Skies of Arcadia

Skies of Arcadia
Also known as: Eternal Arcadia (JP) Developer: Overworks Publisher: Sega Platform: Dreamcast Released in JP: October 5, 2000 Released in US: November 13, 2000 Released in EU: April 27, 2001 Released in AU: July 16, 2001 This game has unused enemies. This game has unused objects. This game has unused graphics. This game has unused text. This game has regional differences. This game has hidden bonus content. This game has a Data Crystal page

To do: Document prototypes. [Unused Music Tracks] [IGN Prototype footage] Check the game script for any more unused text, such as the untranslated "event occurred" lines at the end of some files (debug-related?). Check for script differences between different versions here, each "dist" is a different build and the game's scripts are converted to CSV inside of scripttask.7z. Various tidbits from this Twitter thread. Several minimaps in the game can't be fully filled in, cover these. Soltis is notorious for this.

Skies of Arcadia (also known as Eternal Arcadia in Japan) is a role-playing game developed by Overworks and published by Sega for the Dreamcast. An enhanced (except for the audio quality, which suffers from compression) port was released for the GameCube a few years later, known as Skies of Arcadia Legends.

Unused Graphics

To do: Add paths and filenames for all of these. Add final icons for the early ones for comparison. Add young Fina icons.

Young Vyse and Aika

Battle icons of young Vyse and Aika exist in the data. The young versions of both characters only appeared in pre-release footage.

These icons also suggest that playable characters were also going to have elemental attributes, with Vyse being red and Aika being green.

(Source: EsoArcadia Wiki)

gazo100

This unused cutscene graphic is mixed in with Fina's explanation of her mission while on Pirate Isle near the beginning of the game. It's found in "/field/a002cc19.mld/gazo100.pvr".

Early Enemies

These seem to be early icons for some of the game's enemies (from left to right: Sentinel, an unknown fish enemy that was seemingly scrapped, Seeker, Ghastling and Flestik).

(Source: EsoArcadia Wiki)

Early Status Effects Icons

Early icons for the different status effects exist in the game.

(Source: EsoArcadia Wiki)

Unused Data

Inventory

A number of items and equippable parts were unused in the final game.

Armor

An unused armor piece, named De Loco Armor, which was supposed to be equipped by either Vyse, Drachma or Gilder.

Defense	MagDef	Effect	Buying Price	Selling Price	Location
172	147	-	2420	2420	Unknown

	English	Japanese
Name and Description	De Loco Armor An incredibly ugly, yet effective suit of armor designed by De Loco.	デ・ロッコの鎧Ｒ デ・ロッコが製作した悪趣味な鎧、第２弾。 何をどうすれば、こんなデザインになるというのか。

	German	French	Spanish
Name and Description	De Loco-Rüstung Eine unglaublich hässliche, aber effektive Rüstung, von De Loco entworfen.	Armure De Loco Une armure très laide mais efficace conçue par De Loco.	Armadura De Loco Una armadura muy útil, pero horriblemente fea. Fue disenada por De Loco.

Curiously, the word "diseñada" was misspelled as "disenada" in the Spanish translation.

(Source: EsoArcadia Wiki)

Special Items

Silver Crystal

There is a Silver Crystal in the game's data, but it has a dummy description and Vyse never obtains a Silver Crystal.

Japanese
銀月晶 (Silver Crystal) カット。 (Cut.)

Alfonso's Key

Alfonso's Key can be found in the game's data near Golden Man's Eye and Great Bird's Eye, suggesting it may have been an item during Vyse's tenure in Ixa'taka.

Japanese
アルフォンソの鍵 (Alfonso's Key)

Kabal Skewer and Mom's Skewer

The Kabal Skewer and Mom's Skewer also seem to have been planned as Special Items at some point but were changed to consumable items.

Japanese
シシカバブ (Shish Kebab) コンバート。 (Convert.)

Japanese
究極のシシカバブ (Ultimate Shish Kebab)

Final Weapon 3

The Final Weapon 3 is listed right after the two Veloriums in the game's data, suggesting there may have been three obtainable ingredients for the Vorlik Blade.

Japanese
最終兵器３ (Final Weapon 3)

Magic Cannon (Special Item)

There are two Magic Cannons in the game's files, one classified as a Special Item and one as Ship Equipment. The Special Item version didn't make it into the game.

	English	Japanese
Name and Description	Magic Cannon A device attached to cannons that allows them to fire shots empowered with magic.	煌術発射装置 砲撃戦で、煌術を弾にこめて発射するための装置。 ベレーザの旗艦リンクスから奪ったもの。

	German	French	Spanish
Name and Description	Magische Kanone Ein Kanonenaufsatz, durch den man Schüsse mit magischer Kraft abfeuern kann.	Canon Magique Dispositif attaché aux canons qui leur permet de tirer des coups aux pouvoirs magiques.	Cañón Mágico Artefacto que se añade a los cañones para efectuar disparos fortalecidos con Magia.

(Source: EsoArcadia Wiki)

Ship Battles

To do: Some of these ships also have mid-battle dialogue for them left in the script.

Four ship enemies can be found in the game's files but are never fought against in the final product. They are the Raja Embla, Valuan Warship, Valuan Destroyer, and Gaditaos. There are also an additional 7 ships interspersed in the list of ship enemies in the game's files that have no statistics or names: カット１５, カット１９, カット２０, カット３３, カット３４, カット３９, カット４２. The Japanese in these names says カット (Katto), suggesting these enemies were planned but cut.

The following ships do not have any Abilities defined, and their locations are also unknown.

Valuan Warship

	Japanese	English/German	French	Spanish
Name	バルア駆逐船 (Valuan Destroyer)	Valuan Warship	Frégate Valuan	Acorazado Valuan

HP	Defense	Agile	Will	MagDef	Exp	Quick	Dodge%	Gold
12000	40	5	20	20	400	70	15	300

Armament	Attack	Range	Hit%
Small Cannon	120	0	85
Light Subcannon	95	1	80

Drops
Bomb (100%)
Standard Cannon (20%)

	Green	Red	Purple	Blue	Yellow	Silver
Element Efficiency	10	10	10	10	7	10

Valuan Destroyer

	Japanese	English/German	French	Spanish
Name	バルア新鋭船 (Valuan Latest Ship)	Valuan Destroyer	Destroyer Valuan	Desctructor Valua

HP	Defense	Agile	Will	MagDef	Exp	Quick	Dodge%	Gold
38000	200	30	120	250	2380	115	10	1000

Armament	Attack	Range	Hit%
Prototype Cannon	250	0	80
Great Subcannon	300	3	90
Great Torpedo	400	3	50

Drops
12"Blaster (100%)
Intercom (Kalifa)
Expensive Wheel (Osman)

	Green	Red	Purple	Blue	Yellow	Silver
Element Efficiency	8	8	8	8	4	10

Raja Embla

	Japanese	English/German	French	Spanish
Name	ラージャエンブラ (Raja Enbura)	Raja Embla	Raja Embla	Rajá Embla

HP	Defense	Agile	Will	MagDef	Exp	Quick	Dodge%	Gold
25000	100	15	300	150	2630	120	45	1100

Armament	Attack	Range	Hit%
Luminesce	270	0

Drops
Complete Kit (50%)
Gold Bullion (Osman)

	Green	Red	Purple	Blue	Yellow	Silver
Element Efficiency	10	10	15	10	3	10

Gaditaos

	Japanese	English/German	French	Spanish
Name	ガディタウス	Gaditaos	Gaditaos	Gaditaos

HP	Defense	Agile	Will	MagDef	Exp	Quick	Dodge%	Gold
15000	150	25	999	999	6120	235	45	2500

Armament	Attack	Range	Hit%
Jeda Beam	350	0
Jedos Ray	500	0

Drops
Complete Kit (100%)
Sparkling Deck (100%)

	Green	Red	Purple	Blue	Yellow	Silver
Element Efficiency	10	10	10	10	10	10

(Source: EsoArcadia Wiki)

(Videos: Tortigar)

Battle Formations

The way enemy formations works in Skies of Arcadia is every scripted encounter also has scripted party formations. For example, there is no data for Fina to be in the fight against the Executioner not because Fina isn't in the party, but because the battle formation doesn't call to spawn Fina. Every possible battle formation is listed in the game's data as long as it is possible, such as there are multiple battle formations for specific enemies such as the final boss, wanted battles, and Piastol, dependent on who the fourth character is. However, there are battle formations that call for Drachma or Enrique to be the fourth character in the battle against Galcian, suggesting switching the fourth party member may have been intended to occur as early as before the attack on the Hydra as opposed to before the final dungeon.

(Source: EsoArcadia Wiki)

Unused Text

No Alcohol Allowed

When localizing Skies of Arcadia, a drunk NPC was removed from Sailors' Island when the game was localized. However, his dialogue was translated and can be found in the game's files:

Sailor:
Did you know? Over in Valua there's a humongous
fortress that's as big as a mountain?

Sailor:
It's called the Grana or the Gracha or something
like that. I forget!

Sailor:
Did you know? Beyond the stone reef, at the
entrance to the desert, there's an oasis city.

Sailor:
It's called Mardaba or Muratada or something
like that. Hehe... I forget!

Sailor:
Did you know? On the southern edge of the
continent of Nasr, there's an old city that's
been forgotten.

Sailor:
It's called Esa or Ese or something like that.
Hehe... I forget!

Sailor:
Did you know? Those bastards from Valua have
started constructing some kind of weird thing
beneath the clouds...

Sailor:
It's called Dungal or Dangol or something like
that. Hehe... I forget!

Sailor:
Did you know? That huge landmass that appeared
from beneath the clouds is apparently an ancient
continent of some old legend.

Sailor:
It's name? How should I know? The world's coming
to an end... I don't really care anymore!

Regional Differences

As with many other video games, Skies of Arcadia underwent a number of changes when localized for western audiences. Many of these changes were retained in subsequent releases of the game. The Japanese release of Skies of Arcadia Legends in particular retains some of the changes made to Skies of Arcadia, likely an attempt to make the game more accessible to a younger audience (strengthened by the fact the GameCube port has easier Japanese text readability).

Vigoro Cutscene (Grand Fortress)

The cutscene that takes place when Aika is locked up with Vigoro in the Grand Fortress has a few minor differences between the Japanese and the localized versions, likely made to tone down the more mature aspects:

• In the Japanese version, at one point, the camera focuses on Aika's legs, and then zooms up slowly, to then focus back on her legs. In the localized versions, the camera quickly zooms up from her legs, and does not move back down again.
• In the shot with Vigoro after that one, he is seen smiling with his teeth and winking in the Japanese version, whereas in the localized versions, he adopts his neutral face.

Vigoro's clothing was also edited from the Japanese version, so that it is less revealing.

(Video: Ares Arcadia)

Aika's Dislikes

During a cutscene early on in Rixis, Aika states that the two things she's afraid of the most are cockroaches and ghosts. However, in the Japanese version, she says she hates "dirty old men" instead of cockroaches.

In the North American version of Skies of Arcadia Legends, Aika does indeed say "dirty old men" instead of cockroaches. In fact, she makes at least one more reference to "dirty old men" throughout the game.

Ramirez's Blood

Before the final battle, Ramirez originally grips his sword tight enough to make his hand bleed and then swishes the sword to the side causing the blood to fly off and splatter onto a white backdrop. The scene was altered in subsequent versions to remove the blood, although strangely other instances of blood were left intact, including the blood seen during Ramirez's Silver Tundra move.

Bellena's Clothing

Belleza, while disguised as "Bellena", originally had a more revealing outfit, which was changed in subsequent releases of the game. An official piece of art still depicts her with the unaltered clothes.

Alcohol References

The Japanese version has characters drinking rum (ラム酒), an alcoholic drink deeply associated with pirates. Furthermore, this version also had several NPCs who were depicted as drunk; while most were edited in the localization, a few were removed outright. The English version replaced rum with a fictional beverage called loqua.

Tobacco References

Multiple characters in the Japanese version are depicted with a cigar, including Dyne and Gilder. Gilder even has a victory pose in this version that involved him holding a cigar. The localization removed all traces of cigars and changed Gilder's victory pose to one with Willy perched on his shoulder.

Kou

煌 is a very special word in the Japanese version of the game. It is used in many words regarding the moon, and the word mainly can mean glitter, gleam, twinkle, glisten, sparkle, glimmer, etc.

Below is a list of words where 煌 is used in the Japanese version of Skies of Arcadia. For a literal translation, the word beam could work well with the word moon, as in moonbeam (moonlight could also work, but sounds passive compared to the energetic moonbeam, energy needed to describe the power the moons in Skies of Arcadia hold).

Japanese	Literal Translation	English Localization
煌術	Beam Arts	Magic
月煌石	Moonbeam Stone	MoonStone
月煌砲	Moonbeam Cannon	MoonStone Cannon

Super Skills

In the Japanese version, it isn't possible to skip character skills animations. Starting with the localized versions and all subsequent releases, the skill animations have been skippable.

Name Changes

Several names and terms have been changed. For example, Mobys (モビス) was changed to Rhaknam and Kururu (クルル) was changed to Dhabu. Rich (リチ) was changed to Gold, and Koujutsu (煌術) was simplified to Magic. Furthermore, several area names have been changed. For example, Dorado became Rixis and The Cape of Good Hope became Cape Victory.

Untranslatable Quirks

Pinta tends to end his sentences in pin, Brabham with zoi, and Muraji with jaru. Dobra has a kansai accent, which could be called Japan's equivalent of a southerner's accent in the US.

Salam

A large amount of people from Nasr, including Kalifa and Osman, regularly say Salam, which is Arabic for Hello. All of these instances have been erased from the English localization.

Handsome Boy

In the Japanese version, Belleza affectionately calls Vyse "boy." While it might sound cute to hear a person call someone something in a foreign language, it would lose some of that affectionate feeling if one translated it as boy for the English localization, which is most likely why it was changed to "handsome" for Skies of Arcadia.

Gilder's Motto

In the Japanese version, Gilder's motto is "to do things that haven't been done before", and you can reply by saying "that's so cool" or "that he's crazy". In the localized versions, his motto is that "women are like sunsets and that they're beautiful but there's a new one everyday", and you can reply by saying "it's a good motto" or that "it's messed up".

Arcadia

In the Japanese version, the world does not have a known name and, unlike the English localization, is never referred to as Arcadia. In the localized versions, it's implied a couple of times that the world is named Arcadia, such as in the opening trailer and at the Great Silver Shrine's Room of Memories.

Ramirez's Obsession

Ramirez's obsession with Galcian seems downtowned in the English localization. He becomes so distraught at Galcian's death that he mentions his name almost at least every other sentence. For example, before the final boss he says, "ガルシアン様を失ったわが怒り、わが悲しみ……思い知るがいい！" which roughly translates to "I will make you realize my anger, my sorrow… over the loss of Lord Galcian!" which was changed to "Now you shall feel the wrath of Zelos! You will suffer for all eternity!!! Zelos will feast on your souls!" and his last words while disintegrating are "ガ、ガルシアン様ぁーっ！！" which translates to "L, Lord Galciannn!!" which was changed to "No! This can't be happening!!!"

Dialogue and Accent Variations

Montezumans speak a combination of hiragana and katakana, and although there are no phonological differences between the two, it's possibly a trait to make them seem more primitive, similar to the Ixa'takans bad English. There are also some instances where dialogue is changed, such as when talking to Drachma after rescuing Isapa (from saying all this travelling is troublesome to simply saying "Damn Valuans!", and what Aika and Fina say after being dropped off by Krone/Clara (from laughing at how Krone's search for a man mirrors their own search for a man to laughing at how Clara was the nicest stalker they ever met which explained why her ship looks like a honeymoon suite).

(Source: EsoArcadia Wiki)

(Source: Skies of Arcadia Wiki)

CD Warning

The CD warning is also different between the international and Japanese versions which apply to either disc.

International

Aika: Hey, wait a minute! What do you think you're doin'? This is a Dreamcast disc! Fina: There is game data on Track 1, so please, don't use this disc in a normal CD player. Vyse: We can't save the world from a CD player, so just put us back in the Dreamcast so we can do our job!

Japan

...But what does it mean? This game has text or audio that needs to be translated. If you are fluent with this language, please read our translation guidelines and then submit a translation!