Lost Sphear

Lost Sphear improves in terms of storytelling, but with respect to game mechanics it is too similar to I Am Setsuna, which will please its fans, but will not provide any incentive for those looking for a revolution in the Tokyo RPG Factory formula.

Lost Sphear brings back the Japanese RPG from the golden SNES era by taking Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy 6 as an example. That does mean the game is filled with cliches, but you gotta love the nostalgic gameplay.

Lost Sphear successfully captures the essence of classic role-playing games. It tells an engaging story with likeable characters and satisfying combat, though for its simplicity and shortcomings, the $50 price tag does seem a bit steep. Tokyo RPG Factory hasn’t come close to reaching the heights of the classics, but Lost Sphear is a worthwhile addition to the genre.

Lost Sphear is old school to the bone and all the better for it. A lengthy experience, this RPG does everything the way the golden oldies did... Though to call it unique or special would be a bridge too far.

Lost Sphear is an amazing comeback for the traditional JRPG genre; despite its being almost perfect in reprucing the atmospheres of the past, it is a great tribute, but it lacks a little bit of innovation and personality to be considered a fully succesful game.

Thanks to the graphical style, battle system and music, overall Lost Sphear is a reasonable attempt at bringing back the feel of the classic JRPG from the golden SNES era. It’s too bad they made some of the story choices they did, though if it weren’t for that, Lost Sphear would have been a much better game.

Even if it falls short of becoming a worthy successor to the likes of Chrono Trigger, Lost Sphear really does capture the essence of classic role-playing games in a lot of ways. When it's not bogging itself down in overwrought mechanics, this RPG really can spark a sense of nostalgia. Its writing, environments, battle system, and music all evoke the best moments of bygone days. And even if it doesn't quite hit the heights it aspires to, it does a fine job of rekindling some fond memories.

The second game of Tokyo RPG Factory is a nostalgic trip for jrpg-fans, but it also struggles with the same issues as I Am Setsuna. The story is not too great and there are many gameplay systems that you do not really need.

Lost Sphear is an Old School JRPG with all it’s letters that takes a lot of the classics of the 90s’. Unfortunately it doesn’t just take the positive parts of those games, but also the cliches, which in one part is great because it brings you back, but it also reminds you how overused the formula is. All around the game is somewhat inconsistent and can become tedious, but it’s fast-paced and rewarding gameplay saves it from all its faults.

While there are plenty of good aspects to Lost Sphear, it does suffer from dipping into the well of nostalgia a little too often. It captures the essence of 90's Japanese RPGs quite well at times, but the application is uneven and that effectively scuttles a lot that Lost Sphear does right.

Lost Sphear has some good ideas and mechanics working together when it comes to battle, but everything else falls short and feels dull. The reused dungeons, backtracking, and slow-paced story don’t give me much to fight for, even if the end does come together in an interesting way. Sadly, the tedious grind through a milquetoast adventure is sour for far too long before coming together.

Lost Sphear's classically-styled RPG bones can scarcely bear the weight of its uninspired narrative.

Lost Sphear ended average in its feverish effort to combine all the fun elements from the classic JRPGs into one game. The battles are overcomplicated, and the gameplay is totally flat. Only the story would achieve a better verdict.

Lost Sphear buckles under the weight of its own ambition. [March 2018, p.92]

The tale of a young country boy touched by destiny going on to save the world is not unfamiliar; Lost Sphear is an homage, dressed almost entirely in the well-worn threads of its forebears. Many of the tropes and conventions of the classic Japanese roleplaying game are on full display here, almost as gleamingly obvious as the game’s omnipresent moon; nary a moment passes, from beginning to end, without a sense of the uncanny. When these influences work, Lost Sphear builds on a legacy carved from genre giants; it feels warm and familiar, predictable in a comforting way. But the haphazard stitching together of its predecessors is its own downfall; when the patchwork unravels, Lost Sphear reveals its starving soul.

Despite its attempts to captures the essence of JRPGs of yesteryear, Lost Sphear fails to live up to the classics it's trying so desperately to emulate.

Lost Sphear buried me under convoluted logic and explanations, lore and jargon, only to cast it aside with a shrug whenever the details were inconvenient to the action. It answered my questions, but in ways so fundamentally disconnected and absurd that I regretted even caring in the first place.

Lost Sphear is a nice little JRPG, but with all the hype that surrounded it, I believe that nice is just not enough. The soundtrack is awesome and most characters are funny and cool, but the rest of the game screams mediocrity. For an indie title, that isn’t a bad game, but for a Square Enix published title? Not good enough.

Eventually you come to feel less like you're changing the world so much as being given a half-finished jigsaw: there's a certain pleasure to slotting in the missing pieces, but completing the job can be a laborious process. [March 2018, p.114]

Most people probably won’t mind Lost Sphear’s nostalgia tinted approach to game design, but there’s surprisingly little to write home about. Despite a rather intriguing premise, the characters come across a tad too bland, while the quest itself is too linear. It’s hard to knock it too much, but after the thoughtful journey at the heart of I Am Setsuna, this is a pretty average showing and certainly not a fresh take on the JRPG.

Perhaps even worse is that Lost Sphear doesn’t have much to say, other than how remembering our past is just as important as enjoying the present. I love Tokyo RPG Factory’s admiration of the past, but Lost Sphear offers little for both longtime fans of the genre and casual passersby.

It feels like the main purpose of Lost Sphear is to remind you of your favourites of the genre, rather than to join their company.

A less focused outing than its predecessor, Lost Sphear gets lost amid its various, undercooked systems, and it fails to successfully consolidate its many inspirations. It’s a pleasant enough game with a nice aesthetic, but we doubt we’ll be looking back on this one with too much sentimentality.

Lost Sphear tries so hard to be like RPGs of the past that it forgets to build on those or establish its own identity.

I will admit that there is a sizable chunk of content here as my fifty five hour playthrough was made up of about ninety five percent main story and five percent of late game sidequests. But when the game feels chore to play, some brevity would have been welcomed. It's a shame to see a title with so much promise feel so flat, but I guess Lost Sphear's main characters' optimism has rubbed off on me. I still think the folks at Tokyo RPG Factory have the ability to make a truly outstanding game. Here's to hoping.

There's a good RPG in there somewhere. [Issue#197, p.80]

After the wonderful I am Setsuna, Lost Sphear is a huge disappointment. Too many dull conversations, and not nearly enough action.