Since the moderate success of I Am Setsuna, it was clear that Tokyo RPG Factory had captured that classic JRPG vibe that had been missing for quite some time, namely the battle system that put Chrono Trigger on the map.

Great introduction; Story ramps up towards the end; Positional combat and other improvements over I Am Setsuna

Bland characters with linear middle of plot; No one mechanic gets the chance to excel; Highly derivative of classic JRPG tropes

Even if it falls short of becoming a worthy successor to the likes of Chrono Trigger, 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.

As RPGs evolve and adopt more modern complexity, it's refreshing to revisit the classic mechanics that helped make the genre what it is. Like I Am Setsuna (the previous title from developer Tokyo RPG Factory), Lost Sphear tries to capture the 16-bit era, paying homage to classics like Chrono Trigger...

Return lost memories and save the world.

From the creators of I Am Setsuna comes Lost Sphear , the second draft of a love letter to Square Enix and their 16-bit catalogue. If you're looking for a sweeping narrative wrapped in a buffet of compelling combat mechanics, this game is… kind of what you're looking for.

Combat feels varied and meaty; Really dig that tilt-shifted world map; no random encounters or level-grinding

Story has been told many times before; Fishing mini-game is real boring; Graphics are rather forgettable

Old school JRPG fans will find much to enjoy here, but the refusal to innovate does more harm than good for the genre's reputation.

Solid battle system and plenty of ancillary features and systems; The ideas behind the main plot are interesting, and unusually meta; Great soundtrack

A purposeful lack of new ideas, and sloppy implementation of a number of old ones; Bland script and characters; Surprisingly short and unwarrantedly expensive

The developers of the little jRPG I Am Setsuna, which released in 2016, are back 18 months later with Lost Sphear. Fans of their previous release know exactly what they are in for, a throwback to the old days of jRPG's on SNES and PSOne with enough updates to the formula to be enjoyable in the...

From Square Enix's Tokyo RPG Factory comes Lost Sphear , a spiritual successor of sorts to I Am Setsuna, and like its predecessor, Lost Sphear is a nod back to the popular, and often lauded, '90s RPGs such as Final Fantasy VII and Chrono Trigger .

Going into 2018, Lost Sphear was one of my most anticipated games of this year. That's because I am Setsuna was easily one of my favorite games last year, specifically on Nintendo Switch where I played it.

The new combat system is a dazzling dance of turn-based action; Each area is gorgeous and colorful; The Memories system lets you shape the world how you see fit

A cast of lifeless characters with no real personality; Occasional stuttering and frame rate problems on Switch; Tags

The great irony is, of course, that is was precisely this combination of feature creep and narrative bloat that moved the JRPG away from the tight-focused joys of the Super Nintendo era and which, eventually, inspired the creation of Tokyo RPG Factory.