When JRPG kingmaker Square Enix unveiled their new development studio Tokyo RPG Factory back in 2015, many fans were hopeful for a return to the company’s early RPG roots. Sure enough, the outfit’s first foray into nostalgia -- I Am Setsuna -- received a warm reception for its loving homage to '90s classics like Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy VI. This past week the developer released a short demo for its sophomore title, Lost Sphear. Will it be as welcomed as its spiritual predecessor? It’s tough to say considering the demo is only about 30 minutes long. But even in that short time, I feel like Lost Sphear is off to a promising start.
Let’s start with the visuals. Lost Sphear isn’t a stunner by any means, but it’s also not designed to be. Instead, there's a melancholic beauty about it that I found quite charming. The starting town of Elgarthe --with it's stately homes and quaintly dressed townfolk--is in the gentle grip of autumn, its grass and trees just starting to take on a golden hue. Exceptional light and shading effects add depth and dimension to the little town and its inhabitants; there's something lovely about the way light gleams off a lock of hair or the way shadows drape over dusty bookshelves. I also want to take a quick moment to celebrate the fact that Elgarthe is dog friendly; there are adorable doggies everywhere!
Elgarthe is dog friendly; there are adorable doggies everywhere!
The layout of Elgarthe itself isn't particularly remarkable. It's a typical starting village with only a handful of buildings to poke around in, including an inn where you can buy stat-boosting meals, an elder's house for story exposition needs, a bell that warns citizens of impending monster attacks, a sauna (for some reason), and a weapons and magic shop. I was a bit disappointed there wasn't much to do aside from pick up shiny objects and watch amusing interactions between the main protagonist Kanata and his companions Lumina and Locke. But hey, like I said, this is a small town and a short, short demo.
Things got more interesting once the trio of friends skipped town to partake in a fishing expedition. (Yup. The main objective is to go fish for your dinner). The overworld map is semi-open and blessedly devoid of monsters, which meant I could explore the countryside without have to deal with pesky random encounters. (Like in Chrono Trigger and Secret of Mana, monsters generally inhabit dungeons and are visible to the player.) I admit I wasn't able to go very far -- most areas were off limits past their entry point -- but it was worth a little detour to check out a cool-looking cave in the southwest and a mysterious glen to the east. Plus, by going off the beaten path I came across a treasure chest full of health potions that can be used in battle.
Speaking of which, there were only two battles in the entire demo. The first focused on strategically placing my characters around the battlefield in order to expand their area of attack. From what I can tell, it’s a fun if fairly basic component that seems to work particularly well when using Locke's long-range crossbow, which can hit multiple enemies with minimal field positioning. The next encounter introduced the Setsuna system (plucked straight from I Am Setsuna), whereby properly timed attacks dole out extra damage once a special gauge is filled. It took a bit of effort to get completely comfortable with the timing of these attacks, but once I did I was able to bring down the enemy with relative ease.
Both encounters are meant to showcase Lost Sphear's spin on the longstanding Active Time Battle System, but the battles were so short it was hard for me to fully assess the efficacy of either feature. Will my heroes' combat mobility prove to be the deciding factor during more challenging enemy encounters? Only time will tell, but the more active elements of Lost Sphear's battle design point to what could be an engaging combat experience.
There was one other interesting combat feature teased in the demo, and I wish I could have tried it out. At the Magic Consortium back in town, there's a set of magic skills known as Spritnites you can purchase (another feature lifted from I Am Setsuna). Some of these skill sets are job-specific and all require a quantifiable amount of “memories” to access them, but they definitely sound useful: Aerial Blade allows a character to jump into the air and release a null-type attack that bypasses enemy defense, Snipe raises critical attack rates, and Potentiate allows an item to benefit the group instead of just one ally.
the twisty cliffhanger makes me want to learn more about the story.
The demo doesn't reveal much of the story, but the twisty cliffhanger at the end definitely made me want to learn more about the fate of the three young heroes...as well as the puppies of Elgarthe! With that said, player be warned: the story translation can be just a tiny bit clunky at times, with awkward syntax and minor typos popping up. ("Kanata, let's go after Kanata as fast as we can!" is one example.) It's not the end of the world by any means, but I hope this issue is resolved before the game's release.
Short on time and long on charm, this demo gave me a tapa-sized taste of what to expect from Lost Sphear. The battle system shows promise and the graphics and music are quite fetching. I just wish this demo had been longer and a little more robust. It would have been nice to dive into each characters particular set of combat skills and make more use out of the Setsuna system, which I barely got to use. Hopefully another demo will drop between now and the game's release in early January. After all, I don't want to see this charming throwback "lost" in the shadow of larger, flashier titles.
Meghan Sullivan is IGN's foremost JRPG expert. Talk JRPGs and WWE with her on Twitter at @Meghan_IGN.
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