Airborne Empire
- January 13, 2025
- The Wandering Band LLC
- 7h median play time
Get on Steam"Airborne Empire" is an Open World RPG City Builder, where players construct and manage a floating city in a vast, danger-filled skyland. They'll encounter diverse characters, undertake quests, and discover lost marvels, while ensuring their city's stability and protecting it from sky pirates. By helping the world below, they unlock new technologies and advancements for their airborne metropolis.
Mac OS
PC
Windows
Reviews
- Airborne Empire offers a unique blend of city building, exploration, and light RPG elements, making it engaging and fun.
- The game features charming graphics and a delightful atmosphere, enhancing the overall experience.
- The developers are responsive and actively update the game, showing commitment to improving the gameplay and adding new content.
- The game can feel slow-paced at times, with lengthy travel times and a lack of urgency in gameplay.
- Some players find the resource management tedious, particularly with low storage capacities and the need for constant micromanagement.
- The combat mechanics can be frustrating, especially for new players, as the game does not adequately prepare them for early pirate encounters.
- story45 mentions
- 24 % positive mentions
- 69 % neutral mentions
- 7 % negative mentions
The game's story is described as simple yet engaging, providing a flexible narrative that allows players to explore and complete quests in a non-linear fashion. While some players appreciate the quirky writing and immersive lore, others feel that certain elements resemble placeholder text and that the main plot can be completed relatively quickly. Overall, the combination of adventure, quests, and character interactions creates an enjoyable experience, though some players desire more variety and depth in the storytelling.
“The story is not exactly Lord of the Rings level, but it doesn't have to be.”
“Unique, visually breathtaking, and a delight in storytelling and character writing.”
“The stories and quests really are immersive.”
“Some of the writing feels like placeholder text for real plot later.”
“Still early on, but needs more content - I had the main plot done in three evenings, took one more evening to wrap up the last quest.”
“One area where the game does not hold up to the prequels' standard is the storytelling.”
- gameplay23 mentions
- 52 % positive mentions
- 35 % neutral mentions
- 13 % negative mentions
The gameplay is praised for its engaging combat and city-building mechanics, which integrate well into a satisfying gameplay loop that includes exploration and questing. Players appreciate the variety of mechanics, such as the tilt and weight systems, which enhance the overall experience while maintaining a manageable complexity. Overall, the game is seen as an improved version of its predecessor, with addictive gameplay that motivates continued play despite some early access issues.
“The combat that's added just fits so neatly into the gameplay loop; the game is still beautiful, and the concept is still fun.”
“Between exploration, questing, town building, and combat, there is a good variety of gameplay.”
“The gameplay also motivates me to keep playing and keeps me under its spell.”
“City builder game with strange mechanics to spice up gameplay.”
“The basic gameplay is the same, but with expanded quests and, above all, combat.”
“Not too many mechanics to manage with the city, which for me is a good thing.”
- graphics14 mentions
- 36 % positive mentions
- 43 % neutral mentions
- 21 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are generally described as pleasant and cartoonish, featuring a simple yet engaging art style that enhances the gameplay experience. While the visuals are improved from the previous title, offering a more varied and beautiful map, some users note performance issues and high hardware demands that can lead to frame drops. Overall, the graphics contribute positively to the game's quirky storytelling and immersive environment, despite some technical shortcomings.
“The graphics are pleasant and nicely stylized.”
“Art style is simple and pleasant, contributing to an engaged but relaxed game.”
“Personally, while I did not dislike the first title's visuals, this one's map (which is very varied and rather big) is just beautiful to look at.”
“However, there are also a few weaknesses, such as the currently still very weak performance; despite the relatively simple visuals, the game is very hardware-hungry and often has heavy frame drops.”
“The one thing that does need mentioning is that the graphics are a bit cartoonish and, at times, seem like a work in progress.”
“My system is designed for VR, so I can't really comment on performance, but I believe it also runs well on most regular systems, given the complexity of graphics or simulation aspects.”
- music8 mentions
- 38 % positive mentions
- 25 % neutral mentions
- 38 % negative mentions
The music in the game is widely praised for its soothing and immersive qualities, enhancing the overall experience with a charming, Ghibli-esque style. The original composer’s return has resulted in a well-crafted score that complements both relaxed moments and combat sequences, making it one of the standout features of the game. Players appreciate how the music seamlessly integrates with the game's artistic style and narrative.
“It is a very chill game with a quaint artistic style (in a very good way) and a nice musical score.”
“The original composer returns and writes the music for this game, creating soothing, immersive tracks that keep players engaged.”
“The music is well-integrated into the game, enhancing each moment beautifully.”
“The music never gets overly annoying and has an appropriate loop between when you're chillin' and floatin' and when you're getting into combat.”
“The soundtrack is one of the better parts of the game.”
“The music is wrapped well among the game, and works well for each moment.”
- optimization6 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The game's optimization has received mixed feedback, with users noting several performance issues, including high CPU usage and significant frame drops despite relatively simple visuals. While some players believe it runs adequately on regular systems, others express concerns about its hardware demands and overall performance, suggesting that further optimization is needed before the full release.
“My system is designed for VR, so I can't really comment on performance, but I believe it also runs well on most regular systems, given the complexity of graphics and simulation aspects.”
“I hope the performance gets some love for the full release, but otherwise great so far!”
“However, there are also a few weaknesses, such as the currently still very weak performance; despite the relatively simple visuals, the game is very hardware-hungry and often has heavy frame drops.”
“However, there are also a few weaknesses, such as the currently still very weak performance. Despite the relatively simple visuals, the game is very hardware-hungry and often has heavy frame drops.”
“A few performance issues - not outrageous, but the game seems to take more CPU than one would expect.”
“And expect most problems of early access, like performance issues, bugs, and unclear/unbalanced mechanics.”
- humor4 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game features a charming sense of humor, highlighted by witty dialogue, amusing interactions with various factions, and endearing characters. Players appreciate the clever pop-culture references and find the negative reviews within the game to be particularly entertaining. Overall, the humor enhances the engaging lore and adds depth to the gameplay experience.
“Otherwise, this is a terrific game with some humor in the interactions between you and different factions.”
“The characters are adorable, and there are some funny pop-culture references.”
“The dialogue is funny, the lore is interesting, with opportunities to learn more at your own discretion.”
- grinding3 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 67 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be less tedious compared to other titles, with enjoyable missions that keep the experience engaging. However, there are concerns that the gameplay may become repetitive over time if additional features are not introduced.
“Really polished, fun, engaging, and the missions are enjoyable, not grindy like many other games.”
“I really hope they add a creative mode; it can be tedious to play with different layouts for your city.”
“I wonder if it might get a little tedious later on if they don't add more aspects to the gameplay.”
- atmosphere1 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The atmosphere of the game is described as wonderful, characterized by a vibrant energy that enhances the overall experience.
“Wonderful atmosphere and energy.”
- replayability1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Reviewers suggest that the game's current content may not justify its high price, indicating limited replayability. Many recommend waiting for additional content before diving in, as the game lacks features that encourage repeated playthroughs.
“I definitely recommend waiting for more content to be released, considering the price tag is pretty high and it really does not seem like a game with a lot of potential for replayability.”
- stability1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
Overall, users express satisfaction with the game, noting that while it is in early release and has a few minor glitches, these issues are expected to be resolved over time.
“Very happy overall with the game, though being in early access, there are one or two minor glitches that should easily be fixed over time.”
“The game crashes frequently, making it hard to enjoy the experience.”
“I encountered several bugs that disrupted gameplay, which is disappointing for a title that had so much potential.”
