and her entire ship, including Belle and her two friends who Clara lets you take on as gunners when it comes time to recruit your own crew. Mabel is a member of the Pirate's Isle group, Piastol is kind of along these lines in [[Updated Rerelease|Legends]], and the game's epilogue shows {{spoiler|Fina getting onboard with it too}}.

* [[The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything]]: Surprisingly averted. Vyse and Aika are introduced in the middle of boarding a ship for plunder. But, since they're stealing from [[The Empire]], they remain sympathetic.

** The wanted list on Sailor's Island shows a name for pirates wanted by Valua including ''Lone Wolf Lawrence'', ''Angel of Death Piastol'', and ''Gilder the Unfettered''.

** The bounties, ''Baltor the Blackbeard'', ''Goumet Pirate Gordo'', ''Loose Cannon Lapen'', ''Vize the Fallen Pirate/Legend'', and ''Daikokuya the Wealthy''.

** Strangely enough, Vyse and Aika fit this description as well. While they are both prone to commit crazy actions, Aika tends to be more impulsive and expressive (she also favors fire based magic and specials), while Vyse is the calmer and more level-headed of the two. This also applies to their appearance; first thing you notice about Aika is her vibrant red hair, while Vyse typically wears a blue coat.

* [[Redemption Equals Death]]: {{spoiler|Belleza, who performs a [[Heel Face Turn]] and a [[Heroic Sacrifice]] in the same moment by crashing her own airship into Galcian's escape pod and killing them both. Admiral Gregorio pulls this earlier on to buy the heroes time to escape.}}

* [[That's No Moon]]: Vyse and Aika mistake Rhaknam for an island when they first encounter it. Eep.

** {{spoiler|Zelos the Silver Gigas}}, which turns out to be {{spoiler|''the transformed central tower of the Soltis continent'' and is possibly as large as the [[Trope Namer]]!}}

* [[Theme Naming]] : Many of the Air Pirates - Drachma, Gilder, Daccat - are named after defunct forms of currency. Clara was named Krone in the Japanese version. The latter three are named after ''the same coin'' in different time periods. The Valuans all have Spanish names to improve their "Spanish Armada" flavor - even Ramirez, {{spoiler|who is actually a Silvite}}. All of the named ships in the Valuan Armada are named after constellations.

* [[They Wasted a Perfectly Good Sandwich]]: The optional airship battle versus a giant calamari. As it loses HP, the tentacles start flying off, prompting a hungry Vyse to mutter about what a waste it is.

* [[Walk Into Mordor]]: Valua. One giant door, opens twice a day, passport required, no exceptions.

** The only way through the Dark Rift (apart from flying over it, once you get the Yafutoman tech) is the storm's eye, which is relatively calm.

* [[Wave Motion Gun]]: Quite a few of them

** {{spoiler|De Loco's and}} the Delphinus' Moonstone Cannons;

** Even odder is the implication (from the "Black Moon Stone" discovery) that there was once a seventh Black Moon, which possibly sank under the cloud barrier and is generating the Dark Rift. Arcadia ate a ''moon''?

** Although it's only mentioned in passing, most of the moons have notable effects on the lands they orbit. The Red Moon radiates so much heat, that the lands under it are turned into scorching deserts, while the Purple Moon radiates cold which freezes the lands under it. The Yellow Moon generates perpetual thunder storms, and the Green Moon somehow causes animal and plant life to flourish. The Blue Moon apparently generates strong winds. Only the Silver Moon has no apparent effect on the environment of the land it orbits.

** This also tends to happen whenever you choose an unfavorable [[But Thou Must|dialogue choice]].

* [[When Things Spin Science Happens]]: The Silvite Elders' life-support machines.

* [[With a Friend And A Stranger]]

* [[X Meets Y]]: In terms of character design, Aika is what resulted when [[Pippi Longstocking (Literature)|Pippi Longstocking]] [[Took a Level In Badass]].