If you are feeling nostalgic or enjoy a good old fashioned JRPG, look no further as Bond of the Skies is coming out to a console near you. Previously released on the Nintendo 3DS, Android, iOS, and PC, Bond of the Skies is now seeing further releases on the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and the PlayStation Vita. If you are interested, join us as we explore this retro-styled game.

As a JRPG title, you should expect some dungeon crawling, exploration, seeking out supplies and battles. In Bond of the Skies, you’ll get a fair amount of that with the old 8-bit style graphics, albeit a bit more enhanced for better visuals on the PS4. The battle system is a turn-based system, as well, so keep in mind as you dive further into the details of the game. Of course, a JRPG wouldn’t be anything without its plot, so read further for more information about the game.

Bond of the Skies is set in a world where 4 gods created all called Riktilde. Here, legends are passed down each generation about the 4 gods, otherwise known as Grimoas, who created the land. The Grimoas are from differing elements; one of air, one of earth, one of water, and one of fire. The people worshiped the Grimoas and built statues where they prayed to the gods, but as time moved forward, the gods found their legends becoming myths and forgotten.

It is in this realm where you find yourself playing the young Eil who is given a heavy burden one day when the Grimoa of fire attacks his town. In order to save everyone, Eil partners with the Grimoa of air. Now, he must seek out other people with the ability and desire to partner with Grimoas to save the world from the Grimoa of fire.

Right from the start, Bond of the Skies greets you with nostalgic music and 8-bit graphics that throw you back a couple decades. The story plays out in narration without too many gory details or visuals to distract you. You learn about the world of Riktilde and the Grimoas before you are thrown into Eil’s shoes where he starts to learn about being an adventurer right before the Grimoa of fire sets the town ablaze. After you partner with the Grimoa of air, you set off on your adventure to find the other partners and save the world.

It’s funny but the game has a completely nostalgic feel like you’re playing an old Pokemon game and setting off on an adventure. When you are outside of any town, you will run into monsters and even oni which you will have to either fight or run away from. The battle system is completely turn-based and consists of rather simple commands like Attack, Skill, Item, Synchro, and Flee. Even the battle animations are simple, which really sent us back. This made for faster battles with shorter loading screens and faster gameplay, if that’s what you’re after, which is quite convenient since you’ll have to grind in this game in order to accomplish quests and fight harder monsters.

For the most part, we did not experience much difficulty with battling unless we were in over our heads and tried to throw ourselves into really tough battles consecutively. This makes for rather reckless gameplay, although, should your party faint, you are given the option or trying again or having to reload to the last save point (which are infinite). There’s no real penalty for losing in battle, so this might be a game for beginners more so than an advanced gamer who prefers greater challenges.

Battles tend to be really easy so we usually spammed Attack during most battles, but you could just make your gameplay less monotonous by using Synchros and Skills, the latter of which you can equip as you desire. Skills use up your skill points, which can be disastrous should you run into another tough battle before you heal. If your Synchro Gauge with your partnered Grimoa hits 100%, it’s time for you to use a special skill to wipe out your enemies!

Outside of the battles, you can take on quests and create offerings when you go to a Grimoa statue at any one of the towns. The different statues feature different quests, so if you run out of quests in one town, head to another! This can make battling out in the wild more fruitful as you battle and complete quests at the same time. As far as offerings go, you will find that the items you receive from being victorious in battle will come in handy here as you can create new things to either equip, use, or sell.

Bond of the Skies plays a lot like an old school JRPG and it has us completely nostalgic throughout the game. If you haven’t played a retro-styled JRPG in a while, Bond of the Skies may have its advantages and fun points. It definitely is nice to go back and play something different compared to all of the JRPGs out now. However, Bond of the Skies doesn’t bring anything new to the table and it’s extremely easy so you barely need to know what you’re doing to play. It makes a great game for newbie gamers who may not be as familiar with JRPGs or even retro games. The story is quite fun, albeit a tad simple, but if you were looking for a casual game, Bond of the Skies might be just the ticket. We think it’s probably the type of game we’d rather have on a PS Vita or Nintendo Switch to play on the go whenever we need something to do rather than binge play for hours on the PS4, but we did find ourselves enthralled in the game for hours on end even on our own PS4.

Well, there you have it, everyone! Hopefully you all have a better idea of whether or not you want to buy a copy of Bond of the Skies for your PlayStation or Nintendo device. Of course, you can always buy the older version for your phone or 3DS, but sometimes, we want a game for our newer consoles, right? What do you folks out there think? Have you played this game before? Share your thoughts below.