Lost Sphear Reviews
Lost Sphere plays with a lot of tropes of a beloved genre, but doesn't quite make the most of them. The story feels uninspired and it is backed by characters who that are not worth getting invested in. The redeeming factor of the game is a fleshed out combat system that has a ton of options and combinations, making it adapt easily to any playstyle.
Even if it falls short of becoming a worthy successor to the likes of Chrono Trigger, Lost Sphear really does capture the essence of classic role-playing games in a lot of ways. When it's not bogging itself down in overwrought mechanics, this RPG really can spark a sense of nostalgia. Its writing, environments, battle system, and music all evoke the best moments of bygone days. And even if it doesn't quite hit the heights it aspires to, it does a fine job of rekindling some fond memories.
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.
The combat is fun and the plot takes some interesting turns, but that doesn't change the frustrating design and tediousness
While there are plenty of good aspects to Lost Sphear, it does suffer from dipping into the well of nostalgia a little too often. It captures the essence of 90's Japanese RPGs quite well at times, but the application is uneven and that effectively scuttles a lot that Lost Sphear does right.
Lost Sphear's classically-styled RPG bones can scarcely bear the weight of its uninspired narrative.
Lost Sphear is a mixed bag that will appeal to some RPG fans more than others. Combat is challenging and fun, but the story feels lacking and derivative for much of the game.
Lost Sphear is an Old School JRPG with all it's letters that takes a lot of the classics of the 90s'. Unfortunately it doesn't just take the positive parts of those games, but also the cliches, which in one part is great because it brings you back, but it also reminds you how overused the formula is. All around the game is somewhat inconsistent and can become tediuos, but it's fast-paced and rewarding gameplay saves it from all its faults.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Going to the past, if the use of proven concepts is done in a smart way can definitely a game. But using all these concepts that have been used a lot is like walking on a string, something Lost Sphear hasn't handled well and has preferred mimicking instead of originality. These days we see so many games like each other, so there really isn't a need for a JRPG with a nostalgic look and feel but a clichéd story and this puts a stop to all the potential Lost Sphear has in it
Review in Persian | Read full review
While the flaws in the game may seem as if I do not recommend the game, there is something intangible about it that keeps you coming back
Bland and unambitious save for its combat, Lost Sphear draws so heavily from the traditions of past JPRGs that it fails to build a personality of its own.
Lost Sphear is a middling JRPG that lacks style, tone, and substance. You can see certain ideas that are working hard to keep things afloat, but with a rough plot, bad cast, generic look, and combat that grows tedious, it fails to stand out.
Tokyo RPG Factory's follow-up to I Am Setsuna improves on the first game's combat, but feels like a by-the-numbers RPG in other areas.
If you had asked me just two weeks ago to name the biggest storytelling sin a game could commit, I would have told you it was making players ask questions without giving them a reason to care about the answers. Ask me today and I'll tell you something different. Lost Sphear buried me under convoluted logic and explanations, lore and jargon, only to cast it aside with a shrug whenever the details were inconvenient to the action. It answered my questions, but in ways so fundamentally disconnected and absurd that I regretted even caring in the first place.
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.
Most people probably won't mind Lost Sphear's nostalgia tinted approach to game design, but there's surprisingly little to write home about. Despite a rather intriguing premise, the characters come across a tad too bland, while the quest itself is too linear. It's hard to knock it too much, but after the thoughtful journey at the heart of I Am Setsuna, this is a pretty average showing and certainly not a fresh take on the JRPG.
Lost Sphear is a game that seems to fall victim to its own ambition. It presents plenty of classic JRPG elements that fans of the genre will enjoy, but its efforts to follow a nostalgic form result in something that ultimately feels insincere. The foundation is solid, particularly with regard to its battle system, skill customization, and overall presentation, but the soul of the experience just isn't there. Lost Sphear is meant to feel like a proper return to a traditional form, but its lackluster dialog and underwhelming plot development instead result in a game that simply can't stand up to the classics it's inspired by.
A less focused outing than its predecessor, Lost Sphear gets lost amid its various, undercooked systems, and it fails to successfully consolidate its many inspirations. It's a pleasant enough game with a nice aesthetic, but we doubt we'll be looking back on this one with too much sentimentality.
Lost Sphear is a competently assembled retro product that may dredge up fond memories of older, better JRPGs, but it lacks a personality of its own. The unique, melancholy world of I Am Setsuna has been replaced by soulless tropes, and incrementally improved battle mechanics and dungeons don't make up for that loss of identity. Sadly, the makers of Lost Sphear have lost the thread.
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 dialogs.
Review in French | Read full review