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Topic: Sky Gamblers: Storm Raiders

Posts 1 to 16 of 16

RR529

I really needed something to fill that Ace Combat sized hole in my Switch's heart, so I decided to take a gamble on this (pun most definitely intended), and am glad I did.

Single player consists of an 18 mission Story Mode (split up into 3 campaigns featuring a different theater of the war), a 13 mission Dogfight Mode, a Survival Mode, and a Free Flight Mode.

Online (which I haven't yet tried) has Last Man Standing, Team Death Match, Capture the Flag, and Defend the Base (I believe they can also be played single player with bots).

You Level Up by completing objectives in either the single player and/or multiplayer modes to unlock new planes & skins.

It runs smooth from my experience, and despite it's mobile roots, looks really sharp on Switch (haven't played docked yet, though). Your plane actually gets visibly torn up the more it's damaged, it has 5 camera angles (3 are 3rd person from various distances from your plane, 2 are 1st person with one being a cockpit view, and the little control stick inside the plane actually moves based on your inputs which is a nice little touch), and in rainy maps droplets will even accumulate on your screen. Controls are a bit more complicated than AC from my perspective, but I got used to them quick enough.

Currently Playing:
Switch - Blade Strangers
PS4 - Kingdom Hearts III, Tetris Effect (VR)

toiletduck

@RR529 That doesn't look bad at all, thanks for the extensive post. I've never been into games like this, but I quite enjoyed Skies of Fury DX on Switch. Problem with that game is though, that it becomes quite one-sided after a while. This seems to have more 'story' in the storymode.

Is there any local co-op/vs? Is it any good? Online I only find mentions of local LAN and online, but I'm looking for couch co-op.

toiletduck

Switch Friend Code: SW-2231-9448-5129

RR529

Tried online for the first time today. When you go into multiplayer you're shown what rooms are open (& what type of game it is), and you can either join one or start your own room. From what I can gather, matches don't end, so there's no waiting involved, the game just plops you into the middle of the match (or if you start a match, you're by yourself until other people decide to join in), which I don't think closes until everyone decides to leave. I Joined a Free Flight room first (so yes, that's not just a single player mode), then I jumped into a Team Death Match room since that's where everyone else was going (got 5 kills before being shot down myself). There were only about 6 or 7 people online in total (including myself), but at least you don't have to wait for players with how the game handles online.

In other news, I discovered that the game has an Arcade style control setup as well, though I'm sticking with the Simulation controls. It also has aim assist which is turned on by default, but can be turned off (and you can invert controls as well). In terms of Single Player content, I've completed all 6 missions in the "Battle of Britain" segment, and the first mission in each of the other two segments. I've also completed the first 5 missions in the Dogfight Mode (the Dogfight missions are VERY brief though, like just a minute or two).

@toiletduck, when you jump into multiplayer it automatically connects online, so I don't think it has any local multiplayer.

Currently Playing:
Switch - Blade Strangers
PS4 - Kingdom Hearts III, Tetris Effect (VR)

toiletduck

@RR529 thanks. That's too bad though... I like games like this especially in a local multiplayer setup with split screen.

toiletduck

Switch Friend Code: SW-2231-9448-5129

DannyDan

Hey thanks for rec, gonna try this in the next couple of days!

DannyDan

RR529

During my last session, I cleared missions 2, 3, & 4 in the "Skies of Fury" campaign (focused on US/Germany), cleared mission 6 in Dogfight Mode, got to wave 12 in Survival Mode, and goofed around in Free Flight (certain planes/skins can be unlocked by flying close to certain landmarks in the maps, and this is easiest achieved in Free Flight).

@DannyDan, yeah, if you like these kinds of games there's good fun to be had here.

Currently Playing:
Switch - Blade Strangers
PS4 - Kingdom Hearts III, Tetris Effect (VR)

RR529

Just cleared the campaign in Sky Gamblers: Storm Raiders.

The Good:

  • A decent amount of Single Player modes including 3 Campaigns (6 missions each, so a total of 18 missions), a Survival Mode, and a 13 mission Dogfight Mode (though the difficulty on these is either very easy or seemingly impossible, with nothing in between).
  • A good amount of Online Multiplayer modes such as Free For All, Free Flight, Last Man Standing, Capture the Flag, Defend the Base, and Team Deathmatch (Luckily they can all be played offline with bots, because the online component is pretty dead...).
  • 29 different real world aircraft to play as, each with 3 different skins (most have to be unlocked, naturally).
  • All the customization options you'd expect, such as inverting the controls, sim or arcade gameplay styles, aim assist on/off, choice of Imperial or Metric measurements, whether or not to show the health of other planes, and the option to customize your planes' color scheme.
  • Gameplay is smooth & I didn't notice any performance issues.

The Bad:

  • No local multiplayer, as far as I can tell.
  • You choose your aircraft first thing, before entering any modes, so if you want to change aircraft you have to go all the way back to the main menu. It's a minor inconvienence in the grand scheme of things, but it is what it is.
  • Snow. In a few of the campaign missions there'll be parcipitation that'll "hit" your screen. Usually it's rain which didn't bother me (it's actually a cool little effect), but in one it's snow and it was very distracting.
  • Cockpit view. It's here and accounted for, even with an animated control stick & foot pedals that react correctly to your inputs, but it has the same cockpit for every plane, which will probably annoy the kinds of aircraft buffs these kinds of games attract.

Overall I quite liked it, and would recommend it if you like these kinds of games, especially for the price. The same dev has a tank game on the system, so I'll probably look into it eventually as well.

Edited on by RR529

Currently Playing:
Switch - Blade Strangers
PS4 - Kingdom Hearts III, Tetris Effect (VR)

htrengereid

Hello RR529,
Thank you for your review on this game. I have a couple questions regarding the game though.
This is regarding the functionality of the multiplayer.
Can you create a private multiplayer lobby? This so you can play with your own friends. Say we are 4 friends with 4 switch systems and 4 games. Can we create a online party with just the 4 of us?
Can we customize the battles in terms of if we want to play 2 vs 2 or free for all.
Can we add bots to our private multiplayer battle?
Thank you in advance for answering.

htrengereid

RR529

Game must be doing decent in Japan. On the JP eShop it was in the top 30 games (admittedly only if you excluded the retail titles).

Jumped online earlier today and there were two full rooms, and most of the players were indeed Japanese.

@htrengereid, You can set up a private room with the match type of your preference (Free For All, Team Death Match, Last Man Standing, Defend the Base, Capture the Flag, or Free Flight), and you can even set rules on what type of aircraft & loadouts are allowed (and set match duration too, naturally).

As for bots, I'm afraid it's all or nothing as far as I could tell (either play single player with full teams of bots, or multiplayer with none).

Currently Playing:
Switch - Blade Strangers
PS4 - Kingdom Hearts III, Tetris Effect (VR)

FX102A

I was interested in the game but the mobile roots were so evident. Also once I saw 1944 aircraft on the ground at Pearl Harbour in the trailer, interest spiralled right into the ground. Guess I can only hope Project Aces will move into something for the Switch after January.

FX102A

RR529

Cleared the hardest missions in Dogfight Mode earlier this evening! Pretty good adrenaline rush, lol.

@FX102A, when talking about it's mobile roots are you referencing it's graphics or some other facet? I'll admit it looks a bit rough in spots (usually ground level objects up close, and more so in docked mode with things blown up), but for the price I'm willing to forgive it.

Currently Playing:
Switch - Blade Strangers
PS4 - Kingdom Hearts III, Tetris Effect (VR)

htrengereid

Hello again,
I got the game, but the multiplayer does not seem to work. It keeps saying connection to server failed when trying to create a private party. Is the multiplayer not working very well do you feel?

htrengereid

RR529

@htrengereid, I haven't had any issues playing online in open rooms, but I haven't tried a private room yet so I can't comment on the game's performance there.

Is it just private rooms having the issue, or is it open rooms as well?

Currently Playing:
Switch - Blade Strangers
PS4 - Kingdom Hearts III, Tetris Effect (VR)

FX102A

@RR529 Partially the visual design (more art style than actual graphical fidelity). Kinda soulless with no actual uniqueness. Also the way the aircraft seemed to handle in the videos didn’t look right. Yes its cheap but with so much other stuff I’d rather buy I have a feeling I can afford to give this one a miss until a decent drop in price.

FX102A

htrengereid

@rr529, I figured where the problem was. I had to change the private party name. was not very obvious to start with. normal multi is straight forward though

htrengereid

waderain

@htrengereid mine worked fine until a few days ago now I get the connection to server failed error. How do you change the private party name?

waderain

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