Review for Lost Sphear. Game for PC, PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch, the video game was released on 12/10/2017 The version for PC came out on 23/01/2018 The version for Nintendo Switch came out on 23/01/2018 The version for PlayStation 4 came out on 23/01/2018
When you are talking about Lost Sphear it is inevitable to go with the mind to the golden years of the JRPG. The title in question, spiritual successor of I Am Setsuna, in fact, he wants to bring back the essentiality and emotionality of the 90s roles that changed our childhood, and you can already tell from the menu. A suggestive landscape and a sweet, as well as melancholy, melody call the player in a loud voice, prompting him to embark on a long journey to satiate his curiosity and his thirst for emotions and new adventures.
Even for those who have not played it, Lost Sphear is a product of great charm, but they will have succeeded Square Enix e Tokyo RPG Factory to give a real alternative to mainstream action?
In Lost Sphear everything is made of memories. Once these are lost, the world itself fails. When the village of Elgarthe also disappears in a white cloud, the three protagonists Kanata, Light e Locke they will take the situation in hand by exploiting the skills of Kanata, the only one able to recover memories and bring back objects, places and people affected by the phenomenon of "disappearance".
The plot, from the very beginning, seemed very interesting and directed towards a less gloomy path than the predecessor I Am Setsuna. In any case, the narrative unfortunately suffers from a great oriental influence and this is evident above all from the character of the characters. You'll find the pure of heart, the short-tempered girl, the childish kid, and finally the type who never gets a smile. This aura of predictability and the lack of depth in the protagonists make the story of Lost Sphear less engaging and realistic in the eyes of the player, thanks to the lack of cutscenes given the setting that has been chosen for this role-playing video game.
The gameplay is quite different. The developers found an excellent meeting point between plot and gameplay, making Kanata's capabilities tangible even within the game system. After defeating enemies or visiting specific places we will receive the memories, and with them we can bring back what has disappeared or even build artifacts that grant bonuses in battle.
The battles in turn are based on shifts with classic ATB loading bar (Active Time Battle) and have a very intuitive menu with attack options, skills (spells) and healing items. These options are accompanied by the momentum mode: during the fights you will see blue dots light up above the icons of the characters, that is the momentum. The momentum allows, by pressing the square button at the right time, to make critical attacks and is therefore very useful for chaining devastating combos. Moreover, thanks to the customizable skills there will be no limits to the strategies to be implemented in battle. After several hours of play and despite the size of the enemies you will encounter, we can say that the level of difficulty in Lost Sphear is not excessive; in general it is still highly recommended to grind to avoid facing unprepared boss battles. You'll soon regret not spending those extra 5-10 minutes in the previous dungeon, we assure you.
Over the course of our run we found Lost Sphear flowing and designed to help the player. Features like the quicksave, the party chat (which will show you what to do or where to go) and the large number of savepoints scattered around the map make the overall experience less frustrating and more comfortable for any type of player. There will be no important side quests or incredible secrets to discover but visiting the various regions, observing the views and leveling is still enjoyable overall.
A small note of demerit goes to the absence of localization. Those who do not know English will inevitably find themselves in difficulty, even if the terms used in the texts and dialogues are often easy to understand.
Graphically Lost Sphear is an anonymous title. The detail of the textures of the characters and supporting actors is medium-low and the effects are not surprising; in addition it seems that the assets of some enemies have been taken directly from the previous chapter and this is not pleasant. Nevertheless it is the artistic direction that raises the level of the quality of this production. The inspired music takes you back to distant and carefree times, and the designed simplicity of some settings is really nice to see.
Another point in favor of this JRPG is stability. We did not experience any dropped frames or any excessive loading.
Lost Sphear is undoubtedly the successor to I Am Setsuna. A classic and enjoyable JRPG that unfortunately hardly ever leaves the comfort zone. With some different choices and more daring (from a graphic point of view, but not only) it would have been another product.
► Lost Sphear is a JRPG type game developed by Tokyo RPG Factory and published by Square Enix for PC, PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch, the video game was released on 12/10/2017 The version for PC came out on 23/01/2018 The version for Nintendo Switch came out on 23/01/2018 The version for PlayStation 4 came out on 23/01/2018
