I Am Setsuna

It tells a compelling story, and so few RPGs have done that recently that it makes this game shine ever brighter.

It’s not without faults, of course; Flux and Singularity could be explained a little better, a run button on the world map would be welcome, and Endir’s place as a silent protagonist is a bit disappointing. Still, I Am Setsuna kept me fully engaged from start to finish and, overshadowing any complaints I might have, provided a world and characters that I care about.

Despite some minor hiccups, I Am Setsuna is still an incredibly enjoyable experience.

While not as challenging as some of the JRPGs of the past (no Emerald Weapon here, sorry), I Am Setsuna makes it clear that someone is listening to all of those grumbly veteran gamers who miss the adventures that made them fans for life. They long for a story to care about, and that's what this game provides.

A lovely little low-key JRPG that feels like the work of a small, passionate indie developer that just wants to pay homage to the classics it looks up to. 'I Am Setsuna' isn't a revolutionary game or a rebirth of the genre, as the marketing seems to imply. What 'I Am Setsuna' ultimately ends up being is a remarkably well-made, charming game that's endlessly endearing and entirely devoid of cynicism.

I can’t think of another game that manages to evoke the themes it presents to players so well. In every way imaginable, from the plot, to the scenery, to the music, and even to the combat system, I am Setsuna wants players to question their mortality, the time they have left, and the decisions they can make in that time.

I Am Setsuna might not be the most innovative or technologically demanding game released this year – or even in the past five – but it is one of the most complete, and it offers an experience that near-perfectly blends incredible visuals, a music score that rivals some of Nobuo Uematsu’s best, and superb, polished gameplay into one of the best JRPGs released in years.

While much of its charm comes from its attention to traditional design minus the frustrating elements, those with the patience to explore the opposite spectrum of big budget, hollow excursions may find satisfaction in this wonderfully mature experiment in the modern era.

While Square Enix is largely focused on the future with upcoming games like Final Fantasy XV and Kingdom Hearts 3, they are not one to forget the past and I Am Setsuna is one game that not just '90s RPG fans will love, but even general fans of the genre should really enjoy.

I Am Setsuna is a great tribute to all those fantastic games from the well-known Golden Age of the JRPGs, but more specifically to Chrono Trigger. With a really familiar gameplay, fresh new customization mechanics and a melancholic feeling, this first project from Tokyo RPG Factory is one game that any old school gamer should try.

It's not a new classic by any stretch, but I Am Setsuna demonstrates a great understanding and mastery of what made Square Enix's past successes work so well. It might have benefited from stripping down the mechanics even more, or spending more resources creating a wider range of locations and enemies. But as it is, I Am Setsuna is a soft, sad experience that nonetheless filled me with joy. That should tell you everything.

Neither original nor groundbreaking, but if you’re one of those people who want a 90s style JRPG on home systems, then I Am Setsuna is the game for you.

The game offers everything that I personally enjoy in traditional JRPGs, however, I did realize that a lot of the content seemed “recycled” from other JRPGs (story, battle system, etc). While it may not be a bad thing for some, I am Setsuna delivers with a well-crafted soundtrack, great visuals, and even revived traditional RPG elements that we enjoy, such as crafting and tech combos.

I Am Setsuna is a nostalgic JRPG: it takes Chrono Trigger's gameplay and puts it into a fascinating setting. The adventure is brief but enthralling, and the game represents a great debut for the Tokyo RPG Factory, a little Team Square-Enix assembled to create old school game experiences.

I Am Setsuna was created as an RPG from the 16-bit era. It does not have beautiful settings or long cut-scenes, but instead it brings back the old-school narrative and traits that 90s games used to stand out for: power of choice, solid gameplay, a nice soundtrack and unforgettable moments the player will always remember. I Am Setsuna is a title that gamers who played Chrono Trigger or Final Fantasy VI will forever love due to the nostalgia factor behind it.

Tokyo RPG Factory has done a fine job of capturing the spirit of classic JRPGs with I am Setsuna. It feels like returning home after a long journey. Its superb soundtrack and solid gameplay bring nostalgic feelings of joy and comfort. Even though a lack of balance holds back the creativity of its combat, it never extinguishes the emotional tone and engaging story of the game. It may not be the next classic, but it does an excellent job of honoring its heritage.

Proof that, with the right tweaks to the formula, JRPGs can still hit the high notes. [Sept 2016, p.82]

Basic but beautifully crafted JRPG in the vein of the pre-PS2 Final Fantasy games. If you reminisce fondly about the genre's Golden Era, this is essential. [Sept 2016, p.102]

An emotional if lopsided tale. [Issue#177, p.83]

A lovingly-crafted callback worth answering, despite its truncated length and elementary difficulty. [October 2016, p68]

I am Setsuna is a charming and fun adventure that brings you back to the good old days of the JRPG.

I am Setsuna is a love letter to JRPGs of the past, and while it offers a style of play oft forgotten by the modern age, it is an exceedingly well crafted and thoughtful journey that should make you wonder whether the genre’s progress is necessarily all it’s cracked up to be.

A brief, somber, and quietly beautiful journey that occasionally stumbles to resonate emotionally.

As far as old-style RPGs go, I Am Setsuna was worth looking forward to after the showing at E3 this year, and just as worth playing.

God, I want another Chrono Trigger so much and I Am Setsuna comes as close as any attempt possibly could, but, of course, it’s only an echo.

I Am Setsuna proves that there's still room for the JRPG genre. It has a brilliant combat system, a good story and contains all the typical elements of the great classics from 15-20 years ago.

The 15-20 hour average completion time might be shorter than what many JRPG fans would expect, but it is also a good entry point for newcomers without being a daunting 100+ hour experience. It is safe to say that I am Setsuna is a worthwhile journey.

I Am Setsuna brings to light all the memorable aspects of what made classic games classics. With the good outweighing the bad, I Am Setsuna embodies old concepts and creates a challenge worth undertaking, even if the pilgrimage to the end is as difficult for the player as it is for Setsuna.

Two years ago Square Enix announced it had created a new studio, Tokyo RPG Factory, to create RPGs in the image of those golden age games. In that time Tokyo RPG Factory managed to catch hold of the spirit of those games and pull it forward into 2016 with the release of I AM SETSUNA. Tokyo RPG Factory managed to not only tap into that nostalgia vein but crafted a solid game that stands on its own.

I am Setsuna brings back the Squaresoft feeling we used to get from their RPGs in the 90s. It can improve its pacing and its menu system among other things, but it's definitely a game veteran RPG fans will enjoy.

I Am Setsuna is a little too shallow at times to truly stand out as a worthy successor to its precursors but, if you have a hankering for a throwback to Square’s golden age of RPGs but with a current generation sheen applied, it’s worth giving the game a look even if it doesn’t quite manage to reinvent the wheel.

It's not quite original - the cliché storyline is one of the chief offenders - and the lack of a proper tutorial leaves players in the dark. Nevertheless, if you're willing to overlook these fumbles, I Am Setsuna is still very much worth playing.

I am Setsuna is just a good J-RPG with nothing that makes it really shine, but nos real drawback either. With 20 to 30 hours of gameplay it is a good investment for the RPG gamer.

Overall though, these complaints are relatively minor. I certainly enjoyed the core experience of playing I Am Setsuna, and think that the developers at Tokyo RPG Factory did a pretty solid job of emulating the classic Square RPG archetype.

An homage to the amazing JRPGs of the 90s, I Am Setsuna is a love letter to your childhood written with passion and penned with respect by equally passionate developers.

A lack of balance robs the combat of much of its fun and renders many of the more interesting gameplay systems moot, but it didn’t dampen the emotional impact of I Am Setsuna’s heartfelt message for me.

Sometimes an old school game presents risks. I am Setsuna is beautiful, melancholic and magical, but it also is very archaic and predictable. Square Enix knows what we want, but it has given us that with conformism and too fast. These characters deserve better attention.

A more incisive screenplay could have made I Am Setsuna a memorable product. Despite this, the game is an enjoyable and an old-school J-RPG game.

I Am Setsuna is the good kind of nostalgic. It utilises the best elements of the past to its benefit, rather than to excuse an otherwise lacklustre game. And yet, while playing to the nostalgia it also makes sure to do something different to set it apart. The more sombre tone of the story means you’re not going to be adding a chivalrous frog knight to your party here, but the package you get it doesn’t suffer as a result.

I actually quite like the adherence to nostalgia, as Square is only giving fans with they want after years of complaints that projects like Final Fantasy XIII strayed too far. But by the same token of goodwill, it plays it a little too safe in regards to its at times predictable story, and doesn't really do anything new that moves the genre forward in any way. Still, if old school is what you want, you'll get it.

I Am Setsuna has lots of nods to Chrono Trigger, from its general combat framework to specific references to skills like X-Strike and Luminaire. However, it doesn’t capture why most players connected to that seminal title. Even though the combat is entertaining, I Am Setsuna’s characters are dull, the environments are repetitive, and the story is predictable.

Overall, the cumulative effect of the game’s themes is still a very powerful one, and I enjoyed most of my time with it, but I can’t help but feel a little let down by the flaws that kept it from reaching its full potential.

I Am Setsuna wants to remind you of classic games such as Chrono Trigger but doesn't have the courage to do anything more than that.

I Am Setsuna is a great game, but that's all. It falls short of it's full potential in a few different ways, but fortunately the excellent soundtrack and brilliant art direction make it a joy to experience.

I Am Setsuna seems to come straight from the classical JPRG genre. The game looks amazing and the gameplay is very smooth. The lack of length is therefore a real pity.

I am Setsuna is a beautiful ode to the JRPGs from the 90's, but it does not really do anything new. It's a nostalgia trip for JRPG players, but that means you will also have to deal with the classic annoyances in the genre.

It has a few too many flaws to be considered a classic, but I Am Setsuna does enough right to make it worth a play through - especially for fans of old-school RPGs.

It’s the tip of the spear of what could be a major JRPG resurgence, a sign that the games of old haven’t lost their place within the hearts and minds of millions of players out there. While there are certainly some way that they could be updated to better fit more modern sensibilities, the main ingredients of this formula are, for the most part, nailed here in I Am Setsuna and show that one the long revered genres in gaming is primed for a comeback.

It doesn't quite recapture the magic of Chrono Trigger, but I Am Setsuna has enough interesting mechanics to stand on its own without the crutch of nostalgia.

I Am Setsuna is a love letter to the Golden Age of the JRPG. It is far from perfect, but it does a nice job replicating the gameplay mechanics and feelings from that era.

A creation designed to be appealing to the nostalgic RPG gamers, but it's unable to transmit because of its zero personality.

Old school JRPG throwback I Am Setsuna tells an interesting story with a fittingly sombre tone, but features none of the combat oomph of its predecessors.

I Am Setsuna has the look of a Super NES game created on a modern graphics engine.

I am Setsuna is as vintage as it can get and manages to recall what we did love about the JRPG genre in the '90. It is however very low budget and comparatively expensive. It also tries to tell a good story at a somewhat frantic pace in repetitive locations and throughout extremely simple fights.

A well-crafted homage to Chrono Trigger, which isn’t scared to add its own ideas – ensuring this is far more than just a nostalgic novelty.

An unapologetic homage to beloved Japanese RPGs that plays well but takes few risks.

I Am Setsuna capably fulfils its role as an echo of past Japanese adventures, but in doing so, it seems unwilling to take risks and forge its own legacy. Its story is predictable and its battle system struggles to define itself, but its traditional charm and fantastic atmosphere do more than enough to ensure that this an inviting and thoroughly pleasant journey.

I Am Setsuna is a mixture of beautiful, heartfelt, and depressing moments, one whose depth is unfortunately overshadowed by its over-abundant moments of shallowness. The worth in Setsuna may end up being not in what it did on its own, but the groundwork it provides for future projects.

It could have – and should have – been far better than it is. Held back by a lack of ambition and never daring to crawl from the shadow of better games, I Am Setsuna stops itself being something special...But at least it’s not garbage, and I sincerely hope Tokyo RPG Factory has something bigger in the pipeline, because I see a hell of a lot of promise.

The relaxed, largely goal-free nature of the game has the potential to wear thin, but personally I found the controls fun enough, the environments and music beautiful enough, the various animals smile-inducing enough that even after the three hours it took to reach the end I was happy to dive back in, ready to search for more clues and uncover what it was all about.

In short bursts of play, I Am Setsuna ticks all the boxes one could want from a modern JRPG designed as a callback to the classics: a seemingly emotionally involving story, stirring music, pretty visuals, and a battle system that offers up nuggets of nostalgia like "ATB" and "tech combos".

It’s everything you loved and hated about the PlayStation One generation of role-playing games, with such a classic feel that you’re content ignoring a lot of the things that could warrant hate.

I am Setsuna is the perfect J-RPG we have all dreamed of when we were 15 years old. In 2016, the game can feel a bit rough on the edge for most of the players. But if you do dare to give it a shot, you will find yourself being part of a wonderful journey filled with amazing battles and great character customization while listening to a marvelous soundtrack.

I Am Setsuna is visually haunting and whimsical and sometimes even tactically intriguing, but it’s also monotonous and needlessly confusing. Surely we can have these experiences with more of the former, and less of the latter.

I love old school role-playing games. But I am Setsuna almost makes me fall asleep. Too static, too easy, too monotonous.

Just a competent JRPG. How could it not be, considering how much it liberally lifts from its betters? Looking at it with a purely analytical eye, this Frankenstein’s Monster of a game has haphazardly pieced everything needed to make it stand among the giants it aspires to be, except the most critical of requirements—a spark of life.

I Am Setsuna desperately tries to pull us back in time, but just feels old and worn out, no matter how good the fresh new lick of paint looks.

I wish I Am Setsuna took me on another beautiful, multifaceted adventure like it wanted to, as the JRPGs that its creators admire once did. I wish the characters weren’t bland caricatures of familiar characters I’ve seen in the past. Instead, it feels like a cold attempt at harboring nostalgia, only managing to remind me of JRPGs of the golden age, and how so much better they were—and, critically, still are.

In spite of its myriad frustrations, I Am Setsuna is far from a characterless husk, but its mechanical regurgitation of shallow tropes and the over-complication of a ready-made battle system manages to cast a dim light on its reserved tone and glacial atmosphere. Designed to be a reverential ode to cherished RPG classics, I Am Setsuna is a functional footnote rather than a sweeping fresh stanza.

I Am Setsuna aims to invoke the spirit of classic 16-Bit JRPGs like Chrono Trigger, but its obtuse combat and monotonous pacing keep it from reaching those lofty heights.