25 Years Later, One Dreamcast RPG Masterpiece Is Begging for a Remake

Video games are in the midst of a remake craze, especially RPGs. Just in 2025 alone, we’re seeing remakes of Dragon Quest I & II, Final Fantasy Tactics, Trails in the Sky, the Lunar Collection, Xenoblade Chronicles X, and more. And while there are any number of reasons to remake a game, I’d argue the best ones help save pivotal titles from being lost to time, while also helping visionary games reach their full potential. And if you’re talking about visionary RPGs, you simply can’t look past Sega’s Skies of Arcadia. While Skies of Arcadia clearly followed in the footsteps of games like Final Fantasy 7, there might not be a single game out there that better captures one of the core tenets of the role-playing genre — the spirit of adventure.

Skies of Arcadia was originally released on the Dreamcast in 2000, before getting a GameCube version in 2002 — but that’s sadly the only releases it's ever seen. We’ve never received a remaster or even a port on any kind of modern hardware, which has caused the game to languish in the past, and that’s a genuine shame for a masterpiece that felt so vibrant at the time — largely because of how much it went against the grain.

The best way to describe Skies of Arcadia is a turn-based sky pirate RPG. If you’re anything like me, that single term might be enough to sell you on the game, and it's truly remarkable how well Skies of Arcadia leans into that idea, truly letting you embody a whimsical, carefree pirate life. And that’s especially important to point out because of the time that Skies of Arcadia was released, three years after Final Fantasy 7. This was a huge transitional period for Japanese RPGs, as more games went for darker, more serious stories — inspired by the success of Final Fantasy 7. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with those kinds of stories, but there was an undeniable wave — a wave that Skies of Arcadia struck out against.

In Skies of Arcadia, you play as a young man named Vyse, a member of the Blue Rogues, who are a sort of Robin Hood-esque sky pirates that fight against the tyrannical Valuan Empire. Vyse is a headstrong young man with a strong moral compass and genuine desire to change the world, joined by his chilhood friend Aika, who’s equally headstrong and had to fend for herself ever since her parents perished when she was a child.

On its face Skies of Arcadia is a fairly standard RPG, with all the elements you’d expect — a party of whimsical characters, intricate turn-based combat, complex dungeons, etc. But what really helps Skies of Arcadia stand out is an overflowing sense of heart and personality. It’s a game that charms you with a wink and a smile at the start, and absolutely never lets go.

A major part of that, like I mentioned before, is simply a spirit of adventure, and a world that feels so much larger than your ragtag group of heroes. Skies of Arcadia does an impeccable job of building out a convincing world that feels lived in. Every town you visit is bustling with trade and activity. Other pirates and organizations have their own goals and aims that they work toward, not simply revolving around the main party. And perhaps most crucially, Skies of Arcadia knows just the right way to drip-feed lore.

The game never really explains why the world of Arcadia is made up of a bunch of floating islands, or why sky pirates are such an integral piece of it. Instead, it runs full steam ahead with its premise and lets the player explore to uncover the secrets of the world, or fill in the gaps with a bit of imagination. There’s a real sense of discovery to everything in in Skies of Arcadia, and that’s even baked right into the actual mechanics of the game.

Your world map starts out blank, but as you chart more of the world it fills in with both detail and more art, as the world comes alive. You traverse the overworld in your airship, then dock at cities and dungeons to explore on foot — with the majority of the game flip-flopping between these two sections.

The on-foot section are a great traditional RPG experience, with solid battles, plenty of NPCs to chat with, and more equipment than you can wrap your head around. But exploring in your airship is what gives the game its personality, letting you make “Discoveries” for major bonuses to the party or your ship. There’s also a whole complex ship battle system where you choose the right equipment and make key decisions during airborne battles.

There’ a kind of childlike wonder and sense of whimsy that permeates everything in Skies of Arcadia, even despite some of the story’s more dramatic turns. It’s a world that’s a joy to simply exist in, filled with rich culture and history to discover. And while everything in Skies of Arcadia is solid, there are areas it could be improved in terms of exploration, too many battle encounters, and general lack of polish. All areas that a remake, or even a simple remaster, could address.

The biggest outrage is that it’s almost impossible to even play Skies of Arcadia, unless you want to spend hundreds of dollars on a copy or go the emulation route. It’s one of those key titles that captures what makes role-playing games so special, the way it can let you inhabit a fantastical world and soak it in like a sponge.

Skies of Arcadia is a defining RPG that so many more people should have the chance to experience, and if we’re riding the remake wave, I can’t think of a single game more deserving.