Several years ago, Square Enix announced the formation of Tokyo RPG Factory, a subsidiary studio based on doing, well just that – making RPGs. But these wouldn’t be games of the modern Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest variety. Rather, Tokyo RPG Factory would focus on creating game experiences inspired by classics like Chrono Trigger and Secret of Mana. These new RPGs would draw their mechanics, storylines, and character tropes from these beloved old titles.
Following 2016’s I Am Setsuna, the latest in Tokyo RPG Factory’s endeavor is Lost Sphear. The game has a similar story — the world as we know it is ending and someone has to work hard to save it – with more humorous and heartfelt moments floating on an undercurrent of sadness. But this time around, the keyword for the story is “memory,” or the idea of what happens when a particular memory becomes lost to time. The game’s story follows a young boy named Kanata and his ragtag band of friends, old and new, as he restores sections of the world that have completely turned white and disappeared from existence.
Goodbye, Snow
Unlike I Am Setsuna, Lost Sphear most immediately recognizable difference is its world. Whereas I Am Setsuna took place in a world of ice and snow, Lost Sphear features many different environments that offer different enemy types to battle. During my demo, I spent some time in a rustic village and rooting around a forest blanketed in the colors of fall. To the south of this forest, on the overworld map, I could see mountains, hidden shacks in another part of the woods, lakes, and rivers – no snow to be seen (that has been shown). This is a welcome change from I Am Setsuna, whose perennial blizzard could get exhausting after a few hours.
Lost Sphear also borrows a few more elements from I Am Setsuna, including the use of Spritenite, a material that is collected and used to equip characters with specific attacks. This Spritenite is also used in an additional way for Lost Sphear. In this game, the memories of the world are recorded in Spritenite, and when a section of the world disappears and becomes in need of repair, it’s the re-introduction of Spritenite that can fix it.
Departing from its predecessor, Lost Sphear allows players to move around the battlefield in combat, adding another layer of strategy to its turn-based battle system. It also introduces mechanical suits called Vulcosuits, which players can equip for short amount of time to deal higher damage to enemies.
New Twists
Furthermore, players can alter the way the world is rebuilt by choose where to place specific structures. For example, placing Spritenite that summons a watchtower in a broken area will restore the area and add a minimap. But placing a wooden get instead won’t show a mini-map but allow characters to deal higher damage when fighting in the area. In that way, no two players can rebuild the world in exactly the same way, and can change what monuments go where in accordance with their needs and whims.
The charm of Tokyo RPG Factory’s last game was routed in its determination to make you feel something through its story, and in the way it implemented background color and a melancholy piano-lead soundtrack to back it up. Lost Sphear has all of this and more, digging its roots into a new theme but promising to deliver a poignant tale nonetheless. The game will be out for PlayStation 4, PC, and Nintendo Switch on January 23, 2018.
