Lost Sphear

Lost Sphear can't repeat the success of I Am Setsuna. The storyline is too weak and art design does not bewitch as hoped. However, it is an excellent RPG, recommended for lovers of the genre.

A meaty turn-based combat system means this should satisfy your hunger for traditional JRPGs. [March 2018, p.74]

Ever wish you could bring a memory back to life? Tokyo RPG Factory has transplanted the essence of Chrono Trigger and other classic SNES JRPGs into a beautiful modern engine to revivify the Active Time Battle system for a new generation of players in the form of Lost Sphear.

Lost Sphear, to me, is a strange experience, between loving and hating. Yes, I enjoyed my time with the game very much, which reminded me of the good times playing several other classics from the PS1 era. At the same time, I could not neglect the various defects in the game. My experience can be summed up by instability.

Aiming squarely at gamers' nostalgia for mid-90s roleplaying games and hitting nothing but a vast white void, Lost Sphear is a fun game bogged down by a muddle of throwbacks and a cacophony of unoriginal, competing ideas.

Overall, Lost Sphear is a solid JRPG title. It incrementally improves upon I Am Setsuna, but players who didn't like that game likely won't like this offering, either. There's an imbalance that feels like it's punishing us for being good by making the game a tad easy on occasions. It feels like an indie game in length and ambition, since it tries out new things, but it falls short. The $50 price tag doesn't align with what Lost Sphear achieves, so this game is best for fans and nostalgia seekers.

Lost Sphear is a good game in which Tokyo RPG Factory has taken good notes on the features that were criticized in I am Setsuna. While it's true that it isn't a perfect game and even though it has improved aspects such as the combat mechanics or the greater variety in the surroundings, it continues to have room for improvement in others, such as the dungeons.

Lost Sphear is a new game from Tokyo RPG Factory. It is decent but has some very old features and therefore 50 euros is way too much.

Lost Sphear is a good JRPG from Tokyo RPG Factory that falls short of being great. The refinements made to the combat system from I am Setsuna are a welcome addition. The additional colors in the environment also spruce the game up a bit. However, no matter how strong the overall story arch is there are some deep lulls in the early game that are hard to push past.

Lost Sphear is a good J-RPG but it feels way too generic to stand out amongst the field of available competitors.

The numerous gameplay features like vulcosuits, spritnite, and artifacts come together to create an enjoyable and complex turn-based system that promotes strategy. Here's hoping that Tokyo RPG Factory's next project takes that gameplay design and applies it to a heartfelt story that doesn't feel like it was assembled on a conveyor belt.

Lost Sphear is an all-in nostalgic RPG that never really tries to offer something new. But if the story starts in the most classic of ways, the game will fulfill patient gamers with some more complex stuff, and not-so-easy fights. Unfortunately, you will have to pass through an very generic artistic direction and pointless dialogue.

Lost Sphear is an RPG that’s hard to recommend to everyone, offering a mixed and unbalanced experience. The combat is fast-paced, rewarding and challenging yet sometimes garish. The Spiritnite system is fantastic and yet the Vulcosuits feel undercooked. All in all, Lost Sphear offers an inconsistent experience that is ultimately brought down by an overwhelming sense of tedium and repetition.

There’s little in Lost Sphear that you haven’t seen before in JRPGs, but that doesn’t mean it’s a title to be dismissed out of hand. If you can look past the clichés, Lost Sphear presents an engaging world, deep battle system, and plenty of replayability which will likely delight many an RPG fan. Tokyo RPG Factory has proven with this release that it’s capable of learning from past mistakes, and though Lost Sphear still might not be the game to surpass Chrono Trigger, it proves itself to be worthy of that legacy. We’d recommend Lost Sphear to anybody who loves a focused, traditional RPG; it may be priced a little high, but this is an enjoyable experience that fans won’t want to miss out on.

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.