I like how Tokyo RPG Factory had everyone thinking their deal was "RPGs in the style of SNES-era classics" but it turned out their deal was "RPGs about how people cope with pain, loss, and death."
I am finally back from being... honestly much lazier than I should have :P
In my defense! The reason why I haven’t started writing this article just yet is because I became addicted to the game I’ll be reviewing next~
But to be honest with you all - and I’ll jump the gun a bit as well - this game... well, it’s honestly a bit hard to write about it for me ;-;
I might as well get the basics out of the way though: Lost Sphear is a JRPG by Tokyo RPG Factory, which you may know for being the devs of I Am Setsuna a few years ago! Sadly, both games have gathered a pretty mixed reception from both critics and players.
I personally adored I Am Setsuna despite some of its issues, due to how unique it was in many aspects, so naturally I was really hoping Lost Sphear would be a magical experience that would polish some of the flaws of IaS
And... I think they did too good of a job at that.
First off, for those who did not play IaS, let me tell you first that you absolutely should, especially since it’s decently short, at around 20 hours! But if you did not and don’t plan to, there is no story connection between two of those games - although some enemies and assets are reused in LS, and the battle system s largely the same.
In fact, let’s start with that! I am very relieved to say that combat in LS is possibly even more fun than ever! It still uses the same base as in IaS, as you still have a normal attack command, as well as skills that can be physical or magical special attacks, as well as special buff and debuff skills. Y’know, typical RPG stuff. However, just like in IaS, this otherwise very simple combat is complemented by the absolutely lovely Momentum mode, which is a bar separate of your normal Active Time Battle bar. It fills up whenever you complete an action OR wait before you choose a command. If it fills completely, you can store a special orb tied to that character (up to three, in fact), which you can then activate along with an attack/skill for extra damage or effects if you can time it right! This mechanic is in short, AMAZING. It makes you think about when to use that extra boost, when to attack enemies or use skills, and the fact that you need to time it makes battles very engaging!
But keep in mind, all of this was also present in Setsuna, so how did they make it better here? Well, Lost Sphear actually allows you to move your characters around the map when battling! This allows you to place them to avoid attacks, as well as hit enemies as efficiently as possible! LS also introduces Momentum Boosting, which allows you to customize whatever skill you chose to put on your party member with special effects, like healing or elemental damage! Those two changes, while it makes experimentation and battling even more satisfying, does make regular battles even easier than in IaS - though you CAN make the game harder in the settings at any time if you find regular battles to not be exciting enough! That, and the bosses are usually decently strong anyway :P
Another notable feature are the Vulcosuits! These are a new combat feautre you obtain relatively early in the game. While using them spends some pretty limited VulcoPoints, it does boosts your stats, and most importantly allows you to perform special attacks either alone or with a party member (and you can have up to four of them in a battle instead of three now!)
This is a pretty cool system, and I’m glad that they incited you to not overuse it by limiting the VPs you can get. But sadly it also makes so that you cannot do combo skills with a partner like in IaS, which I always thought made battles more fun and strategic too ;-;
If I’ll fault LS’s gameplay somewhere else, it’s how it had a tendency to spare you of checkpoints sometimes. It’s not a very constant issue, but I sometimes had to fight a boss after not having a save point given to me for minutes - and it made me lose 40 minutes of progress once, so that was fun :/
But besides this and a couple of annoying bosses, I can say that the gameplay in LS is overall better than its prequel!
Sadly, gameplay isn’t what’s the meat and potatoes of any JRPG, so what kind of setting are we dealing with this time? Well, this is where I think Lost Sphear starts to fall flat.
After a mysterious flashback sequence, we start off in the small village of Elgarthe, where we meet with Kanata, Lumina and Locke (no, not the treasure hunter). As we do, a strange phenomenon starts to occur, where we see the entire town being enveloped in snow-like mist, which translate to the town being “lost”. Curious to see why this even happened at all, our main trio, which is quickly joined by the strange, emo Van, set out in an adventure to not only find out more by visiting the capital of this game’s empire, but also to restore whatever lost things they come across. Why? Because Kanata - for reasons I will not go into - has the ability to make things return to how they are if he has enough connection/memories tied to them! (As a side note, you can even gain some stat bonuses/effects of your choice by restoring specific points on the map
This setup is decently interesting, but to me? I feel like it’s not enough to really keep me engaged ;-;
It’s certainly not bad, of course not, but I found it a bit boring and cliché at times to be honest. Without going into specifics for spoiler reasons, it’s a lot of “the empire is bad” and “we can save the world” and “we’re the good guys”, which while not horrible plot devices, aren’t very engaging either.And that same point extends to the characters as well ;-; I do think some of them are quite good, but even then I did not really fall in love with anyone, like I usually do in most RPGs I play, which... well, sucks. There is a few characters with neat backstories and events happening to them (such as Van, Galdra and Lumina) but overall even these three just didn’t have enough to them for me to become attached ;-;
And welp... this goes true for the music and art of LS, too. Now, I wanna say that the soundtrack to Lost Sphear was actually pretty good overall! Just like in IaS, the village themes are beautifully peaceful and relaxing, and the battle theme has a nice ring to it as well, to give just a few examples. And this time, the composer actually learned the existence of instruments other than the piano! However, I do think that the minimalistic soundtrack for IaS was a lot more memorable overall - not just for how much it stood out for that reason, but also because I think the compositions themselves were just a bit more memorable ^^
But I get that most people prefer variety, and music taste is pretty suggestive anyway :P
And I also get that a more standard soundtrack - which is still good, mind you! - would fit better in a less unique world - and speaking of...
The world of LS is a lot more typical of what you would find in a RPG - you’ve got your remote villages, your massive empire city, your port areas, and so on, all presented in a grassy setting. I know this is a very strange statement to point out, but despite Lost Sphear having some very pretty shots from time to time, I really feel like it matters when you compare it to its ancestor. One of the things I loved about IaS was its snowy, setting, which blended perfectly with the minimalist piano soundtrack to create a breathtaking atmopshere. And while what’s there still works - and is much more varied for sure - I feel like a lot of the soul was lost in the atmopshere given to the player.
And honestly? I think this sums up the game very well.
Lost Sphear is a good game. But that’s exactly why it was so disappointing to me. It’s just “good” and ultimately forgettable. IaS, while not perfect, blew me away with its charming cast, beautiful music, breathtaking setting, unique story and fun battle system. And while that last part is still there and mostly improved, this game, by being so much more by the books, is not nearly as interesting ;-;
The story is fine, but I do feel like I’ve heard most of it before. The characters are okay, but they just don’t do enough to be nearly as likeable as I want them to be. The graphics and audio are both solid too, but again it’s just not the same.
Don’t get me wrong, Lost Sphear is a solid time. But as far as RPGs go, I feel like the player should be impressed, and LS... just doesn’t do it. I definitively recommend going through I am Setsuna first <3
lost sphear coloured pencil drawings from almost a year ago
featuring the main eight with their flags (i named them after countries) and the 'gorlz + l' since lebanon/gears needs some love after his whole being mechanized
