Rainbow Skies

Rainbow Skies is a tactical role playing game (RPG). Party of 3 people sword/bow/magic exploring dungeons, towns, and etc. The game is set in a fantasy of two worlds Arca and Lunah. The setting starts out in Arca, a civilization dependent on technology to keep them afloat in the sky. Apparently, the world below is contaminated and not inhabitable. You begin the story as a young warrior named Damion. He is about to complete his Monster Tamer examination: defeating monsters and such. During his zeal he unfortunately destroys the gate to the compound holding the monsters for the examination and unintentionally endangers his home village, Boreville. He and his examiner Layne set out to fix the Monster Den in the engineer department of Arca, Mechanic Heart. Down below in Mechanic Heart both Damion and Layne meet another unfortunate event, the floor below them crumbles and they fall down to the world below, Lunah……

The scene changes to a woman named Ashley from Borgtonko, set in a world of nature and organic lifeforms. Hmmm…. Ashley ventures outside the village to practice magic on monsters: casting binding spells to control monsters. While Ashley practices Damion and Layne survive their fall from Arca and coincidently land right at the vicinity of Ashley’s spell. Another unfortunate event: Ashley accidently bound Damion, Layne, and herself “together forever”. From there all three explore Lunah and must learn to work together as a team which will be a challenge because people of Lunah don’t view Arca very well.

So when it comes to characters:

Damion: He is the “brawn over brains” type of guy. Strong defense and melee attacks. Weapon of choice dual swords.

Layne: He is the level headed one out of the three. His weapon of choice is the bow and specializes in long-range attacks.

Ashley: Her passion is magic, weapon of choice is the staff. Melee attacks and defense are not as powerful as her magic attacks.

Let’s get down to gameplay! This is a tactical RPG, strategic gameplay on an isometric grid. In this turn-based game each player has to wait for his/her turn. You can see whose turn it is by looking at the turn order displayed in the upper left of the screen. From there you can plan the next action. An action can be movement/item/attack/defend/flee. Like chess your players have limited movements. As your player levels-up they’ll gain additional actions then they can carry out multiple actions in one turn. For example, if your player has two actions you can move twice OR move and attack on the next action in one turn. Equipment will be acquired via looting or the shop. Upgrading your equipment and weapons at the blacksmith is FREE but you gotta have the materials (left as loot by monsters and such). Many materials have attributes and sometimes have additional properties. Weapons and equipment have slots for these attributes. Equipment have a limited number of slots and once its filled there is no reversing it. On the bright side when using equipment regularly they level up, new slots appear giving you an opportunity to improve your equipment MORE.

Exploration is like an open world maze. Your path is a smooth road and trees/bushes/grass act as borders. You’ll find random bags filled with loot and rarely placed treasure chests. As you explore enemies will block your pathway and you HAVE TO battle them to reach the next area. If you want to grind and harvest loot from monsters you have to pay attention to the screen for notices that monsters are in the area. There will be a notice icon detailing type of monsters and how many. Like speaking with people once that notice pops up you press the X button to begin battle.

There is a lot of reading, you will get into the habit of being attentive to details. In the beginning when I battled I didn’t notice the menu had a command to turn (Square Button) my players before choosing an action. I thought the challenge was directing your players to face enemies and then attack. Boy did it get easier when I finally realized I could turn my players.

I got annoyed with potion and item storage because they started out small, 5 slots. I loot potions and food then I get a notice that my storage is at full capacity and I have to either sell/use/discard. Increasing inventory is possible by purchasing storage space from the shop with rainbow coins. My inner bargain hunter was crying because I wanted to save rainbow coins for magic and equipment.

The graphics are colorful and surprisingly detailed. In Arca mechanical objects depict movement of their function and the landscape in the background changes. In Lunah plants portray their unique characteristics and the grass moves from the wind. Characters and monsters have a chibi-like form, small and humorous, which gives off a light-hearted feel. Music consists all forms of instruments. It has a whimsical exploring vibe very true to a fantastical adventure. During battle scenes electric guitar and drum is added for a dash of intensity. Not much voice acting. More like generic greeting, grunts, sighs, and such.

Wrapping everything up, you’ll definitely want and need to pay attention to the reading because the tutorial provided is very helpful. For battles it is necessary to be patient with the turn-base gameplay. Once your players level up and gain skills the gameplay becomes more fun because you’re kicking ass. All in all a very solid buy!