NSMB sold just shy of 10 million in 6 weeks; fairly good =)
Anyway, Skies of Arcadia.... I just love the flow of this game, it doesn't rush the player through all sorts of features, but you gradually get them as you move through the story increasing your reputation. The game has an amazing flow, beginning as a simple pirate aboard the ship of a more notorious pirate (Drachma or Dyne, depending on the point of the game); and then you do these amazingly heroic things. You then travel across the Ocean to the new continent being exploited by the Valuan Empire from your homelands; new technologies (like the Moonstone Cannon) are discovered.
Upon traveling home, you've become very well known to your enemies in the Empire. So again you are in confrontation with them, war breaks out between the two major powers of your home region; it is over quickly as new technology allows for the Valuans to get past the Nasr defenses. Shortly after, you get your own ship, top of the line with all the newest gadgets. You then travel to an even further part of the world; when you return, you will have your own town; at this point you are officially a major political force in the world as you head towards the last phase of the game.
This build-up is just one of the reasons I love the game, another is that you can stand in seemingly unimportant places and have a great view of a beautifully designed world.
I really hope this game sees a remake, or re-release of sorts, I would most certainly buy it, and play it yet again. This is one of the few games I have played where I can say, 10 years later, that if it were released now it would feel fresh. All he same, this game, to me at least, marked the end of an era; after this, RPGs in attempts to be more progressive started getting away from the genre that I love... Although in the past few years (particularly on the DS) we have been seeing a re-emergence of the older classics and more traditional styles of RPGs.... Of course taking in some of the good things (like voice acting, encyclopedias/bestiaries, etc...) while maintaining the good traditions. This will be an interesting new decade for RPGs, hopefully a new beginning for a new and better line than we have been seeing over this decade past. Final Fantasy 13 could very well be the last of its kind (Xenosaga/FF10, etc...), particularly if Dragon Quest 9 wins over it in sales (DQ9 is a neo-JRPG, which can be defined as similar to the old style, but without random encounters, and with voice acting, encyclopedias, etc...).
-Insert Inspiring Quote-
