Bonds of the Skies is a new RPG from KEMCO and it is a classic RPG treat. This game is similar to other RPG’s from KEMCO but that isn’t a bad thing. It is nice to play an old-school RPG in a modern world. They put a lot of work into the games and tell interesting stories, so it is always worth picking up their games.
Bonds of the Skies tells the story of a boy named Eil and his new friend a Grimoa named Nogard. Eil and his new friend are thrust onto a journey when an evil fire Grimoa attacks Eil’s hometown. While a trope of JRPG’s it works in the story. There is something interesting about Grimoa’s as they are basically the creators of the world. They need to bond with humans in order to travel the world.
Eil has always been a special kid and had the power to use the wind. This power is what brought Nogard to him, and made him the chosen one. He is soon thrust onto a journey on his fifteenth birthday. Eil will meet friends on this journey who will definitely make survival that much easier.
This game is a classic JRPG fare and thus has turn-based combat. Players will pick their attacks strategically and widdle down their opponent’s health. Players will gain new attacks when leveling up and can also put buffs on their characters instead of just putting skills. It’s always good to balance the two types of abilities in order to best outfit the characters.
The combat system is also aided by the fact that players can speed up combat. Players can up the combat speed up to three times, and that can make easy battles end in a flash. As grinding can wear people down it is a good thing to give player’s access too. There is also an auto-battle mode in case player’s want to multitask.
Player’s will also level up their Grimoa by battling. Leveling up the Grimoa is important because the players will gain more skills by leveling up their little friends. To be perfectly honest sometimes the Grimoa skills are even better than the character’s skills. The characters will gain skills rather evenly and slowly bond with their Grimoas. By bonding with their Grimoas they will also be able to synchronize with them. This allows for them to gain even more power!
Player’s will take part in kill count quests and item fetching quests. The kill count quests usually occur when Eil comes to a new place. Players will need to kill a certain amount of an enemy to gain gold and items. It makes the constant battling feel worth it, players will want to complete each and every quest they come across.
This game is a victim of terrible paid add on content. In this game player’s can spend about fifteen dollars to add the ability to get three times experience or have no encounters. It is certainly a cheap but effective way to get a little more money out of people. Though to be honest these features should be built in for free to the game. These add-ons don’t affect the game proper though, so nobody should feel obligated to buy them!
Bonds of the Skies might be a classic style RPG, but there are certainly better games to play. There is something about these games that is super formulaic as the enemies are usually the same between games. The stories and worlds might be different but they continue to use the same enemies. Though it is true that as player’s progress through the game the enemies do become more interesting.
Bonds of the Skies is at its heart a classic JRPG. Playing it I was reminded of playing oldschool RPG’s and that is why I will continue to pick up KEMCO RPG’s. While they might not be the greatest games they are fun and it is interesting seeing what kind of stories they think of. They might not be earthshattering ideas but they all stand on their own and that is something to be proud of. Eil and Nogard have to save the world from an evil Fire Grimoa, will the player aid them?
Disclaimer: A review key was provided