Skygard Arena is a turn-based tactical RPG that reached its full 1.0 release on September 18 of this year, after spending close to a year in Early Access. During that time, the game grew into a complete package that mixes deep strategy, character customization, and both singleplayer and multiplayer modes. It positions itself somewhere between a classic tactical RPG and a competitive arena game, and tries to give you a strong amount of freedom when building their teams.
At the core of Skygard Arena is the idea of forming a squad of three Champions. These characters come from five different factions: the Elves and Dwarves of Katia, the powerful and militaristic Scarlet Empire, the nomadic Clouds Clan, the magical Guardians, and the faith-based Silver Kingdom. Every Champion can take on different Personas, which work like alternate versions of the same hero. A Persona changes the Champion’s abilities and gives them a new role, which makes each character far more flexible than they seem at first. Champions can also carry Relics that grant passive bonuses.
Skygard Arena includes a full campaign that contains thirteen story missions and twenty-six side quests. Missions vary quite a lot, ranging from large-scale battles to infiltration missions, defensive fights, smaller skirmishes, and several boss encounters. For those who enjoy competition, the game also has a PvP Arena mode with one-on-one matches. These fights can be played in Ranked or Casual mode, and you can also fight offline against AI opponents with adjustable difficulty. Sadly, the multiplayer is currently very small, which means that most of the time you will be matched with AI opponents instead of real players.
Combat is the main focus of Skygard Arena, and it works on a mix of positioning, movement, and ability use. Capturing objectives on the map, collecting orbs, and building up to strong ultimate attacks gives the game a layer of resource management on top of the usual turn-based decision making. Every turn allows you to move your character, attack with your primary ability, use one of two secondary skills, and, if charged, unleash your ultimate. Because Champions take turns in a fixed order, planning several moves ahead is important.
What I personally really liked is how the character models are simple but clear, and spells are easy to read thanks to the clear visual effects. Arenas are designed as clean tactical layouts rather than heavily detailed environments. This is a visually pleasing game that successfully achieves a detailed, small-scale look. In fact, it never visually overwhelms you and maintains a clear and focused presentation.
There is a good feeling that comes from discovering strong synergies between Champions, Personas, and Relics, and the freedom to experiment keeps the game interesting. You can build fast and aggressive teams, slow and defensive ones, spell-focused squads, or balanced mixes that can adapt to many situations. This constant room to experiment is one of the game’s biggest strengths.
Positioning, capturing objectives, gathering orbs for ultimates, and predicting enemy movement gives each fight weight. Because the maps are not symmetrical, each side offers different advantages and disadvantages, which is unusual for competitive tactical games. The campaign is enjoyable as well and offers a good amount of content. It can be finished in around seven hours if you skip cutscenes and focus on main tasks, but completing all optional objectives can double that playtime.
Despite these strengths, the game has several weaknesses that might limit its appeal. One of the most noticeable issues is pacing. Some fights feel slow, especially when using Champions with limited mobility or long animation times. The fixed turn order also makes some battles feel predictable, and long animations can stretch out matches more than needed. Before understanding the interactions between Personas, Relics, and abilities, early battles can feel unforgiving. It is very easy to lose fights simply because you brought a team that lacks synergy.
The design of the arenas is also a mixed point. While they serve the gameplay well, they often feel empty or lacking in life. There are no environmental traps, destructible objects, or dynamic events, which makes some fights feel repetitive. The writing in the campaign is another weak element and the dialogue feels unnatural or overly dramatic, and reactions between characters often happen without enough build-up.
Without a doubt, multiplayer is another major problem. At the moment, the game suffers from a very small player base, making it almost impossible to find real opponents. The ranking system barely has a few players with a non-default rating. While the structure of the PvP mode is well designed and could support competitive play, the lack of players means the experience never reaches its potential.
Skygard Arena has many good ideas, and the gameplay is enjoyable once you understand its systems. The combination of tactical depth, heavy customization, and accessible match length makes it stand out among tactical RPGs. It has a solid campaign, fun team building, and a combat system that rewards smart play. For now, sadly, the game is best enjoyed as a singleplayer tactical experience, with multiplayer serving more as a bonus rather than a main feature.
Review copy provided by the publisher
