April 2024 report

A deadly virus is spreading on the Earth and the only hope for a cure is located on a distant planet named Arcania. It was once considered an option for colonization but was abandoned after the machines turned against humans. As the situation is dire a group of researchers is sent back there… but the mission didn't go smoothly. Your ship is destroyed after a rocky landing and what's worse you soon learn that you are the only survivor. But the mission isn't a complete failure, yet. There is still hope.

Assuming the role of an unnamed researcher you have to navigate through various separated islands in a search for the cure's ingredients. It would be quite meaningless without any means of coming back home though, so you find a new ship, but it lacks a few improvements to make it space-worthy. And also a lot of fuel. With that in mind, you need to explore the wilderness for anything useful.
But be careful! There are a lot of wild mecha animals that won't appreciate you being around them. Luckily you are not completely powerless against them as you have a simple energy weapon for protection. To get an even better edge during the fights you can hack one of the mechas to make it fight alongside you. Another thing you need to stay safe from is the unstable weather consisting of deadly storms full of tornados!

The game is rather linear with the story told through a few notes scattered around. You explore one island and then move to the next one. Each time you need to find and activate a beacon that will lead on. You also need to collect the fuel, materials and upgrades for your ship. Some bigger exploration in a search for secrets isn't really necessary - there is none. Even though the islands differ in their environment (forest, plains, desert, taiga) the structures are still the same - beacon, main docking station, windmills (give material for leveling up) and terraforming platforms (serve as a safe spot from the storm) - the last two aren't exactly needed for a story progression so you can be quickly done with it. Besides roaming around the islands you have access to an orbit station where you can store various supplies, upgrade your stats, grow plants from collected seeds, or check the status of your mecha pets.

The main aspects of the game consist of collecting resources and fighting with mechas. Both can be fun at the beginning but as they are rather simple they sadly become repetitive. From the collected materials you can create different types of ammo or a few other useful items like a battery for ionizers which are randomly set around the islands and can calm down the weather. Even the hacked mechas don't add much to the gameplay. They will follow you and attack everything aggressive nearby, but sometimes they need help with pointing out what to do or where to go. They can also become stuck and get to your position after the fight is over. Leveling up their stats makes them stronger and quite useful. You can have up to four of them in the group, but if you hit the limit and switch for a new one you lose it and with all of the upgrades… I was quite disappointed by the inability to make a little zoo on the orbital station as there is space for just four animals.

All in all, I have enjoyed the Sky Break but it was more like playing a demo, full of potential, but still a demo. With a little love, it could have become an interesting game. Sad to see it abandoned.

Interesting, I was rather curious about what happened on the station. Though the outcome was slightly underwhelming.