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like lisalover, my first RPG's were Dragon Warrior and Final Fantasy. So I can't help but be biased. The GBA release of Final Fantasy I & II and the GBC release of Dragon Warrior I & II are both excellent. And much simpler games to get started with.

Betwixt DC and GC for Skies, I'd vote GC. But I'm biased toward the console.

I just finished Skies for the DC about a week ago. I would say that it would have been one near the top of my jRPG list if it hadn't been for the excessive amount of random battles. Especially with the discovery system in place (which basically has you exploring the world to uncover hidden treasures), it just gets too annoying and breaks up the pacing of the game. I think the fact that it takes ~20 seconds to load up a battle adds to the frustration.

I haven't played the GC version, but if the battle rate is lower, like I have read (and others have mentioned), I would highly recommend going with the GC version instead. It also has a bit more side content that seems like it would really help round out an already great game.

So if you can fix the high random battle encounter rate, you should really enjoy this game, and it is simple enough (is there such a thing as a complex/hard to learn RPG?) to learn for someone new to the genre.

I have played Skies of Arcadia on the Gamecube and funny thing is, it encounter rate was ridiculous, which leads me to believe that the DC version must basically be one fight rather after the other as I don't see how the encounter rate could actually be WORSE than the Gamecube version

Gamerforlife wrote:I have played Skies of Arcadia on the Gamecube and funny thing is, it encounter rate was ridiculous, which leads me to believe that the DC version must basically be one fight rather after the other as I don't see how the encounter rate could actually be WORSE than the Gamecube version

On the Dreamcast sometimes you finish a battle move 3 steps then another battle! Does the Gamecube Legends version get that bad?

Thanks Everyone for all the info. Seems that the GC version moves a bit faster. I'll give that a try. Thanks!

This game KICKS ASS.