It took ages for this to click in my mind, but I believe the Forest of Masts is a subtle homage to the Borealis Shipwreck in Arcane Adventures. Both seem to be the first areas you go to in each game’s second sea.
But instead of visiting one gigantic shipwreck…
You visit a vast graveyard of many separate sunken ships.
Also, Sameria seems to be a giant desert island.
And the Nimbus Sea’s first boss probably uses a unique, droppable multi-pistol weapon, since the dual pistols weapon type was renamed before he was added.
Hmm, the game’s second sea containing a gun-wielding enemy and a giant desert island very close together? Sounds familiar.
Lol, I do genuinely believe the Forest of Masts is a clever callback to the Borealis Shipwreck, but I’m completely joking around with Oblitesco. The gun-wielding boss seems to be fought at the Forest of Masts, not Sameria, and Sameria is a kingdom, not a cowboy town. The differences go on. So this is probably coincidental, but I still find it funny.
Lastly, I’m going to talk a bit about sky islands. Cumulus Island/Stratus Town and Cirrus Island are both the first sky islands you visit in AA and AO respectively, both being in the games’ first seas. They’re both named after types of clouds.
Cerulea is the second cluster of sky islands you visited in Arcane Adventures, and Skyhall seems like it will be the same in Arcane Odyssey. Unlike the super-friendly villagers of Stratus and Cirrus, Cerulea and Skyhall are very discriminatory towards the sea-dwellers below, believing themselves to be superior.
(I’m too lazy to grab a source for Ceruleans hating sea-dwellers, but if you played AA you probably know what I’m talking about. I mean, just think of Harrison.)
Interestingly, I believe it was said that, similarly to Cerulea, Stratus Town often births powerful magic users (this might be webcomic-only lore, idk). But Cirrus Island, AO’s equivalent to Stratus Town, very rarely has any magic users, with it being an exceptional occurrence. I find this to be a very fun inversion, intentional or not.
I hope that Skyhall is as breathtaking as Cerulea was. Cerulea remains my favorite area from Arcane Adventures. I found the idea of a stormy sky island to be so unique, and I have a soft spot for the purple architecture. It would make sense for Skyhall to be stormy as well; maybe that’s what the Nimbus Sea is named for.
I’ve always felt robbed after Arcane Reborn took away Cerulea’s storminess. I hope AO fills that void in my heart.
(This is Cerulea in AA. Notice the dark gray clouds.)
(This is Cerulea in AR. The expansion is really nice, but changing the type of clouds to white really takes away from the place’s vibe in my opinion.)
