As a seasoned gamer who has spent countless hours navigating the vast digital landscapes of various RPGs, I must confess that my heart skipped a beat when I heard about Sky Oceans: Wings for Hire. The promise of sky pirates and cloud-bound adventures was enough to get me excited, but alas, the reality fell short of expectations.
Many people, including several acquaintances of mine, fondly remember a past RPG title called Skies of Arcadia as their most cherished gaming experience, evoking nostalgic feelings. Although I don’t have an exceptionally strong bond with this classic RPG, I can appreciate its unique charm – especially since it involves sky pirates embarking on cloud-bound adventures. Interestingly, not many games have attempted to emulate Skies of Arcadia over the past two decades, but that has recently changed with the arrival of Sky Oceans: Wings for Hire.
Our hero Glenn Windwalker comes from a long line of skyship flying adventurers, but at a young age an accident saw his father vanish on a mission without a trace. Despite this Glenn still wants to continue in his father’s footsteps and fly around with his buddies, even though his mum still hasn’t recovered from this traumatic event. An unexpected incident forces Glenn to leave his island home and become a Sky Pirate sooner than anticipated, and with his skills and a bit of help he might just make the world a better place. It’s a charming story if not a particularly innovative one, and it gets you into some dogfights before too long.
Before embarking on battles against airborne beasts and adversaries in the sky, you’ll first need some practice navigating the globe. Flying an airship might initially seem like a liberating experience, with the ability to traverse any direction and explore, but powerful gusts create barriers that make it feel more like a maze than an expansive sky. The slow turning rate makes movement awkward and laborious, and after a few rather uneventful minutes, I found myself eager for some aerial combat to liven things up.
In the game Sky Ocean: Wings for Hire, you’ll face off against enemies using traditional turn-based combat. You’ll need to strategically select your team’s attacks and defeat the enemy before they manage to damage you significantly. However, the downside is that after each attack, there’s a lengthy animation of airships flying and shooting, which can make each turn last much longer than desired. This problem is intensified because avoiding attacks when being targeted is crucial, resulting in each combat encounter feeling quite tedious.
In handling adversaries, it’s not only the pace of the confrontation that poses a challenge; your unique abilities often lack impact as well. Frequently, enhancing shots by a minor degree to inflict incremental damage over time fails to deliver the thrill or significance I expect, resulting in me repeatedly pressing the attack button with the hope that the encounter would end sooner. Of course, there are instances when healing and evading are crucial, but the combat quickly becomes repetitive due to the excessive length of time it takes for encounters to progress beyond simple attack exchanges.
Although the game is centered around the thrill of flying through the skies, I surprisingly find myself at ease when I’m on the ground. Granted, most of your time spent there is for town exploration and interacting with locals, but the endearing, if slightly quaint, dialogue and likable characters make those moments enjoyable. However, some missions during foot exploration involve a lot of back-and-forth between characters, which can be less than ideal, but it’s still a refreshing change from combat and flying.
Although Sky Oceans: Wings for Hire might appear to receive some constructive criticism from me, there are indeed elements about this game that resonate positively. The graphics bear an uncanny resemblance to Megaman Legends, but with a modern twist, boasting both bright and lively colors. Moreover, the soundtrack is pleasing to the ear, even though the absence of voice acting may be slightly disheartening. However, at least the music is enjoyable.
Sky Oceans: Wings for Hire may struggle to compete against the powerhouse RPGs consistently released in the genre. Its combat feels sluggish and unimpressive, exploration is aggravating due to awkward controls, and repetitive fetch quests quickly become tiresome. While fans yearning for a Skies of Arcadia-like experience after years of waiting might find themselves slightly let down by this game, making it challenging to wholeheartedly recommend.
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2024-10-10 15:46