Sky Oceans: Wings for Hire

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When you hear the phrase “sky pirates,” it’s hard not to get excited. Sky Oceans: Wings for Hire, developed by Octeto Studios and published by PQube, embraces this theme with both hands. As a tribute to classic JRPGs, this game serves up high-flying battles and an emotionally charged story about searching for purpose. But, while there’s a lot to admire in its adventurous spirit, there is also some turbulence along the way.

Story – Sky Pirates searching for justice not booty

At the heart of Sky Oceans: Wings for Hire is Glenn Windwalker, a determined captain with a crew of sky pirates with similar backgrounds. Your journey revolves around Glenn’s efforts to assemble a group of adventurers, all while fighting against a powerful organisation called the Alliance. On paper, it’s got all the ingredients of an epic JRPG, with heartfelt moments and a strong theme of self-discovery.

Glenn Windwalker wearing goggles on his head, gloves and a coat with fur trim. With a village of stone houses behind him — Different expressions

The story in Sky Oceans: Wings for Hire unfolds across floating islands and airships, with Glenn and his great aunt Mira leading the charge. The relationships you build with your crew add an emotional depth to the adventure, particularly with your starting crew: Fio, an orphan searching for belonging; Mica, who struggles under her overbearing father after losing her mother; and Ren, determined to honour his farming family.

For all its charm, the story does hit some bumps. Dialogue is often sweet but can drag when you’re asked to repeat similar tasks repeatedly. While the game’s emotional core remains strong, the constant need to revisit the same missions dilutes some of the impact.

Glenn Windwalker and several of his crew members all wearing coats and goggles. With two giant airships behind. While all stood on a platform — Sky Pirate Crew Assemble

Gameplay

Sky Oceans: Wings for Hire is a turn-based tactical game. You must guide your crew through skirmishes, managing resources and planning attacks. There’s something undeniably satisfying about seeing your ship’s cannons unleash a perfectly timed volley against enemy fighters.

While it’s great in theory, the combat sometimes feels slightly rigid. You’ll find yourself repeating the same strategies in most battles, which can make things a bit predictable. There’s a clear effort to keep battles engaging with new moves and abilities, but you’ll often repeatedly rely on the same tactics, especially in longer fights. The adrenaline of aerial dogfights loses its edge when you’re locked into the same sequence too frequently. Sky Oceans: Wings for Hire biggest weakness is repetition.

over view inside a sci-fi level environment with objective prompts and a HUD displaying stats and which character you are using — How many times must we do this?

It’s a shame because the world of Sky Oceans is brimming with potential. Building a pirate crew and engaging in airship battles is exciting, but the lack of variety in the missions makes it harder to stay invested for the long haul. Fighting the same types of enemies with the same tactics gets tiresome, especially when there’s so little else to do between these encounters.

Boosting Bonds and Abilities

Your crew in Sky Oceans: Wings for Hire is vital in upgrading your abilities and airship. You can enhance your team’s special moves, known as “arts,” improve the primary airship’s tech, and meet Vanessa in engineering to strengthen it. Even the smaller ships in your fleet aren’t left behind—you’ll upgrade their equipment, boosting their power in battle.

The fun doesn’t stop there. You can have meals cooked for your crew by the always-smiling Wolfman, giving them new stats like “windproof,” which grants invulnerability to wind-based attacks. There’s even a therapist on board, helping keep your team’s mood in check, ensuring they stay sharp for the next fight.

A menu graphic with various meal sets and a wolfman character with an eyepatch, and goggles on his head holding a spoon. — Dinner’s Ready

A Game-Breaking Bug That Grounded My Adventure

While enjoying parts of Sky Oceans: Wings for Hire, the journey was cut short by a frustrating bug about eight hours in. Choosing a find treasure questline instead of the main quest inadvertently progressed the main questline in an order the game didn’t know how to handle. My manual save and autosave were both after the point of no return, meaning I’d have to restart the game from scratch — that’s more than a little disheartening when you’ve already sunk several hours into building your crew and ship.

This kind of glitch is a major let-down. Being locked out of advancing the story is a severe problem in a game where strategy and progress are closely tied. Unfortunately, it left a sour taste in my mouth, and I’m not sure when (or if) I’ll have the energy to dive back in and start from scratch.

Graphics & Audio

Sky Oceans: Wings for Hire feels like something you’d expect from a Studio Ghibli film — vivid colours, dreamy landscapes, and characters that look like they’ve stepped out of a storybook. Flying between floating islands, you’ll be treated to gorgeous vistas, stunning sunsets, and intricate towns. However, this can only really be attributed to the cutscenes.

But once you land, the excitement fades a little, and the visuals in the game world look plasticky and early PS2 era. For all the beauty in the world’s design, the towns and locations themselves are somewhat lacklustre. You can explore, sure, but there’s not much to do beyond chatting with NPCs and grabbing a few basic quests. These areas feel more like background scenery than places you want to explore. The visuals promise a world brimming with life and adventure, but the lack of interactivity in these towns makes it feel oddly hollow.

Large area with just 3 NPC characters a market tent, some plants in the middle area an some airships in the background. — Sky Ocean or Sky barren

The sound design in Sky Oceans: Wings for Hire is a bit of a mixed bag. While there’s no regular voice acting during conversations, you’ll hear the same few lines during battles. Characters often repeat themselves, with Glenn saying “sure” when given an order or Mira shouting “cold as the windmills’ winds” during attacks. These lines are fine initially but quickly grow repetitive as the game progresses.

On the positive side, the sound of your airship cannons firing is satisfying, adding some much-needed weight to combat. Each location also has its distinct background music, setting the atmosphere nicely. However, while the music fits the setting, it lacks real impact. The tracks feel like set pieces rather than something that enhances the experience. There’s nothing particularly memorable about the soundscape, and it doesn’t add much to the emotional weight of the journey. It does the job but could offer so much more.

Longevity

The longevity of Sky Oceans: Wings for Hire depends largely on how much you enjoy its core mechanics. With a mix of strategic airship combat, RPG elements, and character progression, there’s plenty to keep you occupied, especially if you like customising your crew and upgrading your ships. The ability to improve your arts, equipment, and airship tech encourages players to experiment with different strategies. However, the game’s repetitive nature could be its downfall.

There is room for replayability if you want to explore different crew setups or unlock all the upgrades. Yet, without a branching storyline or alternate paths, the game doesn’t offer much incentive to replay the entire campaign. The main story is linear, so there’s little reason to return once you’ve seen the key moments.

While the initial playthrough can be enjoyable, Sky Oceans might not have the lasting appeal for multiple runs unless you’re a completionist or a die-hard fan of sky pirate adventures. Hours-wise, you are possibly looking at 20+

Final Thoughts

Sky Oceans: Wings for Hire is a game that made me feel nostalgic and frustrated. The hand-drawn art style and heartfelt story moments, especially with the “found family” theme, hooked me. However, the repetitive missions and lack of world depth often left me wanting something more engaging and dynamic. Not to mention the bug that halted my playthrough. I’m hoping the developers will be able to fix this before launch!

Despite its flaws, Sky Oceans still has heart. I appreciated the emotional journey of Glenn and his crew, and the visual design was undeniably charming. However, I didn’t finish the game with a burning desire to jump back in. The story wraps up nicely, but there isn’t enough variety to keep me returning for more. If you love JRPGs and sky pirate adventures, there’s enjoyment to be had. But if you’re seeking deep, replayable content, it might not fully satisfy.

Disclaimer: A code was received in order to write this preview.

If pirates and JRPG’s are your thing why not check out our preview of Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii Trailer.

About Author

Tyler Denyer

Tyler Denyer/ Tyluild is a passionate journalist, whose love of video games runs deep. With a focus on crafting captivating video game reviews, they immerse themselves in the worlds of gaming, especially ones with deep and rich lore. Beyond games Tyler is a lover of cats, travelling and finding a tasty treat to eat. Eager to stay on top of the latest trends, they regularly attend video game events, and keep on top of news in the gaming world. Fuelled by an insatiable curiosity, our journalist is equally enthralled by not just games themselves, but also new accessories. Their favorite style of game? Without a doubt, RPGs, allowing Tyler to fully explore his imagination, the grind in game is less tedious than in life.

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Sky Oceans: Wings for Hire – PC Preview