I Am Setsuna Reviews
I love a beautiful piano piece in games, don't you? Well upon launching the game, configuring the pre launch settings, going through the usual splash screens, you arive at the title screen and I honestly just sat there for a few minutes.
Honestly, I am Setsuna may be the best RPG I play this year (Trails of Cold Steel is excluded because it released last year). With its simple title, emotional story (try to get through it without feeling something), perfect soundtrack, enjoyable battle system, and pretty aesthetics, I am Setsuna is an admittedly short title with a few flaws that, on the whole, succeeds.
Despite minor frustrations and a predictable plot, I Am Setsuna contains enough charm and entertainment to please players nostalgic for the classic era of JRPGs.
Each nod to a title of JRPG yore is an acknowledgment of sampling from something fantastic. I am Setsuna is the sampler platter at your favorite restaurant. Not the one that gives you three tiny mozzarella sticks and a soggy onion ring – no, the place that puts a heaping of one of your favorite dishes in the center and surrounds them with generous quantities of the best of the menu. You know, the $20 appetizer tray that everyone can eat from. It’s not the full meal, but you can experience a taste of everything fantastic the chef has to offer.
It suffers a bit from recycled ideas and mechanics, but in terms of music, art direction, and combat it carves out a corner all its own.
With a story that delicately balances sadness and beauty, yet never tries to be anything other than a callback to classic games, I am Setsuna lands among the stars of the JRPG genre.
Overall, I Am Setsuna is a compelling experience that all RPG fans should try, just be aware that it’s a more personal and linear experience, as opposed to an epic adventure around the world.
I am Setsuna features one of the most heartfelt and meaningful narratives.
There is something inherently magical about I Am Setsuna. This throwback to the past is a memorable one, that, despite the game's simplicity, Tokyo RPG Factory's reliance on traditional design results in an experience that rediscovers an age old mastery in the genre.
One of the best launch games for the Nintendo Switch, I Am Setsuna and Zelda will keep your console busy with quality gaming.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Still, curiosity outweighed my better judgment and I decided to give this game a try anyway. I’m glad I did—I Am Setsuna has its moments of being enjoyable—but the poor writing was enough to ruin the whole experience by the end and cause me to question why this game falls so short.