What decent person hasn’t dreamt about being a swashbuckling pirate: Swinging in the lookout ladders, valiantly fighting the soldiers of an evil empire, and liberating the goods they have onboard their once so mighty warships?

We’ve all learned by time that real pirates weren’t like that, they were brutal and savage and didn’t shun from anything to increase their personal wealth. But that doesn’t mean you have to cast away the dream, and deny your inner child: There’s still hope, Skies of Arcadia (Legends).

You’re cast as Vyse, the son of Dyne. Dyne is the leader of the Dyne Clan, who are Blue Rouges. A kind of pirates that doesn’t live of raiding traders and unprotected ships, but from raiding battleships and getting ransoms from fighting the evil kind of pirates: Black Pirates.

The battle system is turn based, but with a twist. The weapons are made of moonstone, which have various colours and attributes: The effect of this is that some moonstone colours are more effective against certain monsters than others. Also you’re awarded with magic points depending on what colour you used.

The magic system is divided in the same way as weapons, with colours or moons as it really is.

As you can see on the third screenshot below, on the world map you move around in a flying ship. What ship varies from your point in the game: Some are swift and some are slow, some are armed and some are not. You control the ships direction and altitude, and sail around: Looking for places and for discoveries.

Discoveries and ransoms will provide you with plenty of side quests: Make you sail around, across the entire map just to find all of the discoveries and to hunt out each and every one of those pirates they’ve got ransoms on.

By now you have probably noticed that there are two versions, but don’t worry there is no reason to get both of them. The only difference is that the GameCube version has more discoveries and ransoms than the Dreamcast version.

In any case, good luck on your quest to become a swashbuckling pirate that strikes fear into the men of the Empire.