Review: Skye Tales (Nintendo Switch)
It is pretty ironic how many gamers find games that involve completing a checklist of mundane tasks to be cozy yet find them boring in reality. It goes to show that maybe as humans, we might enjoy such tasks and perhaps even dragons. Skye Tales is a cute and cozy adventure puzzle game by developers Puny Astronaut and 4J Studios, known for developing Minecraft Console Edition. In this tale, we meet a character who wants out of this “cozy” game and is in need of a vacation. His solution? An enchanted dragon.
Theo, an inventor based in Brinn, completely burned himself out of his job as Brinn’s problem solver. Although loving what he did, he realized he needed to find time to be cozy too. Using his skills for some good, he came to the solution of creating Skye. Skye is an enchanted dragon serving Brinn’s citizens in place of him. Ring the bell, and Skye will come soaring to citizens’ beck and call.
Players can soar and explore Brinn’s four valleys that vary in atmosphere, such as the lush and festive Avieshire, tropical Raina Falls, cool blue Coastin, and sandy Whispridge, as the dragon Skye. Brinn’s citizens need Skye’s help with tasks bringing the community together, such as events like a festival and a concert.
Although it’s fun interacting with the environment and using Skye’s singing abilities to solve puzzles, it does become repetitive over time. The goal behind each puzzle and look may change, but most puzzles are the same. Although the game’s main quests are linear, players are not stuck just solving them. The weight of all Brinn may be on Skye’s shoulders, or rather scales, but it won’t cause too much harm if you want to take some time to complete them alongside other activities.
Skye carries around a scrapbook containing a map of the various valleys, progress on her quests, stickers collected for completing tasks, and more. While spending time away from the main quests, players can play minigames to beat high scores for prizes, sing to the friendly and fictitious creatures such as bustlebees, luxlomen, and zeels, or enjoy hunting for acorns, Brinn’s currency, to purchase customizations such as hats.
This 3D puzzler’s visuals resemble My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, both in theme and style, making Skye Tales a bright and vibrant game with calming music in the background that sets the tone. Players not feeling the saturated palette can tweak the settings for a different feel. Whether you want everything to have a pretty pink hue, to be pale and muted, or completely black and white is up to the player.
Skye Tales is a cute and cozy adventure puzzle game, short enough to enjoy over a weekend. Yet, it’s also long enough that a player might lose interest halfway through as the way to solve puzzles becomes quite repetitive.
Skye Tales is available for purchase on the Nintendo Switch’s eShop for $24.99.
