To be honest, I'd give graphics and character battle system over to ToS, but for many reasons I rate SoA:L over ToS.
1) Adventure : you actually fly all across the world exploring a large assortment of sky island regions, making discoveries of islands, landmarks, and treasures. The planet itself has been covered in a horrible storm for ages, and the people and places you visit vary wildly. The "Dark Rift" was a VERY cool place to explore, as well as the too-small "Deep Sky". :)
2) Ship battles, another point of this game. Being able to face off against other ships, pirates, monsters, and even things the size of entire islands.
3) Cast : Although fairly cliche`in their visual and behavior designs, their conversations (like Aika and Fina teasing Vyse countless times or having a serious discussion about recent events), animations (drachma bashing the mast of the ship and yelling at the cast to get back to work or gilder skillfully toying with the wheel of your ship while giving you some serious advice), and interactions with each other give them a wonderful sense of "life" that most games lack.
4) If you build it, they will come. Err, wrong media. ;) When you get your own ship, you can recruit a crew to maintain it and change it's battle characteristics. And of course they'll need a place to stay, so you build up a base and can expand and customize it a bit as well. :)
4) Reputation : at various points in the game you can make choices (and win fights) that determine your worth as a pirate, it's somehow satisfying to see yourself on the most wanted posters, especially at the top. :)
The Bad : I admit the character battle system for SoA is meh-average at best, but it's not horrible either, and the graphics are standard Dreamcast fare, since that was it's original platform, but it's nothing I'd complain about. The music has a few good tracks, but for the most part it's standard fare jrpg music. I could live without a few cheezy thumbs-up moments too. ;)
Edit : If it's on Ps3 and/or 360 (I have my doubts considering how friendly Sega and Nintendo are quickly becoming) then I'll wait for a few price drops and get the game, even if I don't have the console yet (I'll wait for a $200 or less price point for either before I even consider either).
Edit 2 : Skies of Arcadia : Legends (GCN) Opening - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXlEOHnNv5U
Nobody is crazy enough to accuse me of being sane.
