The Duality of Life and Death in Skies of Arcadia
Swashbucklers, airships, treasures, discoveries, and an evil empire await in Skies of Arcadia. Yet, this tale of a mysterious girl and a couple of teenage pirates (read heroes) saving the world was not unique. The abundance of games released during that era featuring a similar premise was overwhelming. So, what made Skies of Arcadia special? The subversion of expectations.
Skies of Arcadia’s main protagonist, was a beacon of hope of neverending optimism. Back then, everyone wanted to be the next angsty Cloud Strife and capitalize on the success of Final Fantasy VIII. But, Vyse dared to be an optimist, facing the impossible with a smile on his face.
Fina, the game’s resident mysterious waif, had a backbone visible from the many moons of Arcadia. Regardless of whether she was staring down a renowned pirate captain or insulting the evil empress to her face, Fina gave zero fucks.
Our third protagonist, Aika, was the comic-relief character, a Pippi Longstocking expy with a vivid imagination and a thirst for treasure. Yet, despite her position, she was surprisingly capable in her own right. If the player character chose the wrong options during the game, she would quickly correct you and provide insight into the situation you might have missed.
All three of them were subversions of their (at the time) archetypal or stereotypical characterizations. It made them rather personable and likable almost, like someone you’d love to have in your life.
Yet, these subversions served a practical purpose. It helped Skies of Arcadia stand out amongst a crowd of copycats. Those who played the game knew this well, and yet, it failed commercially. Why? Because the consoles it released on weren’t as widely adopted by the gamers.
Skies of Arcadia was published on the ill-fated Sega Dreamcast in late 2000. It was one of the flagship titles of the console and rated highly by reviewers, but sadly, the adoption rate of the Dreamcast meant it didn’t sell. However, circa 2002–2003 it received a second shot at life by Nintendo. Re-released on the Nintendo GameCube, yet another ill-fated console with a small install base was Skies of Arcadia Legends. It added and removed features from the original release on the Dreamcast. If you’re interested in playing it, Legends is probably the best way to get the most out of your game. However, due to the relatively small number of role-playing game fans in Nintendo’s corner, it also failed to garner the commercial success it deserved.
Sadly, this was the last time we heard about Skies of Arcadia in any concrete fashion, doomed to relative obscurity outside of its core audience. Yet, it somehow lives on in the hearts and minds of those who enjoyed the game. A cycle of life and death, that is ironically best illustrated in the game proper.
However, if your interest is piqued and you’d like to try the story free of spoilers, I suggest you stop reading now. However, if you don’t mind spoilers, then by all means continue.
***SPOILERS AHEAD***
The concept of life and death is at the core of Skies of Arcadia, yet it’s often an overlooked topic. When people speak of the game, they’ll often mention how interesting the ship-to-ship combat was or the admittedly flawed magic system. They’ll note how fun the story is or the enjoyability of its characters. Others will mention the freedom of sailing an airship and the exploration aspects of its gameplay. Yet, there is so much more left to explore within the intricacies of SoA.
Take, for example, the air pirate factions in Arcadia. Blue Rogues are the Robin Hoods of the setting, stealing from the rich and helping the needy. Black Pirates, alternatively, are blackhearts that steal and rob from anyone regardless of their affiliation or threat levels. Both groups are objectively criminals, yet they represent life and death, respectively.
A Blue Rogue will help anyone in need, even if those are the same empire they’re directly opposing. Even when they plunder their enemies, they’ll still leave them alive once they have looted their valuables. Black Pirates, alternatively, will most likely be stealing from merchant vessels and killing everyone on board. One group is a beacon of hope, the other of despair. SoA covers most of this information within the first half-hour of the game. Thankfully, this information is easily digestible as the game presents it to the player via gameplay, exposition, and demonstration. But, speaking of Valua.
The main enemy faction throughout the game is the Valuan Empire. Valua is a corrupt monarchy with an evil empress at the top and an idealistic prince in the rear. Empress Theodora seeks to control the world via the might of ancient superweapons. Enrique is a sagely albeit inexperienced prince who wants to do what’s best for his people.
Of course, their differences mean that Enrique inevitably defies his mother and joins the heroes. While she exemplifies the worst traits of a brutal monarchy and dies forgotten, Prince Enrique survives to become a beloved Emperor embraced by all. The player will also find this circle of life and death in nearly every aspect of Valuan society.
Valua has two distinct locations in its borders. An upper city filled with wealthy or noble families who party often and never go hungry. Next to that, however, is the lower city, a cesspool of pain and misery. A place where a chipped tooth is a daily concern, and rummaging through garbage for food is almost a necessity.
The people of Lower Valua live only to manufacture weapons for the Valuan Armada. Their only joy in life? The Colosseum. A place where they can witness pirate executions every so often. Nothing brings joy to the lives of these pathetic citizens more than watching others in a worse spot in life. They’ll even tell you so, themselves.
Upper Valuans, however, have parties and feasts to keep them distracted. Yet, do they still frequent the Colosseum? Yes, but to them, it’s a rare delicacy. Executions are just another performance they can enjoy as part of their luxurious lives.
For the poor citizens of Valua, work or death are their only options. There are no alternatives; if any lower citizen tries to escape, only death awaits them.
Valua embodies the extremes of the concept of life and death within the borders of its merciless empire.
Yet, believe it or not, we’ve barely scratched the surface of how integral these ideas are to the storyline. Because after you’re presented with both of these examples early in the game, it seemingly vanishes from plain sight, becoming a looming presence in the background. Always present, but never actively interfering in the storyline. At least, that’s what the game wants you to believe.
You see, the world of Arcadia features six distinct moons that rule over the elements. The blue moon commands water, red is fire, green is nature, purple is ice, and yellow is electricity. The last moon, however, is silver-colored, and what does it control? Life and death.
The people of Arcadia can harness the power of these moons through repeated use of weapons infused with these elements. As such, constant exposure to the silver moon means your protagonists can eventually gain mastery over life and death itself. But, nowhere is this example more noticeable than with Fina and Ramirez. The first two members of the Silvite race that you’ll find in the game.
Fina and Ramirez each represent life and death in the world of Arcadia. Not as gods or physical embodiments of the two concepts; but rather as two sides of the same coin. The laws of nature dictate that life can’t exist without death. Similarly, Fina and Ramirez are both willing to kill to achieve their respective goals, but their reasoning is different.
Fina’s goal is to protect the world from people who seek to control it through tyranny. She understands, however, that using force is necessary at times when others are being unreasonable. She will not go out of her way to hurt someone, but if they’re in her way, Fina will demonstrate her resolve by any means possible. Whether it’s through sheer defiance or by other means, she understands what’s necessary to achieve her goals. Fina is the embodiment of life, but death is never too far away from her.
Ramirez, however, wants to empower a tyrant by any means possible, even if it means the destruction of everyone in Arcadia. He will kill, steal, threaten, and even attack lifeboats to complete his objective. Emotions nor pity can sway his resolve. To Ramirez, people are merely pawns to be used and discarded once they’re no longer necessary. A mindset he shares with his superior officer Galcian. At first glance, however, Ramirez is purely the embodiment of death. A pale warrior, clad in all black in the servitude of another individual. But, Ramirez is more like a force of nature that seeks to cause destruction.
Even their abilities embody the concepts of life and death. As the story progresses and the player unlocks Fina’s potential, you’ll notice her special abilities primarily deal with curing and reviving her allies. She’s capable of giving the party restorative healing and even bringing them back from the abyss. However, she’s also the fastest learner of silver spells. Properly leveled, her magic can inflict death on every enemy on the screen or resurrect a fallen comrade with a full health bar. Will it be necessary? No, as anyone who’s played the game will tell you, spells are impractical in SoA. But, can she do it? Yes!
Alternatively, Ramirez is incredibly ruthless, and his abilities are a reflection of that personality trait. The party can battle Ramirez in three distinct battles throughout the game, and two of those are hopeless boss fights. His attacks are brutal, precise, and blindingly fast. Ramirez can phase between light and darkness using his mastery of the silver moon. He can also inflict death on the entire party with a single spell. Yet, during both these early encounters, he lets the party live if they choose to fight with the knowledge that they’ll lose. This relentless murderer who merely a few weeks earlier in the story shot at their lifeboat refuses to kill the party. Why? When he had a clear shot at ending Galcian’s biggest threat, did he not take it? It’s mind-boggling.
The only battle where he’ll actively kill your party is the last one, and it also happens to be the only battle where he demonstrates his life-giving abilities. Using Lunar Blessing, Ramirez grants regeneration to himself, a status that restores 600 hit points to his health per turn. This ability mirrors Fina’s in that her Lunar Blessing provides it to the whole party, demonstrating her trust in her allies. Ramirez, instead, keeps this skill to himself, referencing his isolation and single-minded pursuits.
His particular focus serves as a direct parallel to his distaff counterpart. Essentially, Fina’s special moves focus on keeping everyone alive while minoring in killing enemies. Whereas Ramirez’s special moves center around brutally murdering his foes with impunity while increasing his odds of staying safe through minor restoration. Two sides, same coin, the yin and yang of life and death, or even light and darkness.
When looked at from this perspective, it’s easy to see the similarities between these characters. After all, they come from the same culture, it’s normal to share some ideals. But, perhaps they’re even more alike than we imagine.
Throughout the game, we see glimpses of the person Fina used to call Rami. Thanks to some exposition from a doctor named Doc. He explains that Ramirez was an idealistic and naive young man when they first met. Scared to trust anyone as the elders had warned him not to trust the people of the land. However, young people are impressionable, and even more so when they’re teenagers. A wounded Rami rescued by the Valuan Empire and nursed back to health would likely feel a debt of gratitude to his saviors.
Yet, after spending time with the Arcadians and learning to trust the people he worked with, Ramirez experienced a betrayal from his mentor. In his anger, he murdered the people he lived and worked with throughout those years and turned his devotion to Galcian instead. The only man he felt he could trust because his desires were pure. Galcian desired to become the ruler of Arcadia via absolute power.
Over time, Rami became cold, distant, calculating, and objectively a monster. The man who Fina once called her friend was dead; only Ramirez remained.
Fina, on the other hand, fell in with Vyse and Aika. Two of the noblest people in Arcadia, their only goals are to seek adventure and help others. Not only do they rescue Fina whenever she gets in trouble due to her heritage, but they also help anyone in need. Their actions showed Fina that there were people she could trust. That her friends would gladly give their lives to protect her, a stranger in their lands, from whatever threat that arises.
Thanks to them, she had the strength to complete her quest and defy her elders’ orders as well. Additionally, Fina learned the value of redemption and second chances, as many of Vyse’s enemies turned to his side. How when you’re facing impossible odds, giving up is not an option, and ultimately the power of hope.
Almost everywhere that Fina and the party goes ends up better than it was before their arrival.
Nearly every place that Ramirez visits during the game ends up in ruins.
Fina and Ramirez were the last remaining Silvites of Arcadia. Their lives were deeply intertwined. Everything from their abilities, personalities, and fates were mirrors of one another.
In another timeline, Ramirez ended up with Vyse and crew instead, saving the world with honorable pirates seeking adventures. But we’ll never get to experience it since Skies of Arcadia remains a hidden jewel of the Dreamcast and GameCube.