From the developer behind I Am Setsuna, here comes their second game, LOST SPHEAR. An RPG that is hugely influenced by Chrono Trigger’s gameplay system. The game was released in Japan on 12 October 2017 while the English version will be coming out early next year, on 23 January 2018 for PlayStation 4, Switch, & PC (Digital) & the physical edition is only available through Square Enix Store. Check out the trailer down below to get a close look at how the game is.

Now that you have watched the trailer, you already got a glimpse of what’s going on, and I’m going to talk about it down below. Let’s go to the in-depth review then!

• Story

The story is about a boy named Kanata, who lost her mother when he was a kid. He is living in a small village called Eru. Together with his childhood friends, Rumina & Locke. The story starts where Kanata & his friends are running on an errand from the village chief to hunt monsters that have been seen around the village. Once they drove the monster out of the village, the chief asked them to get some Fish for dinner ingredients. So the three of them went to get some fish from the river. But when they got out of the forest, they see that everything has turned white, including their village.

Confused about what happened, Kanata found a guy named Van in front of their village who said that he saw this phenomenon before and they are called “Lost”. After taking a refuge at a nearby hut, the group takes a rest for a moment. And then Kanata had this weird dream, where he met a man from the past. Apparently, things got “Lost” because they lose their memories. In order to bring things back from “Lost”, you have to find and restore their memories. And it’s not limited only to living things. And Kanata, for some reason has to power to extract memories from things and restore them. That’s where Kanata’s journey to save the world from this “Lost” phenomenon starts.

The story revolves around “Hope” & that’s what Kanata is to the world, as he is the only person that’s able to restore things that are “Lost”. But what exactly is “Lost”? Why is it happening to the world? Why is Kanata able to restore memories? You’ll find yourself questioning these things a lot when you play the game. But of course, you will get all your questions answered by the end of the game. Oh and also, Kanata actually TALK in the game. He’s not another silent main character, which is kind of a big change to me.

8/10 for the story. The game presents the story much better than I Am Setsuna. You’ll find yourself enjoying moving from one continent to another continent with a simple main mission, which is to save the world from “Lost”. Although things aren’t always as simple as that. The plot is actually deeper than the surfaces.

• Gameplay

Battle System
I must say that the battle system is pretty much the same as I Am Setsuna, but they actually fixed things and making it better. Let’s just start with a simple example. Your attack area is now visible in the battle.

And your ATB bar can be seen on your heroes face. You’ll see that a yellow light is slowly filling the icon of your heroes. And when it’s full, it’s your turn to move.

See that three 〇 right above your heroes HP? That’s called SP. Now you’ll fill the SP in a battle. Once you got an SP, you can use it to do Setsuna Attack. Setsuna system is still there, where you have to press □ right before you hero attack. It will give additional damage to your enemy. But be careful, as the SP bar will reset in each battle. By ambushing an enemy, you’ll get an extra 1 SP at the beginning of the battle. And this time there are not so many “Kill” type. Only two, which are “Setsuna Kill”, the one you get when you kill an enemy with Setsuna Attack. And the other one is “Machine Kill”, the one you get when you kill an enemy will using Vulcosuits. By getting this kill, it’ll increase the EXP you got in the battle.

Vulcosuits
Early in the game, you’ll also get something that is called “Vulcosuits”.

You can easily toggle it by pressing the L1 buttons. These Vulcosuits runs on EN that you can see on the bottom right of the screen.

And this EN is not limited to only one character, but to the whole party member. When you use the Vulcosuits, all of your attacks will reduce the EN, including the skills that require MP. By using a Vulcosuits, your stats will increase greatly and you can use a special command that is only available when you are using Vulcosuits. For example, Kanata can do a combination attack when he is using the Vulcosuits, or Van will call upon legendary weapon if you cleared the requirement for it in battle. This makes the battle more interesting, although I must say honestly that most people including me will only use the Vulcosuits in a boss battle as they have a limited EN that can be used.

Every character will have their own special command when they are using the Vulcosuits. But keep in mind that you won’t be able to use it until you unlock it by activating the world’s pillar that empowers the Vulcosuits. It’s different for each Vulcosuits, and you will not get it automatically from the main story. The only person who gets it automatically is Kanata. You need to unlock it for the others. So it’s kind of missable. Just make sure you lit up every pillar you find, and you’ll be alright.

Artifacts
This is the most important part of the gameplay. Early in the game,  Kanata will learn how to build artifacts that will help restore part of the world that is “Lost”. The artifacts are not just a landmark, they give buffs to your heroes.

There are so many types of artifact in the game. You’ll get it from boss fights, shiny drop in the field, treasure chests. Each artifact will have its special buff. There are ones that Restore your HP when walking in the field, Restore EN after finishing a battle, Increase EXP if you have multiple Setsuna Kill / Machine Kill. & etc. But remember that some of it won’t affect the whole world, only the region where the artifact is on. Choosing artifacts is a very important thing as it will help you a lot in a dungeon & boss fights.

Sub-Quests
You don’t need to worry about these things until you are right before the last dungeon. Because there are actually no subquests, until when you’re about to storm the last dungeon. So, just relax and enjoy the game. As these things will only appear near the end game. Each character will have their own Sub-Quests that will lead to some backstory about their past & also you’ll get their strongest skills.

Misc.
Just like any other classic RPG, you will still get a sea transportation & of course, an airship that will help you travel all over the world.
And also a good RPG will always have a fishing game. But no reeling in this game. Just cast your rod and press the button once you feel a movement.
Last but not least is that finally add “Inn” back. What’s an RPG without an Inn? Doesn’t feel like an adventurer.

9/10 for the gameplay. Just like I Am Setsuna, this game will have a little bit of learning curve before you actually master on how to play this game. But once you get it, it’s really fun. Tokyo RPG Factory is making good things better.

• Graphics

Well to be honest the graphics of the game is not the best you can get. Well, it’s not pixel but sure not a total 3D. The best way to say it is probably 2.5D. I personally think that I’m okay with it, as the game is supposed to be a successor to classics RPG. But most people probably won’t enjoy the half midget model of the characters.

Even so, they managed to make that your weapon’s appearances change as you switch weapon (Which apparently the developer of Star Ocean 5 is too lazy to do). It won’t be that significant as the weapon looks so small in the game, but hey still a good addition to the game, that just seeing them fighting with the same weapon again & again.

The environment of the game looks pretty good though. This time they are no more snow, only green stuff. Check out the gallery below to see some of the game images.

The game runs on a smooth 60fps which is awesome.

8/10 for the graphics. Most of the people probably won’t like it because it doesn’t exactly show graphics like Uncharted 4 or Horizon Zero Down. But you guys need to remember that this is kind of a throwback to Classic RPG which actually hit the spot. It’s what they called a Modern Classic RPG style. Some people will love it, some people will hate it. I happen to be the one who loves it.

• Sound & Music

I Am Setsuna is quite famous for its endearing background music that only uses Piano. And they did it again with this game, well the main instrument for the BGM is Piano, and they make you really enjoy the game in the Sad Moment, Happy Moment, & Intense Moment. Great selection of BGM. If you wanna hear some samples of the BGM, check out the OST Trailer from Square Enix down below.

And also your heroes have voices, but not in the dialogue. Only battle voices that you can hear in the game. You have the option to turn the voice on/off to your preference.

9/10 for the Sound & Music. The music arrangement is fabulous. It actually increases the emotion of the scenes in the game. This actually proves that without voices, some scenes can actually be emotional because of the BGM. And the Battle Theme when fighting the last boss? Super awesome.

• The Verdict

LOST SPHEAR is great. Tokyo RPG Factory is actually listening to what fans want and mixed it up with traditional RPG elements. The game has a great story that’s not too cheesy, but deep enough to make you think. The dynamic between party members is fun (I love how Van is being sarcastic all the time). LOST SPHEAR has its weakness, of course. But the good parts overwhelmed the bad parts. And also it gives you a surprise when you finished the game for the “first time”.

The Score: 8.5/10
I’m lucky that I am able to read Japanese and finished the game ahead of you guys who are waiting for the English Version. If you like I Am Setsuna, then trust me when I say that this is much better than I Am Setsuna. A great game doesn’t always have to have a realistic graphics to be great. If you are looking to play some classic JRPG in this modern time, then this game is for you

Erhanz finished the game in 39 Hours of gameplay, and already got the platinum trophy. This review is made based on his experience in the game.