Eastasiasoft’s Rainbow Moon, was a great take on the strategy RPG genre, so the sequel should be great, right? Well, sadly Rainbow Skies is a game that tries to be better than its prequel and falls short of the cult hit that was. Right from the beginning, some issues appear that hold the game back, and this includes the very story.
The story in the game starts out okay, even if the writing is not the best, as it is a story that works for a smaller style of RPG. However, there is a drastic shift in the story the further you go and the shift is so stark that it throws everything else off. This is where the lacklustre writing comes in, as Rainbow Skies quickly becomes a mess with a plot and storytelling that ultimately do not work.
The game is graphically not too bad when you consider this was originally designed as a PS Vita title, but even then it feels like very little was done to improve in this port. There are several reused assets for example, including enemies, environments and NPCs, which leads to a bland experience. The colours and animations are also off, with the former being extremely oversaturated and the latter looking very much dated, even though the game is from 2018 and was also on PS4, leading to a game that just looks unappealing. The audio in the game is not enough to save the game either, since while the music is actually quite decent, the rest of the sound effects and limited voice acting are completely banal, and will grate on you due to how often they are reused.
As mentioned, Rainbow Skies originally was released in 2018, but the gameplay feels much more dated than that. This is not a case of the game being a throwback to an earlier RPG, but rather a game that didn’t move on from older ideas, including the bad ones, making this a bit of a paint-by-numbers style RPG, the kind that many have grown tired of. There is plenty of content in Rainbow Skies and many hours of gameplay, but it goes so slowly and drags on, and it gets to the point that most of the game feels like filler, especially when factoring in how the poor dialogue drags on and the slow movement on the overworld.
Combat is done on a grid-based map, and you will not only control the main characters, but in a touch inspired by various Mon games, you will also take control of the various monster companions the characters have tamed as well. This is the best part of the game and battles are turn-based, with speed stat determining who goes first and characters having a limited number of actions, including moving around the battlefield. That said there is a lack of battlefield variety and environmental obstacles, and you will fall into a routine very quickly, which will lead to many aspects of the battles being ignored because they ultimately do not matter outside of perhaps some boss battles.
The problem with Rainbow Skies is that it is a repetitive game that drags on and never quite feels satisfying. There are some good aspects to it, but they are never enough to give the game a chance to succeed. The battle system is the highlight, but the way battles play out lets you ignore some of the best parts of the combat, and the writing just drags the game down. This is not fun at all, and we recommend avoiding this one.
Disclaimer: A review key was provided
