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SOJ The Gallery · RPG: GameCube
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The GameCube RPG Gallery

The small shelf that punched far above its size.

The GameCube was never the role-playing machine of its generation. The PlayStation 2 took that title early and kept it. What Nintendo's cube got instead was a short, strange, high quality bench: the Tales game Nintendo helped announce, a card RPG built by the Xenogears staff's new studio, the best Paper Mario, Fire Emblem's return to home consoles, Square's first game for Nintendo in a decade, and Sega's sky pirate classic in its GameCube edition. Six games, each of them here cover first, with the histories and the documented questions behind each name.

Read the covers carefully, because this era's story is also regional. Japan's enhanced Tales of Symphonia never left Japan on the PlayStation 2. Japan's Fire Emblem shipped with a difficulty the West never saw. Crystal Chronicles asked every multiplayer guest to bring a Game Boy Advance. Where a regional cover is verified, it stands here. Where it is not, the tile says so, with the gold owl standing in. That honesty is the exhibit.

TALES OF SYMPHONIA

Namco Tales Studio · GameCube · 2003
Tales of Symphonia American GameCube box art, Lloyd, Colette, Kratos and Zelos
America · 2004
The American box: Lloyd in red in front, Colette, Kratos and Zelos behind him, under the GameCube banner. ESRB Teen, Namco in the corner.
SOJ gold owl, cover not yet verified
Japan · 2003 · Cover gap
The Japanese box is not yet verified to this Library's standard, so no image stands here. The record stands instead: Japan first, August 29, 2003, on two discs, with a symphonic green GameCube bundle sold alongside it.
The History
The first 3D Tales: two years of work, a Nintendo collaboration, 2.4 million copies, and the series' Western breakthrough.
The Port That Stayed Home
Why did the enhanced PlayStation 2 port stay in Japan? No official reason was ever given. The record, and the rumors, labeled.

BATEN KAITOS

Monolith Soft and tri-Crescendo · GameCube · 2003
Baten Kaitos American GameCube box art, Kalas with his wings against a purple sky
America · 2004
The American box: Kalas, one winged and one mechanical winged, against a purple sky. The subtitle reads Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean.
SOJ gold owl, cover not yet verified
Japan · 2003 · Cover gap
The Japanese box is not yet verified to this Library's standard. In Japan the title runs the other way: Baten Kaitos: Owaranai Tsubasa to Ushinawareta Umi, the endless wings first.
The History
A thousand cards, a guardian spirit, and a GameCube exclusive built to give the system a true RPG: an 80 on Metacritic and a famous commercial miss.

PAPER MARIO: THE THOUSAND-YEAR DOOR

Intelligent Systems · GameCube · 2004
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door cover artwork, Mario opening a paper door with his partners around him
Cover art · 2004
The international packaging artwork: Mario pulling open a paper door, Goombella, Koops, Flurrie and the rest of the partners crowded around him.
Japan · 2004 · A different name
In Japan the game is simply Paper Mario RPG. It launched there first, on July 22, 2004, and sold about 159,000 copies in its first week, the best selling game in the country that week.
The History
Rogueport, the Crystal Stars, and a stage audience that throws roses or rocks: an 87 on Metacritic and the Console Role-Playing Game of the Year.

FIRE EMBLEM: PATH OF RADIANCE

Intelligent Systems · GameCube · 2005
Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance American GameCube box art, Ike with his sword among the armies of Tellius
America · 2005
The American box: Ike in the center with his sword, the war of Tellius burning around him. ESRB Teen, Nintendo in the corner.
SOJ gold owl, cover not yet verified
Japan · 2005 · Cover gap
The Japanese box is not yet verified to this Library's standard. In Japan the game is Fire Emblem: Soen no Kiseki, Trail of the Blue Flame, and it shipped with a Maniac difficulty the Western editions removed.
The History
Fire Emblem comes home: the first 3D entry, a mercenary instead of a prince, an 85 on Metacritic, and a late GameCube release that still sold hardware.

FINAL FANTASY CRYSTAL CHRONICLES

The Game Designers Studio · GameCube · 2003
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles American GameCube box art, the four tribes of the caravan
America · 2004
The American box: the four tribes of the caravan together, with Square Enix and Nintendo sharing the corner, and the badge for the Game Boy Advance cable offer in the other.
The return · 2003
The first original Final Fantasy built for a Nintendo console since Final Fantasy VI in 1994, made by a shell company Square founded so it could work with Nintendo again. Its full history lives in the Final Fantasy archive.
The History
The caravan, the Miasma, and Kumi Tanioka's recorders and crumhorns: 1.3 million copies shipped and a series born.
The Four Game Boys
Why did multiplayer need a Game Boy Advance per player? Producer Akitoshi Kawazu built the game around the link cable on purpose. His reasons, on the record.

SKIES OF ARCADIA LEGENDS

Sega · GameCube · 2002
SOJ gold owl, cover not yet verified
GameCube · 2002 · Cover gap
No GameCube box for Legends is verified to this Library's standard yet, so no image stands here. The verified Dreamcast covers stand in the Dreamcast history, linked below.
The edition as its own record
Legends reached Japan on December 26, 2002, North America on January 28, 2003, and Europe on May 23, 2003. It scored 84 on Metacritic against the original's 93, and it has had no rerelease since.
The History of the Edition
The GameCube edition as its own release: Sega after hardware, a thin GameCube RPG shelf, and the version most players can actually find.
What Changed in Legends?
The director's cut, documented in full: the encounter rate, Piastol, the Wanted List, and the Dreamcast extras folded in.
The Original's History
The Dreamcast original: Overworks, Rieko Kodama, a 93 on Metacritic, and the bright game in a dark decade.
More from the Library →
MORE FROM THE RPG: GAMECUBE ARCHIVE →
One shelf of eighty-two in the Library. Browse them all →

THE FIRST WORD

New pages and new pieces, first.