Skies of Arcadia | Review & Retrospective

I have to say I had no idea who Rieko Kodama was until today. I like her art a lot. I am not someone to cry easily but hearing she passed away last year affected me deeply. I'm glad we got what we did from her, and she seemed to enjoy what she did. Thanks for the video.

Never played this game nor have any interest in it but I'm going to watch this all and still some how be nostalgic for it, such is the power of Majuular.

Tales of Symphonia and Skies of Arcadia: Legends were the two RPGs that made up my formative years. Imagine my surprise that a youtuber has made a long form video retrospective on not one, but BOTH of those games. My heart will always have a soft spot for SoA:L, warts and all. I won't lie, I teared up a couple of moments seeing you enjoy the parts of the game I fell in love with all those years ago. Thank you for this video. You really did this game justice.

I've never heard of Rieko Kodama before, but your acknowledgements to her and praise, made me teary. I've recently found your channel, I adore the way you're able to bring across not just a detailed analysis of mechanics, development, game design and story. You also bring across the spirit of the people that created these works and I feel the admiration you have come across in your presentation.

Skies of Arcadia is up there as one of my favorite JRPGs, along with Xenogears and Star Ocean 2, so I'm glad Maj is giving it some love.

Skies of Arcadia was easily one of my favorite games from my teenage years. Picked it up used when I was in high school for pretty cheap but it truly was a lovely gem that I replayed at least 2-3 times. Thanks for covering this game!

“The best time to play to play skies of Arcadia was when you were a kid. The second best time is right now.” That hit hard. Well said & written. I had both the Dreamcast & GameCube as a kid, but somehow missed this delight. I did end up with both the Dreamcast & GameCube versions of Sonic Adventure tho 🤣

I borrowed legends years ago from a friend and played it all the way through and had forgotten most of the fine details about it but when you played the clip of Vyse saying "Moonstone Cannon, Fire!" it awakened a primal feeling inside me that is hard to explain.

With regard to "simple stories", what a lot of people tend to forget is that the complex stories that subvert a lot of archetypes wouldn't even exist without the work that the simple stories did before them. Popular tropes exist for a reason. Games that deconstruct those tropes are necessarily never as timeless as the simple stories that stick to archetypal themes.

I'm only 7 minutes into this video and I want to cry. The passing of Rieko Kodama was a blow. Skies of Arcadia is my happy place. I saw an ad for the game in Dreamcast magazine and begged my Mom for it just because the art was cool, and it has stuck with me all these years later. Looking forward to watching the rest of your video. Thanks

Man, you ain't lying, a lot of the games you cover just haven't turned into long standing series. It's pretty crazy how many good games just don't catch on but get these in-depth reviews that just blow some of their contemporaries out of the water. I know it's a late comment and I just found your channel 3 days ago. But Hot damn do I hope your Channel keeps going strong. Your work deserves it.

I'm always so happy to see people acknowledge just what Phoenix Rie managed to do during her career, Phantasy Star's original series is absolutely one of the most fundamental gaming experiences of my childhood, and her touch is all over it, so much of the aesthetics, presentation, and magic of the classic PS series has etched a permanent mark on my tastes, let alone the number of other games I grew up with that I never knew she contributed to until decades later. Skies of Arcadia is definitely one of them, we really did lose an absolute creative powerhouse in her passing.

Skies of Arcadia is the only game that even comes close to the amazing feeling of adventure Grandia gives me. I still like Grandia better overall, but Skies of Arcadia is right on it's heels. If it had ever gotten a sequel, I imagine we'd still be getting new "Skies of" games today.

Man, what a nostalgia trip watching this was. I'm not sure why but I remembered the Crescent Isle segment being much later in the game than it actually was. I also didn't remember how bad the random battles were, but that could be just as easily chalked up to my mind blocking out the trauma. It's a shame it never got a sequel, especially considering Kodama had expressed interest in one and they even started on one that never went anywhere. I'm still holding out hope for a return to the series, or at the very least a modern remaster of it, even just an emulation with Nintendo Online if they ever decide to bring in Gamecube game. Great work as always, and already looking forward to the next one!

Majuular has the unique quality to his videos where he can make you feel nostalgic about anything he covers, even when you have no memories with it. I knew nothing about Skies of Arcadia other than it being a Dreamcast game, but I felt that feeling of familiarness (for lack of a better word) when watching this video.

This has been my favorite game of all time since I first touched it some 20 years ago. I'm 30 now. I've completed it 9 times, and nothing has come close. I'm still holding out hope we get a HD remaster someday because I want others to experience it

Genuinely amazed at your ability to crank these out so fast. Most people would take a half a year break after a 3 hour video. Keep it up.

I played this game in high school and it consumed my life along with some other rpgs you’ve gone over. So much nostalgia watching Your extensive coverage of Jrpgs from my teenage years makes me super nostalgic for this era. There’s a lot to play from the golden age. Keep the reviews coming. I’m excited to watch what you’re gonna put out in the future.

I remember playing this game on our Dreamcast way back in the day. I found the game to be a lot of fun, and have vivid memories specifically of the "Cast Away" part where you're trapped on a sky island.

Really enjoying the artwork and aesthetic in this game, makes me want to emulate it with texture filtering off to properly appreciate the texture work!