I Am Setsuna

 Switch
User Score
7.5

Generally favorable reviews- based on 149 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 94 out of 149
  2. Mixed: 34 out of 149
  3. Negative: 21 out of 149
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  1. MediaFreak
    Jul 8, 2018
    3
    I've tried to press on with this game since I got it. I really wanted to play a JRPG on switch, bur after iver a year I'm done with it. It's got to be the most boring lazy JRPG I've ever played.

    Everything about it is just generic and dull. The story and the characters are just nit intersting, the dialogue is uninspired, the art style is awful. Everywhere is jusy boring white snow. The    I've tried to press on with this game since I got it. I really wanted to play a JRPG on switch, bur after iver a year I'm done with it. It's got to be the most boring lazy JRPG I've ever played.

    Everything about it is just generic and dull. The story and the characters are just nit intersting, the dialogue is uninspired, the art style is awful. Everywhere is jusy boring white snow. The battles go on far too long for when all you can do is use your one attack or heal. The monsters look like generic monsters from other games.

    If anyone enjoyed this its because it was the only JRPG on switch and one of the only games. It no longer is, dont throw your money away.    … Expand
  2. sarkwalvein
    Aug 21, 2017
    4
    Regarding the Switch port: It is good.

    That aside, the game itself is not good. I don't get why it has so much positive reviews. Visually it is completely generic, most character designs are flat, and the whole snow theme feels overused. Regarding its music, it is boring, one can stand monotone out of tempo piano for so long. I think Yasunori Mitsuda must feel hurt if this game    Regarding the Switch port: It is good.

    That aside, the game itself is not good. I don't get why it has so much positive reviews.

    Visually it is completely generic, most character designs are flat, and the whole snow theme feels overused.

    Regarding its music, it is boring, one can stand monotone out of tempo piano for so long.
    I think Yasunori Mitsuda must feel hurt if this game was trying to homage his tunes.

    The story telling is bad, it doesn't catch you because of uninteresting characters and just bad pacing.
    The writing is terrible. It is boring to read and it seems filler text was just poured into the NPC dialogs to fill them up and make the game last longer.

    And talking about making the game last longer, the walking speed on the over world is slow for no reason, well no reason other than making it last longer artificially.
    I find it quite cheap that the creators didn't make the globe rotate and span, when you ride your airship you are limited by bounds in the world map instead of just going around the globe... Or perhaps the creators were flat-earthers?
    Also this game really needs a in-game world map.

    Regarding the battle system, it has too many unnecessary mechanics and too little challenge.
    It is quite unbalanced and just boring.
    It is just a look-alike of Chrono Trigger's system, when you actually use it and look at the details you see it wasn't polished and it is broken instead.
    I think mmadnessgames' review explained very well the battle system faults, even if it is one of the first turn-based RPGs he played.

    Conclusion: If you wanted to play something like Chrono Trigger, better go play Chrono Trigger again instead.    … Expand
  3. MrTusks
    Sep 5, 2017
    3
    I Am Setsuna had the pedigree and the potential to be something good. Unfortunately, the creators of Final Fantasy and Chrono Trigger failed to learn the lessons they wrote themselves, and instead came up with a boring, cluttered slog.

    And clutter is the name of the game here. There is so much stuff to manage, but none of it really matters. This is most apparent in the combat, which is    I Am Setsuna had the pedigree and the potential to be something good. Unfortunately, the creators of Final Fantasy and Chrono Trigger failed to learn the lessons they wrote themselves, and instead came up with a boring, cluttered slog.

    And clutter is the name of the game here. There is so much stuff to manage, but none of it really matters. This is most apparent in the combat, which is strongly reminiscent of Chrono Trigger but lacks all of the breezy efficiency. Each character has their own Techs, which can combo with the Techs of other characters for new, powerful moves. The first problem is that the game tells you which combos each Tech is a part of, but doesn't work backwards and tell you which Techs are needed for each combo. So, if you see a combo name you're interested in, you need to dig through the Tech menus of each character to see if you even have the component techs to pull it off. With nine playable characters, this is quite a chore. And, at the end, your reward is a combo that is total overkill anyway, because one or two heavy hitters in your party can handle all the combat just fine by themselves.

    Adding to the needless clutter is how you obtain the Techs in the first place. You loot materials from slain monsters and trade them in for Techs. This is not crafting, just bulk looting and selling. It's a wonder why they even bothered to invent names and values for each material, because it' doesn't matter what they are; every time you come to the Tech vendor, you'll have whatever you need to get whatever Tech is next on your list.

    Not that you really need to get new Techs anyway. Adding to the needless complexity is the fact that every character has multiple Techs that basically do the same thing. Every time you want to cast a spell, you choices are, essentially, "damage some of the things" or "damage everything." Each character has an element assigned to them, a la Chrono Trigger, but since the enemies seem to not have any real elemental weaknesses, they don't matter. The two non-elemental characters you get in the middle of the game can handily kill everything anyway, with some overpowered defensive capabilities to boot.

    You can customize your Techs as well, but to negligible effect. Each character can equip a talisman that will randomly level up a Tech with a certain ability, which will then randomly trigger when you use that Tech in the future. Since you're already overkilling everything, the bonuses end up being needless in addition to being unpredictable, so you're perfectly safe ignoring this mechanic entirely. Killing enemies also sometimes registers as a "Elemental Kill", "Timed Kill," "Exact Kill," or "Overkill," but these messages appear to mean nothing. Do you get more XP or treasure? You wouldn't notice anyway, since you're constantly rolling in both no matter what.

    Ironically, all of this overlays a relatively simple story. The primary character is Endir, a mercenary tasked with escorting Setsuna to the Last Lands, where she will serve as the traditional sacrifice that will abate the monster attacks that constantly plague the world. Along the way you will pick up a number of playable characters that all have distinct designs and personalities. It's all pretty straightforward, which is not bad. It's just a shame actually getting from chapter to chapter is a slog. The piano solo soundtrack is interesting in concept, but monotonous in execution, as is the totally snowbound world. It took nearly ten hours to reach the first new interesting environment, which is entirely too long.

    The game has been pressed upon fans of Chrono Trigger and old school Final Fantasy, but that's actually the worst audience for it. Those people know better, and will quickly see there is very little here. If you find it really, really cheap some day in the future, go for it. Until then, there are much better things to play on your Switch.    … Expand
  4. geebs
    Oct 18, 2017
    4
    This game is essentially the story from final fantasy 10, but not told as well. The characters are limited, the art style is pretty unimpressive and the combat is boring for the most part. The music is good as it often is with these games but overall this experience leaves a lot to be desired.
  5. naon
    Jan 17, 2019
    0
    Should be on 1# worst game ever
    I'ts an insult to our intelligence sell a highly priced game where there's lot of companies putting their blood on games like The Witcher, God of War, Horizon New Dawn, and then SE defecate in our face this game that looks like indie (but there's lot of amazing indie games at low cost) don't have a decent history, no plot twists, no character development,    Should be on 1# worst game ever
    I'ts an insult to our intelligence sell a highly priced game where there's lot of companies putting their blood on games like The Witcher, God of War, Horizon New Dawn, and then SE defecate in our face this game that looks like indie (but there's lot of amazing indie games at low cost) don't have a decent history, no plot twists, no character development, boring battle and rpg system, you think you can relate yourself to the characters like Final Fantasy VI but they are so vague and emotionless like every cliche warrior mage, mercenary, I thought it would have at least one cutscene... But no, there's not a single animation at the beginning or ending... For a DS game could be a masterpiece... But PS4, PC, Switch, the SAME platform where we can play Zelda BotW?! Really if they wanted to make something looks like Chrono Trigger WHY THE HELL they didn't continue or remaster Chrono Trigger!?????    … Expand
  6. hypernewbie
    Jul 29, 2017
    0
    When a boss is fine for an entire fight, then 1HKO combos your entire team from complete full HP, that's when you know your RPG has done **** it up. Give up, go home, lose job, go homeless, get on the dole, you're done. It's over. Life is over.

    Please go out of business, RPG Factory. Oh wait, you are.
    Cool, everything is fine all is normal.
  7. Neatqt
    Feb 25, 2019
    3
    Cast: 1/10
    Story: 2/10
    Fun: 2/10
    Gameplay: 6/10

    Not-Recommended
    ----------------------
  8. EmCza
    Jul 31, 2020
    0
    Killing animal looking monsters isn’t fun, it’s cruel. This game could be great, but I don’t like kill cute animal looking creatures to get exp (execution points). it is sad that there are games in which animals are (massively) killed
  9. Sjfpufaojcaojcs
    Oct 25, 2021
    1
    Absolutely waste of time, spend hours playing and can NEVER EVER SAVE NEVER, maybe once every 5 hours!!!!!! Die once might as well restart the entire game! Because you need a flawless 0 death game to win! Such a garbage system! And honestly the game is so so so so so boring! Dull storyline slow slow gameplay, no character development just overall garbage game 0/10 wouldn't suggest to myAbsolutely waste of time, spend hours playing and can NEVER EVER SAVE NEVER, maybe once every 5 hours!!!!!! Die once might as well restart the entire game! Because you need a flawless 0 death game to win! Such a garbage system! And honestly the game is so so so so so boring! Dull storyline slow slow gameplay, no character development just overall garbage game 0/10 wouldn't suggest to my worst enemy! Such a absolute joke… Expand

Awards & Rankings

83
#83 Best Switch Game of 2017
51
#51 Most Discussed Switch Game of 2017
38
#38 Most Shared Switch Game of 2017

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
75

Generally favorable reviews - based on 28 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 15 out of 28
  2. Mixed: 13 out of 28
  3. Negative: 0 out of 28
  1. Cubed3
    Jun 18, 2018
    80
    There are better JRPGs that could be played portably on the GBA, DS, and Vita, but I Am Setsuna is the best JRPG that can currently be played on Nintendo Switch. The game isn't without its faults, though - namely the repetitive nature of environments, enemies, and bland NPCs. However, it has a powerful narrative that is driven by its backdrop and score; elements that should be greatly appreciated by all fans of the genre.
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  2. Nintendo Force Magazine
    Apr 24, 2017
    75
    I Am Setsuna is plagued by a lack of ambition when it comes to several aspects of its narrative, but as a whole it's a perfect pick-up-and-play JRPG. [Issue #27 – May/June 2017, p. 22]
  3. Eurogamer Italy
    Apr 19, 2017
    70
    The Switch version of this nice old school JRPG runs at 30fps. Despise that, this is the best version of the game. You can play it at home or wherever you like, along with an interesting FREE DLC.
    Read full review
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