Rate top games A young priestess, knowing little of the outside world, sets out on a pilgrimage to sacrifice her life to bring a temporary peace back to the world, accompanied by a group of friends who protect her from every danger and evil in the world (except the one that will kill her at the end of her journey). Unfortunately, I'm not talking about Final Fantasy X, but Tokyo RPG Factory's debut game "I am Setsuna."
I am Setsuna manages to have one of the most boring takes on the Active Time Battle (ATB) system (not a very exciting system in the first place) I've ever seen. The combat is vaguely reminiscent of Chrono Trigger: fights occur wherever you are on the map instead of being teleported to a separate screen, and you and the enemies use attacks to move around the arena, being forced to wait until a character's gauge fills up before they can act. It has a handful of twists on it, namely being able to fill up multiple gauges so you can take a few actions at once, but none of the changes are very interesting. It was a neat idea in the 90's, but is a little lackluster at this point.
It really reminds me of games like Bravely Default or Octopath Traveler; newer games attempting to capitalize on the nostalgia of the golden era of 90's JRPGs, but Setsuna never manages to pull off the same kind of polish and charm that they do.
The plot does very little to differentiate itself from Final Fantasy X. The main character is an assassin sent to kill Setsuna before she can complete her mission of… dying... which I thought was an interesting twist, but he immediately gives up on killing her and joins forces with her about ten seconds into the game. The characters do have some charming designs, especially Setsuna herself. Personality wise, they mostly fulfill the same tropes you've seen a hundred times before. There's dialogue options, but none of the ones I saw have any kind of visible effect on the story, or anything else for that matter.
At the end of the day, I am Setsuna is fine if you're a JRPG fanatic desperate for a new game to play, but it banks too much on nostalgia and not enough on substance to be a must-play.
I am Setsuna manages to have one of the most boring takes on the Active Time Battle (ATB) system (not a very exciting system in the first place) I've ever seen. The combat is vaguely reminiscent of Chrono Trigger: fights occur wherever you are on the map instead of being teleported to a separate screen, and you and the enemies use attacks to move around the arena, being forced to wait until a character's gauge fills up before they can act. It has a handful of twists on it, namely being able to fill up multiple gauges so you can take a few actions at once, but none of the changes are very interesting. It was a neat idea in the 90's, but is a little lackluster at this point.
It really reminds me of games like Bravely Default or Octopath Traveler; newer games attempting to capitalize on the nostalgia of the golden era of 90's JRPGs, but Setsuna never manages to pull off the same kind of polish and charm that they do.
The plot does very little to differentiate itself from Final Fantasy X. The main character is an assassin sent to kill Setsuna before she can complete her mission of… dying... which I thought was an interesting twist, but he immediately gives up on killing her and joins forces with her about ten seconds into the game. The characters do have some charming designs, especially Setsuna herself. Personality wise, they mostly fulfill the same tropes you've seen a hundred times before. There's dialogue options, but none of the ones I saw have any kind of visible effect on the story, or anything else for that matter.
At the end of the day, I am Setsuna is fine if you're a JRPG fanatic desperate for a new game to play, but it banks too much on nostalgia and not enough on substance to be a must-play.
Other reviews2
Translated by
Microsoft from Deutsch
Microsoft from Deutsch
The biggest Waste of Money in a long time with me. I'm only playing the Game because I spent + €30. and at least I want to be able to say, "Yes, I played Through I at Setsuna."
First of all, the World we are in. Snow and Ice. That's it. I have to admit that I still liked the Setting at the Beginning, but after a few Hours Of play you want to see something else. How about Desert, (snowless) forest, volcanic Area, Etc.?
Next, the Overworld. There's just way too little happening there. You walk from Village to Dungeon, back to the Village and to the next Dungeon and collect a few Items in between. Why couldn't you install any Events; Such as small Fights to earn some extra EXP.
The Combat System: A stincarnal turn-based combat System would have appealed to me better, but that's just a small Shortcoming. Far worse, the Fights are just too easy. I never got stuck with any strong Opponent in the Game until I hit those blue Tighes in the Cave that creates those Force fields. He chose my Main with his very first Attack. First Of all, I felt rather deceived. After a really very short Grinding Session (2 Lvl vllt.), the Thing was no longer a Problem. The Problem is simply that the Battles require 0 Tactics and the Opponents are not breached. Either they destroy you hard or you destroy them hard, but the Fights were never balanced.
The Dungeons: A Disaster. One of the biggest Carkos is that the Dungeons are just extremely boring. Until the Half of the Game (for example, where you meet Julienne) the Dungeons are completely linear, then the Game makes a 180 ° Spin at once and there Are suddenly paths that can lead you into Dead ends. Also, the Dungeons are at once the Same size. But what's missing: Puzzles! There Have Been approaches in the last 3 Dungeons. Switches that you have to press in order to change paths in order to get further. However, you usually only get to Chests and not to the End of the Dungeon.
For me, this is an absolute Must-have in an RPG. Anyway, if it wants to be a retro RPG.
I have to mention a few positive Things. That, in my Opinion, best thing about the Game was the Fluxation System. It is explained in the Game itself shitty (have had to google a little), but once you have the Hang of it, it is a great Method to give the Game its own Touch. Just like with the Characters.
I liked that you can pick 3 Characters to play with and not be forced to use all (This stupid Kir wasn't Part of my Party for a Second).
Short Conclusion, because I don't have a Buck tapping: It seems To me that the Game was kept as minimalist as possible with Intent. Little Programming Effort, but the Game will be Able to drag on nicely.