Sky Oceans: Wings for Hire

It is my fault for getting this game. I thought it was an interesting arcade flight sim. But no! It is a full-on JRPG with turn-based combat, and you only fly between fights. The art is nice, the story is so far interesting, but the game is just boring, the spacing is just wrong, and it has no voice acting to make it somewhat bearable, at least the first couple of hours, when I gave up. The fights are all the same: activate skill and wait for your turn. You auto-heal in the end, so it doesn't really matter if you get hurt. Others said the controls are junky, but I played with a gamepad, and it was fine there.

I cannot recommend this game strongly due to certain content design decisions and because of how boring and pointless delaytastic the RPG battles are. Only from the steepest discounts. The most annoying part of the designs are the character face designs. The faces have no black outlines, so they are very difficult make grasp with the glance. Also most of them have identical shapes and are incredibly samey, meaning I forget the faces immediately after seeing them again and again. The shapes of faces look awfully uncanny and not real. It has the CalArts Flash animation feel that does not lend itself to making the characters look alive. It is as if they did not user test the designs at all. It is mostly the lanky slender characters such as the main crew that have the fake and dead impression. The side characters are fine. Maybe it is the dead-eyed look. The in-battle reaction faces are silly, though there is at least a reason for them to look silly there. I got this one from an Alienware Arena giveaway. I would probably be extremely disappointed if I paid the current full price for it.

Good story. Boring combat. Controls and UI are janky.

played with my pc controller and the flying sections controls were weird thoght i will have to get used to this then later put the cloud save on to my steamdeck and the conrols felt natural and fluid no keybinding it just loaded like that and tbh it feels better to play. im not too good at reviewing games and i have only just started just wanted to mention the differene

Very buggy, sky box visible in the house, game crashes.

Sky Oceans: Wings for Hire is a sky-faring turn-based RPG developed by Octeto Studios and published by PQube. Designed as a heartfelt homage to classic Japanese role-playing games, it transports players to a fractured world of floating islands suspended in endless skies after a cataclysmic event known as the Big Scattering. Blending airship exploration, character-driven storytelling, and strategic dogfight combat, the game aims to evoke the spirit of nostalgic JRPG adventures while introducing its own airborne identity. The narrative follows Glenn Windwalker, a young pilot whose life changes dramatically as he becomes entangled in resistance against a dominant militaristic force known as the Alliance. What begins as a personal journey gradually evolves into a larger struggle for freedom and unity across the scattered skylands. Along the way, Glenn assembles a diverse crew of companions, each with their own motivations and personal arcs. The story leans heavily into themes of found family, self-discovery, and perseverance against overwhelming authority. Its tone is earnest and sincere, occasionally sentimental, and clearly inspired by classic coming-of-age RPG tales where friendshi…